I couldn’t bear to see Monk suffer for another second.
“You’re both going to prison tonight,” I said.
Slade shook his head as if he were deeply disappointed in me. “You haven’t been listening, Natalie.”
“Yes, I have.” I reached into my pocket with my free hand and pulled out my cell phone. “And so has my voice mail.”
That was the speed-dial number I hit when we came into the warehouse.
Slade’s cocky smile evaporated.
Monk looked at me with astonishment. “Really?”
“Really,” I said.
“And so has the nine-one-one operator,” Danielle said in a raspy voice, picking up her cell phone from the pile of bricks where she’d left it. “I kept the line open while I kicked your ass.”
Wurzel leaned against her Maybach for support and began to cry. Soon she’d be living in a cell half the size of her car and a lot less sumptuous.
Monk straightened up and nodded to himself, obviously pleased and proud of his two assistants. The case was solved. The bad guys were going to pay for their crimes. Balance had been restored.
For him, it was as close to perfect as things could ever get.
Behind us, three black-and-white police cars roared into the warehouse.
I glanced at Slade, who glared at me with such murderous intent that I was tempted to shoot him just to be safe.
“You’re fired,” he said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
I hated to lose the Lexus, the expense account, and the health plan, but at least we were still alive.
While the police handcuffed Slade and Wurzel, and Monk was briefing Disher, I called Julie and told her to get her fanny back home and warned her that I probably wouldn’t be back until morning.
“Who’s the lucky guy?” she asked.
“Lieutenant Disher,” I said.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” she said with true horror in her voice.
“It’s not what you think. He’s going to be taking my statement,” I said. “We caught a murderer tonight.”
“Cool,” she said.
I wished her sweet dreams and hung up. I didn’t tell her that I’d nearly been killed and I never would. There are some things she doesn’t need to know.
I slipped my phone in my purse and saw that the back door of the Maybach was open. Danielle sat in the backseat of Wurzel’s car, watching me and sipping a bottle of water.
“Comfy?” I asked.
“I figure this is as close as I will ever get to a car like this, so I should take advantage of the opportunity,” she said. “And the minifridge. She’s got Godiva chocolate, grapes, and six different kinds of cheese in there.”
“You saved our lives tonight,” I said. “Thank you.”
She dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand. “You returned the favor.”
“About that,” I said, hesitating. “You know that was all just talk, right? I mean, I wouldn’t have done anything to hurt you.”
“That’s not what Nick thought. I could feel his heart pounding against my back.”
“I don’t know if I would have taken the shot or not,” I said.
“I do,” Danielle said.
That gave her an edge on me. I still wasn’t sure what I would have done.
“What are you going to do now?”
“Look for a job,” she said. “Maybe one in a less dangerous line of work.”
“But you’re good at this,” I said.
“I’m not sure that I want to be,” she said. “I’m going to take some time off and think about it.”
Monk and Disher came over to us.
“Congratulations,” Disher said. “You did some amazing detective work. Monk has filled me in on everything. But I’ll still need you to come downtown and give me your official statements.”
“Can you make the charges stick?” I asked.
“The nine-one-one recording and the voice mail are as good as signed confessions,” Disher said. “Slade and Wurzel know it, too. They’re already competing to see who can roll over on the other one first in exchange for a lesser sentence.”
“When will the captain be released?” Monk asked.
“As soon as the DA can wake up a judge,” Disher said. “But in the meantime, he’s relaxing in the officers’ break room with some coffee and doughnuts.”
“So for the time being you’re still Acting Captain Disher,” I said.
“Yes, I am.” He smiled at Danielle and offered his hand. “We haven’t been introduced. As Natalie said, I’m Acting Captain Disher. But everybody calls me Bullitt.”
“They do?” Monk asked.
“Yes, they do,” Disher stated.
“I don’t,” Monk said.
“That’s because you’re out of the loop,” Disher said. “I’m in the loop. You could say the loop loops around me.”
She shook Disher’s hand. “Why do they call you that?”
He puffed out his chest a bit and hiked up his pants. “It’s obvious once you see me in action on the streets. I’m basically fearless.”
“Excuse me, Bullitt,” I said. “Where do you think Stottlemeyer will go once he’s released?”
“He’ll probably swing by the station to thank you before he goes home,” Disher said, turning back to Danielle. “After your statement, how would you like a tour of police headquarters?”
“You could start by showing her your acting captain’s office,” I said. “I’m sure she’d like that.”
“Oh my God.” Disher suddenly froze. “All my stuff is still in there.”
He spun around and ran back to his car.
“What’s his problem?” Danielle asked.
I shrugged. “You never know with Bullitt.”
It was nearly sunrise by the time we finished up with our statements. Danielle went home but we hung around so we could see Stottlemeyer when he came back.
Monk used the time to wash the windows, dust the shelves, and mop the floors in Stottlemeyer’s office. He offered to let me help him but I declined. I knew how much he enjoyed doing it on his own without having to worry about me doing it wrong.
Yes, there is a right way and a wrong way to mop. It involves a highly elaborate technique, which, if not done exactly right, could cause a plague and the demise of entire civilizations.
Rather than risk that, I got myself a cup of coffee, sat at Lansdale ’s desk, and watched Monk work and Disher fill out his reports. I didn’t even realize that Stottlemeyer had come in, and neither did they, until he was standing right in front of me. He was back in his rumpled clothes, and looked bone-tired, but there was a smile on his face.
“‘If I’m lucky the bullet will go through her and into you,’” Stottlemeyer said. “We’re going to have to start calling you Dirty Natalie.”
Disher grimaced. It would kill him if that nickname caught on. I was tempted to encourage it just to get back at him for arresting Captain Stottlemeyer.
“How did you know I said that?” I asked the captain.
“They’ve been playing excerpts of your 911 tape all over the building,” Stottlemeyer said. “You’re one tough broad.”
“This is news to you?” I said.
“Nope,” he said. “I’ve been on the receiving end before.”
Monk came out of the captain’s office, his hands still in rubber gloves.
“Welcome back, Leland,” he said. “Your office is clean and disinfected. You don’t want to know what it was like before.”
Stottlemeyer grabbed Monk, pulled him into a bear hug, and clapped him on the back. “I knew I could count on you, Monk. Thank you.”
“It’s what I do,” Monk said, his body stiff, his arms flush against his sides.
“Better than anybody,” Stottlemeyer said, clapping him hard on the back again before letting him go. “And no matter what anybody says, that doesn’t bother me one bit, especially right now.”