the car.
‘Excuse me!’ Franco called out as sweetly as possible. Having smoked
heavily from age eight, he had a voice that normally had a harsh, raspy
quality. ‘Could you, by any chance, be the popular Cindy Carlson?’
‘Maybe,’ the teenager said. ‘Who wants to know?’ She’d stopped at the
foot of the driveway. The dog lifted his leg against the gate post.
‘We’re police officers,’ Franco said. He held up the badge so that the
light from the streetlamp glinted off its polished surface. ‘We’re
investigating several of the boys in town and we were told you might be
able to help us.’
‘Really?’ Cindy questioned.
‘Absolutely,’ Franco said. ‘Please come over here so my colleague can
talk to you.’
Cindy glanced up and down the street, even though not a car had passed
in the last five minutes. She crossed the street, pulling her dog who’d
been intently sniffing the base of an elm tree.
Franco moved out of the way so that Cindy Carlson could bend over to
look into the front seat of the car at Angelo. Before a word was spoken,
Franco pushed her into the car headfirst.
Cindy let out a squeal but it was quickly smothered by Angelo who
wrestled her into the car.
Franco swiftly yanked the leash out of Cindy’s hand and shooed the dog
away. Then he squeezed into the front seat, crushing Cindy against
Angelo. He put the car in gear and drove away.
Laurie had surprised herself. After the delivery of the Franconi
videotape, she’d been able to redirect her attention to her paperwork.
She’d worked efficiently and made significant progress. There was now a
gratifying stack of completed folders on the corner of her desk.
Taking the remaining tray of histology slides, she started on the final
case, which could be completed with the material and reports she had. As
she peered into her microscope to examine the first slide, she heard a
knock on her open door. It was Lou Soldano.
‘What are you doing here so late?’ Lou asked. He sat down heavily in the
chair next to Laurie’s desk. He made no effort to take off his coat or
hat, which was tipped way back on his head.
Laurie glanced at her watch. ‘My gosh!’ she remarked. ‘I had no idea of
the time.’
‘I tried to call you at home as I was coming across the Queensborough
Bridge,’ Lou said. ‘When I didn’t get you, I decided to stop here. I had
a sneaking suspicion you’d still be at it. You know, you work too hard!’
‘You should talk!’ Laurie said with playful sarcasm. ‘Look at you! When
was the last time you got any sleep? And I’m not talking about a catnap
at your desk.’
‘Let’s talk about more pleasant things,’ Lou suggested. ‘How about
grabbing a bite to eat? I’ve got to run down to headquarters to do about
an hour’s worth of dictating, then I’d love to go out someplace. The
kids are with their aunt, God love her. What do you say to some pasta?’
‘Are you sure you’re up for going out?’ Laurie questioned. The circles
under Lou’s dark eyes were touching his smile creases. His stubble was
more than a five o’clock shadow. Laurie guessed it was at least two
days’ worth.
‘I gotta eat,’ Lou said. ‘Are you planning on working much longer?’
‘I’m on my last case,’ Laurie said. ‘Maybe another half hour.’
‘You gotta eat, too,’ Lou said.
‘Have you made any progress in the Franconi case?’ Laurie asked.
Lou let out an exasperated puff of air. ‘I wish,’ he said. ‘And the
trouble is with these mob hits, if you don’t score quickly, the trail
cools mighty fast. We haven’t gotten the break I’ve been hoping for.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Laurie said.
‘Thanks,’ Lou said. ‘How about you? Any more of an idea how Franconi’s
body got out of here?’
‘That trail is about equally as cool,’ Laurie said. ‘Calvin even gave me
a reaming out for interrogating the night mortuary tech. All I did was
talk to the man. I’m afraid administration just wants the episode to
fade.’
‘So Jack was right about telling you to lay off,’ Lou said.