something.’
Magozzi shook his head. ‘Can’t do it. The country boys could be watching from inside, and they drive that road all day long. We’d look like a couple of wusses.’
‘We are a couple of wusses.’
‘No need to lay that out right at the start.’
The female deputy behind the dispatch station eyed their badges and nodded. ‘Good morning, Detectives. The sheriff’s expecting you. She’ll be right down. How bad was the drive?’
Gino grunted. ‘I’ll tell you one thing. The only way I’m going back down that hill is behind a salt truck.’
‘They never salt that hill. The runoff pollutes the lake.’
‘Oh, yeah? You’d think the dead bodies from all the people sliding off the drop-off into the lake would pollute it a hell of a lot more than a little salt, and we were nearly two of them.’
The deputy blinked at him. ‘You’re kidding me. You actually came up Kittering Hill?’
‘Left on Kittering, up the hill to the sheriff’s office. Those were the directions.’
She let out a silent whistle. ‘Man, nobody drivesthat hill in this kind of weather. That’s just plain suicide. You should have come the back way.’
Gino’s face was getting red. ‘There’s a back way? A better way?’
‘Well, sure, you just pass Kittering until you get to Cutter. That sort of loops around the hill, easier grade, and the trees pretty much protect it from the weather. What joker gave you those directions, anyway?’
Gino and Magozzi remained stone-faced, and the deputy’s face reddened as she made the connection.
‘Oh … hey … listen, just for the record, Sheriff Rikker probably doesn’t know about the back way, either.’
‘Seems like something the sheriff ought to know,’ Magozzi said stiffly.
The woman shook her head. ‘She’s the new kid on the block. Somebody should have told her about it before she came in this morning, but I guess it’s kind of a hazing thing for the newbies, you know?’
‘Just how long has she been on the job?’ Gino asked.
‘Well … she worked dispatch for a couple months before she was elected, but we didn’t have a lick of snow back then, and today’s pretty much her first day as sheriff. Heck of a way to get your feet wet, huh?’ The switchboard started buzzing and she smiled apologetically. ‘Excuse me, Detectives.’
Gino grabbed Magozzi by the arm and pulled him aside. ‘Did I just step into an alternate universe or are my ears shot, because what I thought I just heard was that a couple months of dispatch is all the experience this broad has …’
‘I’m going to tell Angela you referred to a woman as a “broad.”’
‘… which means that the least qualified law enforcement officer in the whole state is now the sheriff of one of the largest counties in Minnesota and she’s the lead on a homicide investigation we might have to piggyback.’
‘She was just elected in November, Gino. You knew that much.’
‘Sure I knew that. I just figured she already had a few years on the job, and now it turns out all she did was push a button on a dispatch desk. Jesus, Leo. How does shit like this happen?’
‘I think it’s called democracy.’
‘If we end up having to work the case with her, it’s gonna be called on-the-job training, and I’m not in the mood to babysit …’
‘Detectives?’
Gino and Magozzi both winced at the sound of a voice behind them, the same voice they’d heard over the speaker in Malcherson’s office. As he turned, Magozzi wondered how much she’d overheard.
The person who went with the voice was neither a sour-faced old biddy or a woman who looked tough enough to throw her hat in the ring for sheriff. Iris Rikker was a petite blond with a sweet face and wide blue eyes that probably wouldn’t shelter a lie easily. She was about as unofficial-looking as you could get, right down to the absence of a uniform. She did have a gun, however, and Magozzi couldn’t decide if that made him feel better or worse
Magozzi shook his head. ‘Can’t do it. The country boys could be watching from inside, and they drive that road all day long. We’d look like a couple of wusses.’
‘We are a couple of wusses.’
‘No need to lay that out right at the start.’
The female deputy behind the dispatch station eyed their badges and nodded. ‘Good morning, Detectives. The sheriff’s expecting you. She’ll be right down. How bad was the drive?’
Gino grunted. ‘I’ll tell you one thing. The only way I’m going back down that hill is behind a salt truck.’
‘They never salt that hill. The runoff pollutes the lake.’
‘Oh, yeah? You’d think the dead bodies from all the people sliding off the drop-off into the lake would pollute it a hell of a lot more than a little salt, and we were nearly two of them.’
The deputy blinked at him. ‘You’re kidding me. You actually came up Kittering Hill?’
‘Left on Kittering, up the hill to the sheriff’s office. Those were the directions.’
She let out a silent whistle. ‘Man, nobody drivesthat hill in this kind of weather. That’s just plain suicide. You should have come the back way.’
Gino’s face was getting red. ‘There’s a back way? A better way?’
‘Well, sure, you just pass Kittering until you get to Cutter. That sort of loops around the hill, easier grade, and the trees pretty much protect it from the weather. What joker gave you those directions, anyway?’
Gino and Magozzi remained stone-faced, and the deputy’s face reddened as she made the connection.
‘Oh … hey … listen, just for the record, Sheriff Rikker probably doesn’t know about the back way, either.’
‘Seems like something the sheriff ought to know,’ Magozzi said stiffly.
The woman shook her head. ‘She’s the new kid on the block. Somebody should have told her about it before she came in this morning, but I guess it’s kind of a hazing thing for the newbies, you know?’
‘Just how long has she been on the job?’ Gino asked.
‘Well … she worked dispatch for a couple months before she was elected, but we didn’t have a lick of snow back then, and today’s pretty much her first day as sheriff. Heck of a way to get your feet wet, huh?’ The switchboard started buzzing and she smiled apologetically. ‘Excuse me, Detectives.’
Gino grabbed Magozzi by the arm and pulled him aside. ‘Did I just step into an alternate universe or are my ears shot, because what I thought I just heard was that a couple months of dispatch is all the experience this broad has …’
‘I’m going to tell Angela you referred to a woman as a “broad.”’
‘… which means that the least qualified law enforcement officer in the whole state is now the sheriff of one of the largest counties in Minnesota and she’s the lead on a homicide investigation we might have to piggyback.’
‘She was just elected in November, Gino. You knew that much.’
‘Sure I knew that. I just figured she already had a few years on the job, and now it turns out all she did was push a button on a dispatch desk. Jesus, Leo. How does shit like this happen?’
‘I think it’s called democracy.’
‘If we end up having to work the case with her, it’s gonna be called on-the-job training, and I’m not in the mood to babysit …’
‘Detectives?’
Gino and Magozzi both winced at the sound of a voice behind them, the same voice they’d heard over the speaker in Malcherson’s office. As he turned, Magozzi wondered how much she’d overheard.
The person who went with the voice was neither a sour-faced old biddy or a woman who looked tough enough to throw her hat in the ring for sheriff. Iris Rikker was a petite blond with a sweet face and wide blue eyes that probably wouldn’t shelter a lie easily. She was about as unofficial-looking as you could get, right down to the absence of a uniform. She did have a gun, however, and Magozzi couldn’t decide if that made him feel better or worse
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