Chapter 66
APHONE CALLa while later brought Decker and Jamison to the Baronville police headquarters. They were met at the front door by a solemn Kate Kemper and three of her agents.
When Decker and Jamison walked into the room where the homicide detectives worked, Lassiter was standing next to her desk. She looked up in surprise.
“Hey, what are you guys doing here? I—”
She abruptly stopped when she saw Kemper and her agents file into the room behind them.
Decker said to Lassiter, “Can you have your partner join us?”
“Marty? I think he’s around here. I’ll text him.”
She did so, and about a minute later Detective Green came into the room.
“Hey,” he said to Deckerand Jamison.
Decker nodded.
Green glanced at Kemper before fixing his gaze on Lassiter. “Did you need me?”
Lassiter pointed to Decker. “No, but he wanted to see you for something.” She paused. “You okay, Marty? You look out of sorts.”
“Lose something maybe?” asked Decker.
Green looked sheepish as he sat down behind his desk. “My damn badge. I usuallyput it in my locker at the gym, but I can’t find it. I play racquetball next door. It’s pissing me off. You lose your badge, that’s a ton of paperwork.”
He started searching through one of his drawers.
“One question,” said Decker. “The night Dan Bond was killed, someone said they saw a squad car parked in front of his house.”
“Who said that?” Green asked, quicklylooking up.
“It was an anonymous tip,” interjected Kemper.
“Any idea who it could have been?” asked Green.
“Well, you’ve been on that street a lot,” said Decker. “Could it have been you there that night?”
Green quickly shook his head. “I don’t drive around in a squad car.”
Decker nodded. “But you have met Dan Bond before, right?”
Greenshook his head. “No. I’ve never been to the man’s house. At least not while he was alive. I did go there after he was found murdered.”
“You absolutely sure of that?” said Decker.
Green looked at him curiously. “Yeah, why?”
“What are you getting at, Decker?” interjected Lassiter. “I was the one who interviewed Dan Bond, not Marty.”
Decker kept his gaze onGreen. He said, “You can stop looking, because Agent Kemper has your badge.”
Green shot Kemper a surprised glance. “You? Why?”
Kemper pulled out a plastic evidence bag from her coat. There was a badge inside it.
The blood slowly drained from Green’s face. “What is my badge doing in an evidence bag?”