CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR. Jake knocked on her lieutenant's door, not waiting for him to look up

Jake knocked on her lieutenant's door, not waiting for him to look up. She walked to his desk, meeting the questioning look in his eyes.

" I need to talk something out with you, " she said.

" Okay. Sit."

She did, flipping open her notes. " Dr. Westbrook's stalker that we talked about? "

" Where there was nothing in the system? "

" Right. So I talked to one of her neighbors." She looked up from her notes. " He remembers the night. Two units showed up. There were shots fired. He saw a body laying in Dr. Westbrook's yard. He saw two of the officers pick the suspect up and toss him into their squad car and drive off. The other unit, he says one of the officers went into Dr. Westbrook's house to talk to her. They left approximately ten minutes later."

Lieutenant Gregory pulled his glasses off. " Yet there's nothing in the system to verify this? "

" No."

" And you believe Dr. Westbrook and this neighbor? "

" Absolutely."

Lieutenant Gregory nodded, then leaned forward. " McCoy, you're working a murder investigation. Why are you bothering with something that happened six years ago when we've got four dead women right now? "

" Because I feel like the two events could be related, " she said.

" How? An alleged stalker was supposedly killed by cops at Dr. Westbrook's house, yet, police wise, we have nothing to substantiate that. What we do have are the bodies of four murdered women. So I'm not interested in a goddamn stalker from six years ago. Let it go, McCoy. That's an order." He leaned back again. " Now, tell me what's up with this case. What are you doing for this case? "

" Salazar is putting together profiles on all four of our victims, trying to trace back the last two or three days that they were alive. Simpson is interviewing friends, relatives. Chase is doing employment."

" And you? "

" I'm... concentrating on Dr. Westbrook."

He nodded. " Are we monitoring her phone, mail? "

" I'm going to talk to her today about the phone. Her secretary is monitoring the mail. Other than the one threatening letter they got a couple of weeks ago, there's been nothing out of the ordinary."

" The captain's questioning the unit we've got at her building. Do you feel like it's beneficial? "

" It's beneficial only because it gives peace of mind."

" Then I'm pulling it. We've got enough going on in the city without having two officers camped out doing nothing."

Jake stared, wondering at the lieutenant's motives. It was unlike him to be this negative about a case. In fact, just the hint of a police cover-up on the stalker would have normally had him up in arms. He was a stickler for detail and doing things by the book.

" I know you feel like Westbrook is in danger, but I haven't been given the okay to bring her in. Are you still doing babysitting duty on nights? "

She nodded. " Actually, I think Chase is going to take tonight."

" Oh yeah? How's that going to set with his wife? "

" Haven't worked it out yet, " she said. In fact, she'd not talked to Rick about it at all. " But, yeah, I think Dr. Westbrook is in danger. It would be foolish to leave her unprotected."

" Well, just remember, you're a detective, not a babysitter."

Jake stood, feeling their conversation was going nowhere. " Well, let me get on it, Lieutenant."

" Keep me informed."

" Yes, sir." She walked out, frowning. " To protect and to serve, " she murmured sarcastically. " Right."

Despite her lieutenant's directive to leave the stalker alone, Jake couldn't. It didn't make sense. So, she called dispatch. Susan Rice, a woman who had asked Jake out countless times before, picked up.

" Susan? It's Jake McCoy."

" Hello, Detective. I heard you were back."

" Yeah. About a month now. Listen, I'm wondering if you're free for lunch? "

" Lunch? "

" I need to pick your brain."

" I see." There was only a short pause. " Sure, why not."

" Great. What time can you swing it? "

" How about one? "

" Okay. I'll pick you up out front by the flagpole. And thanks, Susan."

When she hung up, Jake called Rick's cell. He was just leaving the offices where Shelly Burke used to work.

" The last person here to see her was her officemate. The woman left shortly after five, and Shelly was still here, finishing up a report that was due the next day. She logged off her computer at five forty-four. Surveillance tapes in the parking garage show she

never made it to her car."

" Yet she ended up at her apartment."

" Yeah. Simpson is going back to the apartment complex, but hell, that's been months already. And the original report they filed turned up nothing, as far as neighbors."

