Page 35 of Crosshairs
Trilling moved so smoothly I barely noticed as he swept the sergeant’s legs out from under him, then held his arm to ease Stout’s drop to the metal landing in the stairwell.
Trilling calmly looked at me and said, “I’ll meet you up on the fourth floor.” Then he started taking the stairs casually, one at a time.
I helped my friend to his feet. He wasn’t hurt. Trilling had made sure he wouldn’t be.
Greg Stout said, “He reallyisa little touchy, isn’t he? I was just joking around.”
I looked at him and said, “You were out of line. He’s not a rookie anymore. And he’s starting to impress the shit out of me. He could’ve dropped you on the floor like a sack of potatoes. But he grabbed you and eased your fall. It was as good a message as I’ve ever seen sent.”
Greg Stout gave me his goofy grin. “Everything you’re saying is right. I guess I deserved that. I’m glad the kid went easy on me. The last thing I need is back problems.”
I said goodbye and started up the stairs to catch my partner.
CHAPTER 43
REBECCA SWOPE WAS tucked in her own office with the only sign on the door saying,INVESTIGATIVE SUPPORT. Other analysts and detectives worked in the same squad bay, but the only reason anyone ever seemed to come up here was to talk to Becky.
She’d spent a decade developing contacts at every local college from NYU and Columbia to some of the lesser-known private colleges on the outskirts of the city. There was no registrar she couldn’t call and get a straight answer from about something. The trick was to catch her when she wasn’t overwhelmed by other detectives looking for similar information.
I stood in her doorway for a moment as she worked on her computer. She raised her eyes and smiled. I didn’t know her age, but I knew she had adult children. One of them worked at the NYPD garage as a technician.
Becky said, “I got the name you sent me and checked with City College.”
“And?”
“Wendy Robinson was enrolled there but only took one class, two semesters ago.”
Rob Trilling stepped into the doorway next to me. He was frowning and I knew why. We’d both bought a lie.
I said, “Becky, this is my partner, Rob Trilling.”
Becky said, “Trilling? I don’t know that name yet, but if you’re working with this guy, I’m sure I’ll start seeing it in reports in no time.”
Trilling said, “I just started working with Detective Bennett a few days ago, ma’am.”
Becky let out a laugh. “‘Ma’am’? I’m not used to good manners from most of these guys. I’m going to take a wild guess and say you’re not from New York.”
“No, ma’am. Montana.”
“I love Montana. We took our kids there on vacation probably fifteen years ago. We had a great time. I hope it’s nothing like the TV showYellowstone. That makes the locals seem awfully violent.”
“Like everywhere else, we have some problems. But don’t worry. It’s nothing like that show.”
Becky got back to business. “Walter Jackson ran Wendy Robinson’s name past the Department of Defense. He told me to give you this folder with everything in it. It shows she’s not at City College anymore, and it’s got a summary of her military fitness reports.”
Trilling stepped forward to take the folder Becky handed across her desk so she didn’t have to reach too far.
I said, “Anything interesting?”
“Oh, your suspect, Wendy Robinson, saw a whole lot of trouble in the service. Her fitness reports say she had anger issues and she did not work well with people who annoyed her. Which apparently was about half the Army. She has impressive reports on her determination in training, her fitness level, and her participation in some special sniping program. But I wouldn’t call her warm and cuddly.”
“I didn’t get that impression either when we met. But she outright lied to us. That makes her a decent suspect.”
Trilling asked, “Why would she lie about something as simple as a study group?”
“Exactly. She could’ve given us any number of different alibis. She could’ve said she was home alone and we would never have been able to disprove it. But I’m thinking we surprised her. And now we’ve got to track her down again.” I looked at Becky and said, “Thank you for all this help.”
“No problem at all. But in return you need to tell Walter Jackson my price: the next time we’re together on a training, he can’t tell me puns for a solid eight hours.”