Mary, Mary

Chapter 93

“BACK OFF, CROSS!”

Fielding said it before I even reached him. He was out on the sidewalk in front of Mary Wagner's house, conferring with one of his arresting officers.

The block had been transformed from suburban normalcy into the kind of police scene most people never see, or want to.

A dozen or more black-and-whites clogged the street, most of them with their flashers still rolling.

Bright-yellow crime scene tape was being strung across the chain-link fence, and a barrier of sawhorses bracketed the property, holding back a fast-growing crowd of lookyloos who wanted to see a little true-crime history in the making.

Mary Smith lived right in that house. Can you imagine? In our neighborhood?

I saw that a couple of news vans were already on site as well. I wondered if Maddux Fielding had prearranged a little coverage for his Big Get, and it made me even angrier.

“What was the purpose of that?” I yelled at him.

All I could see was his smug expression as he grudgingly turned to look at me.

“You compromised a key interview, not to mention her personal safety and mine. Both unnecessarily I could have been shot. She could have been shot. You made a carnival out of this arrest. You're a disgrace to the LAPD.”

I didn't know or care who was listening in; I just hoped it was embarrassing to Fielding.

Maybe this was a language that he spoke. His face remained inscrutable.

“Agent Cross -”

“Do you know what you may have just done to your chances for a confession?”

'1 don't need one!“ he finally shouted over me. ”I don't need one because I have something better."

“What are you talking about?”

He nodded condescendingly Information was the valuable currency here, and he had it.

What the hell was he holding back?

“You can probably see I'm busy,” he told me. “I'll make my report available to the Federal Bureau - as soon as it's ready”

I couldn't walk away “You gave me time for this interview I had your word!”

He had already turned away but now pivoted back on me. “I said if anything changed, it was over. That's precisely what I said to you.”

“So what changed, goddammit?” He took a beat. “Fuck you, Agent Cross. I don't have to give you answers.”

I lunged at him, and it was probably exactly what he wanted. Two of his monkeys stepped between us and pulled me back. Just as well, but it would have felt good to erase that cynical sneer off his face, even better to briefly rearrange some of his features. I shook off the two officers and walked away Before I'd even begun to calm down, though, I was dialing my cell phone.

“Jeanne Galletta.”

“It's Alex Cross. Do you know anything about the Mary Wagner arrest?”

“Fine, thanks. How are you?”

“Sorry. But do you,Jeanne? I'm at her house right now. It's an incredible mess. You wouldn't believe how it went down.”

Jeanne paused. “I'm not on that case anymore.”

“Would I get a different answer in person?”

“You might.”

“Then give me a break. Please, Jeanne. I need your help. I don't have time to run around.”

Her voice finally softened. “What happened out there? You sound really upset.”

“I am upset. Everything blew up. I was right in the middle of interviewing her when LAPD burst in like a damn clown car at the circus. It was ridiculous, Jeanne, and unnecessary. Fielding knows something, and he won't say what.”

“I'll save you a step,” Jeanne said. “She's the one. She did those murders, Alex.”

“How do you know? How does LAPD know? What is going on?” “You remember the hair that was found at the movie theater when Patrice Bennett was killed? Well, they pulled one off Mary Wagner's sweater from her locker at the hotel. The results just came through. It's the same hair. Fielding ran with it.”

My mind raced, placing this new bit of information alongside everything else. “I see you're doing a good job staying off the case,” I finally said.

“Can't help what I overhear.”

“So did you overhear where they took her?”

Jeanne hesitated, but only for a couple of seconds. “Try the Van Nuys station on Sylmar Avenue. You better hurry. She won't be there long.”

“I'm on my way”