Courtney picked up a mop, the Endust, and the rags. She headed for the squad room.
“Hey,” Molly said.
Courtney turned back.
“Try to enjoy yourself,” Molly said.
“Whatever,” Courtney said.
—
They had agreed to meet for breakfast at Daisy’s at seven. Jesse arrived promptly, but when he got to the table, he found Lucas Wellstein already in full rant. His audience was Captain Healy.
Beside him was a stack of newspapers, each emblazoned with a Marisol Hinton headline.
“You’re late,” he said to Jesse, then continued unabated. “We checked out the break-in at the cottage. It’s likely that the killer was staying there. We found food remnants and drug-related debris. We’re running tests now.”
“Are you thinking it was Ryan Rooney,” Jesse said.
“It’s possible. But who’s to say he’s not deep in the bowels of the Grand Tetons, eating pork and beans from a can, and that someone else did it.”
“I am,” Jesse said.
“I’m sorry,” Wellstein said.
“I’m to say,” Jesse said.
“To say what?”
“That he’s not deep in the bowels of the Grand Tetons, eating pork and beans from a can.”
“Then where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you can say with a degree of certainty that he’s not in the Grand Tetons.”
“Yes.”
“Either back it up with facts, Stone, or keep your opinion to yourself.”
“Are you eliminating him from suspicion?”
“Ryan Rooney?”
“Yes.”
“No. But I also like someone else.”
“Who?”
“Wilson Cromartie.”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“His DNA is everywhere.”
“And that’s why you suspect him?”
“That’s part of the reason.”
“And the other part?”
“She appears to have been verbally abusing him publicly.”
“He didn’t do it.”
“I believe the evidence is inconclusive. It was nighttime. Hinton and Greenberg were sitting apart from the action. In the dark. Who’s to say your Mr. Cromartie didn’t step up to them and fire?”
“He had no cause.”
“He had plenty of cause. If she was disrespectful of him in public, who knows how she behaved in private. What if she resisted his romantic advances.”
“‘His romantic advances’?”
“He was sharing a hotel suite with a beautiful woman. Who’s to know what took place between them?”
“Nothing took place between them. And they weren’t sharing the suite. He was in an adjoining room.”
“Thank you for your opinion, Stone.”
“Since when did I become Stone?”
Wellstein didn’t say anything.
“Yesterday it was Chief Stone. Then it was Jesse. Today it’s Stone. How did I fall from grace so quickly?”
“Don’t get into my face with your bullshit,” Wellstein said.
“My bullshit?”
“That’s right.”
“Let me guess,” Jesse said after a moment. “Princeton.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I’m guessing Princeton. With your extraordinary people skills and your incredible charm, you had to have graduated from Princeton.”
“Fuck off,” Wellstein said.
“See, I knew it.”
“Where’s your bodyguard now?”
“My bodyguard?”
“You’re the one who hired him.”
“Marisol Hinton hired him,” Jesse said.
“On your recommendation. Where is he?”
“Last time I saw him was yesterday.”
“Well, today he’s disappeared.”
“Ryan Rooney did it,” Jesse said.
“Why don’t we wait until all the facts are in before arriving at that conclusion,” Wellstein said.
Jesse stood.
“You know where to find me if you need me,” he said to Lucas Wellstein.
He glanced briefly at Captain Healy, then left the restaurant.
—
Jesse was heading for his office, and as he passed Molly’s desk, he motioned for her to follow.
She sighed, stood, and joined him.
“I hate to admit it, but you were right,” she said as she sat down in the chair opposite his desk.
Jesse looked at her.
“Girl’s a first-class pain in the ass.”
“It’s our job to change that. To show her the light.”
“I need to fish out a copy of my contract.”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“Showing the light to some candy-assed debutante isn’t in my job description.”
“But think how gratified you’ll be when the job’s done.”
“In the immortal words of the debutante herself, ‘Blah, blah, blah.’”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“When she finishes dusting, I’m gonna have her mop up downstairs,” Molly said.
“Excellent. Don’t let her forget the toilets.”
“Oh, don’t worry yourself about that.”
The phone rang, and Molly reached across Jesse’s desk to answer it.
“Suitcase,” she said.
She handed him the phone and walked out of his office.
“What’s up,” Jesse said.
“A Taste of Arsenic has been officially canceled.”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“Movie’s in the process of shutting down,” Suitcase said. “Vehicles and personnel are disappearing fast.”
“Hansen know?”
“He’s watching it happen.”
“Keep in touch.”
“I will.” Jesse hung up the phone. He sat back in his chair and thought for a while.
