"Your emotions are always written across your face, John. Don't worry. I like that. Means you'll never be able to lie to me."
"Just can't shake what happened to Frank."
"You're right about this office location," she said motioning toward the beach, "the view is outstanding."
"Can't quite figure out why he did the things he did," the private eye went on.
Tammy nodded.
"Just can't see the end justifying the means."
"I agree," she said after sipping her drink.
"Thing is, he told me about the brake line. He admitted he made a mistake and wanted to start fresh."
She put her hand on John's back. "He turned into something different."
"I think back to how long I've know him. He practically trained me. We were close, but now I wonder how many other cases he's tweaked."
"Don't beat yourself up over this, John. It's over now. You need to get on with your life."
"I know," he agreed.
Tammy looked out over the beach and watched the sun worshipers set up shop. "I guess the lieutenant was Hank's inside connection. I've been thinking about that and how close I was to all this."
"I've been thinking the same thing. He was Hank's contact man and when I got close to things he tried to scare me off."
Tammy folded her arms and leaned against the doorjamb.
"But I've got a deeper theory."
"What is it?"
"I think, like you said, he operated as Hank's inside guy. I also thing it worked both ways."
"What?"
"I think Frank used this as a showcase for promotion."
Tammy looked puzzled. "How in the world would he do that?"
"I bet he saw an opportunity to form his own case to solve and look good for the to the top brass. With this unique situation, he could just set up the case he wanted to solve. Hank happened to come along at the right time."
"What promotion?"
"You didn't know?"
She shook her head and the wind blew her hair.
"There was an opening for the chief position. It would have been a huge raise in pay for a lieutenant and a ton of power. The hard part is that these jobs aren't necessarily a cakewalk for those in the department. They advertise the big jobs nationwide and the competition is stiff."
"Your theory's not so hard to believe," Tammy told him. "In fact, it sounds pretty logical."