Part 35 (1/2)
”One more question. Hale, did you stab David Bisti?”
There was another long pause as Elvis worked the question out. ”Th'artist?”
”Yeah.”
”No. I done...the others. Not him.”
”Thanks, Hale.”
”Get the SOB...”
Sixty-Six.
Late the next afternoon, Thinnes saw Evanger in his office talking to the detective sergeant. Evanger spotted Thinnes and jerked his head in a come-here gesture. ”Come in,” he said, when Thinnes got to the door. The sergeant nodded and excused himself.
Thinnes left the door open and leaned against the jamb. ”Nice to have you back.”
”Thanks,” Evanger said. ”You're the only one who thinks so.”
”Just the only one who'll admit it.”
”Have you got the details worked out on the Hale case?”
”We're going on the theory that Hale became a liability the minute we connected him with Redbird. When he put the touch on Wingate, he signed his own death warrant. They were supposed to pour cement this morning. If Dr. Caleb hadn't been there, it's pretty sure Hale would've ended up as part of the foundation, but when he showed up with Caleb, Wingate had to change his disposal plan to include two bodies.” Thinnes shrugged. ”There wasn't any other reason to start up that torch, much less push it over the edge. Wingate wasn't in any danger at that point-Hale couldn't have gotten at him up there. All he'd have had to do was sit tight till the cops arrived.”
”Anyway, nice work.”
”Question is, can we make it stick?”
Evanger shrugged. ”Time will tell. Wingate can buy the talent...Anyway, thanks for clearing that old John Doe shooting.”
”He fits the description of a missing person on file with the Albuquerque PD. A Navajo Indian named Sam Albert that worked for Wingate. He had a drinking problem. I can't prove it-yet-but it looks like he was a loose cannon, and Wingate just told Hale to get rid of him.”
”I owe you one.”
”Then you can transfer me to days.”
”Sure. Ryan's working solo.”
”I've got a partner.”
”Rossi's got to have some-”
”Let him have Ferris. They deserve each other.” Thinnes started to leave, then had an idea. ”I don't suppose you could get Rossi transferred?”
”Oh, no. We need Rossi. What else can we threaten you guys with?” Thinnes laughed. ”Seriously,” Evanger said. ”The only fly in the ointment is, the museum case is still open. We're still catching flak for that.”
”You know how it goes-the difficult we do immediately, the impossible...”
”Tell you what. If you and Oster close it before New Year's, you can write your own ticket.”
”We'll see what we can do.”
Thinnes didn't feel like moving. The ordinary business of the squad room went on around him while he sat and thought about relations.h.i.+ps. In balance. Deadlocked. Sometimes when the cops started poking around, they threw things off-kilter, and things got f.u.c.ked up. Or maybe it was Bisti's death that had set things in motion. Certainly if he hadn't died, Hale wouldn't have shot Redbird. And if the police hadn't been poking around in Hale's life, Wingate wouldn't have felt the need to get rid of Hale.
A phone rang, and the sergeant called from across the room, ”Thinnes, where's your better half?”
”Who wants to know?”
”His missus.”
”He left half an hour ago. Should be there any time.”
”Thanks.” The sergeant relayed the information and hung up. Then he walked over to stand near Thinnes. ”You 'bout done with your paperwork on last night's activities?”
”About.”
”Rossi wants you to wait for him, to brief him before you leave.”
”In that case, I left with Carl.” When the sergeant gave him a look, he added, ”The boss said we could have off until Monday.”
”Then what're you doing here?”
”Just knotting some loose ends.”
The sergeant nodded and went back to what he'd been doing. Thinnes called home.
Rob answered his h.e.l.lo with, ”Hi, Dad. You working late tonight?”
”Just a couple more hours. What're you up to?”
”Ma and I are going Christmas shopping. We're going to shop till the stores close.”
”That'll be about ten o'clock Christmas Eve.”
”Oh. Well, maybe we'll just shop till we drop. Want to come?”
”No thanks. I'm already ready to drop. Maybe you and I could go tomorrow. You could help me pick out something nice for your mother.”
”Sure.”
”Have fun.”