‘That’s disgusting,’ Isabelle says, but she says it with a smile.

‘Yeah, but true. He was a charmer. Olivia Trelawney, on the other hand, was an anti-charmer. So I started to wonder if we ever gave her story a fair shot.’

‘We did.’ Pete says it flatly.

‘Maybe we did. Anyway, there I am, retired, with time on my hands. Too much time. And one day – just before I asked you to lunch, Pete – I say to myself, Assume she was telling the truth. If so, where was that second key? And then – this was right after our lunch – I went on the Internet and started to do some research. And do you know what I came across? A techno-fiddle called “stealing the peek.”’

‘What’s that?’ Isabelle asks.

‘Oh, man,’ Pete says. ‘You really think some computer genius stole her key-signal? Then just happened to find her spare key stowed in the glove compartment or under the seat? Her spare key that she forgot? That’s pretty far-fetched, Bill. Especially when you add in that the woman’s picture could have been next to Type A in the dictionary.’

Calmly, as if he had not used his jacket to cover the severed arm of a woman he loved not three hours before, Hodges summarizes what Jerome found out about stealing the peek, representing it as his own research. He tells them that he went to the Lake Avenue condo to interview Olivia Trelawney’s mother (‘If she was still alive – I didn’t know for sure’) and found Olivia’s sister, Janelle, living there. He leaves out his visit to the mansion in Sugar Heights and his conversation with Radney Peeples, the Vigilant security guard, because that might lead to questions he’d be hard-pressed to answer. They’ll find out in time, but he’s close to Mr Mercedes now, he knows he is. A little time is all he needs.

He hopes.

‘Ms Patterson told me her mother was in a nursing home about thirty miles from here – Sunny Acres. She offered to go up there with me and make the introduction. So I could ask a few questions.’

‘Why would she do that?’ Isabelle asks.

‘Because she thought we might have jammed her sister up, and that caused her suicide.’

‘Bullshit,’ Pete says.

‘I’m not going to argue with you about it, but you can understand the thinking, right? And the hope of clearing her sister of negligence?’

Pete gestures for him to go on. Hodges does, after finishing his water. He wants to get out of here. Mr Mercedes could have read Jerome’s message by now. If so, he may run. That would be fine with Hodges. A running man is easier to spot than a hiding man.

‘I questioned the old lady and got nothing. All I managed to do was upset her. She had a stroke and died soon after.’ He sighs. ‘Ms Patterson – Janelle – was heartbroken.’

‘Was she also pissed at you?’ Isabelle asks.

‘No. Because she was for the idea, too. Then, when her mother died, she didn’t know anyone in the city except her mother’s nurse, who’s pretty long in the tooth herself. I’d given her my number, and she called me. She said she needed help, especially with a bunch of relatives flying in that she hardly knew, and I was willing to give it. Janelle wrote the obituary. I made the other arrangements.’

‘Why was she in your car when it blew?’

Hodges explains about Holly’s meltdown. He doesn’t mention Janey appropriating his new hat at the last moment, not because it will destabilize his story but because it hurts too much.

‘Okay,’ Isabelle says. ‘You meet Olivia Trelawney’s sister, who you like well enough to call by her first name. The sister facilitates a Q-and-A with the mom. Mom strokes out and dies, maybe because reliving it all again got her too excited. The sister is blown up after the funeral – in your car – and you still don’t see a connection to the Mercedes Killer?’

Hodges spreads his hands. ‘How would this guy know I was asking questions? I didn’t take out an ad in the paper.’ He turns to Pete. ‘I didn’t talk to anyone about it, not even you.’

Pete, clearly still brooding over the idea that their personal feelings about Olivia Trelawney might have colored the investigation, is looking dour. Hodges doesn’t much care, because that’s exactly what happened. ‘No, you just sounded me out about it at lunch.’

Hodges gives him a big grin. It makes his stomach fold in on itself like origami. ‘Hey,’ he says, ‘it was my treat, wasn’t it?’

‘Who else could have wanted to bomb you to kingdom come?’ Isabelle asks. ‘You on Santa’s naughty list?’

‘If I had to guess, I’d put my money on the Abbascia Family. How many of those shitbags did we put away on that gun thing back in ’04, Pete?’

‘A dozen or more, but—’

‘Yeah, and RICO’d twice as many a year later. We smashed them to pieces, and Fabby the Nose said they’d get us both.’

‘Billy, the Abbascias can’t get anyone. Fabrizio is dead, his brother is in a mental asylum where he thinks he’s Napoleon or someone, and the rest are in jail.’

Hodges just gives him the look.

‘Okay,’ Pete says, ‘so you never catch all the cockroaches, but it’s still crazy. All due respect, pal, but you’re just a retired flatfoot. Out to pasture.’

‘Right. Which means they could go after me without creating a firestorm. You, on the other hand, still have a gold shield pinned to your wallet.’

‘The idea is ridiculous,’ Isabelle says, and folds her arms beneath her breasts as if to say That ends the matter.

Hodges shrugs. ‘Somebody tried to blow me up, and I can’t believe the Mercedes Killer somehow got an ESP vibe that I was looking into the Case of the Missing Key. Even if he did, why would he come after me? How could that lead to him?’

‘Well, he’s crazy,’ Pete says. ‘How about that for a start?’

‘Sure, but I repeat – how would he know?’

‘No idea. Listen, Billy, are you holding anything back? Anything at all?’

‘No.’

‘I think you are,’ Isabelle says. She cocks her head. ‘Hey, you weren’t sleeping with her, were you?’

Hodges shifts his gaze to her. ‘What do you think, Izzy? Look at me.’

She holds his eyes for a moment, then drops them. Hodges can’t believe how close she just came. Women’s intuition, he thinks, and then, Probably a good thing I haven’t lost any more weight, or put that Just For Men shit in my hair.

‘Look, Pete, I want to shake. Go home and have a beer and try to get my head around this.’

‘You swear you’re not holding anything back? This is you and me, now.’

Hodges passes up his last chance to come clean without a qualm. ‘Not a thing.’

Pete tells him to stay in touch; they’ll want him in tomorrow or Friday for a formal statement.

‘Not a problem. And Pete? In the immediate future I’d give my car a once-over before driving it, if I were you.’

At the door, Pete puts an arm over Hodges’s shoulders and gives him a hug. ‘I’m sorry about this,’ he says. ‘Sorry about what happened and about all the questions.’

‘It’s okay. You’re doing the job.’

Pete tightens his grip and whispers in Hodges’s ear. ‘You are holding back. You think I’ve been taking stupid pills?’

For a moment Hodges rethinks his options. Then he remembers Janey saying He’s ours.

He takes Pete by the arms, looks him full in the face, and says, ‘I’m just as mystified about this as you are. Trust me.’

25

Hodges crosses the Detective Division bullpen, fielding the curious glances and leading questions with a stone face that only breaks once. Cassie Sheen, with whom he worked most often when Pete was on vacation, says, ‘Look at you. Still alive and uglier than ever.’

He smiles. ‘If it isn’t Cassie Sheen, the Botox Queen.’ He lifts an arm in mock defense when she picks a paperweight up off her desk and brandishes it. It all feels both fake and real at the same time. Like one of those girl-fights on afternoon TV.

In the hall, there’s a line of chairs near the snack and soda machines. Sitting in two of the chairs are Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Henry. Holly isn’t with them, and Hodges instinctively touches the glasses case in his pants pocket. He asks Uncle Henry if he’s feeling better. Uncle Henry says he is, and thanks him. He turns to Aunt Charlotte and asks how she’s doing.