Yesterday's News

back and forth once. “That’s very good, son. I told you once I’d have to keep my eye on you. And you’re proving me right. Go ahead, finish it.”
    I felt an unsavory sensation of pleasure, as though I really were presenting all this to get Schonstein’s professional approval. My stomach turned over. “If Hagan couldn’t kill me even though I threatened him, I can’t see him killing Coyne. Or searching Gail Fearey’s house that night. Or trying to run me down on a bridge. Or drowning a derelict in a rain puddle.”
    “That last one, the bum, now that could have been an accident, you know.” He rubbed his palms down his thighs, hips to knees. “Anyway, you sure can’t be thinking I did those things?”
    “Because of your legs?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Which is the higher retirement, regular or disability?”
    Schonsy grinned.
    “You took a brick in the face for your partner a long time ago. Why not a fall down some stairs for a higher pension?”
    “Don’t matter why I took the fall. Because of the fall, I couldn’t very well do the things you mentioned.”
    “Oh, I’m sure you were injured. Just not as badly as some medico certified to the retirement board. You have something on the doctor? Even on the board members?”
    “It’s your story. You tell it.”
    “Disability’s not a bad way of life. Just have to restrict yourself here and there around town. Take a vacation once in a while, kick up your heels at a safe distance. Plus it gives you opportunity without suspicion.”
    “Disability’s a hard thing to live with, son. But a harder thing to take away. Especially without proof. And you haven’t got any.”
    “I know.”
    “Then what do you think you’re doing here? Scaring me into confessing to something I didn’t do?”
    “No. Just letting you know that I know. The guy who killed Coyne supposedly got up with a knife in his leg. People don’t do that, the pain of the blade grating and tearing would be unbearable. But a man who wanted to cover an already existing limp could rig something. Especially a man who used to do magic tricks for kids.”
    “They got trick knives like that in the catalogs. Anybody could order one through the mails.”
    “The man who tried to run me down was an experienced driver, a professional at handling a highspeed car. Like a former cop.”
    “The staties get to do most of those car chases. Not us poor townies.”
    “The man who drowned Vip could have gotten a call from Liz, telling him I was going to meet Vip behind Bun’s. That man also might know that the authorities rarely think deaths from different causes are related. Knifing, poisoning, driving, drowning, all different.”
    “You thinking about trying one of those ‘causes’ on me?”
    Schonstein had managed to slip his hand under the blanket. I said, “No. No, I’d like to, but I’d never get away with it.”
    Schonsy sighed amiably. “Alright. What’s your angle?”
    “No angle. You’ve got a lot of juice in this town. Some of it got drained off tonight, but not so much that Hogueira’s going to try to buck you, especially if Hagan just clams up.”
    “Neil won’t say a word.”
    “Assume he doesn’t. That means you just might have enough juice left to think about coming after me. Formally, because I killed Liz Rendall tonight, and a DA might try to make it look like more than self-defense. Or informally, like an apparently overeager mugger a month or two from now. I’m just letting you know that anything like that happens, and you and I go toe to toe. Even if you beat me, you won’t come away with enough to keep Hogueira and the other wolves off you afterward.”
    He watched me for a solid thirty seconds. “Done.”
    “I wasn’t offering a deal.”
    “Sure you were, son. And one that makes sense for both of us. Drink?”
    Standing, I said no, and moved to the door. Behind me, Schonstein said, “You know the trouble with Neil? You’re right about him. He didn’t have the balls to kill anybody after the Meller thing.”
    My hand on the knob, I said, “And you consider that a weakness, don’t you?”
    “Yeah, son, I do. What’s eating you, though, is that you think the same thing. A flaw you know you don’t share. Yes, I could have taken you a long way, Cuddy. All the way to the top.”
    I left before he told me more things I didn’t want to hear.

    The light was on in the office. I parked the car in the space for Unit 18 and walked back.
    I opened and