Pop Goes the Weasel

a murder?”
    “Detective Cross,” the doorman said without hesitation.
    “Objection!” the district attorney screamed, but not before the damage was done.

Chapter 84
    THAT AFTERNOON, the defense was scheduled to call Chief of Detectives George Pittman. The assistant district attorney, Catherine Fitzgibbon, knew that Pittman was on the docket, and she asked me to meet her for lunch. “If you have an appetite before Pittman goes on,” she added.
    Catherine was smart, and she was thorough. She had put away nearly as many bad guys as Jules Halpern had set free. We got together over sandwiches at a crowded deli near the courthouse. Neither of us was thrilled about Pittman’s upcoming appearance. My reputation as a detective was being ruined by the defense, and it was a hard thing to watch and do nothing.
    She bit down into a hefty Reuben sandwich that squirted mustard onto her forefinger and thumb. Catherine smiled. “Sloppy, but worth it. You and Pittman are really at odds, right? More like you hate each other’s guts?”
    “It’s serious dislike, and it’s mutual,” I told her. “He’s tried to do me in a couple of times. He thinks I’m a threat to his career.”
    Catherine was attacking her sandwich. “Hmmm , there’s a thought. Would you be a better chief of detectives?”
    “Wouldn’t run, wouldn’t serve if elected. I wouldn’t be good cooped up in an office playing political Ping-Pong.”
    Catherine laughed. She’s one of those people who can find humor almost anywhere. “This is just fricking great, Alex. The defense is calling the chief of detectives as one of its goddamn witnesses. He’s listed as hostile, but I don’t think he is.”
    Catherine and I finished off the rest of her sandwich. “Well, let’s find out what Mr. Halpern has up his sleeve today,” she said.
    At the start of the afternoon session, Jules Halpern did a careful and thorough setup of Pittman’s credentials, which sounded reasonably impressive in the abstract. Undergrad at George Washington, then law school at American; twenty-four years on the police force, with medals for bravery and citations from three different mayors.
    “Chief Pittman, how would you describe Detective Cross’s record in the department?” asked Halpern.
    I cringed in my seat. Felt my brow wrinkle, my eyes narrow. Here we go , I thought.
    “Detective Cross has been involved in some high-profile cases that the department has solved,” he said, and left it at that. Not exactly praise, but at least he hadn’t gone on the attack.
    Halpern nodded sagely. “What, if anything, has changed his performance recently?”
    Pittman looked my way, then answered. “A woman he was seeing disappeared while they were on a trip together in Bermuda. Since that time, he’s been distracted and distant, quick to anger, not himself.”
    Suddenly I wanted to speak up in the courtroom. Pittman didn’t know the first thing about Christine and me.
    “Chief Pittman, was Detective Cross ever a suspect in the disappearance of his girlfriend, Mrs. Christine Johnson?”
    Pittman nodded. “That’s standard police procedure. I’m sure he was questioned.”
    “But his behavior on the job has changed since her disappearance?”
    “Yes. His concentration isn’t the same. He’s missed days of work. It’s all a matter of record.”
    “Has Detective Cross been asked to seek professional help?”
    “Yes.”
    “Did you ask him to seek help yourself?”
    “I did. He and I have worked together for a number of years. He was under stress.”
    “He’s under a lot of stress? Is that fair to say?”
    “Yes. He hadn’t closed a single case recently.”
    Halpern nodded. “A couple of weeks before the Hampton homicide, you suspended some detectives he was friendly with.”
    Pittman’s look was somber. “Unfortunately, I did.”
    “Why did you suspend the detectives?”
    “The detectives were investigating cases outside the auspices of the department.”
    “Is it fair to say they were making up their own rules, acting like vigilantes?”
    Catherine Fitzgibbon rose to her feet and objected, but Judge Fescoe allowed the question.
    Pittman answered, “I don’t know about that. Vigilantes is a strong word. But they were working without proper supervision. The case is still under investigation.”
    “Was Detective Cross part of the group that was making up its own rules to solve homicides?”
    “I’m not certain. But he was spoken to about the matter. I