Mariani let that sink in for a moment, then went on:
“Mr. Donaldson, as we all know, is a skilled interviewer. Moreover, it has been suggested to me that he is more than a little annoyed with Lassiter, for her having gotten Mrs. Williamson to say she understood why the uniforms couldn’t take the Williamson girl’s door, after he had painted the uniforms as… We all know what he said.”
“Commissioner, may I go off at a tangent?” Washington asked.
Mariani glared at him but nodded.
“Make it quick, Jason.”
“Just before we were all summoned here, sir, I was about to order Sergeant Payne and Detective Lassiter to immediately proceed to Daphne, Mississippi, to run down a lead in the Williamson case.”
“Sir, that’s Daphne, Alabama,” Matt said.
“ ‘Daphne, Alabama’?” Mariani parroted, incredulously.
“Yes, sir. I believe it’s on the Gulf of Mexico,” Washington said.
“Tell me about the lead, Jason,” Coughlin said.
“Why don’t you explain to the Commissioner what you think you may have, Sergeant Payne?” Washington said.
“Yes, sir. Sir, last night the Daphne police-actually it was a civilian from one of those community watch things- apprehended a man in what looked like the act of prying open the window of a young woman’s apartment.”
“So what?” Quaire snorted. “You’re not sugges
ting it’s the Williamson doer?”
“Let the sergeant continue, please, Captain,” Peter Wohl said, softly. He added, wonderingly, “Daphne, Alabama? That’s a long way from here, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir,” Matt said. “When I heard about this-”
“How did you hear about this?” Mariani asked.
“It was in the newspaper, sir. The Bulletin.”
“Go on, Sergeant,” Wohl said.
“I called down there, sir, and from what I learned, there is enough of a similarity of modus operandi to merit further investigation.”
“Over the years, I have come to appreciate Lieutenant Washington’s belief that the stone under the stone sometimes has to be turned over,” Wohl said. “Even if that stone is as far away as… Where is this place?”
“Daphne, Alabama, sir,” Matt said.
“As far away as Daphne, Alabama, and that turning the stone over might take three, four days, perhaps even longer.”
“I think that Lieutenant Washington was right in deciding to send Sergeant Payne and Detective Lassiter all the way down to Daphne, Alabama, for four or five days to run this lead down, wouldn’t you agree, Captain Quaire?” Deputy Commissioner Coughlin said.
“Yes, sir, I certainly would,” Captain Quaire, having just realized the all-around wisdom of getting Sergeant Payne and Detective Lassiter out of town for four or five days, quickly agreed.
“And under the circumstances,” Wohl went on, “that sending them immediately, without waiting for the ordinary administrative procedures to take place, would be justified. Would you agree, Commissioner?”
Mariani thought that over for two seconds.
“Yes, I would agree, Inspector,” he said.
“Have you got any cash, Matt?” Wohl asked.
“Some, and I’ve got credit cards,” Matt said.