Free An Unacceptable Death - Barbara Seranella by Unknown Page B

someone is found in the possession of illegal
drugs, no matter how small the amount, his or her money and other
property are subject to seizure by the arresting officer."
    She always thought that law sucked but wasn't going
to offer her opinion unless asked. Hadn't she just signed on to be a
team player? Bayless leaned forward in his chair and folded his hands
loosely between his knees. "In theory, forfeiture is meant to
punish drug kingpins by taking away their toys. In practice, it is an
invitation for terrible abuse of power."
    Munch shifted to attention. Maybe her and Bayless's
beliefs weren't so far apart after all. "Go on."
    " Case agents get their pick of seized cars. I've
seen cases where people with no criminal record, but really cool
rides, suddenly come under indictment and the next thing you know
their car is in our lot."
    " And this ties to Rico's case how?" Munch
asked, already thinking about the Shelby Mustang.
    " The officers who shot him were under
investigation for just that."
    Munch exhaled. No wonder he didn't want her carrying
a gun. "So we nail one of them for that and maybe he'll roll on
his buddies for the shooting."
    " How good an actress are you?" Bayless
asked.
    " You'd be amazed."
    " Here's the plan: I'm going to plant some
information about you not being happy about the reasons you've been
given about your fiancé's death."
    " And for this I need to act?"
    His smile came and left so quickly that she wasn't
sure she'd seen his lips move. "You can't let on you know any of
the things we've discussed, and especially not that you're helping
me."
    " I can do that."
    " And in the future, don't call me. I'll call
you."
    " When can I expect that?"
    " As soon as it needs
to be. Don't worry, I'll be in touch."
    * * *
    Munch got home at noon. Jasper treated her like a
long-lost love. She took the time to pet him and tell him how much
she loved him, but it felt as if she were just giving him lip
service. Petting him didn't give her the pleasure it usually did. She
noticed the same sort of thing around Asia. A layer of insulation had
grown around her heart, keeping out the good and the bad feelings.
She wondered if this was going to be a permanent change.
    There were no messages on her answering machine. She
opened the refrigerator out of habit. Caroline St. John had dropped
off a casserole. Munch decided to save it for dinner. Life went on no
matter how you were feeling. You had to act as if something would
matter later. She'd been down the fake-it-till-you-make-it road
before. Rico's coat hung in her bedroom closet. She stared at it a
minute before reaching into the pocket for his address book. She
needed to go through it and call everyone he knew to give them the
news and the time of the funeral if they were interested. Not
everyone read the obituaries faithfully.
    The mortuary had given Fernando a form to fill out
for the public notice, and Munch had offered to take care of that for
him. Free obituaries were a line or two and listed only the
deceased's name and that of the mortuary, along with the phone number
of the funeral home.
    Those obits had always seemed so sad to Munch, as if
no one was left or cared enough to give some sort of accounting of
the person's life and passing. The longer obits were paid for. There
were also symbols that could be purchased to appear to the left of
the name: hearts, flags, roses. She chose a police badge. Like many
recent decisions, this was a tough one. She would only have one
chance at this and she wanted to do it right.
    She started with the statistics of Rico's birthplace
and date, and then added that he was cherished by many and killed way
too young. She also listed the loved ones who survived him, as well
as those who had preceded him in death. She cried the whole time she
wrote it, and was glad for the opportunity. She'd read somewhere that
the brain produced endorphin when tears were shed. Some trade-off!
She hesitated a moment before opening Rico's little address