“Always,” Jesse said.
8 7
R O B E R T B . P A R K E R
They rode the elevator to the penthouse and buzzed at the office door. A voice asked who they were.
“Chief Stone,” Jesse said, “and Detective Simpson, from Paradise, Massachusetts.”
Suit grinned.
“Detective Simpson,” he murmured.
After a moment the door clicked open and they went in. A well-groomed young woman showed them through a short reception area and into Tom Nolan’s office. It was a narrow room that stretched across the front of the building. A window wall looked out over a part of the West Side. With seven people in the room, it was crowded. Nolan sat behind a semicircular desk on the left wall, facing the windows. Four people sat in chairs in front of the desk, with the windows at their backs. At the far end of the office was a small white piano. In between were too many small tables, extra chairs, hassocks, and floor lamps. Suit went and stood beside the windows. Jesse stood near Nolan’s desk. Introductions were made: Lorrie Weeks, the current wife; Stephanie Weeks, the previous wife; Alan Hendricks, Weeks’s researcher; Sam Gates, Weeks’s lawyer.
“Ellen Migliore now lives in Italy,” Nolan said. “So she isn’t here. There are other, less prominent people in Walton’s life, but I wasn’t sure how deep you wanted me to go in assembling the group.”
“Ellen Migliore is the first Mrs. Weeks?” Jesse said.
“Yes.”
“This group is fine,” Jesse said.
8 8
H I G H P R O F I L E
“As Mr. Nolan pointed out,” Jesse said, “I’m the chief of police in Paradise, Massachusetts, where Mr. Weeks and Ms. Longley were killed. The large young man by the window is Detective Simpson.”
Suit nodded gravely to the assemblage.
“First,” Jesse said. “We are sorry for your loss.”
“May I ask a question?” Gates asked.
“Sure.”
“Paradise is a small town, is it not?”
“It is,” Jesse said.
“How big a police force do you have?” Gates asked.
“Twelve,” Jesse said. “Plus me.”
“Isn’t it usual for the state police to step in when there’s a big crime and a small, perhaps inexperienced, force?”
“That’s quite common,” Jesse said.
“But not in this case?” Gates said.
“State police are standing by,” Jesse said.
“But you’re running the investigation,” Gates said.
“Yes.”