Just like that, the movie was over. The FBI had arrived, and the investigation into Marisol’s death now belonged to them. There was still no sign of Ryan Rooney. Captain Healy mentioned that FBI agents were on their way to Grand Teton National Park to search for him there. Crow had gone to ground. Amazing how quickly things changed.
After a while, Jesse left the office and headed for Boston.
50
Jesse wandered through the chrome-and-glass lobby of the Cone, Oakes, and Baldwin building on Constitution Square and boarded the high-speed elevator for the ride to the penthouse. Once there, he asked a receptionist to inform Rita Fiore that he had arrived for their appointment.
There was something electric about Rita when she strode through the big glass doors. Her deep green Donna Karan suit set off her fiery red hair. The knee-length skirt had just the right flare at the hemline to showcase her remarkable legs. The smile on her face reflected both curiosity and her own appreciation of Jesse’s appeal.
“Jesse Stone,” she said, with the faintest hint of amusement in her voice.
“None other,” he said.
She guided him back through the glass doors that led to her office. Her assistant asked if he needed anything. “Coffee would be nice,” Jesse said.
“Me, too,” Rita said.
He sat in front of her desk.
“What brings Jesse Stone into my parlor,” she said.
“You mean other than the opportunity to appreciate your legs?”
“Occasionally there are other reasons.”
“I’m riding the horns of a dilemma.”
“How poetic.”
He told her the William J. Goodwin story.
“The combination of his physical size, his voice, and the way he dresses makes him so stereotypically laughable that he’s often underrated and an easy target for ridicule. Especially in the corridors where the big boys roam. What he did was wrong. Unquestionably so. What’s eating at me, though, is the belief that he himself was wronged. He paid an inordinately h
efty price for his physical misfortunes.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time such a thing has happened.”
“I understand too well how cruel the real world can be. What I don’t know is whether his actions are defensible under the law.”
“Which is why you’re here.”
“That and the legs, of course.”
“Of course,” Rita said.
They sat silently for a while.
“Here’s this weird-looking little guy who hits upon a potentially viable solution to a burgeoning problem and seeks to have it considered seriously at the highest levels. He’s articulate. He’s passionate. But he is who he is, and no one will take him seriously. He cracks. He takes matters into his own hands.”
“You want to know whether a crime is punishable if it was provoked by damaging and prejudicial behavior.”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
She struggled to find the exact definition that suited her.
“If the accused was the victim of persecution,” Rita said, “and, as a result, suffered diminished faculties and distorted judgment, and then subsequently committed a crime that he believed he had been goaded into committing, is that crime punishable under the law?”
“That would be the question,” Jesse said.
She thought about it for a while.
“I’d need to talk it over with my partners,” she said.
“Meaning?”
“It might make for a compelling argument. Would a jury see fit to convict in the face of it? I’d need to consider that some more.”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“This is important to you,” she said.
“Apparently, although for the life of me, I can’t figure out why.”
“Strange how a thing grabs you.”
“I’d like for him to find some measure of redemption,” Jesse said. “A feeling that in the end, he had made a difference.”
“Even in the face of LaBrea and the gun?”
“Yes.”
“You’re an odd duck, Jesse Stone.”
He smiled.
They stood.
“Thanks for your consideration, Rita.”
They shook hands.
“It was nice to see you,” she said.
“Ditto.”
51
On his way back from Boston, Jesse stopped in at Paradise General Hospital. He found Frankie Greenberg’s new room. Her father, Hank, was seated next to her bed. She was still unconscious.
At Jesse’s suggestion, Hank joined him in the hallway.
“Any progress?”
“Dr. Lafferty said she appeared to be inching toward consciousness. He noticed some rapid eye movement, and when he was questioning her, her facial expressions kept changing. He was encouraged.”
“What’s next?”
“Continued progress, hopefully.”
“Do you need anything?”
“Thanks, no. They’re taking very good care of me here.”
“You’ll call me if there’s any change?”
“I will.”
The two men said their good-byes, and Jesse headed home.
—
Jesse found Healy’s car parked in front of the footbridge.
He crossed the bridge and walked around the house to the porch, where he found the captain dozing on the sofa, Mildred Memory asleep on his lap.
Healy’s eyes fluttered open when Jesse arrived.
“I thought I’d stop by on my way home,” he said. “See how you’re doin’.”
Jesse unlocked the porch doors and opened them.
“So how you doin’?”
“Scotch?”
“On the rocks.”
Jesse went inside and fixed two drinks. Healy stayed put, not wishing to disturb the cat.
Jesse returned, handed Healy his scotch, then sat down and took a sip of his own.
“The times, they are a-changin’,” Jesse said.
“Woody Guthrie?”
