In Death 15 - Purity in Death

soon, and I've yet to tell Summerset."
    "I'll leave that happy little job to you."
    "Coward."
    "Bet your ass." She rolled off him, then looked around on the grass for her clothes. "Where the hell's my shirt? Did you eat it?"
    "Not to my knowledge." He glanced up, pointed. "There, hanging on the roses."
    "The many uses of the garden," she commented as she strode over to tug it free. "Visual and olfactory stimulation, sex 'capades and clothes hanger."
    He got up laughing, and the rich, easy sound of it told her they were back on steady ground again.
    Once they were inside, Eve made a beeline for the stairs and went straight up to her office. She had work, she told herself. It wasn't that she wanted to avoid whatever conversation Roarke was going to have with Summerset
    Or it wasn't just that.
    She put in a call to the commander first. The reluctance she'd shown about having Roarke on board as consultant had been smoke. She'd already planned to tag him for it, officially.
    But there wasn't any reason to give him a swelled head about it.
    "Permission's already been granted," Whitney told her. "Feeney requested that Roarke be asked to consult. I'm told Detective McNab's been released from the hospital and into your care."
    "Not my care - so to speak."
    "I've already spoken with his parents. You can expect a transmission from them."
    "Ah . . ." Her mind began plotting how to pass that along to Summerset as well. "He's young and he's fit. I expect he'll be back on his feet in a day or two. I'll be working primarily out of my home office, Commander. Unless Feeney feels otherwise, I want Cogburn's unit transferred here."
    "That's your call. We have a meeting tomorrow with Chief Tibble, Mayor Peachtree, and Chang, the media liaison. Fourteen hundred, in The Tower. Your presence is required."
    "Yes, sir."
    "Get me some answers, Lieutenant."
    When he broke transmission, she sat down at her desk. She might not have the answers yet, but she could line up all the questions.
    She made notes, checked prior notes. Shuffled them together and made fresh ones.
    Cogburn, Louis K. - playground illegals. Possible to trace purchase of data unit? Search data entries to determine how often he used it - per week, hours per day.
    Sudden violence displayed in primitive, physical bludgeoning. No prior VT indicated through witness statements.
    Physical symptoms evident several days before incident, as indicated through witness statements.
    ME reports intercranial pressure, abnormal and massive swelling, damaged tissues. Terminal. Physical symptoms: headache, bleeding from nose and ears, sweating.
    Halloway, Detective Kevin. EDD detective assigned to search and scan Cogburn unit. Check how many hours logged on subject unit.
    Sudden violence displayed in deployment of police issue. Targets most specifically McNab and Feeney. Associate and direct superior.
    Methods of violence suited to personality types? Consult Mira for profile verification.
    No prior VT reported.
    ME reports same results on prelim as Cogburn. Symptoms displayed match.
    Death ensued without outside trauma or force.
    Murder weapon=data unit.
    It was murder, she thought. Technology was the instrument. But what was the motive?
    "Dallas?"
    "Huh?" She looked up, scooped her hair back, and stared blankly at Feeney until her mind cleared. "I figured you'd be at home by now."
    "Rode over from the hospital with the boy."
    His face had a few new sags, Eve noticed, and he looked exhausted. "Go home, Feeney. Give yourself a break."
    "You're one to talk." He gestured toward her notes. "Just wanted to see McNab settled. It was a good thing you did, having him come here. He seems pretty chipper." He dropped into a chair. "Shit, Dallas. Shit. He's half-paralyzed."
    "That's temporary. You know it can happen if you take a hit wrong."
    "Yeah, yeah. Take it wrong enough, it's permanent. He's twenty-fucking-six years old. You know that?"
    It curdled in her belly. "No. I guess I didn't."
    "His parents are in Scotland. Spend most summers there. They were set to head back, but he talked them out of it. I think part of him's afraid to have them see him like this. Part of him's afraid he's not going to come all the way back."
    "We let him think like that - we think like that - we're not helping him."
    "I know it. I keep seeing Halloway, the way he looked when he went down." He let out a deep breath. "I had to talk to his family, too. Didn't know what the hell to say to them. And the goddamn reporters, and my