Eve shifted her thoughts and attention to her commander. “I imagine most every cop in Central made an appearance.”
“Frank was well-liked.”
“Yes, he was.”
“You never worked with him?”
“He gave me some pointers when I was a rookie, helped out on legwork a couple of times, but no, I never worked with him directly.”
Whitney nodded, kept his eyes on hers. “He was partnered with Feeney, before your time. You were partnered with Feeney after Frank shifted from the streets to a desk.”
She began to get an uncomfortable feeling in the gut. Something here, she thought. Something’s off. “Yes, sir. This has hit Feeney pretty hard.”
“I’m aware of that, Dallas. Which is why Captain Feeney isn’t here this morning.” Whitney propped his elbows on his desk, linked his fingers, folded his fingers over. “We have a possible situation, Lieutenant. A delicate situation.”
“Regarding DS Wojinski?”
“The information I’m going to relay to you is confidential. Your aide can be apprised per your discretion, but no one else on the force. No one in the media. I am asking you, ordering you,” he corrected, “to essentially work alone on this matter.”
The discomfort in her stomach spread into little licks of fear as she thought of Feeney. “Understood.”
“There is some question regarding the circumstances of DS Wojinski’s death.”
“Question, Commander?”
“You’ll require some background data.” He laid his folded hands on the edge of the desk. “It has come to my attention that DS Wojinski was either pursuing an investigation of his own off the clock or involved with illegals.”
“Drugs? Frank? Nobody was cleaner than Frank.”
Whitney didn’t so much as blink. “On September twenty-second of this year, DS Wojinski was spotted by an undercover illegals detective allegedly conducting business in a suspected chemical distribution center. The Athame is a private club, religious in theme, which offers its members group and individual ritual services and is licensed for private sexual functions. The Illegals Division has had it under investigation for nearly two years. Frank was seen making a buy.”
When Eve said nothing, Whitney drew a long breath. “This situation was subsequently reported to me. I questioned Frank, and he was not forthcoming.” Whitney hesitated, then followed through. “Frankly, Dallas, the fact that he would neither confirm nor deny, refused to explain or discuss, seemed very out of character. And it worried me. I ordered him to submit to a physical, including a drug scan, advised him to take a week’s leave. He agreed to both. The scan was, at that point, clear. Due to his record and my personal knowledge and opinion of him, I did not mark the incident in his file, but sealed it.”
He rose then, turned to his window. “Perhaps that was a mistake. It’s possible if I had pursued the matter at that point, he would still be alive, and we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”
“You trusted your judgment and your man.”
Whitney turned back. His eyes were dark; they were intense but not cold, Eve thought. They felt. “Yes, I did. And now I have more data. The standard autopsy on DS Wojinski detected traces of digitalis and Zeus.”
“Zeus.” Now Eve rose. “Frank was not a user, Commander. Putting aside who and what he was, a chemical as powerful as Zeus shows. You see it in the eyes, in the personality shift. If he’d been using Zeus, every cop in his division would have known it. The drug scan would have picked it up. There has to be a mistake.”
She dug her hands into her pockets, willed herself not to pace. “Yeah, there are cops who use, and there are cops who figure their badges shield them from the law. But not Frank. No way was he dirty.”
“But the traces were there, Lieutenant. As well as traces of other chemicals, identified as designer clones. The combination of those chemicals resulted in cardiac arrest and death.”
“You suspect he OD’d, or self-terminated?” She shook her head. “That’s wrong.”
“I repeat, the traces were there.”
“Then there had to be a reason. Digitalis?” She frowned. “That’s heart medicine, isn’t it? You said he’d had a physical a couple of weeks ago. Why didn’t it show he had heart trouble?”
Whitney’s gaze remained level. “Frank’s closest friend on the force is the top E-detective in the city.”
“Feeney?” Eve took two strides forward before she could stop herself. “You think Feeney covered for him, doctored his records? Damn it, Commander.”
“It’s a possibility I can’t ignore,” Whitney said evenly. “Nor can you. Friendship can and does shadow judgment. I am trusting that your friendship with Feeney will not, in this case, shadow yours.”
He walked to the desk again, his position of authority. “These allegations and suspicions must be investigated and resolved.”