Paper Doll

chapter thirty

QUIRK AND FARRELL and Belson and I were in Quirk’s office. Quirk told us that while he was in Alton he had learned exactly nothing.

“Everybody agrees that Olivia Nelson is married to a Kenyan citizen named Mano Kuanda and living in Nairobi. Embassy guy talked with her, took her fingerprints. We’ve compared them to her Peace Corps prints. She hasn’t been in the United States since 1982. Never been in Boston. Has no idea who the victim is.”

“She know anything about Cheryl Anne Rankin?” I said.

“No.”

“Never heard the name?”

“No,” Quirk said.

“You talk to Stratton?”

“Yeah.”

“And?”

“He says he was sleeping with Tripp’s wife regularly, and that he wasn’t the only one.”

Quirk raised his eyebrows.

“Our Bobby?” he said.

“Shocking,” Belson said. “And him a Senator and all.”

“That’s why he tried to chase you off?”

“So he says. Says he was afraid I’d find out about them and it would spoil his chances for the nomination next year.”

“For President?” Quirk said.

“Yeah.”

“Jesus,” Belson said. “President Stratton.”

“How about Tripp?”

“I talked to him.”

“And?”

“He says everything was perfect.”

“You got anything, Lee?” Quirk said.

Farrell jerked a little, as if he’d not been paying close attention.

“No, Lieutenant, no, I don’t.”

“Why should you be different?” Quirk said. He kept his eyes on Farrell for a long moment.

“One thing,” I said. “I don’t know why you would have, but has anyone run a credit check on Tripp?”

“Worried about your fee?” Belson said.

It was two-thirty in the afternoon and his thin face already sported a five o’clock shadow. He was one of those guys who looked cleanshaven for about an hour in the morning.

“In fact, his check bounced. But I think there’s something goofy about his finances.”

I told them about the checkbook. “Might be something,” I said.

“Lee?” Quirk said.

Farrell nodded.

“I’ll find out,” he said. “Anything else?”

“The name Dr. Mildred Cockburn shows up in his checkbook a lot.”

“Written like that?” Belson said.

I nodded.

“Probably not a medical doctor,” Belson said.

“Yeah,” I said, “then the check would be to Mildred Cockburn, DMD, or Mildred Cockburn, MD.”

“Maybe she’s a shrink,” Belson said.

“Or a chiropractor, or a doctor of podiatry,” I said.

“Hope for a shrink,” Quirk said.