thirty or forty minutes ago.â
âAnd Iâm hoping that a good number of people saw you.â
âA large number of people. And all night long.â
Somewhere in the pocket of her jacket her cell phone rang. âExcuse me.â
I tried to make sense of her and the phone conversation, but I couldnât. The county morgue was mentioned. The rest of it was lost on me.
After putting her phone away again, she said, âDo you know Greg Larson, Ms. Daviesâs partner?â
âYes.â
âWhat do you think of him?â
âIâd rather not say.â
âWhy not?â
âBecause we hate each other. Anything Iâd say about him would be prejudiced.â
âWhy do you hate him?â
âIt doesnât matter.â
âIt matters to me, Mr. Conrad.â
My fingers started drumming on the table. As if I didnât control them.
âMr. Conrad?â
âIâm in a business that can get dirty. Iâve been dirty myself and Iâll be dirty again. But itâs a matter of degrees. Most people on either side have lines they wonât cross. Larson crosses them all the time.â
âYouâre quite angry, Mr. Conrad. I can see it on your face.â
âYou asked how I felt about Larson. I told you.â
âHave you seen Mr. Larson?â
âYes. He came to the fund-raiser tonight.â
âIsnât that strange? Him coming to a fund-raiser for his opponent?â
I made it a joke. âHe came to torment me.â
âAnd did he succeed?â
âHe sure did. I donât like being in the same room with him.â
âDid you feel the same way about Monica Davies?â
âPretty much. They both did the same kind of work.â
âOne more question, Mr. Conrad. The patrolman told me that you had some kind of altercation with somebody in a car behind the hotel a few minutes ago.â
âIt wasnât an altercation. I just wanted to say hello to an old friend.â
âApparently he didnât want to say hello to you. The officer told me that you were shouting at him and chasing after his car.â
âHe obviously didnât recognize who I was. He might not even have heard me. In college he always played the radio very loud.â
Her sly smile was a review of my story. It closed opening night. âIâd never take up fiction if I were you, Mr. Conrad.â
She stood up. âI see I have two more people I need to talk to, and Iâm sure youâre ready for some sleep.â She offered her long, sleek hand. As I stood up I took it. She was strong. âIâm sorry I had to trouble you with all this.â
âDoing your job.â
She gave me her best broadest, emptiest smile. âNow, thatâs not what youâre
really
thinking, is it?â
âNo,â I said as I started to turn away. âNo, I guess itâs not.â I was too tired for any more of her droll inquisition.
âGive the female patrol officer all your contact information, if you would. I hope you have a good nightâs sleep.â
I muttered through room number, phone number, home address, home telephone number, and headquarters phone number with the officer taking down all the information. Then I turned, yawning, toward the elevator.
PART TWO
CHAPTER Â Â 11
I got into headquarters just after seven the next morning. Iâd spent forty-five minutes on the StairMaster in the hotel gym, then had an egg and a piece of toast and three cups of coffee in the café. I was the only one in the office for a time. I didnât want to think about Monica Davies and why Bobby had had her card and how Susan Cooper might be involved in all this. I forced myself to go through the internals that had been faxed late last night.
The difference between public polling and internal polling is sometimes complicated but generally comes down to the fact that internal polling is done in