The Investigators (Badge of Honor 7)

“Use your fertile imagination! Do you like the FBI grabbing all the credit for what was clearly our bust?”

“No, sir.”

“Payne got that dame to roll over on Chenowith, not that FBI agent,” Carlucci said. “You wouldn’t know that to read Mickey’s story.”

“No, sir,” Peter said. “You wouldn’t.”

“You’re not going to ask me how I know that?”

“Sir, how do you know that?”

“Detective Payne told me,” Carlucci said.

“You’ve seen Payne?”

“Did you see that thing on TV—goddamn, they shouldn’t put things like that on TV—I mean, Payne standing there soaked in that girl’s blood, watching them carry her body off?”

“Yes, sir, I saw it. It was pretty rough.”

“So I called up and asked what happened to him, and where he was, and then he told me he went from the restaurant to arrest the rest of those slime. And then, when I called Special Operations, Mike Sabara told me you had sent him home.”

“Actually, I placed him on administrative leave,” Wohl said.

“Yeah, that’s what Mike said, while it was decided whether or not charges would be brought against him.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I told Mike Sabara you made a mistake. He could take it from me that no charges were going to be brought against Detective Payne. Detective Payne is on compensatory time. He’s put in a lot of overtime lately, what with bagging Officer Calhoun and this cooperation with the FBI. Are we clear on that, Inspector? That Payne is on compensatory time?”

“Yes, sir. Sir, he disobeyed a direct order!”

Carlucci ignored what was for Peter Wohl a somewhat emotional outburst.

“So I went by his apartment on Rittenhouse Square. I figured it was the least I could do. And he wasn’t there, so Jack and I went out to Wallingford to his father’s house. First time I’d ever been there. It wasn’t as big as I thought it would be. I really felt sorry for him. He was all broke up that the girl got killed. I mean, really broke up. And then, on top of that, he’s worried about you and Coughlin . . . because he disobeyed some bullshit order you gave him.”

“I didn’t think it was a bullshit order, sir.”

“We talking about the same order? The one Payne told me he got was he was not supposed to try to arrest this Chenowith character by himself under any circumstances. Is that the order we’re talking about?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Just between you and me, Peter, who issued Payne that stupid order? You or Denny Coughlin?”

“I did, sir.”

“That’s what Denny said when I asked him just a couple of minutes ago. He said he did. That’s nice, the two of you being loyal to each other. Both of you trying to take responsibility for doing something stupid. I appreciate that. They call that loyalty up and loyalty down.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do we understand each other, Inspector?”

“Yes, sir. I get the message.”

“That will be all, Inspector. Thank you for coming in to see me.”

“Yes, sir.”

Wohl had just reached the door when Carlucci called after him.