In Death 11 - Judgment in Death

some grim, some horrified, some frightened. Peabody wasn't the only cop leaning over the bridge.
    "I'm all right. I'm okay."
    Through the pounding bells in her ears, Eve heard Peabody's weak voice.
    "Come on, sit down a minute. Sit down, honey."
    "McNab, get her recorder. I need it here."
    "No, I can do it. I can." Peabody nudged McNab's patting hands away, straightened her shoulders. Her face was dead white to the lips. She shuddered once, but she walked back. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant."
    "There's no shame in it. Give me your recorder. I'll finish this."
    "No, sir. I can hold."
    After a moment's study, Eve nodded. "Get him on record. Don't think about it. Close your mind to it."
    "How?" Peabody asked, but turned to do the work.
    Eve lifted a hand, had nearly rubbed it over her face before she remembered what it was smeared with. "Where the hell's the ME?"
    "Lieutenant." Roarke stepped to her, held out a pristine white silk handkerchief.
    "Yeah, thanks." She used it without a thought. "You can't be here. You have to stay back." She looked around for somewhere to dispose of the smeared silk and ended up stuffing it into an evidence bag.
    "You need to take a minute," Roarke said quietly. "Anyone would."
    "I can't afford it. I fold, even look like I'm going to, and I lose control of the scene." She stayed crouched, added a fresh coat of sealant to her hands. She got to her feet, handed him the ruined handkerchief in its bag. "Sorry about that."
    Then she planted her feet, legs spread, as Roth marched back to Mills's car with Clooney in her wake. Roth stopped short, as if she'd run into an invisible wall, and stared at what there was of the man who'd served under her command.
    "Ah, holy mother of God." It was all she said, her only sign of distress. While her eyes were burning dry, Clooney's misted with tears.
    "Jesus, Mills. Jesus, look what they did to you." He closed his eyes, breathed long and deep. "We can't tell the family this. Can't give them the details of this. Captain Roth, we have to go inform next of kin before they hear some other way. We have to cover over the worst of this for their sakes."
    "All right, Art. All right." She looked over as Eve took out her communicator.
    "What are you doing?"
    "Checking on the ME, Captain."
    "I've just done so. ETA is under two minutes. A moment, Lieutenant. In private. Clooney, assist the lieutenant's aide in keeping the scene secure. I don't want any of those cops moving closer."
    Eve walked away with her, away from the glare of lights into the softer shadows. The air cleared, the scent of exhaust and pavement was like balm after a burn.
    "Lieutenant, I apologize for my earlier outburst."
    "Apology accepted."
    "That was very quick."
    "So was your apology."
    Roth blinked, then nodded slowly. "I hate making them. I haven't gotten where I am on the job by indulging my temper or apologizing for it. Neither, I imagine, have you. Women are still more closely scrutinized in the department and more strictly judged."
    "That may be true, Captain. I don't let it concern me."
    "Then you're a better woman than I, Dallas, or a great deal less ambitious. Because it burns the living hell out of me." She inhaled, hissed the breath out through her teeth. "My coming at you as I have has been an emotional reaction, an indulgence again, that was both inappropriate and ill-advised. I'm going to tell you that I overreacted to Kohli's death because I liked him, very much. I believe I overreacted to Mills because I disliked him. Very much."
    She glanced back at the car. "He was a son of a bitch, a mean-spirited man who made no secret that, in his opinion, women should be having babies, cooking pies, and not wearing a badge. He disliked blacks, Jews, Asians... hell, he disliked everyone who wasn't just what he was: an overfed white male. But he was my cop, and I want whoever opened him up that way."
    "So do I, Captain."
    Roth nodded again, and together they watched the ME arrive. Morse, Eve noted. Only the top dog for one of the boys in blue.
    "Homicide isn't my sphere, Dallas, as Clooney in his calm, reasonable manner has pointed out to me. I know your rep, and I'm depending on it. I want..." She trailed off and seemed to bite down on impatience. "I'd appreciate being sent a copy of your report."
    "You'll have it in the morning."
    "Thank you." She looked back, her eyes skimming over Eve's face. "Are you as good as they say?"
    "I don't listen to what they say."
    Roth gave a short laugh. "You want to