“A modest but nice house in the Sunset District,” she answered before taking another bite of her sandwich. She’d never been a big fan of chicken salad, but Dottie added something to hers—sage or possibly thyme—in just the right amount to give it a depth and richness she’d never tasted before.Juliana wouldn’t do it justice—she was a baker at heart—but maybe she’d ask Dottie for her recipe.
“He represents District Seven, which includes that neighborhood,” Simon added.
With nothing else to report, she and Simon fell silent. They knew more about Lowery now than they had, but not why he was being blackmailed or who he so casually talked about killing. Glancing at Philly and Monk, she hoped they’d found something more substantial, moreincriminating, than she and Simon.
“Philly, please tell me you have something big to share,” she said. He waggled his eyebrows and flashed her a smile.
“On Polinsky,” Simon clarified, eliciting a grin from Philly. Monk chuckled, and Juliana rolled her eyes.
“Interestingly—or perhaps not,” Philly started. “Polinsky enlisted after high school and served in the army as well. Also deploying during Desert Storm. I emailed a contact to see if I can track his unit information. I’ll send a follow-up and include Lowery’s name. Would be interesting to know if they served together.”
“Add Brian Gregor’s name to the request,” Monk interjected.
“Who’s that?” Simon asked.
“The developer of the Bayview project who I think is the third man. The bio on his company site says he served, but not which branch or when,” he answered.
“Do you think that’s the connection between them all?” Juliana mused. “If so, is it possible that the blackmail has been going on for that long? Desert Storm was over thirty years ago.”
Simon inclined his head. “Maybe, but it took over a decade for Lowery and Polinsky to be in a position where blackmailing them would amount to anything. That’s not to say corrupt admins, clerks, or beat cops can’t do damage, but supervisors and police lieutenants have far more power to wield.”
“Fair,” she said with a nod. “What else, Philly?”
“When Polinsky discharged, he returned home to South Boston,” he said, dutifully returning to his readout. “A few months later, he enrolled in the police academy. He started his career in Boston but moved to San Francisco two years later.”
“An odd move for a cop,” Simon said. “Leaving your hometown—and a good force—to move somewhere new. And more expensive.”
“There was a woman involved,” Philly replied. “His wife. Or I should say former wife. They divorced four years ago. No kids.”
“Is Lowery married?” Monk asked.
Juliana nodded. “Only recently, though. Three years ago. She was a wealthy widow when they met. She runs an art gallery in the city.”
“No kids?” Philly asked.
Juliana shook her head. “Not between the two of them, but she has a daughter from her first marriage. She’s a doctor in New York City.”
“Anything unusual in Polinsky’s climb from a beat cop to a lieutenant?” Simon asked.
Philly tapped his pen on the table as he stared into the middle distance. After a beat, he brought his attention back to her and Simon. “Not really. There aren’t that many of them in the SFPD, so the fact he is one is remarkable enough. But he wasn’t cited as being the lead on any big cases or anything. He also hasn’t been named in any lawsuits against him or the department, so he has that going for him.”
“Oh what standards we have for public servants,” she mumbled.
“Any connection to Lowery?” Simon asked.
Philly shook his head and shrugged. “Possibly the military, but we’ll have to wait to hear about that. As you can imagine, as law enforcement, it’s not easy to find a lot of public information on his private life. I only found out about his wife from aninterview she gave after she joined the board of the city ballet company. I discovered the divorce by trolling through court files. I was looking for something more salacious, but that’s the only thing that cropped up.”
Juliana picked up her drink and looked to Simon, silently asking if he had more questions. After shaking his head, he turned to Monk. “And Gregor? That’s the developer’s name, right?”
Monk nodded, his beard brushing his chest as he did. She was in no way attracted to the man—although he was adorable in a big teddy bear sort of way—but she wondered what it felt like to kiss someone with so much facial hair. It was the trend these days, although she doubted Monk had considered that. Even so, she much preferred Simon’s clean-shaven look. Well, almost clean-shaven. He did have a bit of a sexy scruff today.
Monk drummed his fingers on the table again, and she pulled her gaze from Simon. Amusement danced in his eyes, but his expression didn’t otherwise change. “You ready to hear about Gregor?”
She grimaced, then cast an apologetic look at Simon, who didn’t look at all displeased to be the object of her distraction. Forcing herself to focus on the task at hand, she turned to Monk and nodded.
“He caught my eye because he’s the only local developer identified as being involved in the Bayview development project. He lives in San Francisco and has a lot of projects in the area. The two other developers that came up are both located outside the state.”
“If he’s relying on a corrupt city supervisor, then it makes sense that his projects are local,” she murmured. The three men nodded in agreement.