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.Now I have someone asking me for help and I m not sure that I canturn away so easily. What goes around comes around? I guess so.But if I go down, there are things that need to be taken care offirst. Such as? I didn t reply. You mean me. Invisible fingers traced thin lines of irritation on herforehead. We ve talked about this before. No, I ve talked about it.You just block your ears. I heard my voice rising, and took a deep breath before I spoke again. Look, you won t carry a gun, and I m not listening to this, she said.She stormed up the stairs.Secondslater, I heard the door to her office slam shut.Page 43 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlI met Detective Sergeant Wallace MacArthur of the Scarborough PD in thePanera Bread Company over by the Maine Mall.I d had a run-in with MacArthurduring the events leading up to Faulkner s capture but we d settled ourdifferences over a meal at the Back Bay Grill.Admittedly, the meal had costme the best part of two hundred bucks, including the wine MacArthur drank,although it was worth it to have him back on my side.I ordered a coffee and joined him at a booth.He was tearing apart a warmcinnamon roll with his fingers, the frosting reduced to the consistency ofmelted butter, and leaving stains on the personal ads in the latest issue oftheCasco Bay Weekly.The personals in theCBW tended to be pretty heavy onwomen who wanted to cuddle in front of fires, go hiking in the depths ofwinter, or join experimental dance classes.None of them seemed likecandidates for MacArthur, who was about as cuddly as a holly bush and didn tlike any physical activity that involved getting out of bed.Aided by themetabolism of a greyhound and his bachelor lifestyle, he had reached his lateforties without being forced into the potential pitfalls of good eating andregular exercise.MacArthur s idea of exercise was using alternate fingers topush the remote. Found anyone you like? I asked.MacArthur chewed reflectively on a chunk of roll. How come all these women claim they re attractive and cute and easygoing ? he replied. I mean, I m single.I m out there, looking around,and I never meet women like these.I meet unattractive.I meet non-cute.Imeet hard-going.If they re so good looking and happy-go-lucky, how comethey re advertising at the back of theCasco Bay Weekly? I tell you, I thinksome of these women are telling lies. Maybe you should try the ads farther on. MacArthur s eyebrows gave a startled leap. The freaks? Are you kidding? I don t even know what some of that stuffmeans. He flicked discreetly to the back pages, then gave the tables nearby aquick scan to make sure no one was watching.His voice dropped to a whisper. There s a woman in here looking for a male replacement for her shower. Imean, what the hell is that? I wouldn t even know what she wanted me to do.Does she want me to fix her shower, or what? I looked at him.He looked back.For a man who had been a cop for over twentyyears, MacArthur could come across as a little sheltered. What? he asked. Nothing. No, say it. I just don t think that woman s for you, that s all. You re telling me.I don t know what s worse: understanding what thesepeople are looking for, or not understanding.Jesus, all I want is a normal,straightforward relationship.That s got to exist somewhere, right? I wasn t sure that there was such a thing as a normal, straightforwardrelationship, but I understood what he meant.He meant that Wallace MacArthurwasn t going to be anybody s shower replacement.Page 44 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Last I heard you were helping Al Buxton s widow overcome her grief. AlBuxton had been a York County deputy until he contracted some weirddegenerative disease that made him look like a mummy without its bandages.Hispassing was mourned by pretty much nobody.Al Buxton was so unpleasant he madeshingles look good. It didn t last.I don t think she had too much grief to overcome.Y know,she told me once that she fucked his embalmer.I don t think he even got towash his hands, she was on him so fast. Maybe she was grateful for the nice job he d done.Al looked a whole lotbetter dead than he did alive.Better company, too. MacArthur laughed, but the action seemed to irritate his eyes.It was onlythen that I saw how red and swollen they were.He looked like he d beencrying.Maybe the whole single thing was getting to him more than I thought. What s wrong with you? You look like Bambi s mother just died. He instinctively raised his right hand to wipe at his eyes, which had begunto tear, then seemed to think better of it. I got Maced this morning. No way.Who did it? Jeff Wexler. DetectiveJeff Wexler? What did you do, try to ask him out? You know, thatguy in the Village People wasn t really a cop.You shouldn t use him as a rolemodel. MacArthur looked seriously unimpressed. You about done? I got Maced because it s department regs: you want to carryMace, you got to experience what it feels like to get Maced, just so you won tbe too hasty about doing it to somebody else. Really? Does it work? Like hell.I just want to get out there and blast some bastard in the faceso I can feel better about myself.That stuffstings. Shocker.Mace stings.Who d have thought? Someone told me you re working for the Blythes, said MacArthur. That s apretty cold case. They haven t given up, even if the cops have. That s not fair, Charlie, and you know it. I raised a hand in apology. I had Irv Blythe out at my house last night.Ihad to tell his wife and him that their first lead in years was false.Ididn t feel good about it.They re in pain, Wallace: six years on and they restill in pain every day.They ve been forgotten.I know it s not the copsfault.I know the case is cold.It s just not cold for the Blythes. You think she s dead? His tone told me that he had already reached his ownPage 45 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlconclusion. I hope she s not. There s always hope, I guess. He smiled crookedly. I wouldn t be lookingat the personals if I didn t believe that. I said I was hopeful, not insanely optimistic [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Now I have someone asking me for help and I m not sure that I canturn away so easily. What goes around comes around? I guess so.But if I go down, there are things that need to be taken care offirst. Such as? I didn t reply. You mean me. Invisible fingers traced thin lines of irritation on herforehead. We ve talked about this before. No, I ve talked about it.You just block your ears. I heard my voice rising, and took a deep breath before I spoke again. Look, you won t carry a gun, and I m not listening to this, she said.She stormed up the stairs.Secondslater, I heard the door to her office slam shut.Page 43 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlI met Detective Sergeant Wallace MacArthur of the Scarborough PD in thePanera Bread Company over by the Maine Mall.I d had a run-in with MacArthurduring the events leading up to Faulkner s capture but we d settled ourdifferences over a meal at the Back Bay Grill.Admittedly, the meal had costme the best part of two hundred bucks, including the wine MacArthur drank,although it was worth it to have him back on my side.I ordered a coffee and joined him at a booth.He was tearing apart a warmcinnamon roll with his fingers, the frosting reduced to the consistency ofmelted butter, and leaving stains on the personal ads in the latest issue oftheCasco Bay Weekly.The personals in theCBW tended to be pretty heavy onwomen who wanted to cuddle in front of fires, go hiking in the depths ofwinter, or join experimental dance classes.None of them seemed likecandidates for MacArthur, who was about as cuddly as a holly bush and didn tlike any physical activity that involved getting out of bed.Aided by themetabolism of a greyhound and his bachelor lifestyle, he had reached his lateforties without being forced into the potential pitfalls of good eating andregular exercise.MacArthur s idea of exercise was using alternate fingers topush the remote. Found anyone you like? I asked.MacArthur chewed reflectively on a chunk of roll. How come all these women claim they re attractive and cute and easygoing ? he replied. I mean, I m single.I m out there, looking around,and I never meet women like these.I meet unattractive.I meet non-cute.Imeet hard-going.If they re so good looking and happy-go-lucky, how comethey re advertising at the back of theCasco Bay Weekly? I tell you, I thinksome of these women are telling lies. Maybe you should try the ads farther on. MacArthur s eyebrows gave a startled leap. The freaks? Are you kidding? I don t even know what some of that stuffmeans. He flicked discreetly to the back pages, then gave the tables nearby aquick scan to make sure no one was watching.His voice dropped to a whisper. There s a woman in here looking for a male replacement for her shower. Imean, what the hell is that? I wouldn t even know what she wanted me to do.Does she want me to fix her shower, or what? I looked at him.He looked back.For a man who had been a cop for over twentyyears, MacArthur could come across as a little sheltered. What? he asked. Nothing. No, say it. I just don t think that woman s for you, that s all. You re telling me.I don t know what s worse: understanding what thesepeople are looking for, or not understanding.Jesus, all I want is a normal,straightforward relationship.That s got to exist somewhere, right? I wasn t sure that there was such a thing as a normal, straightforwardrelationship, but I understood what he meant.He meant that Wallace MacArthurwasn t going to be anybody s shower replacement.Page 44 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Last I heard you were helping Al Buxton s widow overcome her grief. AlBuxton had been a York County deputy until he contracted some weirddegenerative disease that made him look like a mummy without its bandages.Hispassing was mourned by pretty much nobody.Al Buxton was so unpleasant he madeshingles look good. It didn t last.I don t think she had too much grief to overcome.Y know,she told me once that she fucked his embalmer.I don t think he even got towash his hands, she was on him so fast. Maybe she was grateful for the nice job he d done.Al looked a whole lotbetter dead than he did alive.Better company, too. MacArthur laughed, but the action seemed to irritate his eyes.It was onlythen that I saw how red and swollen they were.He looked like he d beencrying.Maybe the whole single thing was getting to him more than I thought. What s wrong with you? You look like Bambi s mother just died. He instinctively raised his right hand to wipe at his eyes, which had begunto tear, then seemed to think better of it. I got Maced this morning. No way.Who did it? Jeff Wexler. DetectiveJeff Wexler? What did you do, try to ask him out? You know, thatguy in the Village People wasn t really a cop.You shouldn t use him as a rolemodel. MacArthur looked seriously unimpressed. You about done? I got Maced because it s department regs: you want to carryMace, you got to experience what it feels like to get Maced, just so you won tbe too hasty about doing it to somebody else. Really? Does it work? Like hell.I just want to get out there and blast some bastard in the faceso I can feel better about myself.That stuffstings. Shocker.Mace stings.Who d have thought? Someone told me you re working for the Blythes, said MacArthur. That s apretty cold case. They haven t given up, even if the cops have. That s not fair, Charlie, and you know it. I raised a hand in apology. I had Irv Blythe out at my house last night.Ihad to tell his wife and him that their first lead in years was false.Ididn t feel good about it.They re in pain, Wallace: six years on and they restill in pain every day.They ve been forgotten.I know it s not the copsfault.I know the case is cold.It s just not cold for the Blythes. You think she s dead? His tone told me that he had already reached his ownPage 45 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlconclusion. I hope she s not. There s always hope, I guess. He smiled crookedly. I wouldn t be lookingat the personals if I didn t believe that. I said I was hopeful, not insanely optimistic [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]