بخش 02 - فصل 18

18

When Hodges lets himself into the outer office of the tiny suite on the seventh floor of the Turner Building on lower Marlborough Street, Holly is pacing worry-circles with a Bic jutting from her mouth. She stops when she sees him. ‘At last!’

‘Holly, we spoke on the phone just fifteen minutes ago.’ He gently takes the pen from her mouth and observes the bite marks incised on the cap.

‘It seems much longer. They’re in there. I’m pretty sure Barbara’s friend has been crying. Her eyes were all red when I brought them the Cokes. Go, Bill. Go go go.’

He won’t try to touch Holly, not when she’s like this. She’d jump out of her skin. Still, she’s so much better than when he first met her. Under the patient tutelage of Tanya Robinson, Jerome and Barbara’s mother, she’s even developed something approximating clothes sense.

‘I will,’ he says, ‘but I wouldn’t mind a head start. Do you have any idea what it’s about?’ There are many possibilities, because good kids aren’t always good kids. It could be minor shoplifting or weed. Maybe school bullying, or an uncle with Roman hands and Russian fingers. At least he can be sure (fairly sure, nothing is impossible) that Barbara’s friend hasn’t murdered anyone.

‘It’s about Tina’s brother. Tina, that’s Barbara’s friend’s name, did I tell you that?’ Holly misses his nod; she’s looking longingly at the pen. Denied it, she goes to work on her lower lip. ‘Tina thinks her brother stole some money.’

‘How old is the brother?’

‘In high school. That’s all I know. May I have my pen back?’

‘No. Go outside and smoke a cigarette.’

‘I don’t do that anymore.’ Her eyes shift up and to the left, a tell Hodges saw many times in his life as a cop. Oliver Madden even did it once or twice, come to think of it, and when it came to lying, Madden was a pro. ‘I qui—’

‘Just one. It’ll calm you down. Did you get them anything to eat?’

‘I didn’t think of it. I’m sor—’

‘No, that’s okay. Go back across the street and get some snacks. NutraBars, or something.’

‘NutraBars are dog treats, Bill.’

Patiently, he says, ‘Energy bars, then. Healthy stuff. No chocolate.’

‘Okay.’

She leaves in a swirl of skirts and low heels. Hodges takes a deep breath and goes into his office.