Waiters circulated with drinks and hors d’oeuvres, paying particular attention to the various city officials. If macGoren wanted the project to move forward, he had to make the mayor and local reps happy.
I mingled with a crowd perusing placards off the lobby. Maps and projections of potential development ranked down a long hallway that led to a banquet room. I did not see anything that I had not already researched, although the fact that all the land under consideration had not been secured seemed to be conspicuously absent.
As I studied a color-coded map of the piers on the south end of the Weird, I felt an essence coalesce behind me like a spear.
“Interested in investing?” Keeva asked.
I turned and smiled. She was in full impress mode, a lovely deep blue wool skirt, leaf-patterned blouse, and ivory-colored brocade vest setting off her flowing red hair. The small necklace she wore cast a glamour that made her seem to move in a haze of soft light. “You could say I’ve invested in the Weird for some time.”
She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Ah, yes. The Weird. Of course you’d go there.”
“That’s what the point of all this is, isn’t? Getting rid of the Weird?”
She shrugged. “Yes, Connor, that is the point. Does the city, any city for that matter, really need a neighborhood called the Weird?”
I pursed my lips. “I would think the people who live there think so.”
She gave me an exaggerated bored look. “Why are you here, Connor? Can I have at least a little time off from aggravations?”
“Old friends, you might say. Why are you here? Playing hostess?”
She shook her head. “Not really. I’ve been so busy, this is the first night in a week Ryan and I have been able to see each other.”
“And you love a big party,” I said.
She toasted the air with her glass. “And I love a big party.”
“So, you two an item?”
“You could say that.” She smiled smugly, the kind of smile that dared me to think their relationship was anything less than pure attraction. I’m sure that was there. I’m also sure that each had a private little pros and cons sheet on the other.
“How’s the Kruge investigation?”
She checked our surroundings before responding. Even when she did, she pitched her voice for my ears only. “Still haven’t found the troll Croda. She’s the only connection to Kruge we have that we haven’t been able to clear. Why, do you know something?”
I shook my head. Keeva had a habit of not asking for help. She had to be coming up really dry to ask me outright if I had heard anything.
I gestured with my glass. “And here’s the man of the hour.”
MacGoren moved in behind Keeva, wrapping his arm around her waist. Even to my doubting eye, the smile she gave him looked genuine. He tapped my glass, showing a wide smile. “Hello, Grey. Are you intercepting Briallen’s social invitations, too?”
I did my best to smile at his joke that I was sure was an unspoken dig. “Something like that. Nice turnout.”
He glanced around him, assessing the gathering. “We’ll see later in the evening. I’m gauging interest.”
I looked at the map. “Looks like you’re pretty interested. Don’t you own most of this land?”
He nodded several times, his eyes roaming the maps as though he were confirming that all his properties had been noted. “You know your neighborhood well. There are some major pieces that need to be picked up to move forward, but, yes, a lot is mine.”
I already knew that. An interesting bit of coincidence was that Dennis Farnsworth had been found on macGoren property. “A murder victim was found on some of that land.”
MacGoren turned his smile into a pensive look. “Yes, I heard. It’s sad when young people get caught up with drugs.”
I kept my face and voice nonchalant. Janey Likesmith would file her research with the Farnsworth file, but it was too early for Keeva to have received it, never mind mention it to macGoren. “Who said anything about drugs?”
The smile quirked back on his face. “I just assumed. You know that neighborhood.”
“Yes. I live there.” Running down macGoren’s holdings the previous night, I found two large parcels that were divided by a sliver of land he did not own. I brushed my fingers on the map. “Isn’t this area where Alvud Kruge had his office?”
The smile hadn’t left his face. “Alvud was interested in the project, if that’s what you’re asking.”
I pursed my lips. “Alvud,” not “Kruge.” A little more familiarity there than I would have thought. “Interesting,” I said. “A man with a reputation for social change was interested in destroying the neighborhood he was trying to save?”
I caught a chink in the smile. “Improving is the word, Grey.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Kruge was going to sell?”
MacGoren shrugged. “We talked about it. Alvud was not one to stand in the way of progress.”
I glanced back at the maps. “Well, he’s not standing in anyone’s way now.”
MacGoren threw his head back and laughed. “Now there’s black humor. Good thing I was with Keeva the night he died, or I’d be worried.”
I locked eyes with Keeva, and she stiffened in macGoren’s arms. She caught it, too. “I’d rather not talk about work,” she said.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize we were working, Keeva,” I said.
She extricated herself from macGoren’s embrace and took his hand. “We should be mingling.”
MacGoren looked curiously at us both. “Yes, well, good to see you again, Grey.”
I bowed my head. “And you.”
I watched them walk away. She had just told me she hadn’t been with macGoren in a week, and yet he lied and said they were together the night Kruge died. I half expected Keeva to turn back, give me a look that said she recognized that. But she didn’t. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, for now. I had a feeling that macGoren was in for some interesting pillow talk tonight.
I wandered through the reception, eavesdropping where and when I could. It’s remarkable what people will say loudly to each other in a noisy hallway as if no one else could hear their gossip. I was disappointed, though. No real gems came up, certainly nothing more interesting than my own conversation with macGoren. I had his connection to Kruge that Eagan was looking for, but it didn’t look all that interesting yet. I didn’t believe for a moment Kruge was interested in selling to him.
Alvud Kruge was the major topic of conversation. I didn’t think anyone would mention Dennis Farnsworth, and I wasn’t disappointed in that regard. Most of the people there had given to Kruge’s causes at one time or another. They were the type. They just didn’t seem to understand that his causes were about people like Farnsworth. Throw a little money around and hope it solves a problem. Kruge did more. He got his hands dirty on the street.
As I watched macGoren work the crowd with Keeva at his side, I had to wonder what dirtied his hands. Seacorp was a big project. He stood to make millions. What he probably didn’t know was that the Weird was as much a concept as a place. He could bulldoze it, but these people would just move elsewhere. And they would remember what he had done. There’s payback in that eventually. Especially if the foundations are laid on pain and rejection.
Chapter 10
I had a nice surprise outside the hotel. Murdock was waiting for me in his car, parked in the fire lane outside the hotel. I had left him a voice mail telling him where I was going, but I didn’t actually ask for a ride. For a change. Maybe he’s getting to the point where he just assumes that. At least he hasn’t bitten my head off about it like I’m sure someone else would.