“Orthodontist convention, huh? That’s how Arlene got rid of you? The woman’s got no imagination.”
“She tried. I think I frightened her. Is it because I’m an outsider? A Fed?”
“Oh, yes. Arlene Hicks doesn’t want you anywhere around her fine establishment. She’s weird that way about cops.”
“Word got around really fast.”
“Yeah. Paul told Benny Pickle down at the gun shop that you were coming. That’s all it took. Benny’s got the biggest mouth west of the Cascades.”
“But what’s wrong with being a Fed? I’m clean, I’m polite, I don’t spit. I wouldn’t run out without paying my bill.”
“Arlene doesn’t even like me hanging around, and I’m a friendly face. You’re not. She probably believes you’re as bad as the IRS. You’re from Washington, right? Place of sin and corruption.”
“You’ve got a good point there. Maybe Arlene’s on to something.”
She waved that away. “Okay. You’re here, Mac, and you want to find out what happened to Jilly. I want the same thing. It makes sense that we join forces, at least a bit. The thing is, are you willing to play level with me?”
I arched an eyebrow. “I hadn’t really thought about playing with anybody. But if I do play, it’s usually level. Any reason why it shouldn’t be?”
“You’re a Fed. You’re a big footer. You’re used to taking over, used to making local cops your gofers. I’m not a gofer.”
“I told you, I’m not here as a Fed. I’m here only as Jilly’s brother. Like you, I want to know what happened. Actually I’m pleased that as the local cop you haven’t just kissed the whole thing off-attempted suicide-and called in a shrink.
“Sure, I’ll play level with you. Do you know anything I should know? Is there any reason to believe Jilly didn’t go over that cliff on purpose? You want to start sharing right now?”
She seemed to relax a bit. “When were you hurt and how?”
“How do you know I was hurt? Do I still look like week-old oatmeal?”
She cocked her head to one side, fully facing me, looking me over. I realized that she was younger than I’d first thought, probably late twenties. It was impossible to be really sure because she was wearing the dark glasses favored by highway patrol officers to intimidate the folk they stopped. I could see my reflection in the lenses. Her hair was thick, dark reddish-brown and curly, plaited into a thick French braid and pulled back up on top of her head, wound around itself and fastened with a clip carved as a totem pole. She was wearing pale coral lipstick, the shade my British girlfriend Caroline had favored. But Caroline, a clothing designer, had never looked as tough or self-reliant as this woman.
Of course she knew I was studying her, and she let me, saying finally, “I’ve always hated oatmeal. Fortunately, you don’t resemble that at all, but you don’t move all that easily, you know? You walk like you’re twenty years older than you are. There are faint bruises along the left side of your face. You favor your right arm and you’re a bit crabbed over, like you’re worried you’ll hurt your ribs. What happened to you?”
“I got in the way of a car bomb.”
“I didn’t hear about any federal guys being blown up.”
“I was over in Tunisia. Bad place. You get hot sand in your mouth when you talk. The people I had to deal with weren’t what you’d call very good-natured.” I’d just told this woman, a perfect stranger, all sorts of stuff that wasn’t any layperson’s business, a local cop’s least of all. Well, I was playing level, I was sharing, as politically correct folk would say. Even thinking that soppy word made me wince. If she knew anything at all, my spurt of openness-something I hoped wouldn’t happen again- should help me worm it out of her.
“I’ll take you to The Edwardian for lunch. It sounds like an English gentlemen’s club, but it isn’t. The food isn’t great, but there’s a lot of it, and you look like you could use the calories. You dropped what, a good fifteen pounds?”