The Trapped Girl (Tracy Crosswhite #4)(73)

Tracy struggled to keep her temper from being the spark that ignited the room. A part of her was pissed at Nolasco, who could have handled this matter internally, but chose instead to put on a show, likely for Martinez. She shifted her gaze to Stan Fields, not about to let him hide behind his captain. Fields’s facial expression remained largely disguised by the thick gray mustache, but his eyes held the bemused glint of a schoolboy who knew he’d screwed up, and had found a way to shift blame. Tracy’s initial judgment of Fields had been only partially correct. Yes, he was a sexist, lazy ass, but he was also an insecure, vindictive prick too stupid or arrogant to realize she’d handed him information that could help his investigation, and she’d been content to let him take all the credit—whatever might have come from it. Instead, he’d directed the spotlight back on Tracy, apparently failing to realize it only illuminated his own incompetence. So be it. If Fields wanted to drag her before her captain, she was more than happy to let his captain know his detective couldn’t find his ass with both hands.

“Do I know anything about it?” she said. “I know that I had lunch with Detective Fields yesterday and provided him with additional information relevant to the investigation.”

“What information, exactly?” Nolasco asked.

Nolasco already had the answer to that question because Fields had run to his captain the minute he got back to Tacoma and told him, and Jessup had clearly called SPD. “I provided him with the details of an interview I conducted with Andrea Strickland’s aunt as well as her counselor. I also provided him with information we received from a skip tracer I’d asked to determine if anyone in his world had been asking about a Lynn Hoff.” Tracy turned to Jessup, speaking to him as if he were a little slow. “If you’d like me to explain who these people are—since you won’t find them in your detective’s file—I’d be happy to.”

Jessup’s cheeks flushed red, and the bemused glint in Fields’s eyes sharpened.

“When did you conduct the interviews of the aunt and the counselor?” Nolasco asked.

“Last Friday,” she said, turning back to him.

“After Pierce County had reasserted jurisdiction,” Jessup said to Nolasco, in case anyone in the room was too stupid to figure that out on his own.

“Yes,” Tracy said.

“So you flew to Los Angeles on official SPD business after this department no longer had jurisdiction of the case?” Nolasco said.

“No, I flew to Los Angeles on personal business. I spoke to the aunt on my personal day. I didn’t know about the counselor until I spoke with the aunt. She arranged for me to speak to him and to obtain Andrea Strickland’s file. That’s how good police work is conducted,” she said, looking again to Jessup and Fields. “I provided that information to Detective Fields.”

Jessup said, “Personal business?” not trying to hide his skepticism.

“That’s right. I flew to Los Angeles for a long weekend with my boyfriend. I paid for the flight and the hotel, and all meals.” She looked to Nolasco. “I used the time to follow through with the conversation I’d set up with the aunt, as you’d instructed.”

Nolasco’s eyes narrowed in concern. “As I instructed?”

“Yes, Captain. You told us to wrap up anything we had working and to provide written reports to Pierce County so their file would be complete and they could hit the ground running. I had already arranged a telephone meeting with the aunt. Since I was traveling to LA I thought it better to do the interview in person.”

Martinez cleared his throat. “Be that as it may,” he said, his voice as deep and gravelly as a comic-book villain’s. “Your discussion with the aunt was related to the victim’s disappearance, was it not?”

“No, it was related to the victim’s murder,” Tracy said, keeping her tone flat and professional. “Pierce County handled the disappearance. Our jurisdiction was her murder.”

Martinez said, “And that discussion took place after SPD had relinquished jurisdiction.”

“My discussion with the aunt? Technically, yes.”

“So it’s really semantics, isn’t it, to say you were not on official SPD business?”

“I could see how someone could look at it that way, but I wasn’t.”

“How would you look at it, Detective?” Jessup asked, clearly struggling to keep his composure.

Tracy had already decided she liked Jessup about as much as she liked Fields. Since he wasn’t her captain, she didn’t feel compelled to answer him, but she did so because it gave her the chance to take a dig at Fields. “I’d look at it as a dedicated police detective taking steps to complete her file, as instructed by her captain, so that all relevant information could be provided to the agency taking over jurisdiction, with the common goal of capturing the murderer, sir.”

Jessup gave her a sardonic smile. “So you think we should say, ‘Thank you.’”

“You’re welcome.”

Jessup flushed again and looked across the table to Nolasco and Martinez, who looked to be suppressing a smile.

“Why not just give Pierce County the information and let them follow up?” Nolasco asked.

“Because I’d already made the contact with the aunt and I thought to blow her off would be unprofessional.” Tracy shifted her gaze to Fields. “And because Pierce County had the investigation for six weeks and had yet to talk with the aunt.”