“I’ll ask her.” He seemed less than thrilled with the idea, but Sam couldn’t blame him.

Conklin returned. “Captain Norris will be down momentarily. I asked him to come personally.”

“Thank you. Does anyone else have any thoughts to add?” Hearing none, Farnsworth dismissed the other officers. “Conklin, Holland and Malone, please stay.”

Malone glanced at Sam, his brow raised in question.

Sam knew what he was asking her and nodded reluctantly. As soon as the room cleared of the other officers, Sam moved to a seat closer to the chief’s desk. “We have another situation you should be aware of,” she said, noting the ashen color of his skin. His admin was right that he looked like shit.

“What’s that?”

It pained her greatly to have to add to his worries and to give voice to her concern about Gonzo. “The mother of Detective Sergeant Gonzales’s son was found murdered in a parked car this morning. She’d been manually strangled.”

Farnsworth stared back at her, his eyes flat and blank. “This would be the same woman who recently exposed his earlier connection to the judge that heard their custody case?”

“Yes,” Sam said.

The chief’s deep sigh spoke for him.

“Tell me he has an alibi for last night,” Conklin said.

“He and his fiancée were home all night with their son, celebrating the first anniversary of the night they met. I talked to him around eleven o’clock, and he expressed dismay about the story hitting the media and the possible implications for the custody matter. He was upset but under control.”

“He never mentioned the child’s mother?” Conklin asked.

And then there’s the part that wants to wrap my hands around her fucking neck and squeeze the life out of her.

“No,” Sam said without blinking. “Sir.”

“So he and the fiancée who also loves the kid are each other’s alibi?” Farnsworth asked.

“Yes.” Sam told them about the situation with the security cameras in Gonzo’s building and the video she’d delivered to Archie earlier, hoping for a lead as to who disabled the cameras. “We’re also digging into Lori’s life. She was a recovering addict who’d recently lost custody of the child for whom she’d turned her life around. We’re hoping to find motive elsewhere before we release the victim’s name.”

“You’ll have until tomorrow before they’ll be demanding we release the name of the victim,” Conklin reminded her.

“Yes, sir. I’ve called in my entire squad to work the case today. I assumed the overtime would be approved.”

“What choice do we have?” Farnsworth asked. “I can’t afford any more shit raining down on this department, and the murder of this woman who was connected by controversy to Sergeant Gonzales is going to be a shitstorm of epic proportions.”

“Are we looking at conflict-of-interest trouble with this one?” Malone asked.

“That was my next question,” Conklin said.

Farnsworth stroked the stubble on his chin as he thought it over. “I’d like to call in Hill to consult so we can defer to him if it leads back to Sergeant Gonzales.”

“It’s not going to!” Sam said. “He’s not a murderer. He’s a decorated Homicide detective.”

“I’m well aware of his qualifications as well as his impeccable record, Lieutenant,” the chief said. “However, he’s also a father who’d do anything to protect his child.”

“Anything except murder,” Sam said. “I know him as well as I know anyone, and I’d bet my badge and my career on his innocence. Besides, one of the reasons he’s still out of work is that the strength in his arm has yet to return. I doubt he’d be physically capable of manually strangling anyone.”

“He’s been under a lot of pressure lately,” Conklin said, apparently dismissing her argument, “between the wound that’s taking a long time to heal and the revelations about his connection to the judge. People have done crazier things than commit murder when they’re under that kind of strain.”

“What’s crazier than murder?” Sam asked, adding, “sir,” as an afterthought.

“Deputy Chief Conklin’s point is well taken,” Farnsworth said.

By whom? Sam wanted to ask, but didn’t. “We’re running the risk of the FBI and others thinking we can’t handle our own cases. We’ve called them in on the last few.”

“As I recall,” Conklin said, “you were more than happy to have Agent Hill’s help in your niece’s case.”

“That was different,” Sam said.

“How so?” Conklin asked. “Because it was personal? This one is personal to Gonzales. He had a child with the woman, and she’s been making very public trouble for him. Now she’s dead, and his alibi is his fiancée. You know as well as I do how this will play in the press, Lieutenant. Bringing in the FBI to consult covers our asses, which are already on the line right now.”

It was somewhat out of character for Conklin to raise his voice, which told Sam the strain was wearing on him too. “Fine, if you all think we need the Feds, call the Feds. But this investigation will not lead to Sergeant Gonzales.”

“If there is even the slightest hint of his involvement, we’re out of it,” Farnsworth said. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal. May I get back to work?”

“Go ahead,” Farnsworth said.

Sam left the office and ran square into the inquiring gaze of the chief’s admin. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to him one-on-one, but I will as soon as I can. I agree he looks a little gray.”

“He’s not himself.”

“He’s under an awful lot of pressure right now. Try not to worry too much. He always comes through.” The thought of him not coming through was something Sam couldn’t accommodate in her already overloaded brain.

The admin nodded, but she didn’t seem reassured.

“I’ve got to get back to work. I’ll check in with him later.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Sam left the chief’s suite and headed for the pit, crossing the lobby with a growing feeling of anxiety. Her phone rang and she took a call from inside HQ. “Holland.”

“This is Haggerty.”

“What’ve you got?” she asked the Crime Scene Unit’s lieutenant in charge.

“Any idea why there’d be a slip of paper with Sergeant Gonzales’s home address under the floor mat in our vic’s car?”

Sam felt like she’d been gut-punched. “I have some idea, but I can’t get into it at the moment. Add it to the evidence list. Anything else of interest in the car?”

“Nothing yet. I’ll have the report to you by tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll take it sooner if you can do it.”

“We’ll try. I’d rather be thorough than fast.”

Sam held back the snapping retort that lingered on the tip of her tongue and slapped her phone closed. “What the fuck?” she muttered under her breath as she went into her office and closed the door to call Gonzo.

He answered on the first ring. “What’s up?”

“Tell me something.”

“Sure.”

“Have you had any contact with Lori since that day in court when you won custody?”

“I’ve left her a couple of messages about seeing Alex, but she never called me back. I was trying, you know?”

“Yeah.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Crime Scene found a slip of paper with your name and address under the floor mat of the car.”

He was silent as he processed the new information.

“You gotta help me out here, Gonzo. Who else would have motive to kill her?”

“How the hell should I know? I barely knew her!”

“Think, Gonzo. Think long and hard. Give me a thread to pull.” She could almost hear him thinking over the phone.

“Rex Connolly. He’s the dude she was with when I first found out about Alex. Supposedly she’s not with him anymore, but he might know something about her life. He’s in the system—drugs, B&E, sealed juvie record if I’m remembering correctly. Lori was in the system too. Drug charges.”

“This is good.”

“The social worker who oversaw the custody case, Justine Travers. She recently got married, and that’s her new last name. She works for the courts and spent a lot of time with Lori during the case. And my friend, Mark Angelo. He was with me the night I met her, and he knew her before. His sister, Sara, was close with Lori. I could give him a call.”