To Know A Man

Part 4

The large gray-haired man walked into the waiting room, his eyes immediately focusing on Frannie Lipschitz.

"Chief Larkin," Tom rose from the couch quickly. Cassy pulled her arm away from Frannie's shoulders and also started to stand in respect. The chief quickly motioned them down.

"Sgts. Ryan, St. John," he greeted quickly. Returning his gaze on Frannie, he kneeled down next to her. The distraught woman looked into the older man's eyes. She tried to smile a greeting, but failed miserably. " How's Harry?" Larkin whispered, though it was tinged with impatience.

"Calvin, thank you for coming," Frannie murmured in reply.

"How is he, Frannie," the chief repeated, realizing the woman was in emotional shock.

"He's. . .he's. . ." Frannie closed her eyes and forced her voice to remain calm. "He's not good, Calvin. They're operating on him right now."

Larkin looked at Tom, "What happened, Sergeant?"

Tom turned on his detective's voice, "We were leaving the party. It was a little after 2:00. While we were waiting for the car to be brought to us, I think Harry spotted the shooter. He yelled for us to get down and forced us all to the ground. A gun went off and Harry was shot."

"How many shots were fired?" the chief asked, curious.

"Just one," Cassy responded.

"That rules out a drive-by or mad gunman," the older man reasoned. "It also means that the shooter was after one target." Larkin looked apologetically at Frannie when he saw the woman flinch at his words. "I'm sorry, Fran."

The woman nodded silently. Cassy wrapped a protective arm around Harry's wife once again."

The captain looked at Tom, "Let's go out to the hall."

"It's okay. You can talk here." Frannie sniffed, trying to remain strong.

"No, Frannie. We need to talk business." The chief looked at Cassy, "Will you stay with her?" the blonde nodded, knowing that Frannie needed all the emotional support she could offer.

The chief patted Frannie on the hand affectionately then rose and retreated to the hallway. Tom followed.

Once in the hallway, safely out of earshot of Harry's wife, Larkin turned to Tom, face serious. "Any idea who did this?"

Tom shook his head, "No, Sir."

The older man shook his head, "I want you to work with Gibson and O'Malley. I'm assigning them as the leads to investigate this shooting."

"But, Sir."

No 'Buts', Sergeant. First of all, you are assigned to Homicide. Second, you and your partner were witnesses to the shooting. Third, you're too close to the victim. You aren't going to be the leads on this investigation."

Tom started to protest again, but a raised hand stopped him, "However, Sergeant, I want you and your partner to work closely with Gibson and O'Malley. The fact of the matter is that I know you two are close to Harry and are in a better position to know who might be gunning for him."

"Chief, Tom?" Ellen O'Malley rounded the corner, her partner, Vic Gibson, following close behind. "You wanted a preliminary report on the shooting?" The young woman handed the chief the thin file.

"Thank you, Detective. . ." Larkin responded politely.

The woman nodded and smiled. Then her smile turned to a frown, "How's the Captain?"

"They took him to surgery about an hour ago. There's no word yet." Tom looked impatiently towards the nurse's station, but there was no sign that anyone was prepared to update them on the surgery.

"What do you have for us, Detectives." Larkin's voice was coldly professional.

Vic Gibson shook her head, "Well, Sir, we're still searching the area around the hotel, but so far we haven't found any leads to the shooter."

"Witnesses?"

"None, unless Sgt. Ryan or his partner saw something." O'Malley removed a pad of paper. "By the way, we really do need your statement for the report."

Tom nodded silently, "I know. Why don't you come on in and we can do this while the events are still fresh in our mind." Tom turned to his superior, "Anything else, Sir?"

The chief shook his head, "No. Keep me updated." He glanced up and shook his head. Tom turned to see a reporter and cameraman standing near the nurse's station. "I think I need to visit with the press." The chief left his three detectives behind.

"Cassy and Captain Lipschitz' wife are in there."

The woman's eyes suddenly grew concerned, "This will be hard for Mrs. Lipschitz."

Tom nodded his agreement, "But she's a strong woman. And she's been married to a cop for a long time. She knows about procedure. She'll get through this."

Gibson and O'Malley followed the detective into the room. Frannie and Cassy looked up from the couch. Cassy spoke first, "Hi Vic, Ellen."

"They're the leads on Harry's case," Tom commented. He quickly shook his head when he saw Cassy start to protest. He sat next to Frannie once again. "They need to ask us some questions, okay Frannie?" Tom warned as gently as he could.

Frannie nodded, "I expected that this would have to happen sometime tonight." Frannie wiped the smeared mascara from beneath her eyes and straightened her posture, tugging down on her rumpled dress.

"Okay," she took a deep breath. "I think I can do this." Harry's wife reached out for Cassy's hand, squeezing it for support. Cassy held it tightly, prepared to offer all the strength she had for her captain's wife.

End Part 4