Cisco’s eyes lit up. “I know that man. He was a frequent flier. He had several OUI arrests and died in custody the last time Oliveri and I arrested him.”
It wasn’t unusual for cops to remember the names of people they’d arrested more than once, especially if they’d died in custody. “Aurora called Tennyson to see if he could help. Using Google, Aurora was able to tell Ten what you just said aboutMcGrath’s record and death. She asked if I could get Ten into the jail to see if he could talk to this spirit and help him cross over.”
Cisco shot Ronan a confused look. “I don’t understand. This sounds like the usual kind of thing Tennyson does.”
“It was usual until the ghost told Ten that he’d been murdered by a member of the Salem Police Department.”
Cisco’s mouth dropped open. “You definitely have my attention now.”
“McGrath remembered it had been you and Oliveri who arrested him and later questioned him from his jail cell. Later that night, after he’d fallen asleep, or passed out, someone came into his cell and held him down by the throat before sticking him with a hypodermic needle.”
“Jesus, Ronan! Was the man telling the truth?”
“That’s where things get even messier,” Jude said, picking up the story. “We looked into McGrath’s autopsy. It was performed by Dr. Winetrap.”
“Fuck,” Cisco muttered. “Do you know how many convictions were overturned because of that asshole?”
Jude nodded. “Winetrap certainly added a unneeded complication to this case, but there was a photograph of the needle stick in the autopsy, so McGrath was telling the truth.”
“The last thing his spirit said to me was that there were others who’d died the same way in the Salem Jail.” With a shaking hand, Ten reached for his bottle of water.
“I’m assuming you guys dove into that headfirst?”
“We did. There were three other deaths that were eerily similar to McGrath’s. Craig Ott, Anthony Charles, Lewis Prado.”
Cisco frowned. “I know those names. All frequent fliers.”
“I had the guys look for commonalities in the four deaths and there were several,”
Fitzgibbon said. “All four had autopsy photos of needle sticks in their abdomens. All four had been clients of Fallon Kirkpatrick. All four had been jailed by Duncan MacBain. All four had been arrested on the nights of their deaths by you and Oliveri.”
“You all know I don’t believe in coincidences. I assume you spoke to Kirkpatrick, MacBain, and Oliveri?”
“We did,” Fitzgibbon continued. “It turns out there was a fraud scheme operating at the SPD. When people were arrested for OUI and would be staying in the city jail for the night, Kirkpatrick offered to be their lawyer for a price.”
“A price?” Cisco’s eyes filled with anger. “That fucker works for the public defender’s office. The city pays them, not private clients.”
Fitz nodded. “Right, but Fallon offered these people a deal. If they paid his fee, in cash, he’d make the OUI charges disappear. The arresting officer would drop the charges or fail to appear for court which would result in the case being dropped. The money was then split between him and the officer who made the arrest, which is bad enough, but if the arrested person refused to work with Kirkpatrick and threatened to spill the details about the scheme, they ended up dead in their cells from an insulin overdose. MacBain asked for immunity in exchange for telling us that he was the one administering the fatal doses. Lastly, he said that he was doing so on the order of someone going by the name Doom.”
Cisco had gone completely still. His face went pale and Ronan could see he was scared. “Did MacBain tell you who Doom is?”
Ronan shook his head. “We spoke to Oliveri, who admitted to knowing all of this was going on. He told us that-” Ronan had rehearsed this moment over and over again in his head. Now that the moment was here, he wasn’t sure he could say the words out loud.
“What did Oliveri tell you?” Cisco asked.
“He said you were Doom. That you were getting a cut from the money Kirkpatrick collected and that you were the one who ordered the four deaths.” Ronan felt like he was drowning. He couldn’t catch his breath.
“What?” Cisco burst out laughing. “My former partner accused me of being a criminal mastermind and a serial killer?” He looked around the table, none of the other detectives were laughing. Tennyson looked like he was going to throw up. “Tell me you’re all fucking kidding and you don’t actually think I did these things, that I’m a killer!”
Fitz took a deep breath. “Oliveri admitted he’d known about the scheme and kept quiet because you threatened to kill him if he said a word. He said he retired because you killed Chief Alcott and were named interim chief of police.”
“Chief Alcott died from lung cancer.” Cisco’s eyes darkened. His hands balled into fists. He pushed back from his chair looking like he was going to take on all three detectives. “You three have pulled some outrageous shit over the last few years but this is the final straw! You bring me here, tell me this bullshit story and try to entrap me! You’re all fucking fired!” Cisco shouted, his face red, spit flying from his lips. “I expect you all to turn in your guns and badges by nine tomorrow morning, or I’m sending officers to arrest you all. Do you fucking understand me? I’ll make sure none of you work in law enforcement ever again! By the time I’mfinished with you, none of you will even be able to get a job as a fucking mall cop!”
“Uncle Cisco?” Everly said, from the kitchen doorway.
Cisco spun around and catching sight of Everly, the color drained from his face. “Everly, I-I forgot you were even here. I-”
“I know you’re angry, but you need to sit down and listen for a second.” Everly’s attention turned to Ronan. “Youallneed to listen to me.” She walked across the kitchen and climbed into the empty chair between Ten and Ronan.
