Cemetery Dance by Preston Douglas && Child Lincoln
Author:Preston, Douglas && Child, Lincoln
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: FIC000000
ISBN: 9780446537841
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2009-05-12T04:00:00+00:00
41
Whatâll it be, hon?â the harassed-looking waitress asked, elbow balanced on hip, pad open, pen at the ready.
DâAgosta pushed his menu aside. âCoffee, black, and oatmeal.â
The waitress glanced across the table. âAnd you?â
âBlueberry pancakes,â said Hayward. âWarm the syrup, please.â
âWill do,â the waitress replied, flipping her pad closed and turning away.
âJust a second,â said DâAgosta.
This bore consideration. In his experience during the time they lived together, Laura Hayward orderedâor cookedâblueberry pancakes for one of two reasons. She felt guilty about overworking and ignoring him. Or she was feeling amorous. Either option sounded good. Was she sending a signal? Breakfast had, after all, been her idea.
âMake that two orders of pancakes,â he said.
âYou got it.â And the waitress moved off.
âDid you see the West Sider this morning?â Hayward asked.
âI did. Unfortunately.â The scandal sheet seemed hell-bent on whipping the entire city into a state of hysteria. And it wasnât just the West Siderâall the tabloids had now picked up the hue and cry. The Ville was being depicted in ever more ghoulish terms, with plenty of not-so-subtle hints that it was behind the killing of the West Siderâs âstar reporter,â Caitlyn Kidd.
But it was on Bill Smithback himself that the papers lingered with the greatest morbidity. The high-profile murder of Kidd by Smithback, after being pronounced dead and undergoing an autopsy; his corpse missing from the M.E.âs officeâeverything had been sifted and speculated on with the greatest relish. And, of course, with more dark hints that the Ville was ultimately responsible.
As far as DâAgosta was concerned, the Ville was responsible. Still, despite his own mounting anger, he knew the last thing the city needed was vigilante justice.
The waitress returned with his coffee. He sipped it gratefully, stealing a glance at Hayward. Their eyes met. Her expression didnât seem particularly guilty, or particularly amorous. It seemed troubled.
âWhen did you visit Nora Kelly?â
âLast evening, as soon as I heard. Right after we finished searching the Ville.â
âWhat happened to the protection you arranged for her?â
DâAgosta frowned. âThe handoff was botched. Each of the two teams assigned thought the other had things covered. Fucking idiots.â
âHow is Nora?â
âBanged up here and there, some cuts and abrasions. Of greater concern is the second concussion she suffered. Sheâll be in the hospital at least a couple more days for observation.â
âThe neighbors broke it up?â
DâAgosta took another sip of coffee, nodded. âHer screams brought them running. They kicked down the door.â
âAnd Nora insists it was Smithback?â
âSure enough to testify to it in court. Same with the neighbors.â
Haywardâs eyes were on the faux marble of the tabletop. âThis is too weird. I mean, whatâs going on?â
âThe goddamn Ville is whatâs going on.â Just thinking of Nora brought the anger back with a vengeance. It seemed he was always mad these days: mad at the Ville; mad at Kline and his oily threats; mad at the commissioner; mad at all the bureaucratic red tape that tied his hands; mad even at Pendergast with his irritating coyness and his insufferable little French Creole adviser.
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