Constable Molly Smith 01 - In the Shadow of the Glacier

ahead of her, and a meal like that would have her asleep on her feet. She ordered a spinach salad. Meredith went for the salmon.
    “So, Molly, how’s your family? How’s Sam? I don’t mind telling you that I had a bit of a crush on him when we were in school. He was so much older than us, seemed so sophisticated to me.” Meredith giggled and downed the rest of her glass in one gulp. She poured herself another.
    “Everyone’s fine,” Smith said, as the waiter brought her a bottle of San Pellegrino. He opened it with a great flourish and poured a glass as if he were pouring liquid gold.
    “I guess you heard that my sister, Andrea, graduated top of her class in law school. Mom and Dad are so proud of her. Of course….”
    “Look, Meredith, as interesting as the doings of your family are, I’m afraid I have trouble believing that you’re wanting to catch up on all we’ve missed. Why don’t you get to the point?” Smith was not in the mood to spar with Meredith. She’d chewed herself out all the way, stinging from Christa’s attack. In her gut she knew it was her fault that Christa had gotten beaten up; Charlie Bassing may have done the beating, but Molly Smith hadn’t been there to protect her friend.
    Meredith took another slug of wine. Her eyes darted around the room and settled back on the woman sitting across from her. “Okay. The point is that I need your help, Moonlight. Never thought I’d say those words but there they are. First, in all honesty, let me tell you that I always envied you that name. I was named after my maternal grandmother. I have the name of an eighty-year-old.”
    Smith was momentarily taken back. Everything Meredith had said rang as false as Rich Ashcroft’s concern for the wellbeing of the town of Trafalgar. Except for this sudden confession. Meredith showed Smith her sparkling white teeth as she twisted the stem of her wineglass in her manicured fingers, and Smith remembered who she was talking to. Meredith Morgenstern might have liked the name Moonlight, but she’d certainly never liked the person.
    “I’ll tell my parents you said so. Spit it out, I haven’t got all day.”
    “You are having lunch at my expense.”
    “True. So if you want me to tell you about Sam and his wife Judy and their two lovely children, Ben and Roberta, I’ll be happy to. Where to begin? They live in Calgary. Sam’s a lawyer with Western Canada Petrol, and Judy is a producer at….”
    She stopped talking as the waiter put their lunches on the table. He pulled a gigantic wooden phallic symbol out from under his arm, waved it in front of their faces, and asked if they wanted fresh ground pepper.
    They declined.
    Smith stabbed her fork into a pile of helpless spinach.
    “…a radio station,” she continued. “Ben’s in the rep hockey league and Sam’s making plans to manage his career in the NHL. While Roberta excels at piano.”
    “Oh, look who’s here,” Meredith said with a smile so sharp that her salmon might have turned into shark.
    A middle-aged man, trim, well dressed in comfortable casuals, enjoying his own self-importance, was walking toward them.
    “Meredith. I’ve been looking for you. But don’t let me interrupt your lunch.” His smile was broad and as false as his mouthful of teeth.
    Smith dropped her fork. “I’m outta here.” She pushed her chair back.
    “Don’t leave on my account,” Rich Ashcroft said. He grabbed a chair from another table, swung it around, and sat down. “Constable Molly Smith.”
    “You know who I am?”
    “As you obviously know who I am. So let’s not beat about the bush. I’m here to do a profile of your lovely town. I had no idea that you were friends with my colleague, Meredith, but now that we’ve met, I’d like to interview you for my program.”
    Smith looked at Meredith. “You must be out of your mind, to think you could trick me into something like this.”
    The waiter and the hostess hovered, watching. “Perhaps you could give my viewers background on Trafalgar,” Ashcroft said.
    “Hardly.” She headed for the door. What on earth was Meredith thinking? That she’d give a TV interview while dressed in full uniform? She might as well hand in her resignation on the spot. Could Meredith and Ashcroft possibly have believed that she wouldn’t have seen, or even heard about, the CNC program on Trafalgar?
    She stepped onto the sidewalk. The sun was bright and in her eyes. She fumbled for her sunglasses.
    “I understand