The Murderers (Badge of Honor 6)

“That figures,” Lowenstein said.

“Would it cause any problems for you,” the Mayor began, which Chief Lowenstein correctly translated to mean, This is what I want done, you figure out how to do it, “to bring Mickey O’Hara along when you arrest Atchison and the shooter, preferably both?”

Chief Lowenstein hesitated, trying to find the words to tactfully suggest this might not be such an all-around splendid idea as the Mayor obviously thought it to be.

“When I had Officer Bailey in here this afternoon, to personally congratulate him for his good work in catching that scumbag who shot Officer Kellog, I had the idea Mickey was a little pissed.”

“Why should Mickey be pissed?”

“All the other press people were here, too,” the Mayor said. “Now, I’m not saying he did anything wrong, there was no way he could have known I figure I owe O’Hara,” the Mayor said, “but when Captain Quaire put out the word to the press that we had solved the Officer Kellog job, I think Mickey got the idea I wasn’t living up to my word. I’d like to convince him that I take care of my friends.”

“No problem. I’ll put the arm out for Mickey,” Lowenstein said. “He’ll have that story all to himself.”

“I was thinking maybe both arrests,” the Mayor said. “You mind if I ask how you plan to handle them?”

And if I said, “Yeah, Jerry, now that you mention it, I do,” then what?

“We’re going to pick up Foley first thing in the morning,” Lowenstein said. “He’s not too smart, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we could get him to confess before we arrest Atchison.”

“At his house?”

“As soon as he walks out the door, I don’t like taking doors, and we found out when he goes to work. We’ll be waiting.”

“Who’s we?”

“We is Lieutenant Natali and Detective Milham, backed up by a couple of district uniforms in case we need them. I don’t think we will.”

“And Atchison?”

“I thought—actually Peter Wohl thought, and I agree with him—that it would avoid all sorts of jurisdictional problems if we could get him into Philadelphia, rather than arresting him at his house in Media. So Jason Washington called his lawyer—”

“Who’s his lawyer?”

“Sid Margolis.”

The Mayor snorted. “That figures.”

“And Washington said he has a couple of questions for him, and he thought Margolis might want to be there when he asked him, and could he ask him at Margolis’s office. Margolis called back and set it up for twelve o’clock.”

“Good thinking. You open to a couple of suggestions?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I think Tom Callis would like to get his picture in the newspapers too, and if I could tell him I had set it up for him and O’Hara to be there when you arrest Atchison…”

“No problem. You want to call him, or do you want me to?”

“I’ll call him,” the Mayor said. “And tell him to call you. And I think it would be a nice gesture if you allowed Detective Payne to go to both arrests. It would show the cooperation between Homicide and Special Operations. And what the hell, the kid deserves a little pat on the back. He did work overtime to catch Atchison with the guns.”

“He’ll be there. I’ll call Peter Wohl and set it up.”

“And then, so the rest of the press isn’t pissed because Mickey got the exclusive on the arrests, I thought I’d have a little photo opportunity in my office, like the one this afternoon when I congratulated Officer Bailey, and personally thank everybody, everybody including you and Peter, of course.”

“And including Detective Milham?”

“Of course including Detective Milham. He’s a fine police officer and an outstanding detective who did first-class work on this job.”

They call that elective memory, Chief Lowenstein thought. Our beloved mayor has elected not to recall that the last time we discussed Detective Milham, he was my Homicide detective who can’t keep his pecker in his pocket.