“Of course. I’d like it if you all would.”
“Holly, we’ve had some discussion this morning, and I believe it’s fair to say that it was the sense of our meeting that we appoint an acting chief while Chet Marley is incapacitated.”
Holly said nothing.
“What I mean is, we feel that a person who is more familiar with the way the department is organized, and more familiar with the territory in Orchid Beach, would be a better choice for this position. We’d like you to stay on, of course, but we feel that Lieutenant Hurd Wallace is the natural choice for the position.”
Charlie Peterson spoke up. “Not all of us feel that way, John,” he said, and Frank Goldman nodded vigorously in agreement.
“All right, then,” Westover said, reddening, “a majority of us feel that way.”
“Mr. Westover…”
“John, please.”
“Of course, John. I believe you’ve had an opportunity to read my contract.”
“Well, I did take a quick look at it.”
“Then I’m sure you know that it specifies that, in any circumstance when Chief Marley is unable to perform his duties, I automatically become acting chief.”
“Well, now, I don’t know about that,” Westover said.
“Holly,” Irma Taggert said, leaning forward, “we don’t want to be sticklers over legal matters here, we’re just doing what we believe is best for our little city.”
“Of course you are, Irma,” Holly said, “and I feel I have that same obligation.”
“I’m so glad,” Taggert said, looking relieved.
“I believe that I have an obligation to live up to the terms of my contract, and that the city has the same obligation. It’s my understanding that the city charter gives Chet Marley the authority to hire and fire in his department and to appoint his own choices in supervisory and executive positions. Chief Marley told me that he considered Hurd Wallace for the position and decided against him. Now he has made his choice, and my intention is to carry out his wishes to the best of my ability.”
“Young lady,” Irma Taggert spat, “do you realize that we could fire you out of hand this minute and appoint whoever we want to your job?”
Holly felt her hackles rising, and she couldn’t resist the impulse to fire back. Charlie Peterson saved her from herself.
“Irma, I’m the lawyer here, so let me give you the city’s legal position in a nutshell. Deputy Chief Barker has a five-year contract properly approved and executed by the relevant authority, Chief Marley. If we were to fire her, she would be entitled, at the very least, to every penny specified in her contract, plus health insurance and pension contributions. It’s my considered opinion that, if we fired her, she could also bring an action against the city for unlawful dismissal and sex discrimination and that she would probably get both compensatory and punitive damages.”
“Just tell me this, Charlie Peterson,” Taggert shot back. “Why hasn’t she arrested the person who shot Chet Marley?”
Holly held up both hands. “Please, ladies and gentlemen,” she said. “I don’t want to be a bone of contention in this council, so just let me state my position, and then I’ll leave you to get on with your deliberations.”
“Please do,” Charlie Peterson said.
“I’ve been hired to do a job here. It’s one I’m well qualified for and one I intend to do. If I ever feel that I can’t handle it for any reason, I’ll come to you and resign, I promise you that. With regard to the shooting of Chief Marley, I can tell you that every resource of this department is being deployed to find and arrest the perpetrator. I would remind you that, if I resigned today, the same people would still be investigating that crime. Now, if you have any questions of me, about my background or my intentions, I’ll be glad to answer them right now.”
There was silence for a while, finally broken by John Westover. “Holly, welcome aboard,” he said. “If any of us can be of any help to you, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Holly smiled sweetly. “Thank you all so much.”
CHAPTER
20
Back at her desk, Holly called in Hurd Wallace and Bob Hurst. “I want to bring you up to date on something,” she said. “I interviewed Sam Sweeney yesterday, and he eventually admitted that he heard the shot that hit Chief Marley, a single shot.”
Hurst spoke up. “I went over all that very thoroughly with him several times, and he didn’t tell me that.”
“Maybe he felt less threatened after having been released,” Holly said. “He also told me that he heard heated arguing before the shot was fired, from two or three men, and that, after the shot was fired, he heard two car doors slam, indicating two perps. He said the car—not a truck or large vehicle—made a U-turn and drove north on A1A.”
“What else did he say?”
“That was it. I thought you should both have his information for your investigation.”
“Thanks, Chief,” Hurst said, but he was looking embarrassed for not having produced it himself.
“Is anybody getting anything?”
“Not a thing,” Wallace said. “I’ve interviewed every street officer, and there’s just nothing.”
Hurst spoke up. “I think the reason for that is that this was some sort of isolated incident, not connected to any other criminal activitiy that our snitches might know about. Everything points to it being a stopping of a vehicle that went wrong—speeding, drunk driving, broken taillight, suspicious activity—something like that.”
Holly didn’t believe that for a moment, but then she knew a little more than Hurst did. “That would seem to cover the events,” she said. “Except for the fact of Hank Doherty’s murder.”
Neither of the men said anything.
“Whoever shot the chief took his shotgun from his car, went straight to Hank Doherty’s and killed him.”
“We don’t know that,” Wallace said.
“Can you think of any other scenario that works?”
“You’re right, Chief,” Hurst said. “She’s right, Hurd; the two shootings are connected by the shotgun.”
“Anything new on the chief’s condition?” Wallace asked, changing the subject.
Holly quickly decided to tell them. “The chief woke up yesterday and started talking.”
Two sets of eyebrows went up. “Did he say who shot him? Anything at all?” Hurst asked.
“He remembered nothing about the incident or anything that had occurred for a good five weeks before it. His last memory was of meeting with me, on the occasion when he hired me to come here.”
“Any chance he’ll regain some of that memory?” Wallace asked.
“The news gets worse, I’m afraid. He went to sleep while I was there, and this morning, the nurses couldn’t wake him. He’s back in a coma, and the doctor can’t offer any real prognosis.”
Wallace nodded. “For a minute there I thought we’d had a break.”
“So did I,” Holly said, “but we’re going to have to solve this crime without the chief’s help. The odds of his waking up and remembering everything have gotten a lot worse. Although the doctor hasn’t actually said so, my feeling was that he didn’t expect him to recover.” She watched the two men carefully for their reactions, and they were what she would have expected—sadness and worry on the part of Hurst, and the usual lack of emotion on the part of Wallace.
“Where do we go from here?” Hurst asked.
“We start again from the beginning,” Holly said. “I want you to visit the crime scene again and, this time, work both sides of the road. When they made the U-turn, they could have thrown something out. Check out Hank Doherty’s again, too; see if we missed anything.”