“I did at that,” Herdine answered. “Interesting coincidence, don’t you think?”
“The coincidences are starting to pile up,” Wire replied, still locked on Mac.
“Thought you might say that,” Herdine replied and then offered a piece of paper out of his notebook. “I’ve got a guy you could talk to about that case, maybe you can share notes, perhaps help each other out? In fact, if you wanted to call him at that number in say ten minutes, I’m sure he’d be available to chat with you.”
* * *
Foucault put the binoculars on the scene from the northeast, a quarter mile away up the shoreline as it angled away from Checketts’s home. Vigneault worked the camera, taking photos, zeroing in on the two cops talking on the bluff. He looked away from the camera to the pictures on his tablet, then back into the camera and took three more photos. He checked the pictures and looked at the tablet again. “No doubt about it. That’s McRyan.”
“Can’t be. He was in Minnesota just a few hours ago.”
“It’s McRyan and he’s with a woman cop, or at least I think she’s a cop. She carries herself like a cop.”
“Take some pictures of her. What about that woman who fired on our guys at McCormick’s and then again at us outside that pub? Is that her?”
“Did we ever get a good description of her?” Vigneault asked as he snapped photos.
Foucault looked to his notes, “Tall, brunette, black jacket, knew how to handle a gun.” Foucault looked through his binoculars. “That could be her. She certainly fits the description.”
Vigneault smiled, “Was she described as good looking?”
Foucault put the glasses back up to his eyes, “She was not, but then again, the descriptions of her came from people under fire so I doubt they took in the aesthetics. However, my friend, I do see a tall brunette with her long hair in a ponytail who is rather fetching. She’s in a short black leather coat and she has a Sig Sauer on her belt but …”
“But what?”
“McRyan has his shield on his belt. I don’t see one on her.”
“Could be in her coat,” Vigneault posited.
“I suppose, or maybe she’s with another law enforcement agency. FBI agents don’t wear their badges on their belts or around their necks.”
“They also show up to crime scenes in functional dark suits or navy blue wind breakers with FBI in gold lettering, not skin tight blue jeans and stylish black leather coats,” Vigneault noted. “Hmpf.”
“What?”
Vigneault watched through the camera. “Take a look through your glasses.”
Foucault did and saw the woman working her way south along the shoreline, looking down the bluff towards the lake. She stopped and McRyan joined her. They looked at each other and there was some conversation. Then McRyan started down the bluff looking at the footpath. “Isn’t that the path you guys used?”
“Yes.”
McRyan stopped and started taking pictures with his cell phone. The St. Paul detective then worked his way farther down the path and did the same thing and then took another look farther down the path to the lake but did not go down any farther. After another minute, he made his way back up and he and the woman were then joined by the Milwaukee cops.
“I’m starting to think that our plan to make it look like a suicide is going to be questioned,” Foucault said.
Vigneault snapped a few more photos and then pulled the camera down. “You may be right. We came up that path so there are probably footprints. In the dark we couldn’t really see very well on the way up and back down but it seemed like mostly grass.” He hooked his camera up to his tablet and copied the photos into an e-mail to Kristoff. Then he pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Kristoff, I’m sending you photos to look at. McRyan is on the scene here, not just Milwaukee PD. Yes, McRyan. And I have pictures of a woman who is with him and seems to be investigating with him. I think she is the woman from St. Paul.”
* * *
Double Frank and Paddy McRyan followed the ambulance as it motored on Interstate 494 as it approached Highway 100. The trauma surgeon had pronounced the killer stable enough to travel to the hospital. There were two squad cars in front of the ambulance. Double Frank and Paddy were directly behind, followed by two more patrol units. The ambulance was riding quiet, no lights, driving the posted. A