Blow Out

“Did he pause then? For the other person to answer him?”

“Yes, I believe he did. Then he sort of nodded into the phone, didn’t say anything more, and hung up. When he turned to see me standing there, he shrugged. ‘Nothing to worry about. It’s done,’ that’s what he said. I suppose he wanted to cut off any questions from me, and it did. In many ways, Stewart was a very private man. His first wife had died some years ago, you knew that, and in the intervening years before we met and eventually married, he became used to being alone, to keeping his own counsel. That isn’t a good thing, Detective. People shouldn’t be alone.

“Get married, Detective. It’s healthy to have another person in your life, someone so close they can feel what you’re thinking.” And she burst into tears.

Ben didn’t know what to do.

CHAPTER 12

CLOSE TO a minute later, Ben still didn’t know what to do. He said finally, “I’m going to catch the monster who killed him, ma’am. I promise you that. Thank you for speaking to me. You remembered more, as I’d hoped you would. And thank you for telling me about Justice Wallace.”

She wiped her eyes, tried a smile. “It can have no possible relevance to any of this, but you appear to want to know about all the skeletons in the closet.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

When he came out into the entry hall a few minutes later, he nodded to the four women as they went back into the living room to rejoin Margaret Califano. Callie was standing in the hall, looking ready to leap at his throat. He splayed his fingers in front of him. “You ready?”

She waved toward the living room. “What, you’re not going to arrest any of those five killers?”

“Not your mom. We’ll see about the other four ladies. Hey, that was pretty funny, Callie.”

Federal Marshal Dennis Morgan caught a laugh, turning it quickly into a cough behind his hand.

“Yeah, right. You ready?” She was nearly dancing from foot to foot, wanting so badly to leave. He nodded toward the living room. “I’ll tell you, Callie, all of them look suspicious to me, look like they’re hiding something. Do you think I should go back in there and grill each one of them in turn, privately?”

“Har har,” Callie said. “Let’s go.”

He nodded to the federal marshals and ushered her outside. He said, “Isn’t it amazing what money can do? My mom is about their age, but believe me, she looks like she lives on a different planet. She’s cushy, her hair is always frazzled, and she has the biggest smile east of the Mississippi.”

She punched him in the arm. “You snob. Their smiles are as big as your mom’s. I’ve known them all my life. So they’re not cushy. That just means that they take care of themselves. They work out. Money doesn’t play a big part in looking good. Hey, maybe you should get your mom to work out, she’ll be healthier for it.”

He took her arm when one of her boots went out from under her. He couldn’t imagine his mother walking on a treadmill or pumping iron in a gym. But now that he thought about it, she and his dad had begun walking together in the evenings, quite a lot, in fact. He said, “Careful, this drive isn’t for wusses.”

“I wish I could have been at your meeting at the Hoover Building yesterday afternoon.”

“A reporter in the Hoover Building? Are you nuts? They would have locked you in a detention cell if you’d managed to sneak in. They would have turned you over to Big Matron Bubba, and she’d have strip-searched you and taken the fillings out of your teeth. The good Lord knows what would have happened to you then.”

She couldn’t hold back the laugh, but sobered immediately. She pulled her hat down over her ears because the temperature was sitting about three degrees above freezing. “I’ll just bet there were hardly any women included, were there? All you machos, sitting there preening, believing it’s up to you to solve all the world’s problems—”

“You’re being sexist, Ms. Markham.” His voice was perfectly easy and mild, although he was tempted to let her slide around on the driveway on her own. “Maybe if I don’t support you, you’ll go right down on your butt. Of course, the macho is here to haul you back up.” Then, of all things, he found himself looking at her butt, realized hers was an excellent butt, and looked away quickly.

But she saw it in his eyes and arched an eyebrow. “I believe that’s approval I see. Well, now, let me say that you’ve got a very fine butt, too, Detective Raven. When I don’t want to kick it, I admire it. Now, so you can get your mind onto other things, let me ask you how many female agents were important enough to be included in the meeting?”