"I ran into Mrs. Snyder at Stop & Shop," Molly said.
Jesse nodded. He was rocked back in his swivel chair drinking coffee. The air-conditioning hummed quietly.
"She told me she's getting divorced."
"Husband still beating on her?" Jesse said.
"No. That's the funny thing. She said he hadn't touched her since the time you and he talked."
"So?"
Molly smiled.
"She didn't quite put it this way," Molly said. "But it sounds like all those years he was punching her around, she used to think if he'd only stop we could be happy. And then he stopped. And she found out she still didn't like him."
"Can't win 'em all," Jesse said.
"She might have won this one," Molly said.
"Yeah," Jesse said. "Maybe she did."
"You have anything to do with it?"
"With what?"
"With him not hitting her anymore."
Jesse shrugged.
"You had a talk with him, didn't you," Molly said.
Jesse smiled.
"Nothing official," he said.
"And, let me guess," Molly said. "You told him if he ever touched her unkindly again you would do something really scary to him."
"I'm the chief of police in this town, Moll. I can't go around threatening the very citizens I'm sworn to protect."
"Of course you can't," Molly said. "Cop named Kelly called from Boston. Said he had an address for that phone number, if you want to go visit."
"Good."
"Suit still on surveillance in Boston?" Molly said.
"No."
"Good," Molly said. "It's been mucking up the vacation schedules."
"It has," Jesse said.
"This call from Kelly, is it about Billie?"
"I hope so."
"You getting anywhere?"
"I think so."
"We got an official suspect yet?"
"No."
"Are we planning not to talk about it," Molly said, "until we know what we're talking about?"
"It's an approach I'm experimenting with," Jesse said. "I'm going into Boston. I'll be gone most of the day. We got any police business to talk about before I go?"
"We might want to talk about how come I mostly run the department and you get the chief's salary."
"Sexism," Jesse said, "would be my guess."
Molly smiled and left the office. Jesse finished his coffee and phoned Kelly.
"It's an address in Brighton," Kelly said. "I'll meet you in front of the new Star Market in the shopping center on Western Ave."
"An hour," Jesse said.