The Aftermath

28

Roads thought of Captain Burns as old-school. One of the real cops. Eye to Eye. Captain Burns worked his way up from the street to vice and then to homicide. He knew the men and the job, the good and the ugly.

Roads hitched his pants up and walked into the office. He gave his Captain a friendly salute and then saw who else was in the office. Sitting in the visitor chairs was that bitch of an attorney Charlie Davis, and Tom Blake.

"John, how are you?" Burns asked him.

"Good. Making headway on the Beth Blake case." He glanced from his captain to Davis and Blake, "What's this about?"

"John, this is rather pointed, and its going to be insulting. There is an accusation that you called Mr. Blake at midnight last night, drunk and demanding that he come into the office today." His captain explained.

"I called him at that time, and made the request." Roads admitted. There was no sense in denying something so simple to prove. "I wasn't drunk however. I honestly didn't realize the time when I made the call. I was working on the case and had a break through last night. I needed to make sure of my facts as soon as possible to follow the lead."

"What were those facts? What lead?" The Captain asked.

Roads glanced over at Davis and Blake again, and then back to his captain, who nodded his head. "I don't suppose there is any harm in letting them know about this. The suspect known to us as CoronorKiller@yahoo.com made contact with me last night through Instant Messenger on my computer. I was able to get Robert over at the FBI cyber crime unit on my phone and had him trace the messages. He was able to follow the messages through the onion router and to the source here in San Diego."

Burns looked at him, "Impressive, what else?"

"I went to the source, an Internet cafe on Fst, and verified that Tom Blake was not the one on the computer while CoronorKiller@yahoo.com was in contact with me."

"How sure were you of this?" Burns asked.

"Extremely." Roads answered.

"So why call him in for questioning?" Burns asked.

"I wanted to verify some facts and questions which would then rule Tom Blake out as a possible suspect to the vandalism of his home." Roads replied.

His captain sat up a little straighter, "Wouldn't that also rule him out as a possible suspect in Mrs. Blake's murder as well?"

Roads paused and twitched his eyes back at Blake, "The facts are pointing in that direction, yes."

Burns nodded and then turned his attention back to Charlie Davis, "Well, I have listened to him talk, he is lucid, articulate and possess his memory. In fact his work is in the process of clearing your client of any of these charges. So I don't see the problem here."

Charlie Davis was relaxed as a cat, "I'm sorry Captain Burns, but I see and hear a different tale. I also believe I can smell booze in this room now. I also believe that Detective Roads has a flask of whiskey in his back pocket right now. So I'll have to insist. He has harassed my client numerous times and I believe that his alcohol abuse is the cause of this misjudgment in actions."

"That's a very serious charge Ms. Davis, and one I am declined to ignore." Burns told her, "Roads is one of the best homicide detectives we have. His record alone tells me that there is no alcohol abuse."

Charlie nodded, "I have already called the Chief regarding this subject. This is not a request. I can call him again if you like and have him order you to administer the test."

Captain Burn's jaw muscles clenched but he pressed down whatever emotion reared at the news that she had already gone above him. "Fine. Roads, you going to take the breathalyser or do you want to call your representative?"

Calling his union representative would result in the same thing, he would still have to take the breathalyser. Random drug screening was part of the job these days. "I'll take the test sir."

"Alright, let's go." Burns said and got up from his chair. Davis and Blake were rising as well but Burns put his hand out, "Not you two. You can wait here and I'll be back with the news, and then you can go into the interrogation room to answer the current questions regarding these cases."

Roads walked with his Captain toward the stairs. Burns hesitated at the top of the stairs and Roads felt a moment of solidarity with him. However Burns continued on leading him down to the intake area and up to the desk. "Go ahead." Burns told him.

Roads walked up to the breathalyser and after the attending officer put a new plastic sterile tip on the tube, Roads blew into the machine.

The attending officer watched the read out, and lifted his eyebrows, then looked to the Captain. "Well?" Burns asked, "What is it?"

".087 sir." The attending officer reported.

Captain Burns looked at the floor, and then at Roads, "Stupid son-of-a-bitch." He rasped, and then clenched his jaw.

"Sorry captain. I had quite a few last night." Roads said quietly.

"Doesn't matter when Roads. You know that." Burns said, and then sighed, "I don't want to do this in front of that bitch upstairs, so we'll do it here. Your gun and your badge Roads. Hand them over. You are on suspension."

"Suspension!" Roads blurted.

"What did you expect? A slap on the wrist and then back to your desk? You are legally drunk. Not just mildly intoxicated, but too drunk to drive Roads." Burns told him.

"Son of a bitch!" Roads hissed, but pulled out his badge and set it on the counter, and then unloaded his gun and placed it beside the badge.

"Officer, put those in the locker until I can come down and get them later." Burns said.

"What do I do?" Roads asked, suddenly feeling a little lost.

"You go home Roads. That's what suspension means." Burns told him.