"Look," Flack said, "I'm here to arrest a guy. I do that without a weapon, I feel kinda naked."
"I can live with that, Detective," Russell said.
"What I mean is, I'm exposed. I don't-"
Russell shook his head. "I know what you meant, Detective, and it doesn't matter. We got rules, we got regulations, and if you violate them, you get put in here for real. Now please check your weapon in the arsenal."
Flack looked at Mac, who just shrugged. He had already checked his weapon. He understood Flack's objection-it was never wise to arrest a suspect unarmed, just on general principles. The weapon provided security, even if it was holstered with the safety on. Even then, it didn't always help, as Mac had learned the hard way.
"Rules are rules, Don," Mac said.
The snarl on Flack's face indicated that he didn't buy that particular line of reasoning. However, he went ahead and checked his weapon. Then they went through the rest of the rigamarole required to enter the prison.
Once that was completed, Mac left a grumbling Flack to the logistics of processing Mulroney so that he could be placed under arrest for Vance Barker's murder. Ursitti accompanied Mac to the interview room. As they walked, Ursitti asked, "What is it you need to do here, Detective?"
"I need to talk to all the COs who supervised the distribution of medication in C Block for the past week."
"You wanna know who stood over Washburne getting his pills?" Ursitti asked.
Mac nodded.
Ursitti got on the radio and asked someone to go to his office and fetch the Charlie Block duty roster for him.
Several minutes after Mac and Ursitti arrived at the interview room, a CO came by with the roster in question. Ursitti flipped through it and found the right page, showing it to Mac. Mac sat down in the chair that Flack had taken in previous interrogations and stared at the page.
Since he really only needed the past week or so to establish the pattern he thought he'd find, he started with the person on duty a week ago. At the sight of the name, he winced, but he still said, "Can you bring Officer Ciccone in here?"
"Sure, but don't expect much. He's pretty pissed off."
"Well, the feeling's mutual."
After Ursitti summoned Ciccone on his radio, Mac asked, "What about the nurses?"
"None of them are in now. Captain Russell can give you contact info if you wanna call them."
"The COs should be sufficient, but I'll get those names and addresses when we're finished."
Ursitti shrugged. "Fine, whatever."
Ciccone entered, then stopped halfway over the threshold as soon as he saw Mac. "Hey, I told you, I ain't talking to you without my lawyer."
Ursitti rolled his eyes. "Come the hell off it, Ciccone."
"I ain't coming off nothing, Lieutenant. I've been harassed by this guy once already; it ain't happening again. Barker's murder ain't my fault, and nothin' you guys can say is gonna make it my fault. I ain't saying a word until my mouthpiece gets here."
"This isn't about the Barker murder, Officer," Mac said. "It's about Washburne."
That brought Ciccone up short. "Washburne?"
"Yes."
Ciccone rubbed his stubble-covered chin. "Okay, as long as we're just talking Washburne, I'm all right with that."
"Thank you," Mac said, trying and probably failing to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
As Ciccone took his seat, Mac asked, "A week ago today, you supervised the distribution of medication in C Block, is that correct?"
Shrugging, Ciccone said, "Sounds right, yeah."
"Was medication administered to Malik Washburne?"
Ciccone nodded and started fidgeting with his hands.
"Do you remember what the medication was?"
"Honestly, I don't remember what he takes. I'd have to check the roster. I know he only had one pill though."
"And he took it?"
"Sure, like always." Ciccone shrugged, still fidgeting.
"Describe the process, please."
Rolling his eyes, Ciccone said, "Went like usual. The nurse gave him the meds, then gave him a glass of water. He put the pill in his mouth, he took the glass, he swallowed the water."
"You're sure?"
"Course I'm sure, I do this at least once a week, sometimes more."
"And Washburne took his meds?"
"Absolutely."
Mac made a few notes in his notepad and then said, "All right, Officer, that's all I needed to know. Thank you."
Getting up, Ciccone said, "No problem, Detective. Always happy to waste my time with you. Sure you don't wanna ask me anything else? I got a great story about how the cons brushed their teeth two weeks ago."
Smirking, Mac said, "No, Officer, that'll be all."
As Ciccone left, Mac looked up at Ursitti. "Next I need to talk to Officer Bolton."
Bolton was summoned and took his seat. "What can I do for you, Detective?"
"According to the roster, you supervised the administration of medication for C Block six days ago."
"Sounds right, yeah."
"Did you administer Klonopin to Malik Washburne?"
Leaning back in his chair, Bolton looked up at the ceiling. "Honestly, Detective, I don't remember if it was Klonopin or not. I can't keep track. I'm pretty sure he got what he was supposed to get, though."
"And he took the meds?"
"Sure." Bolton shrugged.
"He didn't try any of the usual tricks?"
Bolton laughed at that, glancing at Ursitti. "Nah, he wasn't that stupid. It's usually the new guys and the really dumb ones that try the bullshit."
"So Washburne took his meds six days ago?"
"Far as I remember, yeah."
"Thank you, Officer."
Next up was Flack's friend Sullivan. A smile broke out on his baby face as soon as he came in and recognized Mac. "Hey, Detective Taylor. How's the investigation going?"
"Well, half of it's going fine. Detective Flack is arresting Jack Mulroney for Vance Barker's murder."
"Ain't gonna be sorry to see that asshole go." Sullivan took his seat, then leaned forward, his shaggy blond hair flopping into his face, and talked in a whisper. "Hey, listen, Detective, you're a friend of Donnie's, right?"
Realizing Sullivan wanted to keep this conversation between the two of them, he leaned forward and said, "Yes."
"I've known the guy since we were kids, but-" He hesitated. "Look, the guy's not takin' his meds. The man was in a bomb explosion a year ago, and he's actin' like nothin' happened. That ain't healthy."
Mac was hardly in a position to lecture other people about how they dealt with post-traumatic stress disorder. That was for the department therapist. Then again, Mac knew Flack's opinion of department therapists.
The embarrassing part was that Mac hadn't noticed that Flack wasn't taking his Percocet, and it made him wonder what else he'd been missing lately.
Mac leaned back and spoke in a normal tone. "I'll see what I can do about that personal problem of yours, Officer," he said for Ursitti's benefit, "but it's actually the inmates' taking of medication that I'd like to talk to you about now."
"Shoot." Sullivan slapped the table with his palms and then let them rest on his lap.
"Five days ago, you supervised Malik Washburne receiving his meds."
"Yeah, that's right. He takes-uh, Zoloft, I think."
"Klonopin, actually."
Sullivan snapped his fingers. "Right, Klonopin. Anyhow, yeah, he took it."
"What was the procedure?"
Blowing out a breath, Sullivan said, "Nurse takes out the pill, hands it to him, he takes it, she hands him a glass, he drinks it, down goes the pill." He shrugged. "The usual."
"He didn't try to palm the meds or anything like that? Hide it under his tongue?"
"Nah, Washburne wasn't that kinda guy. He was a cop, he knew the drill."
"Okay, then. Thanks, Officer."
After Sullivan left, Ursitti said, "Okay, Detective, you wanna explain yourself? I assume you're gonna bring in everyone on that list."
"No," Mac said, standing and hoisting the clipboard, "I think I've got everything I need. At most, I'd only need to talk to"-he gazed down at the list-"Officers Schuster, Moody, and Gibson. See, I already talked to Officer Andros-he's the one who supervised Washburne the day he died, and I already got his story." Looking up at Ursitti, he handed the lieutenant the clipboard. "That's why I know that Officers Ciccone, Bolton, and Sullivan were all lying just now."