High profile

“None,” Lutz said.

“That makes two of us,” Jesse said.

16

Could you join me with the governor’s guy?” Jesse said to Molly as he walked to his office.

“Always best to have a witness,” Molly said.

The man in Jesse’s office didn’t stand when they came in. He was maybe fifty. He wore black wingtipped shoes, a dark suit, a red tie, and a white shirt with a collar pin. His sandy hair was newly cut and parted on the left.

“Richard Ke

“Officer Crane?” Jesse said. “Yes, she told me.”

Jesse sat behind his desk and, pushing the chair back, put one foot on an open bottom drawer.

“And you chose to keep me sitting here for several hours?”

“Yes,” Jesse said.

“Do you have an explanation?”

Jesse nodded. Molly remained standing by the door.

“I do,” he said.

Ke

“What is it?” Ke

“I had police work to do,” Jesse said.

“And you don’t think police work includes talking to the representative of the chief executive of the state?”

“Nope.”

“Are you being deliberately obtuse?” Ke

“I’m not sure it’s deliberate,” Jesse said. “What can I do for you?”

Ke

“Walton Weeks was a longtime supporter of Governor Forbes,” Ke

Jesse nodded.

“The governor is very concerned about his murder.”

Jesse nodded.

“We would like a full report on the death of Walton Weeks,” Ke

“Me too,” Jesse said.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning I don’t know any more than you do.”

“We want progress reports,” Ke

“I’ve got everybody in the department looking for the killer or killers. We haven’t found him…or her…or them.”

“And we want the state police involved,” Ke

Jesse realized that Ke

“I’ve been in touch with the homicide commander,” Jesse said.

“We want the full resources of the state brought to bear on this investigation,” Ke

“Sure,” Jesse said.

“Now”—Ke

“Same people that killed Weeks,” Jesse said, “killed Carey Longley.”

“Carey…?”

“His assistant.”

“Oh, yes,” Ke

“Because of that,” Jesse said.

“And what haven’t you told the press?” Ke

“That Carey was ten weeks pregnant with Walton’s kid.”

“Pregnant?”

“Yep.”

“Is that a holdback?” Ke

“No,” Jesse said. “We hold back things that only the killer could know, so if someone knows it, it’s a clue. The killer or killers could have known, or not known, and if they knew could have known or not known that it was Walton Weeks’s child. No point in holding it back. Somebody knows it, it proves nothing.”

“Then why didn’t you tell the press?” Ke

“Saw no good reason to. There’s Weeks’s widow and Carey’s next of kin to think about.”

“Yes, it’s best kept quiet,” Ke

“I can’t promise you,” Jesse said. “It may become pertinent, and if so, I’ll blab.”

“That would not endear you to us.”

Jesse nodded.

“We want your cooperation in this,” Ke

Jesse nodded.

“And our cooperation with you can be very helpful.”

Jesse nodded.

“You don’t seem to care,” Ke

“I don’t,” Jesse said.

“Perhaps we could change that,” Ke

He stood and walked to the door. With the door half open, he turned back to Jesse.

“Is it something personal?” he said. “Do you dislike the governor?”

Jesse shook his head.

“I don’t even know the governor,” Jesse said. “It’s you I dislike.”

Ke

“Wait until he gets to his car,” Molly said.

“Why?”

Molly smiled.

“I gave him a parking ticket,” she said.

Jesse smiled and raised his right hand and Molly high-fived him.

17

How’s it going so far?” Jesse said on the phone.

“Fine,” Su

“You think this might be kind of bizarre?” Jesse said.

“If things get back to normal, it will get bizarre, I suspect,” Su

“She and Rosie get along?”

“Deeply bonded,” Su

“Je

“Well, she seems to like Rosie, and Rosie likes her,” Su

“Je

“Except when she’s not,” Su

“Except then,” Jesse said. “I don’t assume you’ve made much progress on the rapist.”

“We’re just getting ourselves comfortable together,” Su

“Hard to investigate if you have to stay with her all the time.”

“My friend Spike will help with the babysitting,” Su

Jesse could feel the memory of Je

“I need to talk with her,” Jesse said.

Je

“You okay?”

“Yes.”

“What can you tell me about Walton Weeks?”

There was a pause. Jesse knew Je

“Me?” Je

“You’re in his business,” Jesse said.

“Well, I know he’s very successful,” Je

“Uh-huh.”

“And he’s, let’s see…He’s got the weekly TV show.”

“Walton’s Week,” Jesse said.

“Clever, isn’t it,” Je

“It’s in the Globe around here,” Jesse said. “Is he right-wing, left-wing?”

“Oh, hell, Jesse. I don’t know. You know I don’t pay attention to stuff like that.”

“Who would know?” Jesse said.

“Have you tried the Internet?” Je

“I’m looking for someone I can talk with.”

“I don’t…” She was silent while she thought. “I know.” Her voice quickened. “My former news director, Jay Wade. He’s a communications professor now, at Taft, you know, in Walford.”

“I know.”

“I could call him for you,” Je

“You and he are pals?”

“Sure, we worked together for two years, Jesse.”

“And he was your boss?” Jesse said.

“Yes. He’s the one gave me that Race Week feature.”

Alone in his office with his feet on the desk, Jesse nodded silently.

“I can call him,” Jesse said. “Thanks.”

When they had hung up Jesse sat motionless for a while. I wonder if Jay fucked her? He shook his head. Got to stop doing that. He stood and went to the door of his office and stuck his head out and yelled.

“Suit.”

18

I been going through that list of names you got from the bodyguard,” Suit said.

Jesse waited. Suit always admired Jesse’s silence. Suit thought he himself talked too much. He wished he were silent like Jesse.