Free Loose Ends by Don Easton Page A

Ben was talking to him or to himself.
    â€œI’m sorry, Jack. Shouldn’t be talking to you this way. I know you’re doing everything possible. There is something I was going to ask you to do for me, if you can.”
    â€œAnything, Ben.”
    â€œMaggie’s little sketchbook. You know the one. She carried it in her back pocket all the time. Just before it happened she was sitting where you are and drew a picture of a wasp on a glass. We want to get it back.”
    â€œI’ll check with CC. I’m sure it’s not a problem.”
    Natasha Trovinski looked up from her desk as her receptionist walked in and handed her a compact disc with an envelope attached to it.
    â€œWhat’s this?”
    â€œSome cute guy said to give it to you, then he left.”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œOne of the two Mounties who were in the other night. Not the one you treated.”
    Natasha examined the disc.
The Marriage of Figaro.
She opened the envelope and read the note:
    Please accept my apology for lying to you the other night. I also want to thank you for your discretion. If you ever do get married, I hope your husband enjoys this music too.
    Sincerely, Jack
    P.S. I also don’t appreciate being lied to. Looks like we have another thing in common.
    â€œDid he ask you out on a date?” the receptionist asked. “Better be careful you don’t catch scarlet fever!”
    â€œNo, he didn’t ask me. Besides, you know I don’t date patients.”
    Jack paid Homicide a visit and spoke with CC.
    â€œBen asked me for it yesterday. He watched her draw her last picture in it of a wasp on a glass, maybe less than an hour before she was killed. She kept it in her back pocket. Should be in her personal effects.”
    â€œI have it. Actually, it was on the floor at the scene. Behind the door. I looked through it. That kid could really draw! One picture looks like you.”
    â€œIt was me.” Jack smiled as he recalled the event. “She made me sit on a log holding a hotdog near my mouth for half an hour for that one.”
    â€œWait here, I’ll go to the exhibit locker and get it for you.”
    A moment later CC returned. “The wasp wasn’t the last thing she put in it. She printed the word
Dirty
on the next page. Sign for it and you can take it.”
    Jack signed the release form and looked at Maggie’s last entry. “This doesn’t fit. She was really talented. Why would she put that word in there?”
    CC shrugged. “Who knows? Kids…. It doesn’t matter. Just take it.”
    â€œWas her pencil in her pocket?”
    â€œNo. It was on the floor. Covered in blood. The parents won’t want that.”
    Later that afternoon, Jack and Danny arrived at their office. The telephone was ringing as they walked in and Jack grabbed it. Lucy didn’t waste time.
    â€œIt matched! The ounce you gave me to test came from the same chemist!”
    â€œThank God. Oh, Luce, are you sure?”
    â€œYup!”
    Jack rushed into Louie’s office where Danny caught up to him.
    â€œI need to get authorization to make a UC purchase,” Jack said.
    â€œFrom who?”
    â€œFrom this Red that I was telling you about!”
    â€œSome low-level dealer that you
think
might be selling speed? Forget it! Wigmore would wipe his ass with that request.”
    â€œLou, she is selling ounce level for sure. She supplies all the speed dealers in the bar.”
    â€œAnd how do you know that?”
    Danny looked at Jack.
This should be interesting.
    â€œManaged to turn an informant. He gave me the lowdown on the place.”
    â€œReally?” Louie spoke to Jack but stared at Danny. “You came up with an informant pretty quick. Is this person reliable?”
    Danny felt uneasy.
Christ, is he like Jack? What way are my eyes supposed to look?
    Jack answered for him. “We got lucky. Did surveillance like you told us. Caught a guy with an