Chapter 3 second quarter
For a long time before he crossed the hurdle of forty years old, Dismas Hardy maintained a regular jogging exercise.His jogging route was from his house on Thirty-fourth Street straight to the shore, then across the coarse sand to Lincoln Avenue, and from there he continued east along the sidewalk to the one on Ninth Street. Home Clover Cantina.He is one of the partners in this bar.If he passes by here on weekends or early in the morning, he will stop and drink a beer, until the physical condition of his age makes him realize that he can no longer drink like this, then he will slow down the pace of drinking and let the rest of the wine slow down. Slowly lose the taste of wine and dilute into a glass of water.After drinking, return home through Golden Gate Park and complete your own four-mile jogging lap.
The last time he implemented a fitness program was about three years ago.The first week he did as planned.Halfway through the second week, he kept telling himself that two miles was a good thing for a forty-seven-year-old, but then he gave up on his exercise program.Over the past decade, he's put on just eight pounds, far less than many of his colleagues.He doesn't intend to let the shape issue bother him.
Just last year, his best friend Abu Griski had a heart attack. This incident made him understand that age is not forgiving, and health problems have been placed in front of him.Abu was older than Hadi by several years, but until his heart attack, Hadi still thought that neither he nor Abu was old enough to have a heart attack.The two became best friends when they joined the force together.At that time, Hadi had just returned to China from Vietnam.
Griski is the head of the San Francisco Homicide Squad.He is a mixed race of black and Jewish descent. He was an infield lineman for the school football team in college.Speaking of him, the colleagues around him couldn't find any other appropriate words to describe him except "dead stubborn".His appearance also confirms this personality trait: under the hatchet-like nose, there is a deep scar carved from the top of the lip to the chin; a broad forehead full of wisdom under the ragged gray hair trimmed by electric clippers.Grisky doesn't smoke or drink, nor is he rude to others, except for the occasional grin that makes him look scary, to frighten his subordinates or amuse children.When he married the new prosecutor's administrative assistant, Treya Gent, six months ago, several of his agents made a bet that the new life would make him more easygoing, and they continue to do so. Bet in installments.
Hardy is an accomplished defense attorney.Although he and Grisky were professionally opposites, they shared many happy moments in their lives.After the death of Griskie's first wife, Flo, a few years ago, Hardy and his wife, Franny, took his three children into their home to live with them until Abramovich recovered from the grief and change of his death. come out.Hardy also attended Abramovich's second wedding last fall as best man.
They will not talk about these trivial things in life, after all, they are both men, but each has carved a deep imprint in each other's life.
The appearance of a heart attack caught their attention.
About a month after Abu got married, the two of them jointly implemented a regular exercise plan like this, that is, a few days in a week should motivate or urge each other to do some fitness activities.Judging from the results of the first few weeks, such a feat requires their amazing perseverance and endurance to persevere, and it is obvious that such a requirement is somewhat difficult for them.The backache and leg pain caused by exercise almost made them give up their fitness plan.So, they decided to go for brisk walks a few times a week instead, or play penalty-ball on the weekends or whatever.
This morning they were walking at three miles an hour around Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park.The weather was fine, with a pleasant coolness in the air, and the rising sun could be seen passing over the treetops in the distance.There is a thin layer of mist on the surface of the lake. Through the mist, one can clearly see an adult swan and her group of children playing and playing on the shore.
As usual, Griski talked about his work again.He complained that the politicians were agitating to put two inexperienced agents on his unit because of the incompetence of his elite agents on the unprovoked intensification of hit-and-run vehicle cases in the Gulf.Of the 93 people in the city and county who were struck by motor vehicles in the past 12 months, 27 were killed and 66 crashes involved no fatalities, Griski said. There were fourteen hit and run cases.
"I admire how quickly you can come up with a string of numbers," Hardy said. "Anyone would swear you knew everything you just said."
"Those are accurate statistics."
"Yes, I do. That's why I'm glad we're on the road and not the street. There's always a chance of getting run over for no apparent reason. But these numbers will affect your department Is it? I don't think a hit-and-run is a homicide."
Griski shot him sideways. "Technically, only accidents that kill people are."
"Well, your jurisdiction extends there. But why do those cases go to your department? You have the Homicide Squad."
"We didn't investigate them, we never investigated them. Do you want to know why? One is because there is a special investigation unit called the 'Vehicle Hit and Run Cases' investigation unit."
"If they do their job like I think, it's a good name," Hardy said.
