Page 73 of Crosshairs
It was an old saying but absolutely true. I made a few more notes, then asked a question I knew the answer to. “What caliber does that Remington 700 take?”
“Either .300 or .308.”
That last one matched the casing found in Trilling’s FBI car.
CHAPTER 91
HARRY GRISSOM WAS meeting with another homicide detective when I got back to the office. I wanted to burst in and start telling him everything I’d figured out, but I restrained myself. I went back to my desk and started looking again through all the reports, trying to find something I had missed. Key during a good investigation is keeping an open mind. It’s a lesson I had to relearn almost every time I started to look at a mysterious death.
As soon as Harry was free, I burst into his office. I laid out exactly what had happened and who I had talked to.
Harry considered everything as he stroked his long gunfighter’s mustache. Then he looked up at me and said, “Joe Tavarez could’ve had access to FBI investigations through his wife. That would explain Adam Glossner and Gus Querva, who were not under investigation by the NYPD.”
“So you don’t think I’m crazy?”
“That remains to be seen. But you’ve laid out a logical argument on this investigation. Even with Tavarez’s wife alibiing him for that one night. Was she just protecting him? As a responsible supervisor, I can’t ignore it all. These findings are going to throw Dennis Wu into a tizzy.”
Harry gave me a little smile. I wasn’t sure if it was because he liked the idea of aggravating the Internal Affairs sergeant or his use of the word “tizzy.”
Harry said, “How do we make the case on Tavarez? He’s got to be pretty smart the way he threw the blame onto Trilling. And his wife could be actively helping him in his crusade. We have no physical evidence or witnesses. We don’t even have anything that can put Tavarez in the area of the shootings.”
“I can try and get all of that through interviews and investigation. It might take some time.”
“I don’t see command staff giving us much time. They won’t railroad Trilling on the killings if we convince them Tavarez is our man, but they won’t want to wait either.”
I said, “What if we set a trap?”
“What kind of trap?”
“I’m not sure. I just thought of it this second. But I think we’d need Trilling to help us with this trap. It makes sense to use a sniper to catch a sniper.”
“What if it’s not Tavarez?”
“If we set up a trap right, it won’t matter. He just won’t show up. No one is hurt and we can decide where to go from there. Do you think you can get Trilling back on duty?”
Harry was already picking up the phone. I knew that meant yes.
I had a new list of priorities. After getting Trilling back, I intended to focus completely on Tavarez. It was like starting the entire case over again.
CHAPTER 92
IT DIDN’T TAKE long for Harry Grissom’s clout to be obvious. The first sign that he’d stirred the pot at headquarters was Internal Affairs sergeant Dennis Wu storming into the office and throwing daggers at me with his eyes. A few minutes later, Inspector Lisa Udell arrived in full uniform like she’d been called away from some sort of public ceremony. There were two points on Lisa Udell that no one could argue. She looked impressive in her dress blues. If you were in the right, she’d back you every time.
The two visitors huddled with Harry in his office. Walter Jackson joined me at my desk. We supported each other like two siblings waiting out an argument between their parents.
Walter said, “There’s a strong set of personalities crammed into that office.”
“At least they’re actually communicating.” Then some voices were raised. It turned into a series of shouts.
I said, “That’s not Harry yelling.”
“How can you tell?”
“Because Harry doesn’t shout.”
Walter looked at me and said, “I guess you’re right. Given your ability to stir people up, I would’ve heard a lot of shouts over the years.”
I just shrugged. Walter was right. I could stir people up.