“Bob Dylan.”
“After my time,” Healy said.
“Most things are.”
“Your favorite person was asking about you.”
“And that would be?”
“Lucas Wellstein, of course. He thinks you might know the whereabouts of a certain Native American gentleman.”
“He’s still a person of interest?”
“To Lucas he is, yes.”
“He’s wrong.”
“Maybe, but he still thinks you may be withholding information.”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“All that’s preventing him from pouncing on you is the fact that Ryan Rooney has disappeared also.”
“Maybe they’re together,” Jesse said.
“Try not to be cute, okay.”
“It’s hard for me not to be cute.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“Crow?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Have you tried to find him?”
“No.”
“Would you? In the interests of cooperation with a federal agency.”
“I’ll take it under advisement.”
“You’re one incredible ballbuster.”
“Everyone says that.”
“And it’s no wonder.”
Healy took a sip of his scotch and stood, dislodging Mildred.
“You could at least try to take this a bit more seriously,” he said.
“Crow didn’t do it.”
Healy didn’t say anything.
“Ryan Rooney killed her.”
“I’m not doubting you.”
“Then what’s your point?”
“I’m a big fan of peace in the valley,” Healy said.
“Woody Guthrie?”
Healy stared at him.
“Maybe if you hummed a few bars,” Jesse said.
“I knew this was a mistake.”
“The scotch was good, though.”
“The scotch was excellent,” Healy said.
He took one last pull on his glass, looked around for a few moments, then stepped off the porch and headed for his car.
52
Jesse was at the station early the next morning. He flipped on the lights in his office, then poured himself a coffee.
Despite Molly’s critical glare, he grabbed a jelly donut and headed past her desk and back toward his office.
She followed him.
“Do you ever think about the consequences of filling your face with globs of saturated fat and cholesterol,” she said.
“Some day they’ll discover that donuts are actually good for you.”
He took a bite and chewed it slowly enough to gain her attention.
“Swallow it, will you. You’re making me nauseous.”
“You’re the one wandered in here uninvited. It’s my office, and I’ll eat what I choose in it.”
“Why are you doing it?”
“Doing what?”
“Wasting your time with that awful child.”
“You mean Courtney?”
“Yes.”
“I think she’s gotten a bum steer.”
Molly didn’t say anything.
“Her parents,” he said.
“What about them?”
“They’re the cause.”
“So you see her as a victim.”
“I do.”
“Which appeals to your hyperactive sense of responsibility?”
“I think I can help her.”
“Point made.”
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe she’s incorrigible. But just maybe she’s not.”
Molly didn’t say anything.
“She deserves a chance.”
“A chance at what?”
“At seeing the other side of the coin.”
“Which you’re planning to show her.”
“Yes.”
“And if you’re wrong?”
“At least I’ll have tried.”
&nb
sp; Molly stared at him.
“Was there something else that you wanted,” he said.
She handed him the messages.
He thumbed through them.
“Dave Muntz called,” he said.
“That’s what the message says.”
Jesse looked at her and then dialed the number.
“This is David,” Muntz said.
“What’s up?”
“Craigslist.”
“What about it?”
“I called Craigslist.”
“And?”
“I asked about all of their real estate listings for this area during the last few months. Turns out that a Boston resident who owns a cabin in South Hamilton had it up for rent.”
“Okay.”
“It caught my attention because it was so close to Paradise, and because it was the only listing for the area. So I figured what the hell, and called the owner.”
“Okay.”
“He told me that he rented the cabin for a month.”
“Okay.”
“It’s rented.”
“Can you help me out a bit more, Dave. What in the fuck are you talking about?”
“According to the owner, the entire transaction was carried out on Craigslist.”
“So?”
“The renter listed his address as Beverly Hills, California. His check was drawn on a Beverly Hills bank. He picked up the keys from a prearranged post office box in Salem.”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“The renter lists his name as Buddy Fairbanks.”
“Who’s Buddy Fairbanks?”
“Are you ready for this, Jesse?”
“Come on, Dave.”
“Buddy Fairbanks is the name of the character that Ryan Rooney played in Tomorrow We Love.”
“How do you know?”
“I looked it up.”
“Where’s the cabin?”
Muntz provided Jesse with the information.
“I’ll check it out,” Jesse said.
“I thought you might.”
“This is very good police work, Dave.”
“Thanks, Jesse.”
He hung up the phone and stared at Molly.
“Good news?”
“Maybe.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“Pay a visit to South Hamilton.”
“You’re not going to inform Agent Wellstein?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t like him.”
Molly shrugged.
“Never let it be said that maturity clouded your judgment,” she said.
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