Broken Mirrors

Chapter 10: The Queen of Hearts

"That's Ralph Walker's car," Parker said suddenly without looking up.

"So it is." Lloyd said. "But that's hardly enough for a warrant."

Parker stood up in his chair and stared down Lloyd.

"You know as well as I do that Ralph Walker is behind all of this!" he shouted.

"Take your seat, Officer," Lloyd said calmly.

"So, we're just going to let him go again?! Big surprise!"

"Whose fault was it that we let him go the first time?!" Lloyd shouted.

Parker stared him down.

"Now, take your seat!" Lloyd demanded.

You could cut the tension with a knife. The two stared each other down and Parker finally returned to his seat.

"There are rules here, Officer. Rules that have been put in place that we must follow. Do you think I want him to walk again? We'll bring him down, but we've got to do it the right way."

Parker ignored him.

"Now, other than the red sedan, there were no other eyewitness reports of any disturbances. It could be related, or it could be nothing."

Parker scoffed.

Lloyd looked over at him angrily, but Parker avoided eye contact.

"What we need to do is maintain a steady focus and sift through the evidence of the case."

"So, this is it?" Officer Marone asked.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked.

"The old murders ended with the Queen of Hearts. Does that mean that this is it?" she asked.

Lloyd glanced over at me.

"I'm not sure," he said.

"Well if it is, we're screwed." Parker said. "We're just going to sit here playing cops and never do a damn thing about it. We've got no leads; no evidence and our prime suspect has got our Chief wrapped around his little finger."

"That's enough Officer-," Lloyd began.

"No," Parker said standing from his chair again. "This whole system is fried! He kills four women and gets away with it because we are trying so hard to be politically correct and cover our own asses. It's shit!"

Parker stormed out of the room and left the rest of us in silence.

"Everyone finishes your paperwork and we can start sending some people home. Get some fresh eyes on this tomorrow."

We all uncomfortably got back to the mounds of paperwork in front of us.

Officer Marone came up to me when my face was buried in a folder.

"I'm sorry for your loss," she said.

I looked up at her and was drawn directly into her eyes.

I noticed that her hair was down, and she looked like a walking vision of Rachel Walker.

I looked away from her but smiled an appreciative smile.

There was something sincere in the way that she had said this.

"Thank you," I said.

As she walked by me, her hand rested on my shoulder and she patted me there before she walked away.

At about midnight, Lloyd came up to my desk.

"You understand that we have to talk to you, right?" he asked.