Chapter 50
It was Wednesday morning, and the thought of sitting on my butt all day going through the Michael Lenstein cold case files wasn’t the least bit appealing.
I liked being active and out in the public looking for answers.
Chasing leads, arresting criminals, and making sure justice was served was in my blood.
Working cold cases that couldn’t be solved wasn’t.
After arriving at work, I headed straight for the cafeteria to load up on coffee and morning snacks.
I was surprised to see I’d beaten Renz to work.
He probably wasn’t looking forward to our assignment for the foreseeable future either.
According to what Taft had told him yesterday before the end of our shift, we would be working the cold case until something else came up.
I felt like we were being punished, even though I knew that wasn’t Taft’s intent.
She wanted to keep us busy, nothing more.
Minutes later, Renz walked in.
I grinned at him. His hands were full of morning snacks and coffee too. “Hey, partner. Ready for an overly exciting day?”
He grunted and sat down. “Guess we’ll do what we have to do until something else comes along. Maybe we’ll actually solve this case.”
I chuckled. “Like five other agents and the police couldn’t? You’re giving us way too much credit.” I sighed.
“What?”
“Just thinking.”
“About what? Getting you to talk is like pulling teeth, Monroe.”
“Thinking about Friday night and Saturday morning. Wasn’t that stakeout fun?”
Renz balled up his napkin and threw it at me. “I guess compared to this it was fun. We have another long day and the rest of the week ahead of us.”
“We’ll get through it sooner or later.” I laughed. “This too shall pass.” I took a gulp of coffee and opened box number two.
Just then, Renz’s phone rang. He looked at the number it came from and grunted.
“It’s Taft.” After putting the call on Speaker, Renz answered. “Morning, boss.”
“Lorenzo, stop whatever you’re doing and come into my office now, both of you.”
“Right away.” Renz hung up and grinned. “Maybe our luck is about to change.” He guzzled his coffee, and I did the same.
We quickly headed down two hallways. Whatever Taft wanted to say, it sounded urgent.
Renz knocked, and she waved us through the partially open door.
“Come in and have a seat. Something troubling was just brought to my attention. It seems that Judge Conway has gone missing.”
“Judge Conway, the federal judge?”
“Yes, Jade, and that makes this an FBI case.”
I could barely contain my excitement, although anyone going missing, especially someone as prominent as Judge Conway, was devastating.
“What do we know?” Renz asked.
“Only that his car was discovered late last night by the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office.
There was no evidence of him, his keys, or any belongings inside.
The Milwaukee police were informed, and they paid his wife a visit an hour ago.
She told them that he said he was going to the country club last night to play cards with the guys.
She went to bed at ten o’clock and didn’t give it another thought. ”
“And she didn’t wonder where he was this morning?” I asked.
“Apparently, they have separate bedrooms—older judge and wife. People wanting their own space, that sort of thing. She figured he’d already left for the courthouse when she got up.
Anyway, his car is en route to our evidence garage.
I want you two to take on this case. Nobody just disappears without a trace unless they want a different life or they’re going to commit suicide. ”
“Did his wife say he was suicidal?” I asked.
“Just the opposite. He’s outgoing, has life by the tail, and does whatever he wants.”
Renz cut in. “Judges have enemies, especially federal judges. They usually put criminals away for life. What do you want us to do first?”
“Dig into his recent cases and see what you find. I’ll touch base with you in a few hours. By then, the crime lab will already be processing the car.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Renz and I stood and walked to the door.
“This is a big deal, agents. We have to find him.”
We returned to our office and powered up our computers. We finally had something to do that would put us in the middle of a federal investigation.
“I’m so excited, Renz.”
“You’re excited that a federal judge went missing?”
“No, that’s tragic, but we’ll figure it out. I’m excited to finally get my mind off of James Smith and put my focus on something fresh, new, and extremely important.”
“Then let’s dig in.”