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Chapter 43: Please Call Me Supervisor Cullinan or Mr. Cullinan
A few days later, all the Homicide Team detectives attended Sam's funeral.
Wenner and Cahill also came to pay their respects and delivered eulogies.
Sam's coffin came from Del Rio Funeral Home, with all related expenses covered by the FOP.
After the service, Theodore and Bernie were walking toward the parking lot when Jacob called out to them.
Jacob thanked them again for their help with Sam's case and hoped to invite them to his home as guests.
Bernie instinctively resisted the invitation, and Theodore also felt it wasn't an appropriate time for social visits.
However, Jacob was so insistent that they couldn't refuse, and the two eventually followed his car.
During the drive, Bernie wanted to complain but felt it would be inappropriate to speak ill of Jacob so soon after the funeral, which left him feeling uncomfortable and restless.
Jacob lived in the same apartment building as Sam.
They parked in the usual spot, but the burrito stand was nowhere to be seen.
Theodore glanced at the empty space where it used to be.
Jacob lived directly across from Sam, and as they climbed the stairs, they encountered the apartment manager cleaning out Sam's room and the adjacent unit.
The middle-aged man who had once warned Theodore and Bernie they weren't welcome was gone.
The two detectives looked around curiously at the changes.
Jacob greeted the apartment manager with a warm smile, accepted his condolences graciously, and introduced Theodore and Bernie to him.
Shortly after Sam's funeral, a new Deputy Police Chief was transferred from headquarters.
The transferred Deputy Police Chief was named Charlie Burton, and he appeared to be a thoroughly reliable administrator.
He brought numerous benefits to the branch.
His arrival suddenly transformed the relationships between various departments within the branch into something harmonious. Even members of the Homicide Team and Patrol Department, if they complained about him together, would immediately become fast friends.
His presence also helped everyone move past Sam's death more quickly.
He even fostered an unlikely friendship between Cahill and Wenner.
Now Cahill frequently visited the Homicide Team to chat with Wenner, treating all the detectives with genuine friendliness.
In short, Deputy Police Chief Burton created a rather peculiar atmosphere at the West District Branch.
No homicides occurred throughout the month of June.
Theodore was able to document all the accumulated cases thoroughly.
The Homicide Team cleared three additional cold cases. Two of these were solved with the help of the 'ghost perspective' insights Theodore provided.
Time quietly slipped into July.
Deputy Police Chief Burton lost everyone's favor overnight.
The Democratic Party held its national convention in Los Angeles, where Lyndon Johnson lost to Senator Kennedy by a vote of 409 to 806, officially determining the candidates for both major parties in the general election.
The election became the hot topic of conversation across the United States.
Every time Theodore saw Kennedy on television, he would stare silently at the man's head for long, troubled moments.
However, Deputy Police Chief Burton seemed unwilling to let the election steal his spotlight, so he had his assistant summon Wenner.
The scene was remarkably similar to what had happened two months earlier when Theodore first joined the Homicide Team. The only difference was that back then, it had been Cahill's assistant calling Wenner away.
About ten minutes later, Deputy Police Chief Burton's assistant returned and called both Theodore and Bernie away.
The detectives in the Homicide Team stopped discussing the election and began whispering about Deputy Police Chief Burton instead.
The patrol officers from across the hall used the excuse of asking about homicide scene procedures to come over and join the speculation.
The bullpen immediately became animated, as if they were throwing an impromptu party.
Burton's reason for wanting to see Theodore was straightforward, mainly to see Theodore; Bernie was just along for the ride.
A homicide had occurred in the East District, and Deputy Police Chief Burton's old contacts had learned he was stationed at the West District Branch and wanted to borrow Theodore for the case.
The Sam disappearance case had earned Theodore considerable recognition within the system.
In the words of a certain senior official at headquarters: "He was like magic, predicting everything!"
That precision, speed, and efficiency had shocked everyone within the department hierarchy.
According to unofficial sources, the South District Branch had claimed that if Theodore transferred there, they would create a special task force for him that reported directly to the Branch Chief, with Theodore in sole command, dedicated to solving cases, and he could choose which investigations to pursue.
This would essentially put him on equal footing with Wenner.
The rumor was somewhat exaggerated, though later insiders from the South District Branch confirmed their branch had indeed promised to build a special task force around Theodore.
But the actual operating model would involve the branch assigning a supervisor to coordinate the work, while Theodore would only need to focus on solving cases.
The South District was a middle-class area where the pressure to solve cases was far greater than in places like the West District, which was full of riffraff and low-priority crimes.
Deputy Police Chief Burton briefly explained the situation and informed Theodore that it was a suggestion from a Senior Police Supervisor at headquarters, then asked for his opinion.
He kindly mentioned that the Senior Police Supervisor liked Theodore very much and had considered transferring him to headquarters, but Chief Weideke and Supervisor Wenner had blocked the move.
Supervisor Wenner corroborated this, confirming it was true.
Theodore didn't hesitate, didn't even ask about the specifics of the case, and immediately agreed.
He could smell the scent of political maneuvering in those brief sentences. He didn't want to waste time on bureaucratic games; he needed to focus on advancing his skills.
As soon as Theodore and Bernie returned to the bullpen, they were surrounded by curious colleagues clamoring to know why the Deputy Police Chief had summoned them.
Upon learning it was a work-related assignment, everyone dispersed with disappointed shrugs.
Deputy Police Chief Burton hadn't made things difficult for them secretly...
They received orders to depart immediately, so the two quickly packed their gear and drove toward the East District.
Going from the West District to the East District meant crossing all of Felton, requiring passage through the Central District.
Felton's Central District was the commercial heart, with a clear dividing line separating it from the West District.
Crossing that line felt like entering an entirely different city.
The streets here bustled with commercial activity, far beyond anything the West District could offer.
The Central District was compact but comprehensive.
Besides the ubiquitous shopping centers, the office buildings with their emerging modern architectural features made Theodore momentarily wonder if he was walking through Manhattan.
Just as there was a clear boundary between the Central District and the West District, there was also a distinct dividing line between the East District and the Central District.
That boundary was Felton's version of 'Wall Street.'
Felton's courthouse, city hall, Central District Branch, financial firms, major law offices, and branch offices of several large corporations were all located on this prestigious street.
West of this street lay the highly commercial Central District, while east of it stretched the pastoral scenery of the East District.
This was Theodore's first time entering the East District.
Verdant green spaces, intersecting tree-lined roads, and distinctive villas and mansions dotted the landscape like something from a fairy tale, quiet and peaceful.
The Felton City Police Department Headquarters was also located here, a complex of buildings with striking blue and white exteriors.
After passing headquarters and driving another half mile, the East District Branch finally came into view.
Theodore and Bernie weren't given any difficulties; Deputy Police Chief Burton's contact personally welcomed them with considerable respect.
He was a middle-aged man with a build similar to Wenner's, but more genial in manner, perpetually smiling like a jovial Buddha.
He introduced himself as Ricky Cullinan and told Theodore he could simply call him Ricky.
Ricky showed no pretense of supervisory authority and personally drove the two men to the crime scene.
"Ricky, you're saying the case just happened today?!" Bernie asked.
Ricky smiled and waved to a patrol officer standing duty by the roadside before responding, "Please call me Supervisor Cullinan or Mr. Cullinan."
"Yes, the case was discovered early this morning."
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