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I'm afraid our friend is much too smart to connect himself that way.
Deborah sipped her coffee, put the cup down, and leaned back. So we're
looking for a stolen refrigerator truck, she said at last.
I'm afraid so, I said. But how many of those can there be in the last
forty-eight hours?
InMiami ? She snorted. Somebody steals one, word gets out that it's worth
stealing, and suddenly every goddamn two-bit originalgangsta ,marielito
,crackhead , and junior wise guy has to steal one, just to keep up.
Let's hope word isn't out yet, I said.
Deborah swallowed the last of her bagel. I'll check, she said. And then she
reached across the table and squeezed my hand. I really appreciate this, she
said. She gave me a couple of seconds of a shy, hesitant smile. But I worry
about how you come up with this stuff,Dex . Ijust . . . She looked down at
the table and squeezed my hand again.
I squeezed back. Leave the worrying to me, I said. You just find that
truck.
CHAPTER 8
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IN THEORY,METRO'S SEVENTY-TWO-HOUR MEETINGgives everyone enough time to get
somewhere with a case, but is soon enough that the leads are still warm. And
so Monday morning, in a conference room on the second floor, the crack
crime-fighting team led by the indomitable DetectiveLaGuerta assembled once
again for the seventy-two-hour. I assembled with them. I got some looks, and a
few good-hearted remarks from the cops who knew me. Just simple, cheerful wit,
like, Hey, blood boy, where's your squeegee? Salt of the earth, these
people, and soon my Deborah would be one of them. I felt proud and humble to
be in the same room.
Unfortunately, these feelings were not shared by all present. The fuck you
doing here? grunted SergeantDoakes . He was a very large black man with an
injured air of permanent hostility. He had a cold ferocity to him that would
certainly come in handy for somebody with my hobby. It was a shame we couldn't
be friends. But for some reason he hated all lab techs, and for some
additional reason that had always meant especially Dexter. He also held the
Metro Dade record for the bench press. So he rated my political smile.
I just dropped in to listen, Sergeant, I told him.
Got no fucking call to be here, he said. The fuckoutta here.
He can stay, Sergeant, LaGuerta said.
Doakesscowled at her. The fuck for?
I don't want to make anybody unhappy, I said, edging for the door without
any real conviction.
It's perfectly all right, LaGuerta said with an actual smile for me. She
turned toDoakes . He can stay, she repeated.
Gimmethe fucking creeps, Doakes grumbled. I began to appreciate the man's
finer qualities. Of course I gave him the fucking creeps. The only real
question was why he was the only one in a room filled with cops who had the
insight to get the fucking creeps from my presence.
Let's get started, LaGuerta said, cracking her whip gently, leaving no room
for doubt that she was in charge.Doakes slouched back in his chair with a last
scowl at me.
The first part of the meeting was a matter of routine; reports, political
maneuvers, all the little things that make us human.Those of us who are human,
anyway.LaGuerta briefed the information officers on what they could and could
not release to the press. Things they could release included a new glossy
photo ofLaGuerta she'd made up for the occasion. It was serious and yet
glamorous; intense but refined. You could almost see her making lieutenant in
that picture. If only Deborah had that kind of PR smarts.
It took most of an hour before we got around to the actual murders. But
finallyLaGuerta asked for reports on the progress in finding her mystery
witness. Nobody had anything to report. I tried hard to look surprised.
LaGuertagave the group a frown of command. Come on, people, she said.
Somebody needs to find something here. But nobody did, and there was a pause
while the group studied their fingernails, the floor,the acoustic tiles in the
ceiling.
Deborah cleared her throat. I, uh, she said and cleared her throat again.
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I had a, um, an idea.A different idea.About trying something in a slightly
different direction. She said it like it was in quotation marks, and indeed
it was. All my careful coaching couldn't make her sound natural when she said
it, but she had at least stuck to my carefully worded politically correct
phrasing.
LaGuertaraised an artificially perfect eyebrow. An idea?Really? She made a
face to show how surprised and delighted she was. Please, by all means, share
it with us, OfficerEin I mean, Officer Morgan.
Doakessnickered.A delightful man.
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