Robert B. Parker’s the Hangman’s Sonnet

Thompson gave him a dismissive wave. “You think you can do as you please without consequences. You’re a throwback. Your presence is a weight around the mayor’s neck, a political liability.”

Jesse smiled at her with his mouth. His eyes remained cool. “A political liability?” He turned back to the mayor. “Congresswoman Walker, Senator Walker, or Governor Walker, which one is it to be, Your Honor?”

But it was Nita Thompson who answered. “Whichever one she chooses, but first there needs to be a little housecleaning around here. Someone needs to clean out the attic and take the garbage to the curb.”

“Too bad your parents didn’t teach you how to talk plainly,” he said, tweaking her. He about-faced. “Is that how you feel about it, Madame Mayor?”

Walker cleared her throat. “I might not have used such a regrettable metaphor, but essentially, yes.”

“Nice to know where we all stand. I’m leaving now. I have a case to handle before someone tries to take me to the curb for morning pickup.”

“One last thing, Chief,” Walker said.

“Uh-huh.”

“I want you to fully cooperate with Bascom, Mr. White, and Miss Lawton. That party could mean a lot of press for Paradise and I want it to all be positive. Is that understood?”

Jesse laughed. “That’s amazing.”

“What is?” The mayor was confused.

“I didn’t know Miss Thompson was a ventriloquist, too. Good day, ladies.”

Jesse walked out of the mayor’s office without turning back.

28

Back at the station, Molly sensed something was up with Jesse. She stood, walked over to him, and inspected his face.

“No blood or bruises,” she said. “But I know you, Jesse Stone. You’ve got that look on your face.”

“What look?”

“The one where you look as if you’ve just had a fight.”

“You do know me, don’t you, Crane?”

“To the extent that you’re willing to let me know. It hasn’t been easy.”

“What fun is easy?”

“First man I’ve ever heard ask that question.”

“I’m special.”

She laughed. “That’s one way of putting it. So stop stalling.”

“I was over talking to Dick Bradshaw.”

“About what?”

“About what you’re going to assign someone to do or do yourself.”

Molly rolled her eyes. “I can’t wait.”

“Did you know Maude Cain let out rooms?”

“A lot of people in town did before we got touristy and the B-and-Bs started springing up. The hotel was too expensive for some folks because it was the only game in town.”

“Did your family do it?”

“C’mon, Jesse, you’ve seen the house I grew up in. There wasn’t even enough room for us. Where were we going to put them, in the crawl space? But some of the kids I went to school with, their parents did it.”

“Can you remember any of the kids who did it?”

“Where are you going with this, Jesse?”

“First, send someone over to the Cain house and see if they can locate a log book, ledger, or guestbook where Maude might have kept an accounting of who she rented rooms to. If we get hold of that, we’re going to see if we can’t track down some of the people who stayed with her. But if we don’t come up with the guestbook, maybe we can find some folks who stayed at Maude’s one week and then someplace else the next.”

“Long shot.”

“Very long shot, but till we get a hit on the fingerprints or something else, it’s a place to start.”

“Any luck in Boston?”

He shrugged. “We’ll see. If Vinnie Morris calls, put him through no matter what.”

Molly’s expression was a cross between fear and fury. Although Suit, Healy, and Jesse were the only people who knew for a fact what Jesse had allowed to happen in the immediate wake of Diana’s murder, Molly had always suspected things hadn’t quite happened the way the official story went. She had trouble believing that a convenient coconspirator had somehow swooped into the room, grabbed Diana’s killer, and vanished before Jesse, Suit, or Healy could stop him. She didn’t know that Vinnie Morris had anything to do with what had gone down, but she had never quite approved of Jesse’s closeness to him or Gino Fish. No matter how many times Jesse explained how big-city policing meant sometimes making allies of the bad guys, she didn’t like it.

“I thought after Gino Fish died, you would—”

“Let’s not do this again, Molly. Call Alisha in, and you and Peter go over to the Cain house.”

“Perkins, too?”

“You know Peter. Sometimes his obsessiveness has a benefit.”

She laughed, recognizing the truth in Jesse’s words.

“Sometimes,” she said, “I think he put the O in OCD.”

“I’ll tell him you said that.”

“You do and you’ll pay.”

“Threatening your superior officer?”

“Promising, not threatening.”

“Get out of here, Crane.”

“I’ll wait until Alisha gets here.”

“Fair enough.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I suppose I should go over and talk to Bascom to see what’s up with the security arrangements for Terry Jester’s big party. The mayor sees this as a big photo op for her. Fine. It means I can get everybody overtime. She’s also going to push the DA to charge the perps in the Cain case with murder two.”

“What’s with her lately, anyway? She can be mayor here forever. Why is she—”

“That’s the problem, Molly. She doesn’t want to be mayor of Paradise forever.”