“Chief Stone?” he said. “I’m Cabot Forbes.”
Jesse shook his hand. The governor looked around.
Kennfield said, “The governor would like his staff with him. Is there a bigger room?”
“Sure,” Jesse said.
They went down to the conference room. Jesse moved an empty pizza box off the table and gestured for the group to sit down. He sat at one end of the table. The governor stood at the other. He was tall with close-cut gray hair and a thin face.
“We’re here to help,” the governor said. “Not to criticize.”
Jesse nodded.
“But this case has dragged on long enough to become an embarrassment to the Commonwealth, and the people of the Commonwealth need to know that there’s an end in sight.”
Jesse nodded. The governor paused, and when Jesse didn’t say anything, he looked a little annoyed.
“This is made more embarrassing because I count both Walton and Lorrie as personal friends,” the governor said.
Jesse nodded.
“Is there progress?” the governor said.
“Yes.”
“Do you have a suspect?”
“Many,” Jesse said.
“Is an arrest imminent?”
“No.”
“What do you need to bring this case to a close?”
“Clues,” Jesse said.
“Are you being deliberately uncooperative, Chief Stone?”
“No, sir. I’m listening attentively.”
“I am especially concerned that Mrs. Weeks be treated with every consideration,” the governor said. “This has been a nightmare for her and she deserves closure.”
Jesse nodded.
“For God’s sake, Stone, I was at their wedding.”
“Really,” Jesse said. “When did they get married?”
The governor looked at Kennfield.
“Nineteen ninety,” Kennfield said.
“Where?”
“Baltimore, wasn’t it,” the governor said to Kennfield.
Kennfield nodded.
“At the Harbor Court,” he said.
“How’d they meet?” Jesse said.
Again, the governor looked at Kennfield.
“Oddly enough, through Walton’s bodyguard,” Kennfield said. “He introduced them.”
“Lutz?” Jesse said.
“Yes,” Kennfield said, “Conrad Lutz.”
“How did he know Lorrie,” Jesse said.
Both the governor and Kennfield shook their heads.
“Let me remind you,” the governor said, “that I am the chief executive of this state. I’m not going to be sidetracked. I came here in good faith to offer the complete resources of the Commonwealth to expedite this investigation.”
“Thank you, sir,” Jesse said.
“Stone,” Forbes said, “can you cut out the ‘Yes sir no sir thank you sir’ crap for one minute. Are you getting anywhere on this goddamned case or not.”
“I’m doing what I can, Governor,” Jesse said. “And I’m pretty good at it. As soon as there’s an arrest, I’ll be in touch.”
The governor reddened slightly and looked at Kennfield again.
Then he said, “We’ll hold you to that,” and wheeled and walked out of the room. The staff hustled to pick up their notebooks and briefcases and followed him out.
48
“Lutz checked out,” Suit said when he came into Jesse’s office.
“When?”
“Day after you last talked with him,” Suit said. “I tried his New York address. He doesn’t answer the phone. I talked to the building manager, and he talked to the doorman, and they haven’t seen Lutz.”
“Well, something started moving,” Jesse said.
“Except we don’t know where, or why,” Suit said.
“Yet,” Jesse said. “Any movement is good.”
“I guess,” Suit said. “We gonna find him?”
“Yes.”
“We going down to New York again?”
“Maybe,” Jesse said.
Jesse looked at the ceiling, as if there were something up there. Suit waited. Jesse didn’t speak.
“You see the guv on TV this morning?” Suit said.
“No.”
“He says he’s taking a more active part in the investigation,” Suit said. “Says he’s bringing the full resources of his office to bear. Probably solve it by this evening.”
“Maybe not,” Jesse said. “See what you can find out about Lorrie Weeks, before she became Lorrie Weeks. What was her name? Where was she from? How did she know Lutz? Anything you can come up with. Probably be useful if you got a blowup of her driver’s license photo from New York DMV.”
“If I track her down,” Suit said, “will it go in my personnel file?”
“You’ll be a lock for detective,” Jesse said.
“If we ever have detectives,” Suit said.
“Absolutely,” Jesse said. “You’ll be one of them.”
“What I like,” Suit said, “is the guv comes up here to let the press look at him and blows a lot of smoke about how he wants the case solved, and the only thing he did helpful he doesn’t even know it.”
“He was annoyed that I asked about it,” Jesse said.
“Just another empty shirt and tie,” Suit said. “Why the hell are they all like that.”
Jesse shrugged and shook his head.
“It’s the kind of guy the job attracts.”
“No good guys?”
“Few,” Jesse said. “Would you want to be governor?”
“No.”
“President?”
“Christ, no,” Suit said.
“Why not?”
“Too much bullshit,” Suit said.
“So who would want that kind of a job?” Jesse said.
“A bullshitter,” Suit said.
Jesse smiled at him.
“If you’re good with a hammer,” Jesse said, “you look for a nail.”
“Wow,” Suit said. “No wonder you made chief.”
49
Jenn had dressed her apartment for Jesse’s arrival. The bed was made with a dressy spread and ornamental pillows. She had lighted candles, put out crystal, filled the silver ice bucket.
She hugged him when he came in.
“Oh boy,” she said. “I feel so safe with you. I mean, Sunny’s great, and Spike, but I never feel with anyone the way I feel with you.”
“That’s probably true for me, too,” Jesse said.
“With me?” Jenn said. “Safe?”
“Something,” Jesse said.
They stood with their arms around each other for a moment, then stepped apart.
“What’s in the envelope?” Jenn said.
“I’ll show you in a while,” Jesse said.
Jenn brought him a drink and one for herself and sat on one corner of the couch with her legs tucked under her. Jesse sat at the other end. Jenn raised her glass to him.
“Well,” she said. “Here we are.”
“Yes.”
“No matter what happens,” Jenn said, “somehow we keep blundering along, connected to each other.”
“I know,” Jesse said.
“What is wrong with us, Jesse?”
“Different things, maybe.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe what’s wrong with me isn’t what’s wrong with you.”
“And yet,” Jenn said, “here we are.”
Jesse nodded. He picked up the brown envelope from the coffee table and took out two eight-by-ten photographs. Enlargements of the pictures Sunny had found. He put them down on the table side by side in front of Jenn. Jenn leaned a little forward to look at the pictures.
The moment she saw the photograph, Jenn said, “Oh!”
Jesse waited.
“What are these pictures?” Jenn said.
“You and a guy,” Jesse said.
“Where’d you get them?”
Jesse shrugged.
“I don’t know this man,” Jenn said.
“The guy with his arm around you?” Jesse said. “This guy? With your head on his chest? Him?”
“Oh, Jesse, don’t be jealous,” Jenn said. “You know how I am.”