Do or Die by Barbara Fradkin

wall!”
    Ashen-faced, Difalco stumbled against the wall and remained immobile while Green frisked him. There were no hidden weapons.
    â€œSit down.” With the gun, Green gestured to the chair in front of the computer. Difalco bent to pick up the scattered files and a handful of CDs fell out of his jacket pocket.
    â€œDon’t touch a fucking thing!”
    Difalco scrambled into the chair and stared at him.
    â€œWhat the hell’s going on here?” Green demanded.
    â€œNothing! My office is next door. I—I was just getting some of my files that were in Jonathan’s room.”
    â€œWhat files?”
    â€œComputer print-outs. Just raw data.” Some colour wasreturning to Difalco’s cheeks. “It wouldn’t mean anything to you, it’s just brain wave patterns and stuff. Jonathan and I were working on similar questions, and we often checked how each other’s data were coming along.”
    â€œSo you’re saying these are your files?” “Well, they’re not exactly my—I mean, no, they’re Jonathan’s files. But—”
    â€œSo you were removing Jonathan’s files from his office.”
    â€œYes, but he was going to give them to me anyway. We had arranged it a couple of days ago.”
    â€œAnd you figured why let a small thing like his murder interfere with your day’s work, right? The same reason you didn’t stick around this morning when I asked you to wait.”
    Difalco scrounged for some bluster. “I did wait! Almost fifteen minutes! But I had things to do—a subject was due to meet me in the lab.”
    Without a word, Green turned up his radio and paged the Ident Unit at the police station. Lou Paquette was just logging the last of his analyses and was looking forward to a warm meal and bed. He suppressed a groan when he heard Green’s request, but he agreed to be there within fifteen minutes.
    â€œFingerprints!” Difalco sputtered, but Green held up a brusque hand and rang dispatch. This time he ordered a squad car to take Difalco down to the station and hold him for questioning. When he hung up, Difalco was staring at him, ashen again.
    â€œWhat are you doing?”
    â€œBringing you down for questioning on break and enter, attempted robbery.”
    â€œBut I told you—”
    â€œYou told me you were removing Jonathan Blair’s files from his office!” Green retorted. “That’s attempted robbery. Thefingerprinting will tell us what else you touched in here. Now let’s move!”
    Difalco’s eyes darted from the gun to the open door, but in the end he seemed to deflate. A sullen look stole over his face as he slumped towards the door. Green herded him briskly; he was anxious to have Difalco out of the building before Halton arrived. He wanted Halton ignorant of Difalco’s misdeeds until he himself chose the crucial moment to deliver the news.
    Besides, an hour or two sitting alone in an interrogation room might do Difalco some good. Green smiled as he watched the squad car pull away, the handcuffed Difalco scowling in the back seat. Now we’re getting somewhere.
    The squad car had barely turned the corner, and the smile was still on Green’s face when a second squad car pulled up to the curb. A huge, bearded man hauled himself from the back seat, visibly perturbed.
    â€œI hardly think this was necessary, Detective. Having this man pull up in full view of the neighbours! You’ve embarrassed my wife, you’ve embarrassed me! I’m not a criminal, I pay plenty of taxes and I think a little consideration is in order.”
    The devaluation of his rank may not have been intentional, but Green suspected it was. He pretended to be oblivious. “This is common procedure, Professor. No disrespect intended. I need you to help me examine the contents of Jonathan Blair’s office, and I was anxious to expedite matters as much as I could. Homicide