Page 69 of Crosshairs
The hairs on the back of my neck tingled. I suddenly had a feeling that I was in for a repeat of my firefighter interviews. I couldn’t understand why people wouldn’t mind their own business.
The man looked at me and said, “You got a warrant?”
“I’m sorry, who are you?”
“David Klatt. I’m here with the VA and we all know Rob Trilling.”
Now I purposely took a step away from the front desk and turned to face the three men fully.
The other tall man in the group said, “Why are you looking at Rob’s work here? He does a great job.”
“I’m not looking at anything to do with the VA.” I tried to stay calm as the men circled me. Each one of them looked like they knew how to fight.
Maggie, the clerk, hadn’t left the front desk. She stared at the four of us, no one saying a word.
I said, “Guys, if you’re gonna kick my ass, let’s take it outside.” I needed to buy some time to think. I had a hard time reading the expressions on the three men’s faces.
Finally Klatt said, “Kick your ass? Why would we do that? I’m an attorney. I asked about a warrant.”
The other tall man said, “I’m an accountant. I haven’t been in a fight since basic training.”
I looked at the shorter Marine.
He smiled. “I’m an unemployed house painter. I’ll kick your ass if you want, but I’m mostly looking to get my faulty key replaced by Maggie.”
I turned to Maggie at the front desk. “You confirmed Rob Trilling was here at the time in question. If you could do me a favor and hold the signature card, I’ll get a warrant and come back later.”
She gave me a cheerful smile. “Sure thing, Detective.”
I nodded to the three men. I had to get back to Manhattan and figure things out.
CHAPTER 86
I GOT HOME from Albany late that evening and my effort to be engaged with the kids quickly fell flat.
My mind was racing with the hope that Rob Trilling was not our sniper. But the newest shooting still made me doubt my findings. I’d heard that when Dennis Wu found Trilling at his apartment building hours later, Trilling had refused to speak to the Internal Affairs sergeant. I didn’t blame him. From his perspective, there was no upside. Dennis made no secret of the fact that he was trying to pin everything on Rob Trilling. It was still a bad look for Trilling, because without any other suspects, all the attention was focused on my former partner.
The kids and Mary Catherine realized I’d had a long day when I dozed off in the chair in the living room.
I sprang awake the next morning and tried to make amends by preparing a giant breakfast. No one would be at the VA until nineo’clock anyway. I pulled out all the stops. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, and ham. Plus a whole wheat English muffin for Mary Catherine and a bowl of Lucky Charms for Chrissy.
It didn’t take long for all the kids to start wandering out to the dining room. Nothing I couldn’t handle. Their plates were already made. I realized if the whole homicide investigation thing didn’t work out, I might have a second career as a short-order cook.
A few hours later, I was waiting at the VA office when Darcy Farnan walked in. She did a double take when she saw me in the lobby. She turned to a young man with long, stringy hair walking with her and said, “Can you give me a few minutes with this man, Peter?”
The young man nodded, then turned back to his phone. Darcy gave me a quick nod with her head to get me to hustle into the office. As soon as the door was closed behind us, she said, “Please don’t tell me anything has happened to Rob Trilling.”
“No, it might be just the opposite. I need to confirm something with you.”
“I’m sorry, but the same conditions apply as before. He has to give me permission to talk to you. I almost told him you’d been here, but he never met with me after we spoke.”
“I get it. I’m not trying to get you to violate any rules or ethics. But I think I can help him. And I already have a lot of the information I need.” I gave her the briefest of thumbnails of what I was doing. I explained that Trilling was a suspect in some murders but that I’d gone to Albany, and it looked like he might’ve been out of town during one of the murders.
Darcy smiled for just a moment. She brushed some hair out of her eyes. “Like I said, Detective, I’d need Rob’s permission toconfirm that he was at a VA retreat in Albany as both a facilitator and a participant. He would tell you that he was at the hotel the entire time with me and nine other veterans. He would probably also tell you that I saw him every single day.” She couldn’t hide the smile.
I said, “At some point, probably fairly soon, after Trilling gives you permission, I’ll have to ask you about this again.”
“After I get his permission, I’ll tell you anything you want to know about the week. Even the side trip he and I took to visit his family in Putnam County. I mean, if we really did that.” This time she gave me a wink.