‘As far as it’s in my power to do so, I guarantee I will. And I’ll contact you personally at your parish to let you know.’
‘I’m very grateful.’
Father McKean hung up and sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling the mattress yield under the weight of his body. For the first time since he had decided to take his vows, he felt alone. And as someone who had always taught love and forgiveness, for the first time he felt like asking God, the only true one, why He had abandoned him.
CHAPTER 20
Vivien left the precinct house and walked towards her car. The temperature had dipped. The sun, which had seemed unassailable in the morning, was now battling it out with a west wind that had appeared without warning. Clouds and shadows struggled for possession of the sky and the earth. That seemed to be the preordained fate of this city.
She found Russell Wade exactly where they had arranged to meet.
Vivien still didn’t have a clear idea of the man. Every time she had him pinned down, some new, unexpected aspect of him surfaced to muddy the picture she was building in her mind.
And that bothered her.
As she approached him, she went over the whole crazy story in her mind.
When, at the end of the meeting in the captain’s office, the three of them had realized that there was nothing more to say, Vivien had turned to Wade and said, ‘Could you wait for me a moment outside, please?’
The unfortunate winner of an undeserved Pulitzer Prize had stood up and walked to the door.
‘No problem. Goodbye, captain, and thank you.’
There was a formal politeness in Bellew’s reply belied by the tone in which the words were said.
‘Don’t mention it. If this thing leads to what we’re hoping for, there’ll be many people who’ll want to say thank you to you.’
Including the editor of some newspaper …
Vivien thought.
The man went out, gently closing the door behind him, and leaving her alone with her chief. Her first impulse was to ask him if he’d gone crazy, promising what he’d just promised to a guy like Russell Wade.
‘What do you think, Alan? This story of the bombs, I mean.’
‘I think it sounds crazy. I think it sounds impossible. But since 9/11 I’ve realized that the limits of what’s crazy and what’s possible have gotten a whole lot wider.’
Tacitly agreeing with him, Vivien tackled another subject. The one that worried her the most. The weak link in the chain.
‘And what do you think of Wade?’
The captain shrugged. Which could mean everything or nothing.
‘For the moment he’s given us the only lead we have. And we’re lucky to have one, whatever the source. In normal circumstances I’d have kicked that daddy’s boy out of here. But these aren’t normal circumstances. Nearly a hundred people have died, and there are other people out there who don’t know the risk they’re running right now of meeting the same fate. As I said during the meeting, we have a duty to explore every avenue. Besides, that business of the photograph is strange. It turns what looked like a routine case is something of vital importance. And it seems genuine. Only reality could be fantastic enough to create a coincidence like that.’
Vivien had often thought the same thing. A thought her experience seemed to endorse a little more every day.
‘Do we keep this information to ourselves?’
Bellew scratched his ear, as he often did when he was thinking. ‘For now, yes. I don’t want to run the risk of spreading panic or having every local politician and every police department in the country laughing behind my back. It’s always possible the whole thing could burst like a soap bubble, though I don’t think it will.’
‘Do you trust Wade on that? It’s as clear as daylight that he’s looking for a scoop.’
‘He already has one. And that’s why he won’t talk. Because it’s not in his interest. We won’t either, for the same reason.’
Vivien asked for a confirmation of what she already knew. ‘Does that mean I have to take him with me from now on?’
The captain spread his arms as if acknowledging the inevitable. ‘I gave him my word. And I usually keep it.’
As if everything had been said on that matter, it was the captain who changed the subject this time.
‘I’m phoning the 67th immediately to have them send you the file on the investigation into this Ziggy. If you think it’s worth it, you can also search his apartment. How about the guy in the wall, who seems to be a major player in this all of a sudden? Do you have any ideas?’
‘Yes. I have a lead. Not a big one, but it’s a start anyway.’
‘Good. Let’s get down to work. And whatever you need, you only have to let me know. For the moment, I should be able to give you what you want without having to spill the beans to anyone else.’
Vivien didn’t find that hard to believe. She knew that Captain Alan Bellew boasted an old friendship with the Police Commissioner, and unlike Elisabeth Brokens wife of Charles Brokens, he wasn’t just boasting.
‘Okay. I’m going.’
Vivien turned to leave the office. When she was at the door, about to leave, Bellew called her back.
‘Vivien, one last thing.’
With a sly smile, he had looked her in the eyes.
‘As far as Russell Wade is concerned, remember this, if you need to. I gave him my word of honour.’
A pause for emphasis.
‘You didn’t’
Vivien left the room with the same smile on her lips. She found Russell Wade standing with his hands in his pockets in the little room where he had waited some time earlier.
‘Here I am.’
‘Tell me what to do, detective.’
‘If we have to spend a little time together, you can call me Vivien.’
‘Okay, Vivien. What happens now?’
‘Give me your cellphone.’
Russell took his phone from his pocket. Vivien was surprised it wasn’t an iPhone. In New York, every VIP had one. Maybe Wade didn’t consider himself a VIP or maybe he’d used his as a chip in a poker game.
Vivien took the phone and dialled her own number. When she heard it ring, down below on her desk, she hung up and gave the phone back to its owner.
‘There. My number’s in the memory. Just outside this building, on your left, is a silver grey Volvo. That’s my car. Go to it and wait for me.’ She loaded the following sentence with sarcasm. ‘I have things to do and I don’t know how long I’ll take. I’m sorry, you’ll just have to be patient.’