Blood Read Free Page B

stepped back into the shadows.  A voice cried out, “Hey, Sarah!  Can we give you a ride?”  The girl walked toward the car as the back door opened.  A swirl of skirt, a glimpse of leg and she was gone.
                  He stood there for a moment, torn between relief and disappointment.  Bad luck that the car came just when it did.  But good luck that it hadn’t shown up five seconds later.  He didn’t want witnesses.  There would be another chance.  Hopefully it would be soon.
     
                  Underwood walked into the commissioner’s outer office.  His secretary looked up from the paper she was typing.  “Hi, Grace.  Is his majesty in?”
                  She rolled her eyes at his bad boy routine.  She had seen it many times before.   “Go right in, Captain.  He’s expecting you.”
                  The captain strode into the office.  Compared to his office, the commissioner’s seemed like a bus terminal.  It took ten steps to get to the plush leather chairs visitors were invited to sit in.    “Commissioner, you sent for me?”
                  “Yes, Captain.”  It was never a good sign when the commissioner referred to him by rank.
                  The man looked solemn as he sat behind the large desk.  “It’s like this, Jim.  The media’s gotten wind of this missing prisoner thing, and they’re starting to hound me.  It’s been thirty-six hours.  I need you to give me an update.”
                  “Well sir, we haven’t made much progress.  Detective Gene McElmurray from Internal Affairs is in charge of the investigation, and he claims than no evidence can be found to back up the officers’ stories.   The lock was inspected and seems to be in working order.”  He shifted in his seat and his finger started circling.  “One interesting note, the suspect left no fingerprints anywhere on the door or lock, nor had he wiped his prints clean.  About half the officers in the precinct had fingerprints there, so it seems the suspect never touched the door.  That’s got McElmurray howling that it’s an inside job.  According to him, the suspect must have had a key, or someone let him out of the cell.  All of the men on duty that night have been interviewed by I.A., with no leads on how the escape occurred.”
                  “Speaking of fingerprints, anything new from the lab?”  The case would blot the commissioner’s record, as well as the precinct’s, and he wanted results.
                  “No, sir.  As of this morning, our computer failed to match, so the prints were sent to the FBI.  Hopefully they should have a report within a few days, whether or not they find a similarity.  In the meantime we are searching records for any escapes that would match this one.  So far, nothing.”
                  The phone ringing interrupted the conversation.  The commissioner picked up the receiver, listened momentarily and said, “Thank you, Grace.”  He handed the phone to Captain Underwood.  “It’s for you.  Line two.”
                  The captain got up and reached across the desk for the phone.  “Underwood here.”  He listened briefly, a look of concentration coming over his face.  “Sure, give me what you’ve got.”  The concentration turned to bafflement as the person on the other end of the line continued.  His finger started doing laps on the commissioner’s desk.  “Did you explain why we were inquiring?   Are they sure?  Do they have an explanation?”  Another lengthy pause while he listened and digested the news.  “Okay, thanks for the information.  Let me know if there are any further developments.” 
                  He put the receiver down and turned toward Commissioner Williams.  “This case gets stranger by the minute.  The FBI search matched the fingerprints to a suspect