Virgil called Duncan, explained the situation, and Duncan said he would talk with Golden Valley immediately, and that he would also get one of the newly assigned investigators on the Grandfelt case to interview Elias Johannson.
Jemna went into the kitchen and peeked out the window. “They’re still there, out of the cars, with their cameras.”
“On your property?” Lucas asked.
“No, they’re staying clear, in the street.”
“They know better than to trespass,” Lucas said.
Virgil said, “You’re going to be interviewed at the BCA. I mean, in addition to doing the DNA scrub. That’ll slow you down some, but you shouldn’t have these people on your back.”
Jemna: “Is this a sneaky way to arrest El?”
Virgil shook his head: “Not unless he decides to confess that he killed Doris Grandfelt. But it’ll be a formal interview. You can have a lawyer there if you want to.”
“See what happens,” Elias said.
“That’s what I would do,” Lucas said. He said that because he hated to have lawyers sitting in on interviews, because most lawyers understood that the best thing their client could say isnothing. Elias seemed like a talker, and Lucas loved talkers, as would his BCA interviewers.
A few minutes later a Golden Valley patrol car pulled up behind the two crimer vehicles, and a cop got out.
“Time to run for it,” Lucas said, and the Johannsons did, leaving the true-crimers showing their driver’s licenses to the cop.
—
In the Tahoe,Virgil said, “We need to get Stephanie Brady’s camera to Jon and get somebody to go over and give O’Brien a scrub.”
“Yes. I think…Elias picked Doris up on her own, which sort of expands the universe of what she was doing. She was kinda on the street, even if the street was a bar.”
“I did notice. That’s a little depressing. She was maybe turning pro.”
Lucas sighed, and said, “Damnit. The other way was easier. Let’s get over to the BCA and make sure the Johannsons showed up.”
“And then…”
“Klink the Shrink.”
16
Jon Duncan caught Virgil and Lucas inside the BCA’s back door, pulled them into his office, took possession of Brady’s camera and promised to get a DNA scrub from O’Brien, told them that the Johannsons were being interviewed, and, finally, said, “Tell me everything. Don’t leave anything out.”
During Lucas’s time with the BCA, which had ended several years earlier, he’d been more or less the boss of both Duncan and Virgil. As agents, Duncan had persistence, Virgil had talent. Both characteristics were valuable, and a lot of cops would argue that persistence is more important. Lucas generally agreed with that, except on the hard cases, where talent was essential. Virgil sometimes made arrests that, in terms of procedure, baffled his fellow agents.
To say nothing of the fact that he sometimes slept with suspects…which was how he wound up as the father of twins.
—
Since they trustedDuncan as much as they trusted anyone at the BCA, they told him what they’d found.
Duncan: “You’re about three laps ahead of everyone else.”
“If you tell everyone else what we’ve told you, we’ll be tripping over each other,” Lucas said. “Polluting the possibilities. We’ve already got enough problems with the crowd of true crime people.”
“Tell everybody that we’re focusing on clues from the true-crimers,” Virgil suggested. “Which is almost accurate. Keep them off our backs for a few days and maybe we’ll come up with something decent.”
“The guys are all gonna know what the Johannsons are saying…”
“That’s great,” Lucas said. “Tell everybody that we sent the Johannsons over here, and they’ll all assume that we’re one big happy family.”
