Murder in Hell's Kitchen (29 page)
36
THE MATCH ON the prints came by late afternoon. The DNA would take longer, but who needed it? Before the end of the day it was announced that Inspector Hackett's PAA had been arrested. The charges began with endangering the life of a police officer and went on from there. The Feds would have seconds with her later.
The story that developed, much of which was reported in the local media, was that the PAA, Emily Wilson, a middle-aged New Yorker with superb secretarial skills, had been approached in China two years earlier and asked to be alert to information on the Soderberg case and a couple of others that were not reported. There was a modest retainer for her vigilance and a promised large bonus for actual information, which she was supposed to telephone to Mr. Chong Wang.
Jane healed and was relieved to hear that Hutchins was truly on the mend. Her father said he always knew she would solve the City Hall Park Murder, and as always, he was very proud of her.
The police department decided to award her a Meritorious Commendation, and she had a chance at the Medal of Honor. On Medal Day at One PP, the Chief of Detectives was unavoidably busy at something, and Inspector Hackett stood in for him. The picture of the smiling Hackett and the smiling Jane Bauer was on the front of the
Daily News
and the
Post
. The
Times
used it in the Metro section.
Hack called her afterwardâthey had not spoken since she left the hospitalâand said he had always wanted a picture of the two of them that he could hang on the wall in his office, and he thought he had worked this one out pretty well.
“Nearly got me killed,” she said.
“Then there wouldn't have been a picture. Can I ask you what your job prospects are?”
“Captain Graves wants the three of us to continue in the cold-case task force.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me.”
“Defino hates MacHovec and I spend half my time keeping them from killing each other.”
“It's good training. You didn't answer my question.”
“I told the insurance company I'd be staying on the job.”
“You won't regret it, Jane.”
“It'll mean bread and water if I keep the apartment.”
“You'll figure something out,” he said cavalierly. “You'll get a raise. The promotion list is making the rounds, and I recognized a few names from your office, a couple to first-grade detective and a handful to second. And maybe someday you'll have a roommate.”
She didn't answer that. “It's a great picture. We look so happy.”
“We were happy.”
“Dad's framing his. He can't keep his eyes off it.”
“A man with good taste.”
She smiled at the picture after they hung up. There was a letter in the mail from Mike Fromm. He and his son were planning a trip to New York next month. How was the first week of December? She thought it was just fine. The tree at Rockefeller Center would be up and lighted, New York at its brightest.
The ordeal in Chinatown still gave her nightmares. She knew that working in insurance would never give her bad dreams, and for a couple of days after she left the hospital, she had thought it was really what she wanted. And then something changed. She couldn't let go of the job. Or maybe it couldn't let go of her. It was part of her in a way that nothing else in her life was. Who would she be without it?
She called Flora Hamburg and they got together for dinner, Flora with her white hair and shopping bag and her weapon on her ample hip. Flora never said a word, never asked her what she wanted to do. But when she picked up the check, she reached into her shopping bag and pulled out a framed copy of the famous picture.
“You look great,” Flora said. “Even that son of a bitch Hackett looks good.”
There had been article after article in the papers. The mayor was deliriously happy with the success of the squad. First-Grade Detective Jane Bauer was emblematic of the best of the police force. Her partners were great men, and the squad had more than proved itself.
And then there was Jane Bauer herself. She was grateful the past was past, more grateful than she could articulate that she was alive and well enough to work. The investigation of the murder of Arlen Quill had turned into the case of her lifetime, almost the last one, she thought, with a familiar echo of fear. She sensed a pride that she kept to herself in what she had accomplished: the observations that had become leads, the frail strands of possibility that she had picked up and run with till they panned out. Who could have imagined a simple homicide would lead to a complicated international conspiracy?
It was over now, the questions answered, the last of the pieces neatly fitting into the puzzle, time to move on, time to tie up the last loose end in her life.
She got a fire going, made herself a mug of coffee, and got the phone. Sitting down in her favorite chair, she dialed the number of Lisa Angelino.
If you enjoyed this mystery, look for these
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For his favorite charity, the high school drama
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THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY MURDER
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Sleuth Christine Bennett is moved by two poignant
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With her investigative instincts irresistibly whetted,
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Available wherever books are sold.
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Mayhem knows best. . . .
THE MOTHER'S DAY
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Investigator (and former nun) Christine Bennett is
appalled when a young woman claims to be the
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at St. Stephen's and Chris's dearest friend. But after
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police to believe she was telling the truthâand that
Sister Joseph is the prime suspect. As Chris franti-
cally searches for the truth, it seems only a miracle
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Â
Published by Fawcett Books.
Available wherever books are sold.
Â
By Lee Harris
Published by Fawcett Books:
THE GOOD FRIDAY MURDER
THE YOM KIPPUR MURDER
THE CHRISTENING DAY MURDER
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THE LABOR DAY MURDER
THE FATHER'S DAY MURDER
THE MOTHER'S DAY MURDER
THE APRIL FOOLS' DAY MURDER
THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY MURDER
Â
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A Fawcett Book
Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group
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Copyright © 2003 by Lee Harris
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by The Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
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eISBN: 978-0-307-41614-8
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