Robert B. Parker’s The Devil Wins

72

They sat across the booth from each other at Daisy Dyke’s, Molly barely touching her food. When Daisy noticed that most of the meat loaf and mashed potatoes she had served Molly was still on her plate, she made a face, and not a happy one. Daisy was a character and Paradise’s favorite lesbian crusader, but diplomacy wasn’t one of Daisy’s strengths. In fact, Jesse used to think that if we ever wanted to incite a third world war, Daisy could probably do the trick.

“Not good enough for you?” Daisy said.

“It’s fine, Daisy. It’s good.”

“Look at Jesse’s plate. It’s so damned clean, I don’t think I’ll need to wash it.”

“Sorry,” Molly said, “I’m not that hungry.”

Jesse shook his head at Daisy and she got the message.

“Okay, hon, I’ll wrap that up for you, then. Let me get you two some coffee,” she said, scooping the plate off the table. “Maybe something in the coffee from my private stock?”

Jesse gave Daisy the thumbs-up. Molly opened her mouth to protest, then closed it.

“Be right back with those special coffees.”

Daisy was gone.

“Molly,” Jesse said, leaning forward, “do you think Warren had anything to do with the homicides?”

“No, Jesse. No. He was gentle, not only with me. He could never have hurt Mary Kate or Ginny. He told me once that his coach was after him all the time, yelling at him to toughen up, that he was too much of a pussy to make it in college.”

Jesse didn’t bother protesting that he had heard the same sorts of defenses from friends, families, and lovers of some of the most cruel and cold-blooded killers to walk the earth. He didn’t see the point in arguing with Molly.

“You mentioned Warren’s coach. Was it Coach Feller?”

Molly shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe, I guess. I didn’t follow basketball. I liked Warren because he was nice and he was handsome.”

“And because Mary Kate thought so, too.”

Molly bowed her head and said, “Yes, and because of that.”

Daisy brought the coffees and, before she left, told them there would be as many refills as they needed. They thanked her and sipped their coffees. The ratio between the scotch and coffee was about fifty/fifty.

“Okay, Molly, if Warren wasn’t involved in killing the girls, why did he disappear? And why would the real killers feel the need to kill him?”

“I don’t know, Jesse. All I know is he wouldn’t have hurt Mary Kate or Ginny. He couldn’t have.”

“Stop thinking with your heart now, Molly. I need you to be a cop. Why couldn’t he—”

“He didn’t do it!” She was loud enough that some heads turned.

Jesse pressed her. “But how can you know that?”

“Because I was with him.”

“What do you mean you were with him?”

“Do I have to draw you a diagram, Jesse?”

“It’s like that.”

“We spent all night together. His folks were away with his little brother. I just got back into my bedroom and into bed in time for my mom to come wake me up to tell me that Tess O’Hara was on the phone in a panic. It went from being the best, most exciting night of my life to the worst.”

“But something doesn’t fit, Molly.”

“If he didn’t do it, why would they need to kill him?”

Jesse said, “There’s only one answer to that.”

And Molly supplied it. “He knew who killed the girls and kept it to himself all these years.”

Jesse nodded.

“But why would he do that?” she asked herself as much as she was asking Jesse. “And why would he come back after all these years?”

“I think we’ll have those answers if Jameson ever wakes up. But one thing’s for sure.”

“What’s that?”

“He never forgot you, Molly. He carried that picture of the two of you around with him his whole life. He must have given it to Jameson for safekeeping when he left Arizona to come east.”

She smiled that sad smile.

“I have that same picture. It’s buried at the bottom of a box in the attic of my mom’s house. I haven’t looked at those old pictures for a long time. I couldn’t deal with them. You know the weirdest part, Jesse?”

“What?”

“Mary Kate took that picture of Warren and me. There’s one just like it that I took that day of Warren and her. That was the day I guess we both realized...”

“Does Warren have any family left in town?” Jesse asked, finishing his coffee. “You mentioned a little brother.”

“I don’t think so. Maybe. Why?” Then it dawned on her. “Oh, for DNA analysis.”

“Finish your coffee and go home to your family. With Suit out of commission for a few days, I need you back in the station with me.”

Daisy came by the table, dropped off the bill and the wrapped-up meat loaf, and delivered a warning. “I spotted some vultures out front.”

Jesse peeked to see a bunch of reporters and camera crews by the front of the eatery.

“We’ll use that back door,” Jesse said, handing cash to Daisy.