Chapter 2
     
     
     
Detective First Grade Brian McKenna of the Major Case Squad was easily the NYPD's most famous detective and had been involved in many newsworthy cases over the years, so many that people he had never met before stopped him on the street to ask him how Angelita and the kids were doing. McKenna figured folks overrated his skill and intelligence, but he was still New York's darling and he loved it.
     McKenna arrived for work at the squad office in Police Headquarters at 9:30 A.M., half an hour early. Inspector Dennis Sheeran, the Major Case Squad CO, was sitting on McKenna's desk, waiting for him.
     "There's been a murder," Sheeran announced. "Two of them, in fact."
     "So?" McKenna answered. Murders were handled by the Homicide Squads, not the Major Case Squad.
     "One of the victims is Cindy Barrone."
     "Cindy Barrone? Who's she?"
     "The married daughter of Paul Barrone."
     "Uh-oh. The speaker of the city council? That Paul Barrone?"
     "The very same. Her body and the body of a man not her husband were found in a lovers lane by the Cloisters a couple of hours ago. He was executed straight out, one bullet to the head, but she got it much worse. Raped, tortured, and beaten to death. Some kind of sadistic bondage thing."
     "Am I being assigned to this Magilla?" McKenna asked.
     "I'd say so, but I don't think it was Ray's idea. He wants to see you."
     McKenna understood at once. Paul Barrone wanted that famous Detective McKenna assigned to what was sure to become a very delicate and embarrassing case, aside from being a family tragedy. But Police Commissioner Ray Brunette didn't like political interference in his department and probably would have turned him down. No problem for Barrone; he'd gone straight to the mayor. By the time His Honor spoke to Brunette, McKenna's assignment to the case was no longer a request. It was an order.
     
     *      *      *

Ray Brunette was on the phone, sitting back in his chair with his feet on Teddy Roosevelt's ornate desk when McKenna entered his large office on the fourteenth floor. Although he was ten years older than McKenna, the two appeared to be about the same age. It was Brunette's confident air, his outgoing personality, his straight black hair, and his dimples that made him look under fifty. People liked him minutes after meeting him and nobody ever thought of him as one of the old guys.
     Brunette closed the conversation with "Thanks a lot, Tommy. I owe you." Then he hung up, took his feet off the desk, and turned his attention to McKenna. "Whatcha been up to, buddy?"
     "Been busy, but not killing myself," McKenna answered. "I found out where Freddie Buchanan buys his crack and I thought I'd be able to grab him today."
     "Freddie Buchanan? Is he the note passer?"
     "That's him. Eight banks in ten weeks for a total of more than eleven thousand dollars without ever showing a weapon. From what I hear, he doesn't even have a gun. He just gives them the note and they give him the money."
     "Who's been working that one with you? Cisco?"
     "Yeah, but it was my case."
     "Sorry, but it looks like Cisco gets the collar and the glory. I hate to do this, but I'm under some pressure and I have to give you this Barrone case."
     "I haven't worked in Homicide in years, but I don't mind taking it," McKenna said, lying to make Brunette feel better. Murders were always a sad business and he hated working them. "Are the bodies still there?"
     "Waiting for you."
     "Who's handling from Manhattan North Homicide?"
     "Tommy McKenna."
     So that's the Tommy who Ray was talking to, McKenna realized, shocked that Barrone would want Brian McKenna when he already had Tommy McKenna. Tommy was widely recognized as the best homicide detective in the NYPD. He had worked on all of the famous murder cases in Manhattan and had achieved a large degree of fame by solving most of them. His exploits had been featured in a book that was still in print and selling well.
     Although McKenna had never worked with Tommy, he had no doubt that Tommy knew more about murder than he did. Barrone was making a mistake. "Doesn't Barrone know that he already has the best assigned?"
     "When it comes to murder, that's what I told him. But he doesn't like it. Says he doesn't want his daughter's murder showing up in a book down the line with all the gory details."
     "Tommy's still going to be working this with me, isn't he?" McKenna asked.
     "Sure. I'd never think of taking him off a case. As far as we're concerned, you'll be helping him out. As far as the press is concerned, he'll be helping you out."
     "What does the press know so far?"
     "Probably quite a bit, but they don't know yet that one of the victims is Cindy Barrone. The pressure won't be on you until you tell them."
     "Who was the other victim?"
     "The guy? Don't know, yet. It's Cindy's car and the killer took his wallet, so he's not ID'd yet. I'm just hoping he's not the son of some other big-shot politico."
     "Where's Paul Barrone now?"
     "At Cindy's house with her husband, sweating it out and cooking up a statement through his tears. I imagine he'll give his to the press right after you identify her for them and give yours."
     "Once I do, the press is gonna go crazy with that old McKenna-McKenna thing."
     "You mean I'm giving them a chance to find out which one of you two is really the best?"
     "Exactly. They're gonna read controversy and innuendo into everything we say to each other, and they won't be afraid to print whatever they think."
     "I'm not worried about that. You get along with Tommy, don't you?"
     "Love him, but that won't mean much to the press once they get their imaginations going. How's he taking this?"
     "Not well, at first, but I eventually got him to see things my way. Now he tells me he's looking forward to teaching you a thing or two about murder."
     "Wonderful, because he's the man to do it. Probably forgot more than I ever knew."
     "We'll see," Brunette said, smiling. "I think I'm gonna enjoy reading about this one."

---