heroin and a syringe in Melissa’scar, but my hands were tied by my bosses. You know, all that need-to-know crap. The good news is you’re pretty much the only one I can trust right now because I know you’re not the leak since you didn’t know about it.” Gil thought this reasoning was pretty flimsy but didn’t say anything. Pollack continued. “Things hit the fan here this morning. I’ll have to get back to you.” Pollack hung up.
Gil pulled up in front of Maxine Baca’s house just before seven A.M. She opened the door and walked away without inviting him in. The house was cold—colder than the morning air outside. As he followed her into the kitchen, he wondered where all the family and friends were from last night.
She sat at the table, a shoe box full of magazine clippings in front of her. He stared at her for a second as she rifled through the box. She took out an article with the headline new STUDY SHOWS DRUG USE MORE FREQUENT IN MIDDLE CHILDREN. She was still wearing the same blouse as she had the day before but with different pants. Without a word, he started making coffee. As it was brewing, he went in search of the heater and relit the pilot light, which must have gone out during the night. He found some bread that was starting to turn stale and put it into the toaster. Maxine jumped when the toast popped but didn’t look up. He put the toast and coffee in front of her.
He touched her hand. It was as cold as the air in the house.
“Where’s Ron and Mrs. Cordova and everyone else?” he asked.
“I sent them away.”
“But you need someone to look after you.”
“No,” was all she said. She took another clipping out of the box. He could only read part of the headline— DRUGS: THE KILLERS IN …
He said, as gently as he could, “You could have told me the newspaper asked you about Melissa using drugs. I would have taken care of it.”
“They called so late. It was close to nine P.M. Your childrenmust have already been in bed. I didn’t want the phone to wake them.” She picked up the toast and put it back down without taking a bite.
“The story in the
Capital Tribune
says you denied she ever used drugs. Did you say anything else to them?”
When she spoke, she didn’t answer his question. “The state police last night asked about drugs, but I thought they just always ask that.”
Gil looked at her carefully. He said softly, “Mrs. Baca, I’m going to have to ask you the same question the state police did, but this time I really want you to think about it. Take your time. Looking back, did anything seem out of the ordinary, anything that would make you think Melissa might have been using drugs?”
She collapsed onto the hard tile floor before Gil could catch her.
M rs. Baca woke up a few minutes later. Gil had called an ambulance, but she didn’t want to go to the hospital. The paramedics checked her out and said that she was fine. He called Ron but got his voice mail. In the end, Mrs. Cordova came and took Mrs. Baca off to bed.
Gil was outside, about to call his mom, when Kline called back. The state police were launching an internal investigation into the leak to the media. Kline had somehow used the problem to get Gil added as a limited member of the investigation team. He would be required to submit a daily written report and call Pollack twice a day to update him on any progress. In return, the state police would decide on a case-by-case basis what information they would release to him.
The situation felt, as The Judge used to say, hinky. It was strictly a state-police investigation, and Gil was wondering why they had agreed to have him as part of the team.
After hanging up with Kline, Gil called Pollack back to gethis assignment and see if there was anything else the state police hadn’t told him.
Pollack answered by saying, “Gil, man, we’re going to partner. Cool. I guess that’s the upside of this whole leak thing.” Pollack sounded like a middle-school kid
Gil pulled up in front of Maxine Baca’s house just before seven A.M. She opened the door and walked away without inviting him in. The house was cold—colder than the morning air outside. As he followed her into the kitchen, he wondered where all the family and friends were from last night.
She sat at the table, a shoe box full of magazine clippings in front of her. He stared at her for a second as she rifled through the box. She took out an article with the headline new STUDY SHOWS DRUG USE MORE FREQUENT IN MIDDLE CHILDREN. She was still wearing the same blouse as she had the day before but with different pants. Without a word, he started making coffee. As it was brewing, he went in search of the heater and relit the pilot light, which must have gone out during the night. He found some bread that was starting to turn stale and put it into the toaster. Maxine jumped when the toast popped but didn’t look up. He put the toast and coffee in front of her.
He touched her hand. It was as cold as the air in the house.
“Where’s Ron and Mrs. Cordova and everyone else?” he asked.
“I sent them away.”
“But you need someone to look after you.”
“No,” was all she said. She took another clipping out of the box. He could only read part of the headline— DRUGS: THE KILLERS IN …
He said, as gently as he could, “You could have told me the newspaper asked you about Melissa using drugs. I would have taken care of it.”
“They called so late. It was close to nine P.M. Your childrenmust have already been in bed. I didn’t want the phone to wake them.” She picked up the toast and put it back down without taking a bite.
“The story in the
Capital Tribune
says you denied she ever used drugs. Did you say anything else to them?”
When she spoke, she didn’t answer his question. “The state police last night asked about drugs, but I thought they just always ask that.”
Gil looked at her carefully. He said softly, “Mrs. Baca, I’m going to have to ask you the same question the state police did, but this time I really want you to think about it. Take your time. Looking back, did anything seem out of the ordinary, anything that would make you think Melissa might have been using drugs?”
She collapsed onto the hard tile floor before Gil could catch her.
M rs. Baca woke up a few minutes later. Gil had called an ambulance, but she didn’t want to go to the hospital. The paramedics checked her out and said that she was fine. He called Ron but got his voice mail. In the end, Mrs. Cordova came and took Mrs. Baca off to bed.
Gil was outside, about to call his mom, when Kline called back. The state police were launching an internal investigation into the leak to the media. Kline had somehow used the problem to get Gil added as a limited member of the investigation team. He would be required to submit a daily written report and call Pollack twice a day to update him on any progress. In return, the state police would decide on a case-by-case basis what information they would release to him.
The situation felt, as The Judge used to say, hinky. It was strictly a state-police investigation, and Gil was wondering why they had agreed to have him as part of the team.
After hanging up with Kline, Gil called Pollack back to gethis assignment and see if there was anything else the state police hadn’t told him.
Pollack answered by saying, “Gil, man, we’re going to partner. Cool. I guess that’s the upside of this whole leak thing.” Pollack sounded like a middle-school kid
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