Page 132 of Delusion in Death

“Good work, Lieutenant. Excellent work.”

“Thank you, sir. We had a good team who put a lot of hours into it, a lot of skill.”

“Agreed. I’ll be addressing the team. We’ll be making an announcement to the media, holding a brief conference within the hour. You’ll need to be there.” He smiled at her, and for the first time in days, with a light in his eyes. “I realize that feels like punishment, but it’s important we inform the public, and you attend.”

“Yes, sir.”

“After which I suggest you go home and enjoy your evening. I’m going to.”

“I wonder if he means he’s going to have so much sex,” Roarke commented when Whitney was out of earshot.

“Please. Don’t put that image in my head. I need to see what you brought back from Callaway’s.”

“Secured in your office, except for the electronics. Feeney’s got them in EDD. I wanted to watch you work this one, so I came down for a bit. But I’ll go back, give him some time. The bastard’s encrypted everything. It’s not overly complicated, but it’s going to take a little time to get all his notes and so on.”

“Everything we can get adds to it, but I don’t think there’s a hurry. Still, I guess I’m going to be a couple hours.”

“Just let me know when you’re ready to go. And we’ll enjoy our evening.”

“I cracked that code,” she said as she split off to her office.

Chapter 20

She stopped in the bullpen to speak to Sanchez and Carmichael. “Nice job before, on the grief-giving. You could be in vids.”

Sanchez pinned her with a pointed stare. “Did you think I was acting?”

She only lifted her eyebrows, pinned him in turn. “That or asking for a thirty-day rip.”

Carmichael snorted. “Told you not to try it. The LT always wins, Sanchez. It’s why she’s the LT.”

“Well, hell.” With a grin, Sanchez shrugged it off. “Is he down?”

“Down and out. You can pass cases back to the others, just let me know who’s on the board.”

“Can we give Baxter the bloater, cooking in his cat-infested apartment for eight days? I owe him some payback.”

“Fine with me.”

“Then it’s all worth it.”

She left them for her office. Yeah, the new guy not only slid right in, she thought. He fit like he’d been there for years.

She considered a moment, then engaged her ’link.

“This is Nadine, make it quick. I’m in a production meeting.”

“You’re going to want to step out for a minute.”

A flicker of annoyance came first, then cleared. “I’ve got to take this. Keep going.”

Eve waited while Nadine walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. “Tell me you made an arrest.”

“We made an arrest. Wait. There’s going to be a statement and a media conference within the hour. I’m giving you a heads-up on it. The data you dug up for me helped.”

“Give me a name, give me the official charges.”

“I’m not going to do that, Nadine. You know I can’t. What you can do is get on air, do your breaking news thing. According to a source within the NYPSD, police have arrested and charged a suspect in the mass murders committed at On the Rocks and Café West. An official statement is imminent. Details to follow or whatever.”

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