Page 8 (1/2)
23
I repacked the file and tucked it in the back of my pants under my shirt I paid ured I would walk up to the Sheriff&039;s Departured it was time for some reconnaissance Time for an initial foray Time for an exploratory penetration A toe in the water Not a deitiured if Deveraux was out, I could leave the file with the desk clerk And if Deveraux was in, I could play it by ear
She was in
Her old Caprice was in the lot, slotted neatly in the parking bay closest to the door A privilege of rank, presumably Office cultures all work the salass door and found myself in a dowdy, beat-up lobby Plastic tile on the floor, scarred paint on the walls, and an inquiry desk facing uy behind it He had no hair and a toothless, caved-in face, and he earing a suit vest with no coat, like an old-time newspaperman As soon as he saw me he picked up a phone and hit a button and said, "He&039;s here" He listened to a reply and then he pointed with the phone, using it like a baton, stretching its cord, and he said, "End of the corridor on the right She&039;s expecting you"
I walked the corridor and got a glih a half-closed door of a stout woman at a telephone switchboard, and then I arrived at Deveraux&039;s billet Her door was open I knocked on it once as a courtesy and went in
It was a plain square space in no better condition than the lobby Sarieological era Desk, chairs, file cabinets, all plain and rin pictures on the wall, of an old guy in uniform that I took to be Deveraux&039;s father, the previous incuan sweater on one of the pegs It had hung there so long it looked crusted and rigid with age
At first glance, not a wonderful room
But it had Deveraux in it I had pictures of three stunning wo into ht up there Maybe she even beat thelad my subjectivity had been confirmed by someone else&039;s objectivity She looked small in the desk chair, slender in the shoulders, lithe and relaxed As usual, she was s
She asked, "Did you ID the car for me?"
I didn&039;t answer that question, and her phone rang She picked it up and listened for a moment, and then she said, "OK, but it&039;s still a felony assault Keep it on the front burner, OK?" Then she put the phone down and said, "Pellegrino," by way of explanation
I said, "Busy day?"
"Two guys were beaten up thisby someone they sas a soldier from Kelham But the army says the base is still closed I don&039;t knohat&039;s going on The doctor is working overtiet that&039;s going to be concussed"
I said nothing
Deveraux sain and said, "Anyway, first of all, tell me about your friend"
"My friend?"
"Ishe&039;s your sergeant She was very areant once Many years, on and off"
"I&039; why she came"
"Maybe I asked her to come"
"No, in that case she&039;d have knohere and when to ed She wouldn&039;t have had to ask all over town"
I nodded "She came to warn me Apparently I&039;m in a lose-lose situation She called it a suicide ht," Deveraux said "She&039;s a s with her face Like a special look, all collegial and confiding I bet she&039;s a great interrogator Did she give you the photographs?"
"You meant her to take them?"
"I hoped she would I left them accessible, and ducked out for a minute"
"Why?"
"It&039;s complicated," Deveraux said "I wanted you to see them, alone and on your own time Like a controlled experiment No pressure from me, and especially no influence frouarded first impression"
"From me?"
"Yes"
"Is this a democracy now?"
"Not yet But any port in a storm, as they say"
"OK," I said
"So as it? Your first ily beautiful"
"Is that all they had in co women"
Deveraux nodded
"Good," she said "I agree They were all alad to have confir for me to articulate, even toit out loud It would sound very weird, like so"
"Is that an issue for you?"
"I live in Mississippi," she said "I was in the Marine Corps and I&039;m not married"
"OK," I said
"And I&039;"
"OK," I said
"I&039;ay," she said
"Understood"
"But even so, for a wo over a feoes doell"
"Understood," I said again I leaned forward to let my back clear the chair, and I pulled the file out of my waistband I laid it on the desk
"Mission accomplished," I said "Nice ame"
"Takes one to know one," she said She slid the file closer and ran her palht, and her hand came to rest at one end, and she kept it there Maybe where it arm from the small of my back
She asked, "Did you ID the car?"
24
She kept her palht atin the air between us Did you ID the car? In my head I heard Garber&039;s emphatic squawk in ive that nu officer
Orders are orders
Deveraux said, "Did you?"
I said, "Yes"
"And?"
"I can&039;t tell you"
"Can&039;t or won&039;t?"
"Both Classified information, as of five minutes after I called it in"
She didn&039;t respond
I said, "Well, ould you do in this situation?"
"Now?"
"Not now Then When you were in the Corps"
"As a Marine I would have done exactly what you&039;re doing"
"I&039;lad you understand"
She nodded She kept her hand on the file She said, "I didn&039;t tell you the truth before Not the whole truth, anyway About my father&039;s house It wasn&039;t always rented He owned it, froot sick, they found out they didn&039;t have insurance They were supposed to It was supposed to couy as responsible had run into trouble and had been stealing the premiums Just a two-year hiatus, but that happened to be whencondition My father refinanced, things got worse, and he defaulted The bank took the title, but they let him live there as a renter I ad, as far as it could, and h it had kicked his I appreciate"
"Semper Fi," I said
"You bet your ass And you answered my question anyway, as I&039;m sure you intended If the ID is classified, then it&039;s a Kelham car That&039;s all I really need to know"
"Only if there&039;s a connection," I said "Between the car and the homicide"
"Unlikely to be a coincidence"
I said, "I&039;m sorry about your father"
"Me too He was a nice man, and he deserved better"
I said, "It was me who beat on those civilians"
Deveraux said, "Really? How on earth did you get there?"
"I walked"
"You can&039;t have You didn&039;t have time, surely It&039;s more than twelve miles Almost past Kelham&039;s northern limit Practically in Tennessee"
"What happened there?"
"Two guys were out doing so a walk They could see the woods around Kelham&039;s fence, but they weren&039;t particularly close to it A guy caot rousted, it turned bad, they got hit They claiuy that hit them was a soldier"