Two men stepped in. Phoebe recognized Liz's lieutenant, nodded in acknowledgment. Just as she recognized, through the strong family resemblance, Arnie Meeks's father.
He was thicker than his son through the chest, stronger along the jawline, harder in the eyes. But there was no mistaking the relationship. Just as there was no mistaking the insulted anger that pumped off him despite his ramrod posture.
"Lieutenant Anthony and Sergeant Meeks will also be observing."
"We'll get started." Liz walked to the door, held it open as Phoebe followed.
"When my boy's clear of this," Sergeant Meeks said as he shifted to block Phoebe's path, "and his suspension lifted, this won't be over for you, Lieutenant MacNamara."
"Sergeant, you're here as a courtesy." Anthony laid a hand on his arm. "Don't abuse that courtesy."
Phoebe moved around him to the door of the interrogation room. "Like father," she said under her breath.
"Shake it off," Liz advised. "I take the lead on this."
"We've been this round before."
"Just a friendly reminder." Opening the door, she walked in.
He didn't spare Liz so much as a look, Phoebe noted. His eyes aimed straight for her, held.
"Boys." Liz smiled easily, with a nod toward the trio at the table.
She set the recorder, fed in the data, read Arnie his rights. "You understand all that, Officer Meeks?"
"I've given the Miranda enough times, I better."
"That's a yes?"
"Yeah, I understand my rights. Shouldn't you be in bed somewhere with an ice pack and some Darvon?" he asked Phoebe.
"Arnie."
Arnie shrugged off the quiet warning from his attorney.
"I'm surprised by your concern, Arnie," Liz began. "The way I hear it, you're not Lieutenant MacNamara's biggest fan."
"I don't think much of her as a cop. Then again, she's not much of one seeing as all she does is talk."
"We'll save your definition of 'much of a cop' for later, if it's all the same to you." Smooth as top cream, Liz kept an easy smile on her face. "The two of you-meaning you and Lieutenant MacNamara-have had a couple of set-tos recently. Is that true?"
"My client stipulates that he and Lieutenant MacNamara hold opposing viewpoints and professional styles. Those are hardly motives for a physical attack on her person. The lack of evidence-"
"We're talking here," Liz said. "Just getting things out on the table. Arnie, you don't much like Lieutenant MacNamara. Is that fair to say?" Arnie kept his smirk aimed at Phoebe. "Yeah, that's fair."
"Did you have occasion to call Lieutenant MacNamara a bitch?"
"I call them as I see them."
"So, she's a bitch?" At Arnie's shrug, Liz nodded. "And you have no particular problem calling a superior officer a bitch? No problem threatening her when she took disciplinary action?"
"There's only Lieutenant MacNamara's word on this alleged threat," the lawyer interrupted.
"That, and…" Liz flipped through her file. "The statements of two detectives who observed your client in the lieutenant's office behaving in what they believed was a threatening manner."
"Their beliefs aren't fact."
"Arnie, do you remember why you were in Lieutenant MacNamara's office on Thursday last?"
"Sure I do. She was covering her ass after she screwed up a hostage negotiation by suspending me."
"Really?" Liz turned round eyes on Phoebe. "My goodness, if that was the case, who could blame you for calling her a bitch? Why don't we pull out a few statements and reports on that negotiation-at which you were the first responder-just to get the overview? Hmmm. FR did not call for backup. FR did not begin a log… Ah, here's a good one. FR antagonized the HT with threats. I like this one, too: Officer Meeks hampered and attempted to block Lieutenant MacNamara's contact with the HT."
Arnie rocked back in his chair, balanced on its back legs, rocked up again. "She can write anything she wants. Doesn't mean that's how it went down."
"Actually, all those examples are from witnesses-civilian and law enforcement. Well now, reading all this, it looks like you screwed things up there, Arnie."
"I had the situation under control until she pushed into it."
"So, you just needed a little more time to resolve the matter, and she didn't give it to you." Lips pursed, Liz nodded. "The guy blows his brains out, and you get the rap. Then, the bitch suspends you. I'd be pissed, too. Hard to blame you for wanting to pay her back."
Arnie smiled, shoved his hand at his lawyer before the lawyer could speak. "Just shut up. She's insulting me thinking she can bait me into saying something stupid. What about you?" he said to Phoebe. "Nothing to say for a change?"
"I was just sitting here wondering how your wife feels about all this. How she feels about you diddling with Annie Utz, for instance."
The smirk twisted his lips. "Annie's cute, and thick as a brick. I flirted, I admit it. Every guy in the squad did. But when she came on to me, when she wanted to take it past a wink, I set her straight. Got her feelings hurt, so I guess she figured to pay me back with this wild story. Or you pushed her to lie."
Phoebe looked over at Liz. "The man's surrounded by liars and bitches. It's a wonder he gets through the day."
"I don't know how he gets out of bed in the morning. So Annie's lying when she states you and she had a sexual relationship?"
He grinned widely, shook his finger. "I never had sex with that woman."
"Cute," Liz acknowledged. "And really adorable when you consider Annie states that relationship was limited to oral sex. A blurry line, I grant you. She 'came on' to you, that's what you said, and that's funny, too. In her statement she uses that same phrase. You told her Lieutenant MacNamara came on to you. And when you, being the moral, upstanding type, turned her down, she got her feelings hurt and looked for payback. My God, man, the women just make your life a living hell. I have to tell you, I'm actively restraining myself from coming on to you right now."
"Keep it up, Detective," the lawyer warned, "and this interview is over."
"Just going with what seems to be a pattern. You were in the building Monday morning between nine and ten A.M., Officer?"
"That's right. I had some things I wanted out of my locker."
"It took you an hour to get some things out of your locker?"
"I hung around. I'm a cop," he said with some irritation. "This is my house. I'm supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be doing the job. And I would be if it wasn't for her and the stick up her ass."
"Now she's a bitch with a stick up her ass who came on to you."
"I call them like I see them, remember?"
"But it was Annie who said Lieutenant MacNamara came on to you." Liz smiled pleasantly when annoyance crossed Arnie's face. "I think you're getting your excuses and lies mixed up here. But it's easy to see why. It's hard to tell one bitch from the other, isn't it? We're all pretty much the same. You didn't need to see Phoebe's face when you punched your fist into it. You didn't need to hear her scream or cry or curse you when you shoved her down, ripped her clothes to shreds. Of course, it didn't take any balls to do that, not when her hands were cuffed. I guess one man's payback is another man's cowardice."
"I'm man enough."
"Man enough to use one woman to ambush another." The sugary tone was a thing of the past now as Liz whipped out the words. "Man enough to lie in wait like a snake in the grass. And the only way you could put your hands on her was to cuff her, to knock her down. That's the only way you could get her naked and put hands on her."