Gabriel is saying something about the investigation, but I’m only half listening. Not even half. I tell him that I’ll see him shortly, and then I break the connection.

10. DANA GOODWIN

10.

DANA GOODWIN

I settle into Gabriel Velasquez’s guest chair and look around his office, trying to figure out what I can about my new partner by his surroundings. The room doesn’t reflect my first impressions of the man at all. It’s a mess. Papers are strewn about, and the mismatched furnishings seem to have been collected from different offices. He’s very polished, with his monochromatic clothing and badge affixed to a chain around his neck. And he’s handsome, almost painfully so, with large brown eyes and a smile that would be hard to deny.

“Sorry I made you wait,” he says. “But as you heard in there, I’ve been dating Ella Broden for the last six months, and she and Lauren were very close. I just called her to break the news. Ella’s sister was murdered six months ago, and, well, this is a lot to absorb in and of itself, but coupled with that . . . she’s taking it very hard.” He looks up and catches my pained expression. “I’m sorry. This must be terrible for you too. How are you holding up?”

I smile weakly. “It doesn’t feel real yet, to be honest. I’m sure Ella has told you how wonderful Lauren . . . was. I mean, everyone loved her.”

“Apparently not everyone,” he says solemnly.

I wonder what he sees, looking across at me. My guess is that I’m five years older than Gabriel, which makes us contemporaries, but I’d wager he thinks of me as “older.” Based on his involvement with Ella, I assume he’s not intimidated by a smart woman, which isn’t the norm among the men in the NYPD. At the same time, I suspect he’s not happy to be teamed up with an ADA in the investigative stage. From past experience, I’ve learned that cops like to have a free hand in sifting through the evidence. Besides, whenever you have one of these interdepartmental matchups, the issue of hierarchy inevitably arises. Does Gabriel work for me because I’m the one who is eventually going to have to prove guilt in court? Or do I work for him because investigating crime is a police function?

I decide it’s never too early to curry favor with a work colleague. It’s been my experience that it’s easiest to do that with men by sucking up to them.

“Full disclosure,” I say. “I’m not at all experienced with what happens this early in an investigation. You guys normally do your thing, and then I’m handed a suspect and told to get a conviction. So you tell me. What’s the first step?”

“We talk to her husband,” Gabriel says.