Chapter 23: A Return

Many Cones, Based On True Crime

Chapter 23 starts Margie Grenk's return to work and Grandisha's daily meeting.
Many Cones is a podcast novel based on true crime. The murders inspiring this crime fiction took place 30 miles from Chicago in Northwest Indiana, and captivated the area from the initial brutal crime scene all the way through and beyond discovery of a shockingly bizarre motive.
Margie Grenk arrived at work early. She wanted to catch up on everything that had occurred the last few days. Not much, she discovered. The other detectives treated her with deference when she first walked in. Within a half hour, she was one of the boys. Lascivious remarks and all.

The daily meeting began at 9:00am sharp. It didn’t last long. Old information was reviewed. Nothing new was added. Grandisha didn’t share the Morales file. He needed an explanation of where the information came from.

One of the detectives was assigned to find a Spanish speaking officer and to run “Many cones” by him. See if maybe it was a foreign phrase. Someone from the audience quipped, “We’re reaching now aren’t we, Lieutenant.”

The session ended. Ray returned to his office. Margie followed. He thought she looked good. Light weight, soft red, pull over sweater. Shiny, creased jeans. Tan cowboy boots.

He eyed her suspiciously, then asked, “Are you sure you’re okay? You know you don’t have to be here. You can have more time.”

“I need to be here. If I wasn’t here, I’d be sitting home, staring at walls. This is a piece of cake compared to that.”

Grandisha made a snap judgment. He rose, closed the office door, returned to his seat and stared at Margie. “I have a lead. It may or may not pan out, but it’s all we have so far. I haven’t told anyone about it. I was gonna work it myself, but I could use your help. It has to be completely confidential, and no questions are asked.”

Margie returned his stare. “You know how much I respect you. I’d lie under oath for you. Tell me what you want done, and it goes no further. No questions asked.”

The Lieutenant gave her the name and address. “He’s a high school student, probably at school right now. I don’t know what he looks like. I need to have him followed after class. I want to know the names and addresses of everyone he hangs with and where he goes. He lives in a cul-de-sac. If he goes home, don’t follow him in. And don’t approach him. He may be very dangerous. Plus, I don’t want anyone to know we're interested.”

The quick flicker of her green eyes betrayed her. She was dying to ask. Grandisha said, “Go ahead, one question.”

“Ricardo Morales. Does that have anything to do with the Spanish speaking officer?”

“I think it might. We’ll find out.”