Blowout

set you up with blind dates? I’ve had dreams of being an only child, like you.”
    She laughed. “None of us are ever satisfied with what we’ve got. Like you’ve got this slight curl in your hair that’s real sexy, and you wear it a little on the long side that makes it even sexier, while I have this straight-as-a-board hair—”
    His hair was sexy? Because he wore it too long? “I suppose you’re fishing for a compliment, aren’t you? However, since you’re perfectly able to see yourself in a mirror and know—well, never mind that. Nearly there, just keep walking.”
    A TV reporter who’d had to wait for his cameraman to catch up to him yelled, “Hey, Callie, how do you feel about your stepfather being murdered in the Supreme Court?”
    Callie stopped in her tracks. “That’s just too much.” She took a step toward the reporter, ready to do battle.
    Ben grabbed her arm, said close to her ear, “Just be quiet. You’re already a story to them by yourself. Ignore them, keep your head down. In a minute we’ll be inside.”
    Ben rang the doorbell and called out, “It’s Detective Ben Raven of the Metro Police. Please let us in.”
    Ben knew they were being closely observed, and he held his badge to the peephole. Three shouted questions later, the door finally cracked open, and Ben was eyeball to eyeball with a federal marshal. They exchanged badges without saying a word.
    Callie said, “We wondered where you were.” She saw another federal marshal standing behind him, and an older woman with a tired face peering over his shoulder. “Come in quickly, Detective Raven, Miss, before those jackasses try to knock you down to try to get to Justice Wallace,” said Federal Marshal Ted Ricks. The federal marshal behind Ricks cracked his knuckles. “Yeah, hurry it up.”
    Ricks said, “They’ve been lurking for about two hours now. We figured inside was the most useful place to be.” He grinned. “And the warmest.”
    The older woman stepped up. “Justice Wallace thought to speak to them, but he decided he prefers a more dignified setting. We’re locked up tight in here, prisoners in our own home. My husband is in his study.”
    Ben introduced himself to her when the two federal marshals stepped out of the way. Naturally Mrs. Wallace knew Callie. Ben said quickly, “Ms. Markham isn’t working for the Post on this, ma’am. She’s along to help.”
    “I’m sorry about your stepfather, Callie,” Mrs. Wallace said. “Very sorry for all of us really, especially poor Sumner, who’s naturally devastated.” Callie could only nod and took her hands. There was strength and comfort in them. Mrs. Wallace was wearing old black wool pants, a baggy Redskins sweatshirt, and house slippers. Whenever Callie had seen her before, she’d been dressed to the teeth, an elegant, well-coiffed woman who knew her own worth. But now all she looked was exhausted. Callie knew that Beth Wallace and her mother got along well, although Callie didn’t know how close they were. It was Callie who remembered to take off her coat and wipe her boots on the small rug inside the front door. Ben followed her lead. Callie hung up their coats in the front closet. Mrs. Wallace gestured down the hallway. “Both of you, come along now.” The federal marshals remained by the front door, Ricks looking out the peephole at the reporters milling around.
    Mrs. Wallace led them down a long hallway. Every wall, every surface, was covered with Art Deco art and artifacts from the 1930s. Their footsteps sounded loud on the oak floors, echoing up to the twelve-foot ceiling.
    “Sumner is devastated by this,” Mrs. Wallace said again, as if there were simply no other words available to her, “as you can well imagine.” She paused a moment, drew herself up, knocked on a door at the end of the hall, and immediately opened it.
    The room was dark. Mrs. Wallace sighed, walked into the gloom, and turned on a lamp. It sent out a circle of stark light, and in the center of that circle sat an older man on a small sofa, perfectly upright, his hands clasped between his legs, eyes staring straight ahead.
    “Justice Wallace,” Ben said as he walked to the man, his badge out. “I’m Detective Ben Raven from the Metro Police. I’d like to speak to you, sir.”
    Justice Wallace slowly turned his head to look up at Ben. Then he looked beyond him to Callie. “Callie? What are you doing here? Why are you with this police officer?”
    “I’m not here