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Read Part 17
Parme had no particular problem with Captain William Allen, his immediate superior and the only other man in the building with as many years on the force as Parme had. That said, he had no particular love for the man either. He was adept at doing his job, which seemed to be mostly remaining under the radar, maintaining the morale of the men, as much as that was possible, and serving as the paperwork gatekeeper between the force on the ground in his precinct and the paper shufflers at division. It was all important work, but not what Parme considered real police work.
Which was not to say that what Parme did during his working hours was real police work, not these days at any rate. It used to be a real job, years ago when he still believed in the system, before his partner was killed. When he was a young man, police work was an important job to him. But those days were behind him now. In a way, he envied men like Captain Allen who had never known what the job was really supposed to be all about.
Back when Parme was cruising with Mike Hernandez, Miguel when he was off duty, he took his work very seriously. To serve and protect, whatever the cost. They were young and stupid and neither of them ever considered how high the cost could actually be. After Mike was killed, Parme never took another partner. Sure, the young detectives he mentored called him that, but Parme’s partner was long dead.
These days, Parme did a pretty good job of staying out from under the Captain’s feet. He felt he owed him that after the way he acted after Mike was shot and how he gave Parme time to recover, as much as that was possible, and then let him have the job he has now. It wasn’t real police work, not in Parme’s estimation, but it was important. He was teaching these kids how to stay alive, how to do the job without getting shot and maybe, if the stars lined up and the lawyers had a bad day, make a difference in the world. None of that would have been possible if Captain Allen hadn’t signed off on it.
The Captain also made sure that Parme got his first choice of cases, which allowed him to cherry pick the easy ones, the ones where the bad guy made so many mistakes that even the rookies could follow the trail and bring him in. It was important for the younger detectives to taste success early on. It was like holding a bloody rag to a bloodhound’s nose. Once they got the scent, they took to the job. Then, all he had to do was hold the leash firmly until they developed the kinds of habits that would keep them alive. Once that was done, he would turn them loose and pick up another rookie to run through the same paces.
When Parme pulled the paperwork on the Paula Kelly murder, it seemed like a perfect case for his current rookie. The crime scene was a nightmare for any normal person, but a dream for Wayne Singleton and his team. There was evidence everywhere. But now, weeks into the investigation, none of the evidence seemed to be pointing anywhere and people who somehow knew much more than they should about the case were showing up dead. This was not the kind of case to train a new detective on.
Parme had made the decision to kick the case back to White and Nauscott to handle and find something a bit more straightforward to work on with Gilbert. He had made an appointment with the Captain for later in the day to discuss it and so was surprised to get the call from Harriet, the rail thin woman who handled Allen’s front office. Parme was expected to appear at once. He would have argued but he didn’t want to rile up Harriet. People who underestimated that woman were never pleased with the outcome. It was a mistake Parme had only made once.
He stomped up the stairs to the second floor after grunting hello to Sargent Larsen at the front desk. Captain Allen’s office was right off the stairwell, but you couldn’t get to the glassed in inner office without making your way past Harriet in the outer one. Parme held his breath and pushed open the door.
Harriet was a battle axe, but her sharp edge was carefully concealed behind a model-pretty mask. She was beautiful in a 1980s Sharon Tiegs poster kind of way, only with a couple of decades of wear on it. Somehow, the wear made her more attractive. When she smiled, she could turn an angry paper pusher from division into a pussy cat begging for her attention. When she was provoked, which seemed to happen anytime anyone did anything that upset the delicate sensibilities of Captain Allen, her deadly blade made its appearance.
“Good morning, Harriet,” Parme said as he entered the outer office. He started to smile, which always took a bit of extra effort for Parme, when he caught a glimpse of the visitor already seated in Captain Allen’s office.
“What the hell!” Parme started for the inner office door, but suddenly Harriet was between him and the door knob. His hand was almost touching her left hip when she slapped it down. Parme’s frown started to turn into a snarl before the slender woman got up in his face.
“Shut it!” she hissed up at him. Even on her tip toes he was still a full head taller. He looked over her 80s style hairdo at the men in the inner office. “That man in there is a man of the cloth,” Harriet stated with a note of reverence in her voice.
“I know what he is,” Parme muttered.
Harriette continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Captain Allen is very respectful around the clergy. Everyone knows that. Don’t you embarrass him.”
Parme looked down at the little woman who had thrown herself between him and her superior as if she were the last line of defence against a dangerous enemy. He blinked at her. She stabbed a manicured finger up at him to punctuate her point.
“Are you gonna let me in or did he just want to see me through the glass?” Parme asked.
Harriette rolled her eyes, turned and opened the door. “Detective Parme to see you, Captain, as requested.”
She stood aside to let the old detective in. The Captain and Cardinal Mara stood to greet him.
Read Part 19
