nodded at a tech standing in the front doorway. The tech pulled the curtains and shut the front door. The room was plunged into darkness.
“I’m going to spray a chemical called Luminol on the fireplace,” Walker explained. “The chemical reacts with the iron found in hemoglobin. It’s not an infallible test, but it is a good indicator where an assault has taken place.”
Jack heard the sound of a spray bottle being pumped, then a faint light came on. Walker was holding what looked like a cable with a light glowing on its end. As he played the light over the brick fireplace front, a white/blue vertical smear appeared at eye level and seemed to splash downward onto the hearth, where it pooled into large circular shapes.
“Is that what I think it is?” Jansen asked.
Walker switched off the light and said to one of his people, “Get the lights.” To the detectives he said, “You can take the goggles off now.”
The lights came on and Walker collected their eyewear.
“We used Hemastix to test the bright areas you saw with the goggles. The presumptive test was positive for blood, Larry. We’ll send samples to the state lab to confirm and run DNA.”
“So is it her blood or not?” Jansen asked.
Walker patiently said, “I don’t know if it’s the victim’s, but I think it is blood.”
Jansen scribbled something in his notebook.
“What do you think happened here, Tony?” Jack asked.
Walker cast a glance at Jansen and hesitated before saying, “I think she was killed here,” but stopped when he saw Jansen writing busily in his notebook. “No fingerprints—except for the victim’s,” he reluctantly added.
Understanding the reason for his hesitation, Jack said, “I’ll check with you for updates, Tony,” and then to Liddell, “I guess there’s no point in taking up Sergeant Walker’s time. If he says there’s no more evidence, that’s good enough for me. Can I see you on the porch, Larry?” Jack asked, and walked out through the front door.
Jansen came out, scowling, and asked, “Aren’t we going through the house? If not, I need to start interviewing neighbors.”
Jack saw that he would have to lay down the law. “Look. Larry, I know you were assigned to help me with this case by Captain Franklin. But . . .”
Jack knew he should probably feel guilty for what he was about to do, but he didn’t. Jansen hadn’t worked in Homicide—or even as a real detective—as far back as Jack could remember. Plus, Jansen had a bad ticker, a sick wife, and a propensity to sell information to the news media. If Jansen wasn’t kissing Double Dick’s ass, he wouldn’t even be here.
“But what, Jack? What have I done wrong?” Jansen asked.
“It’s not that you’ve done something wrong, Larry. I’m just not used to working with anyone but Bigfoot. Look, I’ve got a job for you. You okay with that?”
Color bloomed in Jansen’s face and neck. He pushed both hands in the pockets of his nicotine-stained trench coat. “I get it. You’re in charge. So, what do you want me to do, b’wana?”
Unfazed by the hostility, Jack wrote a telephone number on a slip of paper. “Go downtown and call Angelina Garcia at that number. Tell her I asked her to come in and help us out. If she says no, call me. If she says yes, wait for her at headquarters and give her all the names we have so far. Get her started running them through the computer. When you’re done, I have another job for you.”
“Why am I going to headquarters? Can’t Angelina just go in and work on that stuff ?”
Jack was one step ahead of him. “Larry, you carry more weight as a detective than she does as a civilian employee. It’s vital that you look through all the old mug shots, fingerprints, and find connections between any of the people you have in your notes. Recruit some of the girls in Records to help you. They’ll do it for you. I know we’ve had our differences, but you’re a good detective, Larry. No one can say any different.”
When he wanted someone out of his hair, he could either order the offender to go away, or try to lose him in traffic. Jack had already tried the traffic thing and it hadn’t worked out. Besides, the downside of doing it that way was you didn’t know where that person was, or when, or where they were going to turn up.
Jack went back inside after Jansen drove away. He