What? Was she really surprised? he wondered. There was an instant of surprise in her eyes. I dont believe so.
Mrs. McDonald, you have a rather nasty bruise on your leg, just above your ankle: Is that new?
I just… She looked away, groped for a word… bumped myself.
No, you didnt, he said. Your husband beat you up last night. Would you like a call from the domestic intervention people?
No, no, we only had a little argument.
If we took you downtown and had one of our policewomen take a look at you, shed find a lot of bruises, wouldnt she?
Thats illegal. I want to see my husband.
Okay. Lucas raised his hands. Like I said, this is just between you and me. If you dont want to make a complaint, Im not going to insist on it. But you should. It never gets better, it always gets worse.
Things will get better. Wilsons been under a lot of stress. This job…
Just a job, Lucas said.
Oh, no. She was shocked. This… this is everything.
BEFORE HE LEFT, LUCAS TOOK SWANSON ASIDE: TREAT her very carefully. Get as much as you can on her personal history, everythingand tell Sloan that I want her wrung out, but not scared. Dont push her into getting an attorney.
Are we trying for anything in particular? Swanson asked. He turned half sideways to look at Audrey, who was perched on a chair in ODells home office.
If we can do itvery gentlyitd be nice to get a wedge between her and her husband. Dont be obvious, but if the opportunity comes up, itd be good to let her know that her interests and her husbands are not necessarily the same.
BACK IN HIS CAR, LUCAS PICKED UP THE CAR PHONE and called St. Annes College, which was located a few blocks from his house in St. Paul. He told the St. Annes operator that he knew it was late and nuns commonly dont take calls from men in the middle of the night, that this was an emergency and perhaps a matter of life and death, that he was with the police department… and he got his nun.
Sister Mary Joseph, a psychology professor and childhood friend hed always known as Elle Kruger: Lucas? Is somebody hurt? A sharp, somewhat astringent voice, becoming more so as they got older.
Nothing like that, Elle. Im sorry to disturb you, but I have a couple of questions on a case.
Oh, good. I was afraid… Anyway, have you read theIliadlately?
Uh, no, actually. He looked at his watch. Had to get to Bones place.
Have you ever read it?
Thats the one… No, thats theOdyssey. I guess not. Same guy, though, right?
Lucas… She sounded exasperated. I keep forgetting you were a jock. Listen, go down and get theIliad, the one thats translated by Robert Fagles, thats the one Im reading now, and Ill tell you what parts to read if you dont want to read the whole thing.
Elle…
The thing is, this translation is much coarser, in all the right places, than the old onesmy goodness, the Trojan War resembled one of your gang wars. That was always obscured by the language of the other translations, but this one… the language is brilliantly apt.
Elle, Elle tell me later. Im calling from my car and Ive got a serious question.
She stopped with theIliad: Which is?
If a woman is routinely beaten by her husband, is it likely that she might betray him behind his back, while defending him when he was around?
Of coursewouldnt you if you were in her shoes?
No.
No, you probably wouldnt. Youd probably go after him with a baseball bat… But yes, a woman might do that.
Im not talking about some kind ofpro formadefense. Im talking about really believing in the defense. But at the same time, betraying him to the police anonymously, then denying it even to the police.
This isnt a theoretical question.
No.
Then youre dealing with a badly abused woman who needs treatmentif its not too late for treatment. Some people, if theyre abused badly enough, will identify with and even love their abusers, while another side of their personality is desperately trying to get out of the relationship. Just to use a kind of laymans terminology, you could say you have a condition of… mmm… stress-induced multiple-personality disorder. The part of her personalitythat sincerely defends her husband may not even know that the other part of her personality is betraying him.
Shit… Excuse me, Lucas said. So even if I broke her out from her husband in, say, a murder case, she could be impeached as being nuts.
Nuts is not accepted terminology, Lucas, she said.
But she could be impeached…
Worse than that. If she were required to testify in the presence of her husband, she might flip over and start defending himlyingbecause he so dominates her personality.
All right.
Will I be meeting this woman?
Probably not, Elle. Ill tell you about it next time we talk. Right now, Im running.
Take care.
You too.
BONE LIVED IN A HIGH-SECURITY BUILDING MUCH like ODells, and not more than a five-minute walk away. Lucas dumped the Porsche in a no-parking zone outside the glass front doors, and when a security guard came to the doors, flashed his ID and was admitted to the lobby.
I need to talk to James T. Bone, Lucas said.
Dont know if Mr. Bone is in. He often goes out at night, the guard said, moving behind the security console.
Ring him and let it ring about fifty times, Lucas said.
The guard did that, and after a few seconds, said into the phone, Mr. Bone, this is William downstairs. Im sorry to bother you, but theres a police officer here asking to see you… Yes, Deputy Chief Davenport, and he says its urgent. Yes sir.
He hung up the phone: Mr. Bone is on fourteen, he said. Take the elevator on the right.
BONE WAS WAITING IN THE HALLWAY OUTSIDE HIS apartment door: as Lucas got off the elevator, he realized that this hallway also had only two doors, as had ODells. Something ticked at the back of his mind, but the thought was gone as Bone stepped out and said, Whats going on?
Bone was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but was barefoot.
You alone?
No, actually, I have a friend here… Come on in. What happened?
Lucas stepped inside. A woman, about Bones age, was sitting on the couch.
This is Marcia Kresge, Dan Kresges wife. We were just talking strategy.
Was Wilson McDonald here an hour ago? Lucas asked.
Bone looked at his watch: Well, more than an hour. He left here probably at ten-thirty or ten forty-five.
Ten-thirty. Have you been here ever since?
Yes… Marcia got here about…
About eleven-twenty, said Kresge.
So what happened to McDonald? Bone demanded.
Did you make a deal with McDonald? Lucas asked, ignoring the question.
Bone looked at Kresge, then back at Lucas: No. Whats he done?
So youre out of the job. Because he made a deal with Susan ODell.
Oh, no, Im not out of it at all. Bone shook his head. Wilson thinks he can deliver several votes to Susan. He doesnt know it, but he cant. Well, maybe one. The rest are still up for grabs. Now what the hell happened?
Lucas looked at Kresge, then back at Bone, interested in their reactions. A couple of minutes after eleven oclock, somebody rang the doorbell at Susan ODells apartment, and when she opened the door, shot her twice in the head with a handgun. ODells dead.
And they were, as far as Lucas could tell, stunned. Astonished.
Bone, who didnt seem given to sputtering, sputtered, Thats not possible. I just talked to her tonight.
What time?
Seven oclock or so. He looked at Kresge. About the Community College deal.
Kresge was solemn: You know what? Its a crazy man. We could be next.
Mr. Bone, I dont want to imply anything, but youre the obvious beneficiary of all thisthe top job is opened up by a murder, then the main competition is eliminated. Again, I dont mean to imply anything, but we really have to pin down where you were, and what you were doing all evening. He turned to the woman. And the same with you, Im afraid.