Read Online Full Frontal Murder by Barbara Paul - Free Book Online Page A

“Well, I’ll be damned! You really are?”
    â€œI really are.”
    â€œGloria, I’ve been after you for over a year to take that exam, and all I ever got from you was I don’ wanna talk about it . You want to tell me why you changed your mind?”
    â€œI was afraid if I passed the test I’d get transferred out of the Ninth.”
    Marian blinked. “You like working for Captain DiFalco?”
    â€œShit, no! I don’ like workin’ for DiFalco any more’n you did. But I had my Gran livin’ with me, Marian. She’s old and frail, and I needed to run home and check on her whenever I could. I could do that from the Ninth Precinct stationhouse.”
    â€œWhich you might not be able to if you were transferred.” Marian nodded. “I see. Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
    â€œIt dint seem right, usin’ Gran as an excuse.”
    Marian could see that too. “Where is she now?”
    â€œI took her to Alabama, where she was born. She don’ have much time left, and she say she don’ wanna die here. Her great-niece is takin’ care of her.”
    â€œYou miss her, don’t you?”
    â€œYeah, I do. She’s the only family I had. But she’s better off where she is. At least she doesn’t have to stay locked in all day the way she did here,” Gloria said flatly.
    Marian grinned. “Do you realize you just switched from Rosie Perez to Nichelle Nichols?”
    â€œI did?” Gloria laughed. “Gran’s black, and I was thinkin’ ’bout her.” She tossed her head, making her gold loop earrings dance. “But I look like zee nice Puerto Rican gel, yes?” The lilt was back in her voice.
    â€œOh, yes,” Marian agreed. “Well, this is great news, Gloria. You know we’re short one sergeant in Midtown South.”
    â€œYou thin’ Captain Murtaugh put in a request for me?”
    â€œI’m sure he will. Especially since Sergeant Buchanan is retiring at the end of the year. We’ll be needing two sergeants.”
    â€œWhass wrong with Midtown South detectives? They no take the test?”
    â€œSix of them are going to. But, frankly, only one of them has any real chance.”
    â€œDon’t tell me—Perlmutter?”
    â€œGot it in one. So you see, we have to find another sergeant somewhere … and I’d just as soon it be you.”
    â€œâ€™Sokay wi’ me!” Gloria agreed cheerily.
    They finished their lunch and went their separate ways. Marian was feeling exhilarated; Captain Murtaugh had seen Gloria at work on two cases that had involved both Midtown South and the Ninth Precinct, and he knew what she could do. Marian loved the idea of having Gloria to work with every day, the way they’d once worked together in the Ninth. Gloria was not only a good detective, she was also a friend, someone Marian could trust in a way she could never trust, say, Sergeant Buchanan.
    At the stationhouse, she stopped by the captain’s office. “How do you feel about putting a little pressure on Personnel?”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Give me a good enough cause and I’ll put pressure on anybody.”
    â€œGloria Sanchez.” She went on to explain that Gloria would be taking the Sergeants Exam. “And since Midtown South has gone with only two sergeants for … how long now? A year and a half? Surely Personnel should be willing to give you first choice, don’t you think?”
    He smiled. “Sounds reasonable to me. But didn’t you once tell me Sanchez refused to take the exam?”
    â€œShe had a family situation that was holding her back, Jim. But that’s resolved now, and she’s champing at the bit.”
    â€œGood. Okay, I’ll put in a name request, both for her and for Perlmutter. Now all they have to do is pass the test.”
    â€œYeah, that’s all.”
    He scratched the side of his