" Yeah, I know. Listen, buddy, are you still home alone? "

" Yeah. Why? I talked to Michelle yesterday. We're supposed to get together this weekend and hash it out."

" Good. I was wondering if maybe you could stay with Dr. Westbrook tonight? At her place? She hasn't been there since the other night. I'm sure she needs... things."

" Now, Jake, how's that going to look? The lieutenant will never go for it."

" Then how about you take the early shift, and I'll relieve you? "

" What's going on? You got a date or something? "

" No, I don't have a date. I just have something to check out. I'll explain later. It's just, she hasn't been to her house in a couple of days, and I'm sure she's tired of bunking at my place."

" Okay, okay. We'll work it out later. Right now, I'm heading to a lumber yard."

" For? "

" Jena Nichols's place of employment."

" Okay. I'll be around."

The normally busy cafe was relatively quiet at this hour and Jake stood politely until Susan took her seat. She slid into the booth opposite Susan and folded her arms on the table. Even though she'd told herself to make casual conversation, she was too keyed up to do so.

" How long have you worked dispatch, Susan? "

" Eleven years, if you can believe that."

Jake smiled. " Time flies." She leaned forward, pushing the menu to the side. " Six years ago, who was over dispatch? "

" Six years? That's probably when your Lieutenant Gregory was there. He was sergeant at that time, of course. Captain Harris was over the unit."

" No shit? Gregory was in dispatch? "

" He moved to Special Victims right before you came on board, " Susan said.

Jake looked up as the waitress ambled over to their booth. She moved back as a glass of water was placed in front of her.

" Ready to order? "

Jake hadn't bothered looking at the menu so she ordered her standard. " Burger, no pickles, " she said.

" Mustard? Mayo? "

Jake sighed impatiently. " Both."

" And for you? "

Susan looked carefully over the menu, ignoring Jake's impatiently tapping fingers. " Club sandwich, with fries. Swiss cheese. Mayo only."

" Excellent. I'll have your lunch out before long."

Jake hesitated only briefly after the waitress walked away. " Okay. Walk me through it. Call comes to 911, they notify you, you dispatch units. Is that it? "

" That's the short of it, yes."

" So, once a 911 call is logged, and then dispatched through you, there should be a record in the system, right? "

" Of course. Every transaction is logged. On a normal 911 emergency call, you'll have three logs. One from the 911 call, one from the dispatcher, and one from the unit responding."

Jake leaned forward. " And if anyone wanted to, say, delete these transactions, what would be involved? "

Susan shook her head. " That's nearly impossible. You're talking about three separate entities."

" Who could authorize something like that? "

" To delete information? " Susan shrugged. " If you're a subordinate? Anyone outranking you, I guess. But again, you're talking about three different databases. They're all linked together, but they're still separate."

" So, even if a captain or a lieutenant wanted something deleted from one system, it doesn't necessarily mean it could be deleted

from another? "

" Exactly."

Jake again tapped the table with her fingers, thinking. " So how could something be deleted from all three? "

Susan smiled. " I take it you mean how could something illegally be deleted? "

" Yes."

Susan shrugged. " Hacker? "

" Surely these databases are secure, " Jake said.

" If someone can hack into the FBI's database, don't you think they could get into ours? And I mean, six years ago? What do you think firewalls were like back then? "

" Okay, so unless three different supervisors ordered files deleted, we can assume a hacker, for whatever reason, did it? "

" Works for me."

Jake shook her head. " Makes no sense. Still doesn't help me with the why of it."

" You want to tell me the case you're talking about? "

Jake hesitated. If there was a cover-up, the less people knew she was snooping around, the better. " I'd rather not get you involved, " she said carefully.

They both sat back as their lunch was delivered. When the waitress left, Susan leaned forward again.

" You can trust me, you know."

Jake stared. No, she had no reason to believe that she could trust Susan Rice. They knew each other only in passing and the few times they went out socially with others. They were friendly, but they weren't exactly friends. But she nodded politely. " Well, I'm just playing a hunch, anyway. There's not a whole lot I can tell you."