"Yes, that's a good name," Griski agreed.He knew that, despite the department's usual denial that detectives were sloppy in handling a hit-and-run, even if it was a murder, it was a common occurrence.Usually the day after an accident, a group of hit-and-run detectives gather in a courthouse to bury themselves in paperwork.Perhaps they will go to the scene of the accident to see if they can find a witness who can provide the license plate number of the vehicle involved in the accident.If not, then there are no strong eyewitnesses in the accident report, but it is very necessary for the final findings.If they have the license plate number, they enter it into a computerized information system and look it up to see if they can find a street address associated with the vehicle at fault.Sometimes, if the accident is well-reported and they have a description of the vehicle that was involved, they'll call a garage or two and check to see if they've ever come across a vehicle that matches the appearance of the vehicle that was involved in the accident, but The answer is usually "no".Even so, it's a decent department. "But they don't do the same thing as we do, we investigate homicides."
"Anyway, the name of your group suggests that what you do is investigate all homicides."
“That’s where it gets confusing,” Griski said. “Our city officials have a vague idea of that.”
They fell silent for a moment, and walked on a little further in silence. "Then what's the second point?" Hardy asked again.
"What's the second point?"
"You say you don't investigate hit-and-run homicide cases. The first reason is that there is an independent hit-and-run investigation team that is responsible for such cases. When you say this is the first reason, it means that there is a second reason. Two reasons."
Griski slowed down, and then they both stopped. "The second is that people in hit-and-run vehicular cases are generally not murderers. In fact, they are never murderers."
"Don't be so absolute."
"You can say that this time. Do you want to know why?"
"Is it difficult to find the murder weapon?"
"That's one reason, but the other reason is that you can't convince someone you're planning to kill to stand in front of your car and let you drive over him without witnesses around. Most people Understand that this is not feasible.”
"Then what's the problem?"
"The problem is..." Griski paused, "twenty-seven people died in twelve months, and the townspeople are clearly in a state of panic."
"I guess I've been, too," Hardy lamented. "It's always been that way."
"Yes, as you can see, our honorable county council has set up a special fund to reward witnesses who give leads and to strengthen the detection of hit-and-run vehicle cases."
"That's a really good idea."
"You'd be wrong to think that, it's not a very good idea," Griski retorted. "No special investigation has ever been initiated into a hit-and-run homicide case, not even a hit-and-run case. 100% Ninety percent of the accidents are caused by drunk driving, and the remaining ten percent are due to the inattention of some drivers. Passing between the two cars in the car—bang! They collided and then separated. It can even be said that they did nothing wrong before they left the scene. This is a felony homicide, isn't it, because the driver should stay At the scene of the incident, but they are not murderers."
"Then why do you care about this issue?"
"Because I've added those two politically connected new clowns to my group in the last two months—excuse me for saying that, I mean the agents. I've told you about this before Having said that. They seem to be hard-pressed to do anything worthwhile, sorry to say, but it has not escaped the eyes of my competent subordinates. Although they did not exaggerate their opinions, they just Occasionally referred to them as 'car cops' when referring to them behind their backs."
"Maybe they took it as a compliment," Hardy said.
Griski shook his head in disgust, looked down at his watch, and said, "Let's keep going."
Hardy could imagine the plight of the two newcomers, and knew the veteran homicide detectives would be no better.Although the scandals and controversies of the past few years have tarnished the egregious image of the rest of the department, the twelve men and women who work in the homicide unit still consider themselves elite.They have become famous through their own efforts, of course, this is related to the achievements they have made.They take pride in the work they do.Novices will not flatter their arrogant attitude. "So are they wronged?" Hardy asked.
"Someone spray-painted 'Car No. 54' on a magazine they received. That big sunshade our group has had for years, you know? Between two guys' desks, they can't see each other when they're sitting at their desks. Oh, and those little metal cars that kids play with, seven or eight of them every day It’s on my desk, in my drawers, everywhere.”
"I think we're talking about the 'abuse' category."
Griski nodded in agreement. "To be fair, that's it."
It was a little past nine in the morning, and Griski was sitting at his desk.Their two new subordinates—Harlan Fisk and Darrell Braco—were in a small, closed door on the fourth floor of the Justice Building.In the two months since they came to work here, they have been dispatched to duty due to more than ten vehicle hit-and-run casualties.They were supposed to be out and about this morning's Tim Markham accident, but now they're in their boss's office waiting for instructions before acting.
Griski blamed neither Fisk nor Bracco for their overwhelmed behavior in the homicide squad.But by this morning, he had to admit, he had been thinking about it a lot, and he couldn't sleep.They were all appointed for political purposes, and they were rightly given temporary stops on the upward ladder, rising far faster than those who were smarter, more competent, and more diligent. agent.
