me. You must be Ryan Beck."
The man stood and shook Ryan's hand. He was a few inches shorter with a stocky build and graying hair. Hopefully that meant experience. They could use that on this case.
"I am."
Rosenthal chuckled a little and waved toward the second chair. "Jesus, you're young. Or am I just old? I swear the new recruits are starting to look like kids to me. Maybe I should start thinking about retirement."
"I'd be bored to death in retirement."
Ryan could barely sit still for more than thirty minutes at a time. He didn't sleep much either. Last night, after his argument with Mariah, he'd managed a whopping four hours. Luckily, he was used to it.
"Damn straight. Me too, actually. I'll probably die on the job. Now, can I get you a cup of coffee? It's terrible but it's hot."
"I'm good, but thanks." Ryan sat down, the legs of the chair scraping on the gray tile. "I was hoping we could talk about Brad Harrington's case. Is the coroner report in yet?"
Rosenthal tapped the papers in front of him. "I got it this morning. It looks like blunt force trauma to the head. There's a dent in the side of his skull that matches the shape of the metal pipe found near the body."
"So...murder?"
It left a nasty taste in Ryan's mouth to even say it. This was what he hadn't wanted to hear.
"It looks that way. I doubt he accidentally fell and hit the side of his head on a pipe."
"I made you copies of the official case file," Rosenthal went on. "It includes all the statements from the time of the disappearance plus the photos from the site where the body was found. The little evidence we were able to find is in this box but I'm afraid I can't let you take it. I can let you look at it, though, and you're welcome to take pictures."
"That's very accommodating of you. I appreciate that."
"I'm guessing you don't always get a warm welcome when you show up," the other man said with a grimace. "Personally, I'm glad that you're here to take the lead on this case. Skip Harrington has been breathing down the necks of the mayor, the governor, both senators, and God knows who else. They in turn scream at my boss who screams at me. I don't like to be yelled at. I'm funny that way. So you being here is going to take the heat off of me. I'll let you deal with the powers that be, and I'll just do my job."
"I don't have a problem dealing with Skip Harrington."
"Better you than me. My boss said that you were friends with the victim. I'm sorry for your loss. I should have said that first thing, and for that I apologize."
"Thank you. It was a long time ago. We were childhood friends. Brad was basically a good guy. He sure as hell didn't deserve this, no matter what happened that night."
Rosenthal was giving him that look...one that was questioning whether Ryan was wealthy as well, but then also wondering why he would be a former cop.
Ryan wouldn't be giving the officer the details of his relationship with the Harringtons.
"So what are your next steps and how can I assist you?" Rosenthal asked. "We're stretched thin as hell here but this case is high profile and we're under pressure to close it as quickly as possible."
"After I look through this file and evidence, I'm going to visit the site and take a look around. I'll also re-interview everyone that I can find from that night."
The detective was nodding as he took another sip of coffee. "We've definitely got our work cut out for us here."
"There is something that you can do to help me, actually."
"Name it."
"The Harringtons mentioned a serial killer that was working Chicago at that time killing college kids. I don't remember seeing anything in the papers about it but I'd like to take a look at the case files to see if there are any similarities."
"That was never proven." Rosenthal scowled and placed his cup down on the table. "It was only one detective's theory that got picked up by the newspapers. There was no serial killer offing college kids."
"I'd like to look at the files anyway," Ryan replied in his most soothing tone. He wanted to keep the cops on his side and cooperating. "That way I can tell the parents that I did my due diligence. I had some information that