“I don’t understand what’s wrong with you,” Garry Mansfield said, when Gregor had been particularly unresponsive to some piece of news. “This could be it. This is the first sensible lead we’ve had since this whole mess started.”
It was edging on to noon, and Gregor had been at the station since eight that morning. He’d been up and restless until well after three, too, so that he was now tired enough to have very little patience for amateurs. He especially had no patience for Garry and Lou, who should not be behaving like amateurs. Both of them had to have been at this long enough to know that they shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Both of them had been with the department through its own agonizing series of scandals, which ought to have taught them caution for a whole different set of reasons. Instead of being cautious, they were partying, and Gregor’s head ached.
“You really are being too uptight about this,” Lou said after a while. “This is real, what you uncovered here. There really is a scam going on in the offices of Brady, Marquis and Holden.”
“I know,” Gregor said.
“Well?” Garry said. “What more do you want? Look at what we’ve got here. The archdiocese has been paying restitution to sixty-two men, but the firm has been distributing restitution to seventy one. See that? We’re going to have to do a lot more work, of course, but this is spectacular. It really is. It amounts to tens of thousands of dollars already.”
“If it has gone on the full payment term, it amounts to over two million,” Lou Emiliani said. “Garry’s right. We can’t ignore this. It all fits together.”
“I’m not asking you to ignore it,” Gregor said. “I brought it to you. Don’t you remember?”
“We remember.” Garry said.
“Well, then.”
“I just want to know what you’re so down about,” Lou Emiliani said. “It’s not unclear who pulled the scam. It was this guy Ian Holden. Partner in the firm’s name and everything. Don’t tell me you think we’re going to get all the paper, and it’s going to turn out not to be him.”
“No,” Gregor said.
“We’ve got traces out on the checks that were sent to the extra nine men.” Garry ticked the points off on his fingers. “We’ve got requests in for information about his bank accounts. If we can get this moving without his realizing we’re onto him—”
“Have you been able to find him yet?” Gregor asked.
“No,” Garry admitted. “He seems to have disappeared.”
“You’ve sent people to his apartment?” Gregor asked it, but it wasn’t really a question.
“We sent uniforms, yeah,” Lou admitted. “He didn’t answer the door. Under other circumstances they might have found it open, if you know what I mean, but seeing as he’s a lawyer—”
“Never mind.” Gregor waved it away. “I take it he hasn’t been at work.”
“No,” Garry Mansfield said.
“So,” Gregor said, “that most likely means he knows the news is out. Don’t you think? Somehow or the other, he’s got word, or he knows something that makes him think that the news will be out and he’s anticipating. And he’s gone.”
“Maybe it was panic,” Garry Mansfield said. “He was around yesterday afternoon, right after lunch. People saw him. People talked to him. Maybe he went down to St. Anselm’s and killed Father Healy—”
“Why?” Gregor asked.
“Because Father Healy knew,” Lou Emiliani said. “That’s what all this is about. Who knew. Keeping people quiet. Bernadette Kelly because she worked in the office—”
“—as a receptionist,” Gregor said.
“She did extra work for the partners on the side,” Garry Mansfield said. “We knew that before. And she was smart about numbers when she wasn’t smart about anything else. I mean, can’t you see it? Holden takes a look at her and figures she’s too dumb to catch on to what he’s doing, gets her to help with the paperwork, and—wham. Doesn’t that ring true to you? Doesn’t it? And don’t tell me it won’t pan out.”
“I won’t,” Gregor said. “I think that part will pan out. That’s not my point. There are too many loose ends here. Why arsenic, for one thing. Why would he use arsenic?”
“Maybe he had some handy,” Lou said.
“Is there any evidence of that? I can’t imagine that a major law firm like Brady, Marquis and Holden would buy rat poison at the local pharmacy if they had a problem. They’d hire a firm of professional exterminators. Don’t you think so?”