Homicide.
If Holland ruled conclusively that Flynn’s death was a homicide instead of suspicious then that ramped things up drastically.
“Who’s to blame?” Brand asked Hawkeye, as they stepped into the hallway. “Dugan for cutting him with his skate or whoever put the rat poison in his peanut butter?”
“The rat poison,” Hawkeye said grimly. “But hell if I know how we’re going to find out who that was. Trainor is going to have a field day when he gets wind of this one.”
They walked silently the rest of the way to the elevator. When the doors slipped open, they stepped inside.
Looking grim, Hawkeye punched the button for the elevator for the main level. “While Dugan’s part was an accident, it was reckless. If he hadn’t been fighting with Flynn this wouldn’t have happened. However, from Dugan’s statement we know Rogers was the catalyst. He spouted off, which caused Flynn to react, and Dugan defended himself. I’m not sure if any disciplinary action should be taken against him or not.”
“It definitely was an accident. An unfortunate turn of events.” Brand agreed, leaning back against the elevator’s wall. “But there is one thing I should probably tell you that I found out last night and you aren’t going to like it.”
“What?” Hawkeye demanded.
“Dugan and Harley have been secretly dating for the last five months.”
Disbelief narrowed his friend’s eyes. “You’re joking, right?”
Brand shook his head. “I wish I were.”
“Sheesh.” Hawkeye looked down and then made eye contact with Brand. “Can this case get any more twisted?”
The doors to the elevator slid open and they stepped out and walked across the main floor to the connecting corridor that would take them to the police compound and his office.
“Let’s hope not,” Brand said. “I’ve spoken with them both and I genuinely got the feeling that they were being honest about why they kept their relationship secret from Reilly. It was the Monte Adams situation. Of course, Harley didn’t know the full reason why her brother didn’t like Scottie.”
“And yet she chose to date the man?”
“Romeo and Juliet meet present day.”
Hawkeye snorted. “Yea, we all make dumb mistakes when it comes to the heart, don’t we?”
“I don’t know,” Brand said. “I believe I made the right one when I met Carly.”
“As I recall you let her and Simone Reid weasel out of your protection detail easily enough and made you and Don Juan look like patsies from the get-go,” Hawkeye reminded him.
“There was that…”
“Uh-huh,” Hawkeye chuckled.
“Okay. Okay. So we can make dumb moves when it comes to the heart, but do you truly think those two plotted to get rid of Reilly?”
“Now that, I don’t,” Hawkeye said as they stopped at his office. Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out his keys, he unlocked the door, and they went inside. He flipped on the light and pointed to a large plastic bag in a side chair. “There are the empty peanut butter jars that Holland is wanting. Care to run those down so he can get started processing them?”
“Sure. While I’m doing that, can you put in an order to have footage of the Flynn’s brownstone collected for the last four to six weeks? I’d like to see if there was any unusual activity going on around there.”
“Good idea,” Hawkeye concurred. “Whatever came of the surveillance that Jett and Rookie pulled for you of the arena footage before the match?”
“I need to follow up with them. I haven’t received the report yet,” Brand said. “I don’t know if that means they have completed it or if they are looking into something they found. I’ll get with them this morning and let you know straight away.”
“Stay on it,” Hawkeye said. “I feel we are getting to a crucial point here with this rat poison element “I’m going to review some of Flynn’s old arrests and see if I can get any vibes from the perps for doing the job.”
“Will do,” Brand said. “Just out of curiosity. Did Flynn work any special cases other than doing patrol?”
“Not really,” Hawkeye said. “Other than when he stumbled upon what Monte Adams was doing and turned in the evidence to Internal Affairs.”
Brand grabbed the plastic bag from the side chair and shot Hawkeye a curious look. “Could that have something to do with this case? We know the fight stemmed from Adams working security at the arena and hanging around during practice, although he claimed to only be doing his job. But could there have been a little revenge going on as well?”
