“You sure you’re not looking for an excuse to see her?”
Beau looked indignant. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You had a crush on her last year,” said Cape. “You even tried taking one of her classes, didn’t you?”
Beau smiled. “I came to my senses. A woman that could hurt me like that…” He shook his head. “It’s bad enough I gotta worry about getting hurt when I’m on the job. The crush ended after that first class.”
“The fact that she’s gay was never a deterrent?”
“Considered it a challenge, you want to know the truth,” replied Beau. “Never dated a lesbian before.”
“That’s because lesbians don’t date guys like you,” said Cape. “Or me….because they don’t date guys, period. That’s how it works.”
“You learn that on Doctor Phil?”
“You’re hopeless.”
“Just messing with you.”
“I know,” replied Cape, “but you’re still hopeless.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“How about you tell me what made you think of Sally.”
Beau looked at the ceiling for a long moment before answering. “You didn’t see the ship…the bodies. That wasn’t the work of no refugees. What I saw…not a lot of people know how to do that.” He lowered his eyes and studied Cape.
Cape met his friend’s gaze.
“I bet Sally could do that,” added Beau, his tone matter-of-fact.
Cape didn’t know what to say, but he didn’t like where this was going. He and Beau had been friends before he’d become an investigator, and Cape had never lied to him. He might have left things out from time to time, but he never lied. And though he’d known Sally just as long, there were things about her that Cape couldn’t explain, even to himself.
“Last year, you were working on that case with the movie producer,” said Beau. “And that Russian guy tried to kill you.”
Cape unconsciously raised his right hand to his neck. “So?”
“So, he was shot through the neck with an arrow, as I recall.”
“Did you search Sherwood Forest?”
“No, smart-ass, but we checked sales records at the sporting goods stores and the gun shops, talked to anyone we knew that had a quiver in their garage.”
“Including Sally.”
“She had a solid alibi-she was teaching a class,” said Beau. “A couple of her students backed her up.”
“And you didn’t press it.”
“Forensics said to look for a crossbow or a compound bow, the kind with all the pulleys. Said the distance was too great, the shot too hard for anyone to make with a regular bow and arrow.”
“I wasn’t the only one that guy tried to kill,” said Cape, realizing too late he was sounding defensive. He took a deep breath before continuing. “And he’d already killed someone right here in the city-
Beau held up his hands, palms out. “I’m not saying he didn’t deserve it,” he said. “And I’m not saying me and Vinnie looked real hard for his killer. The fact of the matter is that once the Russian wound up dead, the case was closed as far as the city was concerned. All the bad guys accounted for.”
“So what
“You’ve taken on some heavy cases over the years and have managed to not get yourself killed.”
“Thanks to Sally watching my back,” said Cape, finishing the thought. There was no denying it.
“Yeah,” said Beau. “And as your friend, I’m grateful to her.”
Cape nodded. “But as a cop…”
“I’ve always wondered.”
“But Sally’s never even had a ticket for jaywalking,” said Cape, knowing that wasn’t really the point but wanting to say it anyway.
“Neither have you,” replied Beau. “Doesn’t mean you didn’t cross against the light when no one was looking.”
“You think the ship’s a different story.”
Beau nodded. “I don’t know jack shit about the crew, the refugees, or the dead Chinese. And I can’t move around Chinatown like an Asian cop could.”
“And there’s a rumor of corruption among the Chinese cops on the force,” said Cape, understanding now where this was going. “So the feds are cut off from that angle.”
“Right.”
“And you think I should ask Sally to help?”
“To start, I’d just ask her a few questions,” replied Beau, sounding like a cop again. “Sally grew up in Hong Kong? Moved here maybe ten years ago?”
“Yeah, as far as I know.”
“The ship came from Hong Kong.”
Cape studied Beau carefully before responding.
“Sally’s one of the good guys.”
“Then I’m on her side,” said Beau. “But I think like a cop. Everybody’s a suspect till proven otherwise.”
“I thought it was
Beau shook his head. “Nah, that’s the courts. You know the system. It’s like catch-and-release fishing-we catch them, and the courts let them go.”
“There must be some leads,” Cape insisted.
“After the feds and SFPD finish interviewing the crew, the refugees, the shipping company, and the port authority, they’ll have enough leads to keep this investigation going for the next ten years.”
“So?”
“This isn’t a lead,” said Beau. “It’s a hunch.”
Cape nodded. “Thanks for coming to me first.”
Beau looked at his watch. “Like I said, after six it’s not my problem. But if I go see Sally, then it’s official- gotta fill out paperwork, her name goes in a file. You know the drill.”
“Thanks just the same.”
Beau smiled. “Besides, paying a surprise visit to Sally didn’t seem like a big idea.”
“For what it’s worth,” said Cape. “I trust her completely.”
“I don’t doubt it,” replied Beau. “But how well do you
Cape started to respond but caught himself, realizing he didn’t have an answer that would satisfy either one of them.
Chapter Eight
Tokyo, 21 years ago
