intercom?â
âYes.â
Molly didnât say anything.
âYou answer most of the calls that come in to the station, correct?â
âYes.â
âYou always ask whoâs calling, right?â
âWhere is this leading, Jesse?â
âEvery time thereâs an incoming call, you answer it and then you shout out the name of whoâs calling. And who itâs for. Do you think itâs possible that shouting might not be the most effective way of alerting our personnel to incoming calls?â
âDo I need an Internal Affairs representative present for this conversation?â
âWould you ever consider placing an incoming call on hold and then notifying the recipient by use of the intercom?â
âWould I get paid more?â
âDo you think itâs possible we could attempt an experiment involving the intercom?â
âAre you instructing me to use it,â Molly said.
âI wouldnât put it that way.â
âWhat way would you put it?â
âIâd like you to try using the intercom.â
âI donât like the intercom.â
Jesse didnât say anything.
âAre you instructing me to use the intercom,â Molly said.
âNo. Iâm asking.â
âYouâre not instructing.â
âNo.â
âIâll take it under advisement,â she said, and stood up.
As she was leaving, she looked back over her shoulder and shouted, âRich Bauer phoned.â
Jesse stared at her.
Then he returned Bauerâs call.
âThe dogs, Jesse,â he said. âItâs awful.â
âHow awful?â
âAwful. Whoever killed them really meant to do it.â
âSimilarities?â
âBroken necks. How could anyone do that to a dog?â
âTakes all kinds, Rich.â
âWhat are we gonna do?â
âWeâre gonna find who did it is what weâre gonna do,â Jesse said.
24
Y ouâre here because youâre feeling overwhelmed,â Dix said.
âI didnât say that.â
âWhat did you say?â
âI said things had heated up somewhat.â
âSo you donât feel overwhelmed?â
âI didnât say that.â
âWhy does this have to be so hard,â Dix said.
âIâm feeling stressed,â Jesse said.
âHow are you handling the stress?â
âIâm talking to you.â
âYou may be talking, but youâre not saying anything,â Dix said.
Jesse didnât say anything.
âThis car business. How are you handling it?â
âUnconventionally.â
Dix didnât say anything.
âI donât want to talk about it,â Jesse said.
âTell me again why you came here.â
âTo talk.â
âPerhaps Iâm missing something.â
âLetâs put it this way. Letâs say that Iâm baiting a trap.â
âWill this trap place you in harmâs way?â
âIt might.â
âSo you feel vulnerable,â Dix said.
âI didnât say that.â
âHow do you feel about it?â
âHow do I feel?â
Dix didnât say anything.
âAnxious,â Jesse said.
âYou feel anxious?â
âYes.â
âHow do you handle it?â
âThe anxiety?â
âYes.â
âI handle it,â Jesse said.
âBut youâre experiencing a great deal of it,â Dix said.
âOnly on occasion.â
After a pause, Dix said, âAre you drinking?â
âNot really.â
âAre you sticking to your rule?â
âWhat rule?â
âThe two-drinks-a-night rule. This is brutal.â
âMostly Iâm only having one a night.â
âSo youâre not drinking?â
âI overstepped my limit the one time.â
âAfter the parking-lot killing,â Dix said.
âI couldnât get the image of the widow out of my mind. She was so