Tolerance Book III

Chapter Thirty-Five: Searching For Clues

HS Headquarters

After the lengthy discussion the day before in the Irish eatery it had been decided that Mouse would be the sole holder of whatever intel they gathered on Billings that pointed to his guilt.  Well accustomed to cyber security measures the IT Specialist would be well equipped to safeguard their covert investigation.  The Sergeant had brought the Unit up to speed after their dinner in the hotel that night and everyone understood the situation.

Now sitting in Murphys' office with Voight and Al Jay looked around the space speculatively as he scribbled a quick note in his small notepad and wordlessly passed it across the desk to the Assistant Director during a lull in the conversation.

"We still have checks to do on the five likely blackmail targets," Murphy commented without missing a beat as he accepted the piece of paper and read it.
"Anyone stand out?" Voight asked even as he wondered what his Detective was up to.
"Not yet.  From Marks to Billings they're all vulnerable to some extent," Murphy responded as he jotted down something and handed the paper back to the Detective.
"Well until we gain anything useful let's keep our net spread out," Voight suggested.
"You said you wanted to go back to the crime scenes," Murphy reminded Jay, "if that's helpful take whoever you want with you."
"Thanks Sir," Jay shoved the paper into his pocket and stood up, "figure Mouse needs a break from the office."
"Take Dawson as well," Voight directed in light of the unknown contents of the note, going off script as the plan had been for only Mouse to accompany the younger man.
"That works," Murphy agreed before Jay could argue against such a necessity.

Jay had made short work of collecting Mouse and Antonio and had disappeared into the elevator before Voight could question him.  Murphy however did not get such a reprieve.  With a hard glare the Chicago Sergeant indicated he wanted a word and subsequently led the AD towards the mens' toilets. 

"What was that about?" Voight barely waited for the door to close before he made his demand, his infamous impatience coming to the fore.
"Jay wanted to know if the offices could be bugged."
"And you told him?"
"Definitely not," the AD stated firmly, with absolute certainty then shrugged, "I had the place swept for listening devices last night."
"You did?"
"In light of the fact Thompson may be an ally of Billings you bet your life I did."
"He ever given you reason before now to believe he's corrupt?"
"No, but then again I wasn't eyeing him as compromised," Murphy explained matter of factly.
"This could get ugly."
"Can't argue with you on that.   Of course we might just be acting paranoid," the AD tried to sound upbeat but there was no conviction to bolster the hopeful words.
"If we knew for sure whether or not Thompson is corrupt it would make things easier."

That was the crux of the matter.  Because of the Directors' ties with Billings they had to assume he would try to aid the man.  There were no absolutes however.   The fact that Thompson had not tried to dissuade them from questioning Billings initially could be a sign he was not willing to cover for him but then again they had only been making preliminary enquiries.  If Billings became the prime target of the investigation Thompson might have a totally different approach and hinder their actions.

Office of Public Records

After surveying the remnants of the destroyed office once more Jay stood with his friends outside the building noting people going about their day as if someone had not been blown up close by. 

"Why did you want to see the place again?" Mouse couldn't contain his curiosity any longer.
"Just wanted to see if anything stuck out," Jay shrugged.
"And did it?"
"No."
"So back to Headquarters?" Antonio fished the keys out of his pocket since he was on driving duty.
"No, let's check out the last few crime scenes," the auburn haired man began walking towards their black SUV, "there might be something I'm missing,"
"'We're' missing," the Italian-American quickly corrected before continuing with a cheeky grin, "you don't get to hog all the responsibility man, sharing is caring you know."
"Sure," Jay rolled his eyes in mock exasperation.
"And then we can get something to eat," Mouse stated.