Scattered Graves

look bad and get him elected,’’ Diane said. ‘‘These are maps—’’
‘‘That son of a bitch. That son of a bitch.’’ Walter Sutton’s face was flushed with anger. He lunged to his feet, paced a couple of steps, and turned on his heel. ‘‘I knew something was not right. Didn’t I?’’ He looked at his family. ‘‘I told you something just wasn’t right about Jefferies.’’
Albert reached for the maps. ‘‘What are these?’’ he asked.
‘‘David, my assistant director, mapped out the areas in the city where the surge in burglaries occurred. No tice the neighborhoods,’’ said Diane.
Loraine leaned over to look. After a moment she said, ‘‘The heaviest voters.’’
‘‘And if you look at the individual homes,’’ said Diane, ‘‘you will find that the victims are all leaders in their communities. They go to church and belong to organizations.’’
‘‘To make a big problem seem bigger,’’ said Albert. He shook his head. ‘‘It’s hard to believe someone could be so...so conniving.’’
It’s worse than that, thought Diane. When she dis cussed her plan with Frank and David, it was agreed she should tell Sutton only about the burglaries, not of their suspicions regarding the murder of Judge McNevin. Politicians are not known for their ability to keep a secret if knowledge of it makes them look good.
‘‘After the election,’’ Diane said, ‘‘instances of bur glaries in these areas dropped back to normal. Many stolen items were recovered. But no perpetrators were arrested and tried. This is just raw data, but it’s very suggestive.’’
‘‘I’ll say,’’ said Albert.
‘‘I thought you ought to know about it,’’ said Diane.
Walter Sutton sat down again. ‘‘I’m sorry the SOB is dead and I can’t get my hands on him,’’ he said. His wife put her hand on his arm.
‘‘Spence Jefferies put a black cloud over many of us who served in your administration,’’ said Diane. ‘‘You, the commissioner, the chief of police, me— and Garnett.’’
‘‘It is just terrible about Garnett,’’ said Sutton.
Diane noticed that he was noncommittal about his support for his former chief of detectives.
‘‘Garnett stayed on the force to help out the depart ment,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Peeks was shifting duties and people around and making a lot of decisions that were not in the best interests of the rank-and-file police officers. And you know about the bulletproof vests.’’
‘‘The state-of-the-art body armor,’’ said Sutton sar castically. ‘‘I saw the picture in the newspaper of Jef feries holding them up.’’
‘‘Those were the only two state-of-the-art vests he purchased. The ones he gave the police officers were long out of date and wouldn’t stop rubber bullets, ac cording to the testimony of officers on the force,’’ said Diane.
‘‘That wicked man,’’ said Eleanor.
Diane could see they were all wondering why she really had come. They were politically savvy people and knew there was something now they would be asked to give in return for this information. Diane took another deep breath.

Chapter 30
    ‘‘I don’t know if you are aware, but Edward Van Ross placed me back in charge of the crime lab.’’
    Diane didn’t want to go into details about Bryce. It would sound too triumphant, and she didn’t want that—even though she did feel it, just a little. She mentally chastised herself. Nor did she want to give away too much information that had to remain confi dential.
    ‘‘I had heard,’’ said Sutton, ‘‘and was glad to hear Edward is putting things right. You know I worked hard to get just the right people in positions. People who are qualified. I know the victor gets to make the changes that suit him, but the men he hired had no background in police work.’’
    Diane nodded in agreement. Be agreeable, she told herself. ‘‘The detectives are trying to find out who killed Jefferies and Peeks,’’ she said. ‘‘They are also trying to learn what Jefferies and his friends were in volved in. And we all want to clear Garnett. I don’t believe that he suddenly became a mass murderer.’’
    ‘‘No, of course not,’’ said Sutton.
‘‘My people are going over the crime scenes again. And frankly, we are all playing catch-up. I’m hoping your staff collected information on Jefferies and maybe even his associates. We need a head start in this,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Well, you know I always run a