High Noon

Lieutenant Mac Namara’s biggest fan.”
    “I don’t think much of her as a cop. Then again, she’s not much of one seeing as all she does is talk.”
    “We’ll save your definition of ‘much of a cop’ for later, if it’s all the same to you.” Smooth as top cream, Liz kept an easy smile on her face. “The two of you—meaning you and Lieutenant Mac Namara—have had a couple of set-tos recently. Is that true?”
    “My client stipulates that he and Lieutenant Mac Namara hold opposing viewpoints and professional styles. Those are hardly motives for a physical attack on her person. The lack of evidence—”
    “We’re talking here,” Liz said. “Just getting things out on the table. Arnie, you don’t much like Lieutenant Mac Namara. Is that fair to say?”
    Arnie kept his smirk aimed at Phoebe. “Yeah, that’s fair.”
    “Did you have occasion to call Lieutenant Mac Namara a bitch?”
    “I call them as I see them.”
    “So, she’s a bitch?” At Arnie’s shrug, Liz nodded. “And you have no particular problem calling a superior officer a bitch? No problem threatening her when she took disciplinary action?”
    “There’s only Lieutenant Mac Namara’s word on this alleged threat,” the lawyer interrupted.
    “That, and…” Liz flipped through her file. “The statements of two detectives who observed your client in the lieutenant’s office behaving in what they believed was a threatening manner.”
    “Their beliefs aren’t fact.”
    “Arnie, do you remember why you were in Lieutenant Mac Namara’s office on Thursday last?”
    “Sure I do. She was covering her ass after she screwed up a hostage negotiation by suspending me.”
    “Really?” Liz turned round eyes on Phoebe. “My goodness, if that was the case, who could blame you for calling her a bitch? Why don’t we pull out a few statements and reports on that negotiation—at which you were the first responder—just to get the overview? Hmmm. FR did not call for backup. FR did not begin a log…Ah, here’s a good one. FR antagonized the HT with threats. I like this one, too: Officer Meeks hampered and attempted to block Lieutenant Mac Namara’s contact with the HT.”
    Arnie rocked back in his chair, balanced on its back legs, rocked up again. “She can write anything she wants. Doesn’t mean that’s how it went down.”
    “Actually, all those examples are from witnesses—civilian and law enforcement. Well now, reading all this, it looks like you screwed things up there, Arnie.”
    “I had the situation under control until she pushed into it.”
    “So, you just needed a little more time to resolve the matter, and she didn’t give it to you.” Lips pursed, Liz nodded. “The guy blows his brains out, and you get the rap. Then, the bitch suspends you. I’d be pissed, too. Hard to blame you for wanting to pay her back.”
    Arnie smiled, shoved his hand at his lawyer before the lawyer could speak. “Just shut up. She’s insulting me thinking she can bait me into saying something stupid. What about you?” he said to Phoebe. “Nothing to say for a change?”
    “I was just sitting here wondering how your wife feels about all this. How she feels about you diddling with Annie Utz, for instance.”
    The smirk twisted his lips. “Annie’s cute, and thick as a brick. I flirted, I admit it. Every guy in the squad did. But when she came on to me, when she wanted to take it past a wink, I set her straight. Got her feelings hurt, so I guess she figured to pay me back with this wild story. Or you pushed her to lie.”
    Phoebe looked over at Liz. “The man’s surrounded by liars and bitches. It’s a wonder he gets through the day.”
    “I don’t know how he gets out of bed in the morning. So Annie’s lying when she states you and she had a sexual relationship?”
    He grinned widely, shook his finger. “I never had sex with that woman.”
    “Cute,” Liz acknowledged. “And really adorable when you consider Annie states that relationship was limited to oral sex. A blurry line, I grant you. She ‘came on’ to you, that’s what you said, and that’s funny, too. In her statement she uses that same phrase. You told her Lieutenant Mac Namara came on to you. And when you, being the moral, upstanding type, turned her down, she got her feelings hurt and looked for payback. My God, man, the women just make your life a living hell. I have to tell you, I’m actively restraining myself from coming on to you right