“I don’t understand,” Czernick said. “You mean by WCBL-TV? Has something happened I haven’t heard about?”
“Ted, that seems to be the most likely answer,” Mawson said.
“Take it from the beginning,” Czernick said. “The last I heard, we had arranged to have Miss Dutton taken home from the Waikiki Diner, so that she wouldn’t have to drive. Later, as I understand it, we picked her up at her home, brought her here for the interview, and then took her home again.”
“You didn’t know she was the one who found young Nelson’s body?” Mawson asked.
Jankowitz handed him a cup of coffee and two doughnuts on a saucer.
“Thank you,” Mawson said.
“No, I didn’t,” Commissioner Czernick said. “Or if somebody told me, it went in one ear and out the other. At half past six this morning, they called me and told me what had happened to Arthur Nelson’s boy. I went directly from my house to Arthur Nelson’s place. I offered my condolences, and told him we would turn the earth upside down to find who did it. Then I came here. As soon as we’re through, Colonel, I’m going to be briefed on what happened, and where the investigation is at this moment.”
“Well, when that happens, I’m sure they’ll tell you that Miss Louise Dutton was the one who found the body, and called the police,” Mawson said.
“I don’t know where we’re going, Colonel. I don’t understand your role in all this. Or why WCBL-TV is so concerned.”
“I’ve been retained to represent Miss Dutton,” Mawson said. “But not by WCBL. I’ve been told that the police intended to bring her here, to interview her—“
“Well, if she found Nelson’s body, Colonel, that would be standard procedure, as I’m sure you know.”
“No one seems to know where she is,” Mawson sai
d. “She’s not at her apartment, and she’s not here. And I’ve been getting sort of a runaround from the people in Homicide.”
“ ‘A runaround’?” Czernick asked. “Come on, Colonel. We don’t operate that way, and you know we don’t.”
“Well, then, where is she?” Mawson asked.
“I don’t know, but I’ll damned sure find out,” Czernick said. He pulled one of the telephones on his desk to him and dialed a number from memory.
“Homicide, Lieutenant DelRaye.”
“This is the commissioner, Lieutenant,” Taddeus Czernick said. “I understand that Miss Louise Dutton is the citizen who reported finding Mr. Nelson’s body.”
“Yes, sir, that’s true.”
“Do you know where Miss Dutton is at this moment?”
“Yes, sir. She’s here. Inspector Wohl just brought her in. We’ve just started to take her statement.”
“Well, hold off on that a minute,” Czernick said. “Miss Dutton’s legal counsel, Colonel J. Dunlop Mawson, is here with me in my office. He wants to be present during any questioning of his client. He’ll be right down.”
“Yes, sir,” DelRaye said.
Commissioner Czernick hung up and looked up at Colonel J. Dunlop Mawson.
“You heard that?” he asked, and Mawson nodded. “Not only is she right here in the building, but Staff Inspector Peter Wohl is with her. You know Wohl?”
Mawson shook his head no.
“Very bright, very young for his rank,” Czernick said. “When I heard that Miss Dutton was a witness to Captain Moffitt’s shooting, I asked Wohl to make sure that she was treated properly. We don’t want WCBL-TV’s anchor lady sore at the police department, Colonel. I’m sure that Wohl showed her every possible courtesy.”
“Then where the hell has she been? Why haven’t I been able to see her, even find out where she is, until you got on the phone?”
“I’m sure she’ll tell you where she’s been,” Czernick said. “There’s been some crossed wire someplace, but whatever has been done, I’ll bet you a dime to a doughnut, has been in your client’s best interest, not against it.”
Mawson looked at him, and decided he was telling the truth.