“You learned this from the records?”
“No, Lori put me in touch with people at the Lansing State Journal and somebody there dug through their morgue and got some clips for me. There was a story about Toogood being on the dean’s list in his first semester at Purdue, and another about him leaving school for the air force. More stories when he was captured, others when he was repatriated, and nothing after that. One of the reporters who wrote some of the stories is a retired columnist. He told me about the rift between the father and son.”
“The father burned the bridge and the boy never went back.”
“I don’t know.” The columnist was shocked to learn that Toogood has been in the U.P. all these years and he wants to see if he can do a story. He said several reporters tried to see him at the VA in Washington and Baltimore, but were turned away.
Service thought, where did he get his checks? “How much did you tell him?”
“Not much, but his interest is definitely piqued.”
This could be useful, Service thought. “You did a helluva job,” he said.
“Up to Grady Service’s standards?”
“Exceeds,” he said.
“I was going to call you in the morning. How’s your face?”
“Okay.” He made a mental note to call Vince and see if he could check the stitches. The cut above his upper lip kept seeping blood.
“And the rest of your body?”
“Sore, but getting better. The animals are tolerating me.”
She laughed and he smiled. He loved her laugh, how she opened up and held nothing back when she was tickled. Her voice alone was a tranquilizer.
“How’s Walter?”
“Good. I stayed with him last night.”
“Really?” her tone said how pleased she was. He didn’t offer details.
“How come Simon didn’t meet us at the airport?” she asked.
“He said something came up,” he said.
“I’m awake now, big boy. Wanna talk dirty?”
“Talking’s not enough,” he said.
“Don’t I know it,” she said.
“I don’t like being apart,” he said.
“Neither of us likes it,” she said. “I dread the academy.”
“How about if I come down and you can show me what you do.”
She was silent. “Are you playing me?”
“Does it matter?”
“Probably not.”
“The paper says the senator will speak at a fund-raiser for the party in the Irish Hills in ten days.”
“I haven’t looked that far ahead,” Nantz said.
“Do you go everywhere with her?”
“Depends on how long the event is. Most of the time it’s a whistlestop schedule, which means I usually wait at the airport and refuel so we can get on to the next place. She never wears down. What are you up to, Service?”
“I need to get into that dinner.”
She grunted. “I’d like it better if you said you need to get into me.”
“That’s a given,” he said.
“Why this sudden interest?”
He debated how much to tell her and decided to lay it all out. “Siquin Soong is Harry Pung’s ex-wife.”
“So?”
“She’s organizing the foo-foo fund-raiser. I need to talk to her, but her lawyers are getting in the way. I figure I might get a chance for an informal chat during the dinner.”
“Chat? That word doesn’t fit your vocab. And Grady, she’s a power broker and the senator’s backer. I’m not sure Lori will buy this.”
“The senator doesn’t need to know.”
“Are you asking me to lie to her? She’s my friend.”
“You don’t have to lie. Just tell her we just want some time together. She can understand that, and it’s the truth, right?”
“I don’t like the position you’re putting me in.”
“I can think of some good positions,” he said.
“Don’t deflect,” she said.
He took a deep breath and walked her through the case, the problems with Terry Pung, the body in Houghton, the AFIS hit, all of it.
“Are you suggesting that one of the most important people in the state’s Democratic Party is doing something illegal?”
“No.” The feds were, but he had no idea what that entailed yet. “I think she’s just trying to shield her son. If she has nothing to hide, she has nothing to lose, right?”
“So you want to ambush her.”
“What would you do if you were me?” he asked.
“Baby, I don’t know. This just doesn’t feel right.”
“Get used to it,” he said. “Cops follow the law and sometimes you end up in some funny places. If you could get the next day off, we can have dinner with Tree and Kalina.”