Part 36 (1/2)
”Thank you, Dorrie. Madam Mayor, good morning.”
”Chief Brennan. You're sure you got the right one this time?”
”I might remind you that we didn't arrest Mr. Ruth. Something the newspaper article makes quite clear.”
”But this Kewell did it?”
”That will be for the court to decide, of course. However, we have the motive, the murder weapon and a signed statement from the accused, so I think we're on solid ground.”
”I'm pleased to hear it. Now, about your daughter defending criminals . . .”
”Once again, Mr. Ruth is decidedly not a criminal, nor is he under any suspicion. My daughter and Mr. Rhem saved the Crown a lot of time and embarra.s.sment by getting the charges withdrawn.”
”Still, if she plans on doing any more of this, it could get sticky, don't you think?”
”Madam Mayor, my family is composed of staunch individualists who do pretty much what they feel like when it suits them. They won't stifle themselves because I have a public function, nor would I want them to.”
”There is that other matter,” she said. ”Georgia Emery is threatening to file a civil suit against one of your constables.”
Orwell's bark scattered a few crumbs across Sam's byline. ”Oho! I sincerely doubt the woman is that daft no matter how early in the day she starts imbibing, but I hope she does. I really do. Constable Maitland will be only too happy to give detailed testimony of his encounter with Mrs. Emery on her front porch at 3 a.m., responding to a call from Doris Whiffen, the Emerys' next door neighbour, who was awakened by loud voices and the smas.h.i.+ng of gla.s.s and furniture. We will also need the testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Darley Conrad, her neighbours on the other side, who, and I have the reports before me . . .” He had no such reports. He brushed a few crumbs off his newspaper for sound effects. ”. . . have complained on no fewer than five separate occasions about what they were sure was a homicide in progress.”
”That probably won't be necessary, Chief Brennan.”
”I'm sure it won't, Mayor Bricknell. I mention it only so you will have ammunition the next time one of the Anointed ruins your morning. You might also remind those folks that Constable Maitland was one of the officers who apprehended the young man who stole Mrs. Avery Douglas's pearl necklace last year. The fact that the thief's name was also Douglas was treated with great discretion at the time, you may recall, which I'm sure Mrs. Douglas appreciated, although it might come out at any hearing I'm forced to convene regarding the conduct of one of my constables.”
”Why do you think Lyman is coming after you?”
”Your administration doesn't have many weak spots. You run a tight s.h.i.+p and the people in town know it. But if he can smear the DPD, some of it's bound to get on you. Do yourself a favour. Don't stand beside me when you have your picture taken.”
”Don't you think we're letting him get the upper hand?”
”I don't have to run for reelection, Mayor. I just get hired and fired.”
”I hired you.”
”I wasn't your first choice.”
”Nevertheless.”
”You could fire me. Show the town you're the woman in charge.”
”I am the woman in charge. And despite our differences, Orwell, despite the fact that you can be insufferably smug and rude, on the whole I think you have been an a.s.set to Dockerty.”
”Thank you, Donna Lee. And while we're being so civil and supportive, may I say that you are a fine mayor.”
”Might I suggest then, that until the election is over, and without overdoing it, we present a somewhat . . . united front?”
Anya was locking her studio door when she saw the two detectives coming down the hall. They looked fierce.
”I was just about to go home,” she said.
”We won't keep you more than a minute. Detective Moen has something she'd like you to look at.”
”Of course.” She unlocked the door and swung it open. ”I suppose you had better come inside.”
”Have you ever seen this man before?” Adele handed her the picture.
She had a quick look, handed it back. ”You know I have.”
Adele forced her to take it again. ”Not him, the other man.”
Anya studied the photograph. A sad little smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. ”He gave Ludi's sapphire to his wife? How sweet.”
”The man,” Adele reminded her.
”A dangerous man, yes?”
”What makes you think that?”
Anya shook her head. ”Because my dears, you are being so very careful. You tippy-toe like sugar-plum fairies. You are both police, and this man too is police, but you do not want to ask him to his face.”
”He was a policeman. Now he's a politician.”
”Now he is a politician. How fitting.” She crossed the room and turned to face them, looking from one to the other. ”And you are still being circ.u.mspect.” She sat without taking off her coat. ”Sit, if you like.”
”We're fine.”
”All right.” She rummaged in her pocket for cigarettes and her lighter. ”Remember when I said there was someone else?”
”You didn't say who,” said Stacy.
She lit a smoke and took a deep drag. ”Once, many years ago,” she began, ”an uncle of mine complained to the chief of police in our town, that one of his men was abusing his position, helping himself to food, extracting protection money, forcing his attentions on certain women. My uncle Boris went to the police station to make his complaint and we did not see him again for five years. It is a lengthy process, I think, accusing someone with power.”
”We aren't in the Soviet Union.”
”Of course. But what would happen if I accused that man of being a criminal? Put it a different way, what if I had accused the other man, the red-haired man of being a criminal?”
”Are you accusing him?”
”You just proved my point.”
”I did?”
”Of course. You were ready to tell me to go to h.e.l.l. This man was your partner, yes? And because of that, you would defend him to the death.”
”Wouldn't bet money on it.”
”Now say some deranged Russian dancer told you your partner was a crook. You would say, who is this crazy woman? She is the one with a.s.sa.s.sins in all her closets. She is the one who makes false confessions, and reports stalkers twice a week, and changes her name all the time. You would say the woman is certifiable.”
”Did you tell Paul that his partner was a bad man?”