sent him this card that would be good. We had both lost a semester’s worth of teaching, and Michael had a complex fracture of his left leg, so he went through more pain and suffering than any friend should have to endure. I put on a nice face and opened the precinct door carrying a dozen doughnuts, a box of Mrs. See’s chocolates, and the bottle of wine from Michael’s fridge.
“You again?” The desk sergeant buzzed me in. “Killed anyone lately?”
“No, I did my quota for the year, so I have to wait for January,” I said. “Is Detective Friday upstairs?”
“Yep. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see you,” he said.
I slipped him a small bag from Dunkin’ Donuts with a cruller and a regular coffee. “Merry Christmas,” I said.
“Thanks, Doc.” His face muscles contracted into something resembling a smile.
I stopped at the entrance to the detective’s area and located Ty among the men. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, and the noise level in the room was high. I made my way slowly through the maze of desks.
“Oh, look who’s here, Friday. It’s the little professor. What have you got there, Doc? Some sweets for your sweetie?” Detective Gardner stepped in my path and loomed over me. “Where’s my Christmas present, Professor?”
“I brought doughnuts for everyone,” I said. “Here, why don’t you take one and pass the box around?” I shoved the box at him and tried to sidle past.
“Not so fast. What are you really doing here? Come to try and pay your debt with Detective Friday? Since he covered up your crimes and destroyed evidence for you? Hey Friday, your girlfriend’s back, looking for more… ”
“Shut up, Gardner,” Ty cut him off. “Cassie, what are you doing here?”
“Oh, I had something to ask you,” I said. “It concerns Michael Simone. Do you remember him?”
“Sure, how’s his leg doing? Is he still out of commission?” he asked.
“Um, he’s better, almost one-hundred percent. Look, this really is police business. Can we talk somewhere private?”
He looked around at all the faces watching our exchange. “What’re we, chopped liver?” one guy asked before turning away.
“Have a doughnut, Shaughnessy,” he said. “Show’s over guys.”
We went towards the interview rooms, and I hesitated when Ty held open the door for me. He smiled. “We can leave the door open if you like,” he said.
“That would be good, thanks.” I went in and sat in the chair opposite the usual “prisoner” side, and that made me feel better. I’d been held here for questioning after finding Neville Carstairs’ body, and it had seemed like one of the longest nights of my life.
I put my gifts to the side of the table and took out the card. Leaving it in the plastic sandwich bag, I briefly explained the scenario to Ty and handed him the card.
“So, we were wondering if you could look into it, maybe check for prints or something?” I asked.
Ty pulled some gloves from his pocket and took out the envelope, then looked at the card. “There’s nothing threatening about this,” he said. “What basis do I have to spend taxpayer money running tests on an innocuous greeting card?”
“Oh,” I said. I leaned back in my chair. “The fact that this person doesn’t exist isn’t interesting to you at all?”
“It seems like a practical joke. Maybe from one of Michael’s old school friends or something,” Ty said. “I don’t think there’s anything I can do for you.”
“Is there something I can do?” I asked. He frowned. “No, I mean, is there a lab where a private citizen can get something like this tested?”
“Are you planning on becoming some kind of private investigator? Is that what this is about? You got a taste of it and now you think…”
“No, I don’t think anything,” I said. “Remember, I got hurt by that case, too. I just want to do a favor for my friend. He’s worried about this. It’s weird. Don’t you agree that it’s weird? And he was a little freaked out about it. So I told him I would talk to you, and here I am. Talking to you.”
“I see that,” he said.
“You know, this is kind of what I do,” I said. He cocked his head to the side. “I mean, as a researcher. I am a trained investigator. As an art historian, I used to track down the provenance of pieces and research the history of the time and place in which they were produced. That’s what a Ph.D. is for.”
“Oh,” he said. “I always thought it meant ‘piled high and deep.’ ”
We looked at each other.
“Funny. So, no dice on the analysis, then,” I said, breaking the silence.
He shook his head and handed the baggie back to me.
“Any suggestions about a lab?” I asked.
“I’ll ask around, see what I can find. How’s that?” he replied.
“Great, that would be helpful,” I said. I indicated the packages. “These are from Michael. He insisted that I bring you some Hanukkah gelt. I’m driving him up to visit his mother for the holidays this afternoon.”
“Oh, that’ll be nice,” he said. “Have fun.”
I stood up. This had clearly been a bad idea, I realized. I’d better get out of here before we used all the air in the room.
“So, you have a nice Christmas, then,” I said. “And thanks for taking the time to talk with me. I know you probably didn’t want to see the likes of me in here again…so I’ll get out of your hair now.” I turned to go, and felt his hand on my shoulder.
“Wait,” he said.
I turned back and looked up into his deep blue eyes. “Yes?”
The door opened wider and hit me square in the back of the head. I saw stars. Ty lowered me down into a chair.
“Gardner, did you ever hear of knocking?” he shouted. “Cassie, are you all right? Do you need an ambulance?”
“Geez, why would she need an ambulance? I just tapped her a little with the door,” Gardner said. “What is she, made of porcelain?”
“Titanium, actually,” I said. I looked at him. “They put titanium in my spine, and some cement, but no porcelain.” I turned to Ty. “I’m fine. I just got a little wobbly.”
“What did you come in here for anyway, Gardner?” Ty asked.
“Oh, yeah, thought you would like to know. They just brought in a perp on a robbery charge, a crash and grab in the jewelry district. Young one, quite a little fighter. Sort of reminds me of the doc here. And I happen to hear, coincidentally, that she’s claiming to be Thornton’s sister. Maybe you want to go down
