Sam Kincaid 01 - The Commission

longer and slimmer. She wore a long-sleeve denim shirt accented by a gold necklace and matching earrings. So this was Kate McConnell away from the office. I found myself feeling attracted to her in a way I hadn’t felt about anybody since the divorce.
    I ordered a Killian Red while she sipped the house Merlot. I told her about the phone calls from James Allen and my subsequent conversation with him. Kate didn’t seem surprised or irritated.
    “So much for asking the mayor to attempt to dissuade Vogue from hiring a team of privates,” said Kate. “And why didn’t he call me directly instead of going through you?”
    “He and I know each other, although not very well. You, he knows by reputation only. He’s trying to use his relationship with me to ease into the investigation without creating a lot of hard feelings. He’s really trying to avoid getting caught up in a pissing contest right out of the gate. And I think there’s a way for us to take advantage of it.”
    “Oh yeah? How?”
    “We stall for time in some very subtle ways that will keep Allen and his cohorts in the investigation, but always a couple of steps behind. If we get lucky, we resolve the case before they have a chance to fuck it up. Admittedly, we have to walk a fine line. We don’t want Jim Allen getting frustrated and calling his employer, who in turn will complain to the mayor.”
    Kate looked more than a little skeptical. “Tell me how you think we should do this.”
    “For starters, we bog them down in red tape. If you’d call Stoddard before Jim Allen does, ask Tom to set up a meeting with Allen to discuss how a joint investigation might be coordinated, clarify role assignments, the production of documents, that sort of thing. You know how the feds work. They’ll want every report that the investigation has generated to date. It takes time to copy all those documents.”
    “And you know what else?” said Kate. “Allen won’t move forward with the investigation until his team has digested the contents of each and every report. Plus, the feds never trust the work produced by locals. They’ll want to re-interview everyone connected with the case. Any idea how many personnel Allen plans to use on the investigation?”
    “He didn’t say.”
    Kate was smiling now. “You know what? This just might work.
    “Now let’s talk about something pleasant. How was your trip to the zoo today? Was it a good dad-daughter experience?”
    “Actually, I survived just fine, and the kids had a nice time. And I probably should confess, for a fleeting moment, I even considered calling you, hoping a trip to the zoo with four young kids might appeal to your maternal instincts.”
    “Doubt that,” she said, laughing. “About the maternal instincts, I mean. I don’t think I have any. And if I do, I have no idea where they are.”
    “Maternal instincts aside, how did your interviews go with Margaret and her sons?”
    “Do you really want to talk about this now? It’s a great way of ruining a perfectly good glass of wine and your Killian.”
    “You make a very good point,” I mused. “Why risk spoiling a potential glowing buzz, not to mention the added risk of indigestion.”
    “I’m glad we agree on that. I’ll tell you about the interviews, but let’s keep it brief so that we can get back to more pleasant conversation.”
    “I’ll drink to that!”
    “Actually, things went surprisingly well, considering we had to do the interviews at Vogue Chemicals in the presence of corporate legal counsel. Ed Tillman, by the way, turned out to be kind of a big teddy bear. It’s amazing when you spend a few minutes flirting with a guy what you can get him to do, or in this case, refrain from doing. I didn’t want the interviews with Margaret and her sons to become adversarial, with everybody getting defensive and ultimately leaving ticked off. But, a few well-placed minutes with Mr. Ed beforehand and, voila , the teddy bear came out and the lawyer went away. For the most part, Tillman remained passive and only interrupted a couple of times. I really couldn’t have asked for more than that.”
    “Glad to hear that it went so well,” I said.
    “The boys turned out to be kind of interesting. The interview eliminated them as suspects. Both were in California at the time of the killing, and both have rock-solid alibis. The eldest, Robert, will be starting his senior year at Stanford University double-majoring in chemistry and microbiology.