Whispers

Hilary Thomas also seemed surprised. “Oh … well … I suppose you were only doing your job.”

“No,” Frank said. “That’s the problem. I wasn’t doing my job. At least I wasn’t doing it well.”

“It’s over now,” she said.

“But will you accept my apologies?”

“Well … of course,” she said uncomfortably.

“I feel very bad about the way I treated you.”

“Frye won’t be bothering me any more,” she said. “So I guess that’s all that really matters.”

Tony got out of the car and opened her door. She could not get out by herself because the rear doors of the sedan had no inside handles, a deterrent to escape-minded prisoners. Besides, he wanted to accompany her to the house.

“You may have to testify at a coroner’s inquest,” he said as they approached the house.

“Why? When I stabbed him, Frye was in my place, against my wishes. He was threatening my life.”

“Oh, there’s no doubt it’s a simple case of self-defense,” Tony said quickly. “If you have to appear at an inquest, it’ll just be a formality. There’s no chance in the world that any sort of charges will be brought or anything like that.”

She unlocked the front door, opened it, turned to him, smiled radiantly. “Thank you for believing in me last night, even after what the Napa County Sheriff said.”

“We’ll be checking into him,” Tony said. “He’s got some explaining to do. If you’re interested, I’ll let you know what his excuse is.”

“I am curious,” she said.

“Okay. I’ll let you know.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s no bother.”

She stepped into the house.

He didn’t move.

She looked back at him.

He smiled stupidly.

“Is there anything eise?” she asked.

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

“What?”

“One more question.”

“Yes?”

He had never felt so awkward with a woman before.

“Would you have dinner with me Saturday?”

“Oh,” she said. “Well … I don’t think I can.”

“I see.”

“I mean, I’d like to.”

“You would?”

“But I really don’t have much time for a social life these days,” she said.

“I see.”

“I’ve just gotten this deal with Warner Brothers, and it’s going to keep me busy day and night.”

“I understand,” he said.

He felt like a high school boy who had just been turned down by the popular cheerleader.

“It was very nice of you to ask,” she said.

“Sure. Well … good luck with Warner Brothers.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll let you know about Sheriff Laurenski.”

“Thank you.”

He smiled, and she smiled.

He turned away, started toward the car, and heard the door of the house close behind him. He stopped and looked back at it.

A small toad hopped out of the shrubbery, onto the stone footpath in front of Tony. It sat in the middle of the walk and peered up at him, its eyes rolled way back to achieve the necessary angle, its tiny green-brown chest rapidly expanding and contracting.

Tony looked at the toad and said, “Did I give up too easily?”

The little toad made a peeping-croaking sound.

“What have I got to lose?” Tony asked.

The toad peeped-croaked again.

“That’s the way I look at it. I’ve got nothing to lose.”

He stepped around the amphibian cupid and rang the bell. He could sense Hilary Thomas looking at him through the one-way peephole lens, and when she opened the door a second later, he spoke before she could. “Am I terribly ugly?”

“What?”

“Do I look like Quasimodo or something?”

“Really, I–”

“I don’t pick my teeth in public,” he said.

“Lieutenant Clemenza–”

“Is it because I’m a cop?”

“What?”

“You know what some people think?”

“What do some people think?”

“They think cops are socially unacceptable.”

“Well, I’m not one of those people.”

“You’re not a snob?”

“No. I just–”

“Maybe you turned me down because I don’t have a lot of money and don’t live in Westwood.”

“Lieutenant, I’ve spent most of my life without money, and I haven’t always lived in Westwood.”

“Then I wonder what’s wrong with me,” he said, looking down at himself in mock bewilderment.

She smiled and shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong with you, Lieutenant.”

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