Page 10 of Dead Fall

Frankly, he looked like a weirdo, but considering the hour, that shouldn’t have been surprising. Not many normal people were out prowling the streets at this time.

That wasn’t completely it, however. There was something else. The guy didn’t fit the fashionable neighborhood and gave off a very sketchy vibe.

What are you doing here?Carolan was wondering to himself when the man broke eye contact, raised a camera with a long lens, and began snapping photos.

He could be a stringer; a freelance photographer. Regardless, Carolan didn’t like him.

The only thing he liked less right now was getting his photo taken. Turning to Fields, he said, “Let’s head upstairs.”

On the eleventh floor, at the door to Burman’s penthouse, the patrol officer standing guard called for the lead Metro detective, a guy named Greer, to come out and give a thumbs-up or -down on allowing the two FBI agents entry.

“Remind me again why the Bureau is here?” the detective asked.

“National security,” said Fields.

“Same reason you gave downstairs for having my officers push the perimeter back. If you want to get inside the deceased’s dwelling, I’m going to need more than justnational security, which frankly sounds like an all-purpose, bullshit, Christmas tree phrase that you can put anything underneath that you want.”

“National. Security,” Fields repeated, drawing the words out.

“Fuck. Off,” Detective Greer responded, using the exact same cadence.

Normally, D.C. Metro cops and the FBI got along better than this, but it took all kinds of people to make up an organization. What’s more,the overnight shift was sometimes a place where departments parked the assholes nobody on the day shift wanted to deal with.

Unfortunately, right now Carolan didn’t have the luxury of bouncing to another detective. While he certainly could have had his office call the guy’s superior, that would have only wasted time and cemented the man’s animosity. Better to have the detective on his side.

What’s more, this wasn’t the first time an FBI agent had encountered resistance from local law enforcement. They could be very protective of their turf, which was understandable. Not many cops liked the idea of the government coming in and bigfooting their cases.

Carolan knew from experience that the best thing he could do was to immediately shoot the elephant in the middle of the room. “You’re right. This isn’t about national security. And if it stays that way, you won’t see either of us ever again. I just want to be able to go back to the office and tell my boss that he was wrong.”

That last part was a lie. Carolan’s superiors had no idea he was here. In fact, they wouldn’t know for several hours still that Burman was even dead. But suggesting that he might be able to return to headquarters and proverbially spit in his boss’s eye was a good way to attempt to bond with the detective. After all, it was probably a safe bet that a cop this disagreeable didn’t have a good relationship with his higher-ups.

“What’s your interest in the deceased?” Greer asked.

“The Russian government is not too fond of him,” Carolan replied.

“And so, you think maybe Humpty Dumpty was pushed?”

“It’d be a lot easier for me if he wasn’t.”

“That makes two of us,” the detective stated.

“Listen, I’m being honest. I don’t want anything to do with your case. The best possible outcome here is that this guy jumped. And I don’t say that flippantly. Suicide is a serious issue. I say it as someone who can’t even see his desk for all the open files I have on it.”

“That also makes two of us.”

“Okay,” said Carolan, sensing progress, “then let us help you. The sooner we rule out homicide, the sooner you and I can get back to all of our other cases.”

“Booties and gloves,” Detective Greer said, relenting. “Anything you uncover, you share with me.”

“And vice versa,” replied Carolan, removing a business card and handing it to the man.

Greer handed over his card and once Carolan and Fields had donned the requisite protective gear, they were given free roam of the condo.

“Nice job with bad cop,” said Fields as they stepped inside, scanned the rather sparse evidence log, and began looking around.

“Believe it or not, some of the biggest pains in the ass on the way in can end up being your best allies overall. The key is to remember that everybody has a job to do and nobody wants to be told how to do it.”

“I’ll make sure to remind you of that at my next performance review,” Fields responded with a smile.

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