Murder at The Washington Tribune Read Online Free PDF

lately with a chip on your shoulder, or looking like you swallowed one. That doesn’t do me any good, or the paper. You’re the best cops reporter I have, or am I talking past tense?”
    Again, he didn’t allow Wilcox to reply.
    â€œI met with Mary yesterday. She’s greenlighted a task force for the Kaporis story: you, Rick, a couple of researchers, a graphic artist, and that computer whiz, Kahlia, from Research. I want you to spearhead it—but not if you’re about to go off the deep end and start seeing a shrink five times a week.”
    When Wilcox said nothing, Morehouse asked, “Are you?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œGood. As long as we’re leveling with each other, what’s going on at MPD?”
    Wilcox shrugged. “They’re working the case. That’s all I know.”
    â€œThey’re not talking to you?”
    â€œYeah, they’re talking to me, but they don’t have a hell of a lot to tell me.”
    â€œBecause of Roberta? They punishing her old man because of the stuff she did on them?”
    â€œNo. That’s not happening.”
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œI just—know.”
    â€œHow far did you get talking to people here?”
    â€œStaffers MPD questioned?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œI hit most of them, I think, at least those I know about.”
    â€œYou think there are others? You think the cops talked to someone we don’t know about?”
    â€œIt’s possible.”
    â€œGet the list from MPD.”
    â€œThey won’t release it.”
    â€œJesus, Joe, I don’t care about it being
released.
Get it off the record. They spent days here interviewing people.”
    â€œAnd they still think she was killed by one of us.”
    â€œIf that’s true, then everybody upstairs would be very happy if we solved it in-house. Jean’s murder is still high profile a month later. Still hot, and will continue to be. There are actually people out there who think the world would be better off if all reporters got whacked. Maybe we can’t play Sherlock and bust the case ourselves, but we should at least be out front with coverage. We’re it. Come on, Joe, suck it up. Get your team together and pull out all the stops. You’ll have your own account number to bill the team’s expenses against. This could be the story you’ve been waiting for your whole goddamn career.”
    When Wilcox returned to the newsroom, Rick Jillian was there along with Kathleen Lansden, one of two researchers recruited to join the Kaporis task force. Wilcox sat heavily in his chair and looked up at them. “Task force,” he said. “Why didn’t they come up with a task force a month ago?”
    â€œI guess because—” Jillian started to say.
    â€œYeah?” Wilcox asked.
    â€œI guess because they figured you were all they needed, Joe. You know, with your sources and—”
    â€œAnd they were wrong. Is that what you’re saying?”
    â€œNo, I’m not saying that. Anyway, you want me to get the others together?”
    Wilcox smiled to break the tension. “A meeting is a good idea,” he said. “How about the end of the day, say six? Nail down a conference room and we’ll lay out everything we have. You’d better get on what Morehouse said, check that list again of visitors the day Jean got it: guests up here in editorial, tradespeople, everybody.”
    â€œOkay.”
    Wilcox said to Kathleen, “Pull up that database again, Kathleen, the one listing interviews other media did with Jean’s friends and family. Compare it against the interviews I did—
we
did. Let’s see who we missed.”
    â€œShall do.”
    Now alone, Wilcox pulled out notes he’d made. The list was long, more than forty names, many of them editorial coworkers known to have been in the building the night Kaporis was murdered. Interviewing them had brought out