Harlan Fisk, the nephew of City Supervisor Cassie West, was a massive six-foot-three, one-hundred-pound man who was so humble that he could almost use the word "submissive."Darrell Bracco is a clean, breezy man who served in the military and was a bodyguard for Fisk's godfather, Bernard.Compared with his partner Fisk, his official career is much inferior, but he still has great potential.His father, Angelo Braco, had served in the police force for three decades and was now Mayor Washington's personal chauffeur.Therefore, as long as Bracco wants, he can let his father whisper in the mayor's ear at any time.
Therefore, the two could have complained to their backers without much trouble, and Griski would then get a severe reprimand from Chief Rigby.The chief will say that he has heard from the mayor and the superintendent that Griski is leading his homicide squad in an unprofessional way.But the two novices did not cause him such trouble.Instead, they're all here, coming to his office to ask him questions.This situation forced him to temporarily stop his work and express his interest in hearing what they had to say, if not with the slightest sympathy, at least out of respect for their status.
Bracco stood straight to one side, and Grisky had been talking for a while, repeating over and over some of the main points he had previously discussed with Dismus Hardy. "That's why our Homicide Squad's office is on the fourth floor," he concluded, "from here we have a good view of the coroner's office, while the Vehicle Hit and Run Squad has a back door into the prison kitchen. Trash alleys. Murderers are bad people, hit-and-run drivers just made bad choices in their lives. That's the difference."
Bracco sighed. "Then there's nothing real to do here, is there?"
Griski leaned forward in his chair, put his hands together on the desk in front of him and said, "Sorry, that's how it is."
The young man's face darkened. "Then why push us in?"
This question needs to be answered carefully. "I understand that you both know people who have a lot of background, and there may be some technical things that they don't really understand."
Hearing this, Fisk frowned and said, "The man who was hit this morning, Markham, how is it?"
"What's wrong?" Grisky asked.
"He didn't die at the scene, even if he died, so what?"
"So, as I see it, you received the case from the Hit-and-Run Vehicle Unit."
"How to deal with it?" Bracco asked.
"Trying to find the driver? I don't know," Griski said, spreading his hands and shrugging.He knew there was nothing he could do about it. "Look, guys," he said, "maybe I can go talk to the chief and see if he can get something done. You're both thinking of getting transferred to gangsters or kidnapping or whatever, In some real cases, there are thousands of appearances, and only by your own efforts can you get a foothold here, and you will get some real murders. The Markham case is not a murder case."
Bracco still stood casually aside, wondering what his mission was. "So now that we're all here, what do you want us to do, sir? I mean this morning's accident."
Such a situation might seem ludicrous, but in Griski's experience faking confusion is probably the most common outcome of political solutions.Perhaps these two young men should be taught a lesson. "Want to hear my advice? Then go to the scene of the accident yourself and investigate harder than the people in the vehicle hit-and-run department. Maybe you will find something they overlooked."
Despite their reluctance, Bracco and Fisk conducted a thorough investigation of the neighborhood surrounding the scene of the incident.Although no witnesses who were present at the time of the incident were found, it was not in vain.
Almost at the moment before the accident, a stockbroker named John Bandoliro came out of his house to fetch a newspaper at the gate of his yard.His house happened to be in Shore Residences, just west of the corner of Twenty-sixth Street.When he finished picking up the newspaper and went back to the house, he suddenly heard a piercing and instantaneous roar of acceleration from the exhaust pipe muffler of a car, followed by a long, sharp scream from around the corner.The neighborhood is usually quiet, an unusual phenomenon that caught John Bandoliro's attention.He turned and ran back to the side of the street to see if he could figure out which troublemaker was making the noise so early in the morning.But the car was so far away that he couldn't read the license plate.Afterwards, the situation he could provide was: the car was green, and it might be an American-made car, not a new car. This is certain.
Regarding the clues of the vehicle involved in the accident, the witnesses George and Rush Calihan Brown can be further confirmed.Both are retirees and were driving to a regular Tuesday breakfast meeting with friends when the incident happened.The car was driven by George.They had just turned up Twenty-sixth Street from Shores when Roush saw Markham lying sprawled in the garbage in front of the car.After recovering from the initial shock, both of them realized that a medium-sized green car was passing them in the other lane on their way here.They both turned their heads to see it coming off the corner, and heard the noise of the exhaust muffler and the roar of the car accelerating.But it never occurred to them to pursue the car at the time, as Markham lay unconscious and bleeding profusely.So they called the emergency number on the mobile phone they had with them and said he needed an ambulance.
Police have since reconstructed the crime scene, but experts have had trouble pinpointing the exact location of the collision on Twenty-sixth Street in Markham.The huge impact force obviously threw him into the air and moved him for a certain distance, and there was no trace of tire friction or sliding on the ground to show that the driver had taken emergency braking measures in a panic, or had really used the brakes .
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