The Affair: A Reacher Novel

arrest.”
    She was quiet a long moment.
    “Maybe,” she said. “Old man Clancy might be one of them. But he didn’t cut any throats. And I’d arrest anyone else, whoever they were.”
    “OK,” I said.
    “Maybe you think I’m bad at my job.”
    I said nothing.
    “Or maybe you think I’ve lost my edge because we have no crime here.”
    “I know you have crime here,” I said. “I know you always did. I’m sure your father saw crimes I can’t even imagine.”
    “But?”
    “You don’t have investigation here. And you never did. I bet ninety-nine times out of a hundred your father knew exactly who did what, right down to the details. Whether he could do anything about it was a different issue. And I bet the one case in a hundred where he didn’t know who did it went unsolved.”
    “You’re saying I’m a bad investigator.”
    “I’m saying County Sheriff is not an investigator’s job. It needs other skills. All kinds of community stuff. And you’re good at it. You have a detective for the other things. Except right now you don’t.”
    “Any other issues, before we order?”
    “Just one,” I said.
    “Which is?”
    “Tell me again. You never dated Reed Riley, right?”
    “Reacher, what is this?”
    “It’s a question.”
    “No, I never dated Reed Riley.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Reacher, please.”
    “Are you?”
    “I didn’t even know he was here. I told you that.”
    “OK,” I said. “Let’s order.”
    She was mad at me , obviously, but she was hungry, too. More hungry than mad, clearly, because she stayed at the table. Changing tables wouldn’t have been enough. She would have had to storm out emphatically, and she wasn’t prepared to do that on an empty stomach.
    She ordered the chicken pie, of course.
    I ordered grilled cheese.
    She said, “There are things you aren’t telling me.”
    I said, “You think?”
    “You know who it is.”
    I said nothing.
    “You do, don’t you? You know who it is. So this whole thing wasn’t about me knowing who it is. It was about you knowing who it is.”
    I said nothing.
    “Who is it?”
    I didn’t answer.
    “Are you saying it’s someone I won’t arrest? Who won’t I arrest? It makes no sense. I mean, obviously it’s a great idea for the army to dump the blame on someone they know will never be arrested. I get that. Because if there’s no arrest, there can be no charge, no interview, no trial, and no verdict. Hence no facts. So everyone can just walk away and live happily ever after. But how could the army know who I wouldn’t arrest? Which is nobody, by the way. So this whole thing is crazy.”
    “I don’t know who it is,” I said. “Not for sure. Not yet.”

Chapter
79
    We finished our lunch without saying much more. Then we had pie. Peach, naturally. And coffee. I asked her, “Did the Kelham PR squad come see you?”
    She nodded. “Just before I came out for lunch.”
    “So you know what’s happening tonight.”
    “Eight o’clock,” she said. “Everyone on best behavior.”
    “You OK with that?”
    “They know the rules. If they stick to them, I won’t give them any trouble.”
    Then the phone rang. Deveraux whipped around and stared at it, as if she had never heard it ring before. Which was possible. I said, “It’s for me.”
    I walked over and picked up. It was Munro. He said, “I have the transportation details, if you’re interested. Reed Riley doesn’t own a car anymore, as you know, so he’s borrowing a plain olive drab staff car. He’ll be driving with his father as his only passenger. The motor pool has been told to have the car ready at eight o’clock exactly.”
    “Thanks,” I said. “Good to know. Is there a return ETA?”
    “There’s an eleven o’clock curfew tonight. Unofficial, all done in whispers, but it’ll happen. A few beers is authentic. Too many is embarrassing. That’s the thinking. So people will be leaving town fromten-thirty onwards. The senator’s plane is scheduled to be wheels-up at midnight.”
    “Good to know,” I said again. “Thanks. Has he arrived yet?”
    “Twenty minutes ago, in an army Lear.”
    “Has the hoopla started yet?”
    “First pitch in about an hour.”
    “Will you bring me your interview notes?”
    “Why?”
    “There are a couple of things I want to check. As soon as the senator looks like he’s going to stay put for ten minutes, would you bring them down to me in the diner?”
    Munro agreed to do that, so I hung up the phone and