Scattered Graves

he was killed?’’ She showed him the picture from the surveil lance tape. ‘‘I’m probably one of the few people who would recognize you.’’
David stared at Diane for a long time. He frowned. ‘‘I’ve been in a quandary about this,’’ he said. ‘‘You don’t think I killed him, do you?’’
‘‘Of course not, but Garnett’s in jail, and everything seems to be going to hell. I just need to know what’s going on in my corner of the world. What were you doing there?’’
‘‘I was casing the place. I wanted to find out when I could break in and plant a bug.’’
‘‘What? David? What? Have you gone completely nuts?’’ Diane hardly knew what to say.
David smoothed out the back fringe of his hair. ‘‘I know it kind of looks that way. But I had my reasons.’’
Frank came in with three mugs of coffee. ‘‘I think I remembered how you like your coffee, David,’’ he said. ‘‘One sugar and one tablespoon of cocoa powder.’’
‘‘That’s it,’’ he said. He took the mug. ‘‘This feels good. It’s chilly outside. Gets into your bones.’’
Frank took Diane’s old coffee and put it on the mantel and gave her a fresh cup. He sat down beside her with his own mug of coffee and took a drink. ‘‘I hope I didn’t miss anything,’’ he said. ‘‘Not much,’’ Diane muttered.
‘‘Okay, David, what’s your conspiracy theory?’’ said Frank.
‘‘I started noticing strange things in the lab,’’ David said.
Frank laughed. ‘‘This is sounding like a horror movie,’’ he said.
David smiled. ‘‘It is. There was something hinky about the crime scenes Bryce sent me and Neva to. There were some he did not want us to go on.’’
‘‘Who did he send?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘He would go, or he would assign Rikki after she came,’’ he said. ‘‘Or no one went. He called it prioritizing.’’
‘‘Did you ask him about any of it?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘Sure. Many times. He told me he was in charge of the crime lab now and how he made decisions was none of my business. Soon after, he assigned me to the lab full-time and stopped me from working crime scenes. When the judge was murdered, Bryce assigned Neva to work a convenience store burglary, and he and Rikki did the judge’s crime scene.’’
‘‘You don’t think he just wanted to do the highprofile crimes himself?’’ asked Frank.
‘‘No,’’ said David. ‘‘I think he had an agenda and I think it involved the mayor. And I don’t think it was legal.’’
Both Frank and Diane stared at him in silence. Diane was beginning to wonder if he hadn’t gone over the edge. But this was David. She knew him. She trusted him.
‘‘You’re going to have to give us some more expla nation,’’ she said.
David opened his briefcase. The snap of the latches sounded loud in the quiet room. He took out a folder, placed it on the coffee table, and opened it. Diane saw a chart of numbers with notes scribbled at the bottom. Frank reached for it, examining the page.
‘‘You remember the rash of burglaries we had last year? Remember how Jefferies made a big deal over the charge that the old mayor and his administration couldn’t do anything about crime, especially crimes against the average homeowner? He hammered over and over on the point that the old police chief wouldn’t even deal with home burglaries. How the police told victims they probably wouldn’t be able to get their property back.’’
‘‘Yes,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I remember. Unfortunately, that’s what the police usually did say when a house was burgled.’’
‘‘And remember how the burglaries went down after Jefferies had been mayor for a while?’’ said David.
‘‘Yes,’’ said Diane.
Frank studied David’s notes. ‘‘Where did you get these figures?’’ he asked, not looking up.
‘‘The police department, court records.’’ David ges tured toward the paper Frank was holding. ‘‘I checked into the numbers. Total burglaries went down, but the arrest rate for burglaries stayed the same as it was under the old mayor. So did the conviction rate,’’ said David.
‘‘What are you saying?’’ said Diane.
‘‘He’s saying the whole thing was staged to win the election,’’ said Frank. ‘‘That the mayor or his support ers had to be behind the surge in burglaries. Okay, you have my attention. What else do you have, David?’’

Chapter 23
    ‘‘Is that what you are saying?’’ said Diane.