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Calhoun?” the chief said. “Last time I checked this was my office.”
    “And she’s my business.”
    In all the years that I’d known the chief, I’d never seen his body move at the rate it did in that moment. It was like seeing a scene from a movie play out in fast forward. He nabbed Nick’s arm and with one push, forced him out the door he’d just come through.
    “I’ll be right back,” the chief said over his shoulder.
    And with that, the two of them walked in a brisk manner down the hall and out of sight. A few minutes later, the chief returned, but Nick was nowhere in sight.
    “Everything alright?” I said.
    “It is now that I’ve given the boy the rest of the day off.”
    “Sorry about that.”
    The chief pulled out the chair behind his desk and lowered himself into it.
    “That boyfriend of yours is quite the hothead sometimes,” he said. “I thought he had more respect for you than that.”
    “He’s just been on edge. It’s complicated,” I said.
    With Nick off the premises, I pulled my hand back out of my bag and dispensed the note onto the chief’s desk and said, “The reason why I’m here is because of this.”
    He snatched it up and scrutinized both sides and then shrugged.
    “What’s this supposed to be then?”
    “Read it,” I said.
    He unfolded it, read it in silence, and then looked over at the unadorned wall to the right and repeated the words on the paper several times out loud.
    “Is this what I think it is?”
    I nodded.
    “You can add he reads the local paper to his profile,” I said.
    “When did you get this, and how?”
    “About fifteen minutes ago I went to leave the station and it was under the windshield on my car,” I said.
    “In my parking lot?”
    I nodded.
    The chief opened his desk drawer and pulled out a piece of plastic and deposited the note inside.
    “The nerve of this guy,” he said. “Unbelievable.”
    He turned toward me.
    “And you,” he said. “What the hell were you thinking with that newspaper article anyway?”
    “At the time all that mattered to me was getting his attention.”
    He placed his fingers on the pressure points of both sides of his forehead and squeezed.
    “Well, you succeeded.”
    “Has he made contact with Coop yet?” I said.
    The chief placed his finger on the center of the plastic that held the note.
    “This is the first we’ve heard from him since the murders started up again.”
    “That’s about what I expected,” I said.
    He squinted his eyes.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “I’m just not shocked he hasn’t contacted him, that’s all,” I said.
    “Should I be concerned about what you’re not saying with that statement?”
    “Let me ask you a question,” I said.
    He shrugged.
    “Shoot.”
    “That phone call you were on just now—were you trying to find out who leaked the news to the press?” I said.
    “Why does that matter to you?”
    “Because no one in this office betrayed you if that’s what you think happened,” I said.
    “And you know this because…?”
    “Call it female intuition,” I said. “I’ve spent enough time thinking about this guy and how he works.”
    “Yeah well, you’re not the only one.” He sat quiet for a time and then said, “Let’s say I believe your theory, and I’m not saying I do—but if it didn’t come from my men, who then?”
    I pointed to the pink slip of paper.
    “He did it.”
    “Sinnerman?”
    I nodded.
    “It’s important to him that the press gets the information right, and he wants everyone to know what happened. If you won’t release it, he’ll do it himself. It’s that simple.”
    “You know I can’t keep this note from Nick,” he said. “My entire department will be privy to it before long.”
    “I know,” I said. “I just didn’t want to be here when Nick found out whose car that thing was left on. I have enough to deal with right now.”
    “Are things that bad between you two?”
    I stood up and pushed my chair