Square Snapper (Detective Inspector Burgess) by Deborah Middleton

lieutenant with the information. For the first time in days they felt that they had a concrete lead which could turn into a major breakthrough in the case. At least now they had penetrated another tier of the operation. If all went well, they might get to the next level. It reminded Gonzalez of a Game Boy game. You had to eliminate the bad guys on Level One in order to advance to Level Two which, naturally, would become increasingly more difficult and, in Gonzalez’s case, increasingly dangerous. Cujo was a bad-ass criminal but the ones higher up that controlled the Cujos of the world, were the ones that Gonzalez really feared. They could walk around unsuspected, perhaps even admired, in their fancy business suits, buying allegiances and penetrating even the highest halls of justice. Their money could buy your death and you wouldn’t even see it coming. Yes, those were the ones that Gonzalez wanted to see behind bars.
    Now came the time to plan the raids. They needed to round up Cujo and company as well as shut down the lab. He hated the wait and much preferred the execution, however, he knew that if they did not have a good plan, the raids might fail. He hoped the Lieutenant would keep the numbers of officers involved as small as possible. Both Gonzalez and Hofstein were not oblivious to the fact that the more people involved, the more chance it might go wrong, and they did not want their lives on the line because of some leak. They sure didn’t get paid enough for that.
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 20
     
     
    While the Dade County Police considered their next move, back in Bermuda the decision to publicize the danger of the poisoned heroin was causing a massive hue and cry. The Bermuda Gazette had published the fact that the Minister of Tourism was at odds with the Minister of Health. Clearly, tainted dope with its attendant deaths was not a good advertisement for tourism, especially during the high season. Planes and hotels were booked to capacity and the Minister did not want anything to scupper efforts for a record-setting summer for the island. The Minister for Health did not see it that way. His constituents were the local residents as well as tourists and it was his responsibility to ensure that all were made aware of the danger. With Cup Match just two days away, he did not want a spate of heroin-related deaths laid at his door at the end of the long weekend. Besides, he reasoned, if you didn’t do drugs, you didn’t need to worry. Both ministers were acutely aware of their standing in the polls and that the proper handling of this crisis would have a direct impact on their ratings with the voters.
    The news of the dramatic chase and arrest of the Jamaican was all over the island. Scarcely a thing got done in any of the offices, so busy was everyone e-mailing the latest news, adding to or correcting the latest rumour, or phoning friends at home who had the radio on. Johnny McCabe was on radio and TV with a special bulletin announcing the arrest and with footage of the taxi driver and witness interviews at the scene of the accident. The island was delighted to have the murderer apprehended. Of course, there was no question of innocent until proven guilty. By now, in the eyes of the islanders, the Jamaican was the culprit and the people wanted his head to roll.
    The Premier, like any good politician, wanted to get maximum leverage from the arrest and had decided to call a press conference praising the superior efforts of the Bermuda Police and advising Bermuda’s youth to stay away from drugs. Detective Inspector Burgess and Detective Sergeant Carmichael had been summoned to the Cabinet Office to be filmed and interviewed at the press conference. They were the men of the moment and the Premier understood the value, both in terms of encouraging good relations with the police, and the need for the island to have a couple of heroes after a few dark days, to jump start Cup Match and his flagging popularity.