Erased by Jordan Marshall Page B

her obsession? I see lots of garbage, lots of pictures on the wall here, and that’s about it.”
    “That’s not enough?” John said. “Look, the chick’s nuts. You can’t expect logical behavior from a criminal psychopath.”
    “Maybe. I’d like to find out more about Murphy before I draw any conclusions. What about her friends, her family? What if she had a job? Someone had to notice something.”
    “Maybe somebody did notice. My team’s doing a full background check on Murphy as we speak. After we’re done here, we can go back to the office for a briefing.”
    “Fine.”
    John glanced over the wall and sighed. “Nazi bullshit. That’s how this stuff always turns out. Is it my imagination or are white people just nuts? Nobody else pulls this crap.”
    “That’s not entirely true,” Brandy said, “but I’m not going to argue statistics with you.”
    “Oh come on, don’t deny it. Murphy was a Nazi. Probably had a whole crew of ‘em living in here. It’s obvious that Murphy killed Fortress just for being black. It must be driving you nuts that she’s running around out there. Typical white-devil bullshit. I mean look at this stuff. Swastikas?”
    “ White-devil ?” Brandy echoed, arching an eyebrow.
    “Sure,” John said. “You know, the oppressor, the slave-owner. Don’t tell me you’re not pissed about slavery and all that. I don’t blame you. My ancestors built the railroads, you know.”
    Brandy turned to face him and squared her shoulders. “Do I look like a slave to you?”
    “No.”
    “No, I didn’t think so. If you’re worried about slaves why don’t you go cruise through the Tenderloin, because that’s where they are. If you wanna free some slaves, go help some of those Asian girls smuggled over here in cargo containers and forced into prostitution. Or the other girls that are being smuggled into India and the Mid-east by the thousands. Slavery’s alive and well right now, Mr. Lee.”
    The inspector lowered his eyes and gave her a sheepish look but Brandy wasn’t done. “Don’t assume that because I’m black, I hate white people. And don’t assume that just because Sara Murphy is a white woman, I’m going to believe what I’m looking at right now. I’m not an idiot.”
    John twisted his head slightly. “What? What are you talking about?”
    Brandy looked back at the wall. Her voice grew quiet, distant. “I don’t know. This just isn’t adding up.”
    At that moment, one of John’s team came running up. “Sir, we have a report that Sara Murphy is headed back into the city. The Mill Valley PD are in pursuit.”
    John smiled. “We got her now,” he said. “I want men waiting on the south side of the bridge. This takes priority over everything else.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    John turned back to Brandy. “You ready? Our crime scene investigators are more than capable of handling this alone.”
    She nodded and gave the wall one last look. She wanted to investigate the house more extensively, but Sara Murphy was already on the hook and that was her priority. Brandy followed Lee out to his car.
    “What are you thinking?” he said as they climbed in.
    “I’m thinking we better get Murphy in custody as soon as possible. Once these pictures get out, she’s going to have more than the cops to worry about.”
     
     

 
     
     
    Chapter 18
     
     
     
     
    Stryker and his team were halfway back to their base south of Fisherman’s Wharf, the place they called the Warehouse, when Chaz heard something on the police scanner. He was sitting at his computer console, listening intently to a number of scanning devices that he’d patched into his headphones.
    “They’ve found her,” he announced suddenly. “The Mill Valley PD is in pursuit. Looks like Murphy is headed back towards the city.”
    “Where is she?” Stryker said.
    Chaz was quiet for a minute as he listened. “She’s crossing the bridge. SFPD is waiting for her on the other side.”
    “They’ve got her,”