Death in Paradise

"Ever call the number?" Jesse said.

"No."

"When the girls are at the shelter they don't stay here, do they?"

"No. We are what the name implies, a shelter. They come, they go. They know they have a place to sleep if they need it. They know we will feed them."

"How long was Billie here?"

Sister looked at her sheet of paper.

"Two weeks," she said.

"Did she tell you why she was leaving?"

"She said she had a job."

"She say where?"

"No."

"How about the rest of the staff?" Jesse said.

Sister smiled. Jesse liked her smile.

"It's pretty much a one-nun show," she said.

Chapter Twenty-four

Je

"Did you know the answers to my weather quiz?" she said.

"Do you?"

"I will when the time comes," she said.

"Does anyone care what the answers are?" Jesse said.

"Not that I know of," Je

She turned to the crew.

"This is my starter husband," she said.

The crew smiled. Jesse smiled, too.

"Kerry Roberts with the camera; Dolly Edwards, makeup; and Tracy Mayo, my producer."

They all said hello.

"You guys pack up and take off," Je

"How about you pack up," Dolly said. "And I go with Jesse."

Everybody laughed, and Je

"What about that girl?"

"Billie?"

"You sound like she's someone you know."

"Yeah, sometimes you get that way. You spend so much time thinking about a victim that you're surprised when you remember you've never met them."

"So you know who she is now," Je

"I know. I'm not sure I can prove it yet. But I know it's Billie."

As he drove, Jesse took a manila envelope down from the car visor and took out a picture of Billie.

"It's blown up from a small picture of the family."

"She's cute," Je

"I guess so."

"Smile looks awfully forced though."

"Everybody's smile looks forced in a posed picture," Jesse said, "except you professionals."

"That would be me," Je

"Show biz isn't for sissies," Jesse said.

They had di

"Have you been drinking lately?" Je

"Now and then," Jesse said.

"You didn't drink anything tonight."

"No."

"Why not?" Je

"Scared to, I guess," Jesse said.

"Scared of what?"

"Scared it will get out."

"It?"

"How I feel. I love you. I'm mad at you. I'm jealous. I'm full of, hell, I don't know, yearning, I guess. I have to keep it in its cage."

"And you're afraid if you drink it will jump out."

"Yeah."

"So you drink alone?"

"Yeah."

"So if it gets out there's no one around."

Jesse nodded. He could feel Je

"What I don't understand," Je

"I don't know."

They drove over the Longfellow Bridge in silence.

When they reached the Charles Street circle, Je

Jesse shrugged.

"You don't have to start big," Je

"You know a guy?" Jesse said.

"Yes."

"How do you know a guy?"

"My shrink told me."

"You been talking about me in therapy?" Jesse said.

Je

"He a psychiatrist?"

"No. He's not a doctor. He's just somebody that has had some success helping people with drinking."

"You ever meet him?"

"Yes. I went to see him."

"About me?"

"Yes."

It went through him viscerally, shimmering along the nerve traces. Jolting his stomach. He was part of her therapy. She was trying to help him. He was still in her life. He mattered.

"If I go," Jesse said, "I can make the appointment."

Chapter Twenty-five

Molly was at the front desk when Jesse came into the station carrying coffee in a paper cup.

"We found Dr. Levine," Molly said.

"Billie's dentist."

"Yes. Suit brought the dental chart over that we got off the body."

"And?"

"It's her."

Jesse nodded. There was no satisfaction in it. He sort of wished it wasn't Billie.

"You call that phone number from Sister Mary John?"

"Yes," Molly said, and looked down at her notepad. "Development Associates of Boston. Nobody there ever heard of Billie."

"Or so they say."

Molly smiled. "Or so they say."

"What's the address there?" Jesse said.

Molly gave it to him. "You going to talk with them?"

"Yes."

"Before you go we need to talk about Mr. and Mrs. Snyder," Molly said.

"The Bickersons?"

"She's in the hospital."

"How bad?" Jesse said.

"Nothing fatal-concussion, couple of fractures. The ER called us."

"Her husband put her there?"

"That's what she told the ER doctor."

"Didn't we send her down there the last time we had them in?"

"Yes. They found a lot of old injuries."

"And?"

"She swore they were skiing injuries. Said her husband didn't hit her," Molly said. "DeAngelo talked with an assistant DA who said if she stuck to her story, there wasn't enough of a case."

"I figured that," Jesse said. "I was hoping he might get scared."

"Booze," Molly said.

Jesse nodded.

"So how come she's blowing the whistle this time?"

"Maybe enough is enough," Molly said. "Suit's on his way there to get a statement."

"If she sticks with it," Jesse said, "arrest the husband, read him his rights. Call the DA's office."

"You going to go see the people at-" She looked down at her notebook again. "-Development Associates of Boston?"

"Yeah."

"If this Snyder thing gets complicated, I'll call you."

"Molly, you run this station better than I do," Jesse said.

"I know," Molly said. "But the sexist bastards made you chief."

"Oh," Jesse said. "Yeah."