In Death 15 - Purity in Death

insubordination, Lieutenant. I expect better control from you, and have rarely had the need to remind you of it."
    "Yes, sir."
    "Moreover, I find myself insulted both on a personal and professional level that you assumed I had or would approve an asinine schedule that pulls you off a priority."
    "I apologize, Commander, and can only offer the weak excuse that any and all contact with Lee Chang results in my temporary insanity."
    "Understood." Whitney turned the disc over in his hand. "It surprises me, Dallas, that you didn't shove this down his throat."
    "Actually, sir, I had another orifice in mind."
    His lips quirked, just slightly. Then he snapped the disc in two, just as she had.
    "Thank you, Commander."
    "Let's get this damn circus over with, so we can both get back to work."

Chapter 11
    She got through it, parroting the departmental chorus. As a result of stifling her own opinion, ignoring her own gut instincts, she stewed in her own simmering juices all the way home.
    "Dallas." They were nearly at the gates when Peabody dared to speak. That way, if Eve tossed her bodily out of the car, she wouldn't have far to hike. "Don't take my head off, okay? You did what you had to do."
    "What I have to do is investigate the case, and close it."
    "Yeah, but sometimes serving the public's complicated. There are a lot of people who'll sleep easier tonight because they heard their home unit isn't going to fry their brains if they sit down and balance their financials or do some e-mail. If their kid does his school report. That's important."
    "I'll tell you what I think." Eve headed toward the gates without dropping speed so that beside her Peabody's heart took a fast spring into her throat. "I think people shouldn't always believe what they hear."
    "Sir. I'm not sure I follow you."
    "Maybe whoever's manning the switch doesn't like the way Mr. Smith with his pretty wife and charming little girl and small household pet lives his life. Maybe he decides Mr. Smith shouldn't be cruising the porn sites, or stopping off at a strip club after a hard day selling furniture, or occasionally getting zonked on Zoner with his pretty wife. Mr. Smith isn't following all the rules as well as he should be. Time to make an example of Mr. Smith so others like him understand the program."
    "But, they're going after known predators. I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying that, Dallas, because it's not. But it's a really big leap to go from school yard dealers and pedophiles to some guy who t a kes some recreational Zoner on Saturday night."
    "Is it?" Eve stopped the car at the base of the front steps. "The law's ignoring Mr. Smith. It hasn't punished him, just like it didn't punish the others. Purity punished them, and a lot of people thought: Hey, that's not a bad idea. Cops didn't do the job, so good, somebody else did. Nobody's thinking, hmm, that Mary Ellen George was acquitted. Maybe she was innocent."
    "She wasn't, so-"
    "No, she wasn't, but the next one could be. The one after that. It's not easy to watch somebody walk, but it's a hell of a lot easier than it is to know an innocent didn't. These people are deciding who's guilty. With what criteria, what system, what authority? Their own. They're rolling, Peabody, and public opinion's rolling with them. Let's see how happy the public is when it starts coming into their homes, their lives."
    "You really think that'll happen?"
    "Damn right it'll happen, unless we stop them. It'll happen because they're on a mission, and there's nothing more dangerous than someone on a mission."
    She should know, Eve thought as she slammed out of the car. She'd been on one since she'd picked up a badge.
    When she walked in, it was one of the rare times she wasn't annoyed to see Summerset lurking in the foyer.
    "Lieutenant, I'd like to have some idea how many of your guests will be staying overnight."
    "They're not guests. They're cops and a kid. Head on up, Peabody, I've got something to do here."
    "Yes, sir." And assuming that something was to have her usual pissing match with Summerset, Peabody darted up to check on McNab.
    "Give me the status on McNab, and give it in English," Eve demanded.
    "There's no change."
    "That's not enough. Aren't you supposed to be doing something?"
    "The nerves and muscles aren't responding to stimuli."
    "Maybe we should've left him in the hospital." She paced the foyer. "Maybe we shouldn't have brought him here."
    "The simple truth is there would be little more they could do