was genuine. âI love you, you know.â
âI love you, too.â She eyed Jackâs hand again. Punching a car door was not his style. She gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and said, âLetâs go find that corkscrew ⦠then weâll talk ⦠and donât try to bullshit me or Iâll use that plunger on you.â
âI could think of a nicer way to get a hickey,â replied Jack.
âHickey? Wasnât what I had in mind. You would need a proctologist when I was done.â
* * *
It was seven oâclock Friday morning when Jack arrived back at Gabrielâs house with cleaning supplies. The blood was sprayed high enough up the back of the house that he needed to borrow a ladder from a neighbour. As he scrubbed the streams of dried blood off the aluminium siding he reflected on the violent, uncontrollable rage of the person who did the murder. This is one animal I will find â¦
* * *
Later that afternoon, Connie returned to Jack and Lauraâs office. Any optimism she had disappeared when they both gave her the thumbs-down signal.
âHow about you?â asked Jack.
âNot a thing on the Varrick house. The parents went grocery shopping and to the liquor store and that was it.â
âHow about the crime scene?â asked Laura.
Connie shook her head and said, âWe canvassed the neighbourhood and there was nothing of interest.â She eyed Jack curiously and said, âI heard you were there this morning, making like a janitor.â
Jack shrugged in response.
âYou should have asked me,â said Laura. âI would have helped.â
âIt was no big deal,â replied Jack. âI was awake early.â More like I hardly slept from grinding my teeth all night â¦
âIt was good of you,â said Connie. âAnyway, Iâve even taking to interviewing winos. Iâve talked to four of them so far. Thereâs a liquor store about a block away from Gabrielâs. Iâm posting a member there every day for the next week. Also got Forensics collecting prints from empty wine bottles weâve found in a vacant lot down the alley to identify others.â
âInterviewing winos,â mused Jack. âI heard recruitment for your section was down, but I hadnât realized how desperate you had become.â
âSmartass,â replied Connie. âNo, from what weâve been told, there were at least a dozen different winos who used Gabrielâs yard to get out of the rain. Iâm going on a possible theory, with the way Father Brown was dressed, that he might have gone outside to chase some winos away and saw something he shouldnât have. Then again, he might have seen one of the dopers doing something and went out to investigate.â
âSo youâre hoping to come up with a drunk as a witness,â said Jack. âBet the courts will love that.â
âChrist,â replied Connie. âThe reason Iâm telling you is to show how desperate I am. We need to find Varrick!â
âIf youâre that desperate, want me to try a quick UC call to his parents?â asked Jack.
âIf you could think of something that wouldnât heat him up, go for it,â replied Connie.
âIâll think of something,â replied Jack. âWait in the hall and close the door and make sure nobody walks in during the call.â
Jack waited until Connie left and closed the office door before glancing at Laura and saying, âI thought it better that Connie not hear. Donât want her to have to tell a judge and have the case thrown out by saying it put justice into disrepute.â
âThe lawyer act?â smiled Laura.
Jack nodded as he thumbed through a file. âI have Varrickâs parentsâ number ⦠need to find out what lawyer is representing him on his drug charge.â
âItâs Basil Westmount from the law firm of Manhattan, Westmount, and
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