JOURNAL ENTRY
Michael Daniel Hale
April 15^th 2007, 1:00am

The captain suspended me today for “psychiatric reasons.” I don’t know what’s going on but my partner, Emily, didn’t look pleased about it. I can’t say I blame her. Two weeks? She’ll probably get stuck with that rookie “Butterfingers” Hillman. I feel for her.

Henry told me to go home and relax. I’m home – I can’t relax. Something is really fishy about this case. The FBI wouldn’t take the information I got out of Emilio. They have heard about my suspension and won’t talk to me. Good thing that I still have some friends in the Bureau and at the department.

My wife is still on a personal vacation out on the Reservation so I tried to sit and watch football and drink some beers. I got through three Coronas when the phone rang. Seems that word of my suspension hasn’t totally circulated.

Identification Division thinks the markings on the wall are reminiscent of a religion called Santeria and that most of art is diversionary attempting to distract viewers from the main stage which is the center of the room. The ritual is part of a “vendetta pact” between families. Declaring war. Very Romeo and Juliet if you ask me. The report suggests that anyone marked by blood or name (the words on the walls were names scrawled in blood.) Among those names on the wall were most of the 8^th Street Angels gang, including Emilio.

On a hunch, I asked about rosary beads. He said that they were sometimes used in rituals but not in the fashion I had described. I looked back through some of the documents from forensics on the blood covered doll there were rosary beads sewn onto it as well.

I still have some of the old paperwork on Vega. It says that he works weekend nights in a warehouse district. A lead that was never followed up.

Lucky for me, I have some good pals on the force. I called Jake Holland, a patrolman out of Central Phoenix precinct and he told me that he’d give me a ride around the city in a couple hours to help me clear my head.

Stuck to the underside of one of the forensics reports I found a DNA lab report on those hair-like fibers I collected from next to the poppet doll. They had a mitochondrial match to a member of Linda Walters’ family.

That must be what Emilio is afraid of. This isn’t about gang rivalry – this is personal.