Chapter 46 third quarter

Rhett hurried through the security gate just as Teri Miller was exiting. "The superintendent is looking for you, chief," Terry said between greetings. "Deep joy," Rhett muttered.Ask Teri again, "Hey, where's the fire again?" "Major emergency," Teri called. "The coffee machine is broken." "Two shots to kill me." When Rhett walked into the superintendent's office, her smile disappeared.Blake was always so elusive.Bill Andrew has said as much, although they are close colleagues who have worked together for many years.She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.She was invited to step into the room, raising her eyebrows riskily in the direction of the superintendent.

"You want to see me, sir?" "Please sit down, Cathy." Blake's eyes were fixed on Rhett. "Would you please tell me that you have made some progress?" "So do I. The team did everything they could, but we're still trying, sir. Modus operandi aside, the only connection we have between the two murders is the victims in both cases." Both had been to an on-call agency. Our silver lining is that the second victim ruled out the first being killed for political motives." "But you've narrowed it down," Blake said, declaratively rather than interrogatively.

Rhett hesitated. "Actually, sir, we have to expand the scope of our investigation." "expand?" "A celibate woman was seen leaving the hotel at the time of the murder on the night of the murder. We are considering the suspect as two people, working together. Girls as bait. Victims are being sought through on-call agencies." "That's a pretty far-fetched hypothesis," Blake said. "What about the first victim? The one killed in the men's room?" "Good question, sir. But at present, this is the only lead we can follow." "The authorities are getting uneasy, Cathy. Understandably. This is already national news, not just local news."

"I understand, sir." Blake leaned back in his chair. "So far I've seen little sign of creative thinking. Sometimes I get the feeling that you're still working in prosecutor mode. It doesn't seem like you're fully in the role of Inspector General. No initiative. No delegation. No decision making." He looked at Rhett through his glasses. "But, that's just my feeling, right? I might be biased." Rhett mulled over how to react. "Yes, sir," she said after a long pause. Blake sat forward again.With a more relaxed expression. "But let's put that aside for now. That's not why I called you here. Well, at least not the only reason, anyway."

"Sir?" Rhett held his breath. "How long has Joe Farmer been on sick leave?" Rhett breathed a sigh of relief.She shrugged. "It's been a long time, sir." "That's what I think, Cathy. It's been almost 8 months. I'm just telling you this, I don't think he's coming back to work." "Sir? Is he really sick or something? I mean, serious illness? I thought it was just stress." "Officially, yes. It's just..." "Just what, sir?" "Has Detective Chief Inspector Andrews discussed Farmer with you?"

"Discuss what, sir?" "Like something personal about Farmer? His sick leave?" "We've only talked about his performance, sir. My boss, Detective Chief Inspector Andrews, doesn't gossip." "No, no, of course not. Let me put it this way. Did Bill mention to you his and my concerns about Farmer?" "What concerns?" Blake sat back, considering what he should do. "No, you were just an inspector. Of course Bill wouldn't say anything to you." "Bill's professionalism is respected." "There's no doubt about it. Did you know that Joe Farmer occasionally visited the station during his sick leave? Five times, to be exact."

Rhett pondered the words. "Is there a problem? He doesn't have any contagious disease." "Wait for me to finish. The first three times were in the first week of his sick leave. Regularly coming back to sign papers, refer cases to colleagues, etc. Come to the police station, spend some time with colleagues in the cafeteria, are the usual stuff. But then Lord Farmer pretty much disappeared. No one saw him again. Until..." "Sir?" "Farmer disappeared for months, allegedly feeling stressed out and going somewhere. Then all of a sudden, he showed up at the police twice. Lightning visits. Came on his own. Stayed like a few minutes and left. No interest in meeting his old team. No interaction. Nothing."

"Stress causes this, sir. Makes you behave strangely." "But here's the thing, Cathy. The two days when Farmer disappeared coincided with the date that you and Detective Chief Inspector Andrews received letters from 'The Hunter'." Rhett held his breath. "Obviously, for the letter to be delivered to you, it has to be done by someone with authority," Blake continued. "Our first guess, naturally, was some clerical worker. But, we dismissed it, it was a lame joke. When we came up with a second guess, with reflection, and re-checked the CCTV from those two days , and discovered the connection between Farmer's appearance and this incident."

"Bill knows?" "Not at first. Then Detective Chief Inspector Andrew was given strict instructions not to let this information get out of this room." Rhett frowned. "Farmer? And 'Hunter'?" "Unbelievable, isn't it? Of course, it's all speculation. We have no proof. I want to stress that we found nothing else suspicious about him, so I'm reluctant to use such far-fetched grounds for a full internal investigation. However, I thought I should tell you our concerns." "Thank you, sir. I appreciate that." "Regardless of your personal feelings, this is not an urgent matter. Don't let it distract you from the murder. Colin Blake lowered his eyes and returned to his official papers, indicating that the conversation was over."

"Sir." Rhett stood up slowly, her mind was muddled. "Oh, and Cathy," Blake said, as Rhett opened the door and was about to leave. "Anything else, sir?" "See you on Sunday. Look forward to it." "Sunday?" Blake's desk phone rang.One of his hands answered the phone spontaneously. "Superintendent Blake." Rhett shrugged and closed the door.