Part 35 (1/2)
”It could be anyone. The medical examiner. Some judges. Even the mayor. But any rookie cop would know it's a murder.”
”What can I do?”
”Make noise. Demand answers. Publicly, so you're no longer a target. Another suspicious death won't fly.” He hesitated. ”Continue to search for your sister. I don't think the police will help. Someone's putting the damper on it.”
”But it doesn't make sense. Why would anyone care?”
”Think about it.” He was pus.h.i.+ng her. ”Think of reasons.”
”Someone--whoever adopted my sister--doesn't want anyone to know it was a back door adoption.”
”And?”
”Crimes were committed,” she said.
”Crimes serious enough to warrant murder thirty years after the fact,” he added. ”I don't think it was just because of an undoc.u.mented adoption. Perhaps someone had a motive not to let anyone know his or her child was not a child of their blood.”
”I can't do any more looking until after I bury my father.”
”I realize that. And I plan to stick to you like glue.”
”What about your job?”
”If I can't protect you on the city's nickel, then I'll take leave.”
”But if they are as powerful as you believe ...”
”No one is as powerful as they think they are. We 'will' find them.”
Gage was looking down at the photo, a puzzled look on his face.
”What is it?”
He shrugged. ”There's something about that boy but thirty-plus years makes a lot of change in a person.”
”Perhaps we can find the tavern,” she said. ”If he went there often ...?”
”I doubt whether it still exists but I'll try. I think Memphis might be a better bet.”
”You could be in danger, too. If they would kill someone as well-known as my father...”
”I know how to take care of myself.”
”I expect my father believed that as well.”
”I'll be careful.”
She turned her attention back to the photos. There was one other photo.
Her mother dancing with the same young man. Again his face was only in profile. They were in a crowd that looked more like families than young people.
”I'll have Sarah start researching a bar named Paule's in the New Orleans area.”
He nodded. ”Let's go see Byers,” he said. ”Perhaps with what you've told me we can change the decision on your father.”
She felt a little better. They were doing something. She wasn't just being a victim.
She only hoped it didn't lead to another death.
*Chapter Nineteen*
'NEW ORLEANS'.
Identifying her father's body was the hardest thing Meredith ever had to do.
Even though she knew the police had identified him, she--as a member of the family--had to do it as well.
She had watched before as family members had identified their loved ones. She had often ached inside for them, even while trying to maintain an objective but sympathetic exterior.
Peering through the window as a tech uncovered her father's face, she knew she would never again watch such a procedure with any objectivity.
It was like being hit in the heart with a sledgehammer.
His face was gray. There were bruises on his cheek where he had fallen, but other than that he looked ... just still. The real damage, she knew, was underneath the sheet: catastrophic injury to every major organ.
Byers, who stood beside her, was silent and patient. He, too, had been witness to this scene often.
She nodded to him. Signed the papers. She took pride in the fact that her hand didn't tremble.
Then she turned and followed him out of the morgue. At her request, Gage had waited outside.
He reached out a hand to her in silent empathy. She held it tight for a moment, then let go. That brief human contact meant everything, made the present tolerable.
Gage then drove her to the homicide unit and they went into the conference room. Gage's partner, Glenn Wagner, was already there. Byers would join them soon.
Wary, she paused at the door. Someone with a great deal of influence was trying to squelch the investigation. The fact that Gage might be taken off the Lulu Starnes case proved that. He hadn't known how far they could trust Byers. Or even his own partner.
Byers walked in several minutes later and eyed her speculatively. ”Gaynor said you might have some information.”
She attacked first. ”Why is my father's death being considered a simple hit-and-run?”
”I wish I knew. The call came from above.”
”How far above?”
”I don't know. It was relayed by the captain.” Byers glanced at Gage. ”Your lieutenant as well.”