‘You done being clever?’
‘Am I free to leave?’
‘What do you think? You violated a protection order. You were in an automobile, behind the wheel, while under the influence.’
‘I haven’t been given a breath test.’
‘You want to take one?’
‘What would be the point? I wasn’t driving.’
‘But I could argue that you drove there drunk. Or were about to leave drunk. Your keys were in the ignition.’
‘You could argue that, and I could argue that you’re an
arsehole.’
‘Fuck it, Tate, why the hell don’t you try to help yourself here? Huh? Why don’t you capitalise on the fact that right at this moment I’m the best friend you have in this city.’
And why’s that?’
‘Because you made the call and gave us the names of the other two girls. That got us started.’
‘That was a month ago,’ I say. It was the same day I contacted Alicia North, the best friend of Rachel’s that David had told me about. Alicia North hadn’t heard of Father Julian, hadn’t heard of Bruce or Sidney Alderman, hadn’t heard of anything at all that could have helped me. It was also the same day I started cracking lots of seals on lots of bottles of alcohol in order to push the visuals I was having of a lifeless Sidney Alderman into the back of my mind.
‘Yeah, it was a month ago, but I’m a giving guy and right now I’m giving you some goodwill. See, the way we’ve been seeing it, Sidney Alderman did a runner the same day you told me you had the names of the girls and a day before somebody rang the horiine with the anonymous information. Since then there haven’t been any more missing girls.’
‘So I’m in your good books and Alderman is in your bad books. Fine. You going to let me go?’
‘The problem,’ he says, and he makes a face when he sips at his coffee, ‘is Father Julian. Somehow he fits into all of this, and that’s a problem. For us, for him and for you. If you thought the case was over, you’d be at home right now. You wouldn’t be following Julian. And if you believed Alderman was guilty, you’d be out there looking for him.’
“Now you’re the one who seems obsessed.’
‘Strange that Alderman didn’t wait to see his son buried.
He didn’t take his car. He didn’t pack any clothes. That adds up badly, Tate, and I keep coming to the conclusion that you know something about that. How many times have we pulled you in here now?’
‘If you’ve got a point, just make it.’
‘How about you take this chance to explain things to me, and maybe I can start to figure out what in the hell is happening to you. Jesus, you’re more drunk each time we drag you in. This is the third time since the protection order was issued a week ago.
Anybody else and they’d be kept in custody. They’d be facing time. There ain’t going to be any favours if we bring you in for a fourth. Come on, man, you know sending an ex-cop into prison isn’t going to be pretty’
‘Can I go now?’
‘No. Tell me about Father Julian.’
‘What about him?’
‘You’re practically camping outside his church in your car most nights. That booze is fucking up your brain because you can’t figure out what a protection order means. He says you’re stalking him, and that’s exactly what you’re doing.’ He takes another sip of coffee, puts it down and leans forward. ‘Unless I’m missing something here, it looks like you want to end up in jail. Is that it?’
I shrug as if I don’t care, but the truth is I don’t want to end up in jail. If I wanted that, I’d tell him all about Sidney Alderman and where they could find him.
‘So what is it about him that makes you want to sit outside his church watching?’ he asks.
I try to maintain eye contact with him but say nothing.
‘Jesus, Tate, give yourself a chance. We’re through playing
games. Next time we bring you in here, you’re staying. You get my point?’
‘You’ve said it twice. I got it each time.’
‘Yet here you are.’
‘Look, I’ve got nothing else to say’
‘Well, the opposite goes for Father Julian. He has plenty to say about you.’
“I doubt that.’
‘Why’s that? You think anything you’ve said to him is covered by priest-parishioner confidentiality? You’re right — to a point.
He says anything you’ve told him he can’t share. But what he can share is his concern. He said four weeks ago you went in there and asked him to help you find Bruce Alderman. We all know where that led, right? Next thing we know Bruce Alderman shows up in your office dead.’
‘Look, Landry, he didn’t show up dead, okay? It’s not like he fucking shot himself before walking into my office.’