Jessica's eyes were sending pinched little darts in his direction, but now her head dropped, and she pretended to have seen and heard nothing. Just like a woman, he thought, wondering if he should not make a hasty retreat back to the false security of his booth.
“ Well, are you going to answer me?” he said. “How can you stand aside and allow a body to be exhumed for such purposes?”
“ My reasoning's simple enough, Lieutenant. If the body is exhumed, I'll have an opportunity at it as well, and we'll know for certain if this Surette character was in fact our killer's first victim or not. That's where my interest lies, and if getting it done via Kim Desinor works, then so be it.”
“ You're smarter than I thought.”
“ So's your captain.”
“ Landry's running with the foxes at the moment.”
This instantly angered her. “Is it me, Sincebaugh, or does everybody rub you the wrong way lately?”
“ You got no idea what you're talking about, Dr. Coran, so don't start on me, okay?”
“ We've got a lot in common, you and me.”
“ Jesus God,” he moaned.
She downed what remained of her double and stared hard across at him. “You're a walking raw nerve, Alex, but you can't treat everyone like… like…”
“ Look, if I want a dressing-down, I'll call Ben back in here.” Ben had put it to him much in the same way as she was doing now. “What I don't need at this point is another wife” His icy glare was unmistakable. He wanted to be left alone. When she held her ground, he got up, returned to his own booth and snatched open one of the files he'd been look-ing through earlier, tilting it toward what little light he could find and leaning back in pretended peace.
But something told him that Coran wasn't going to go away, and in fact he felt the dagger of her stare penetrating deeper and deeper into him, twisting just enough to make him squirm. He looked up to find her standing over him.
“ What?” he asked.
“ I saw the way you two were looking at one another. You could work well together, if you gave her a chance.”
“ Are you kidding? She knows I have no regard for the black arts and no respect for the way she earns a living.”
Jessica tensed visibly, the veins in her neck throbbing. She wanted to set him straight about Kim; she wanted to tell Sincebaugh the truth about their relationship. Perhaps it would bring him around if he knew that they both worked out of Quantico. And since Paul Zanek had lied to her, she wanted to hurt the bastard too, and this might be a way, but it could also backfire and hurt Kim as well.
“ That's bullshit, Alex. She does the same kind of work as you. I know about that tape of you in the diner and frankly-”
“ Damn that Landry. What's he doing, holding a daily screening for everybody at the precinct?”
“ He had Kim look it over. She was impressed by your psychic guesswork prior to the robbery attempt. She wants to work with you, not against you… and she's…”
“ She's what?”
“ Sincere.”
“ Sincere… sincere? What're we playing at here, Dr. Coran? Is sincerity supposed to make everything in New Orleans all right tonight?”
“ You are insufferable, aren't you? Meade tried to warn me.”
He tossed aside the file and raised his hands as if shot through the heart, apologizing all at once. “It's me, I guess. It's my life right now… it's an unholy mess and…”
“ You're maybe letting this case overtake your life?”
He declined to answer, granting her a brooding stare instead.
“ Listen,” she said, “I happen to know how that goes, and trust me. Somewhere, somehow, you've got to hold onto some corner where you can get away from it.”
“ So, you ever take your own advice, Dr. Coran?”
“ Sometimes… not often enough, but sometimes.”
“ As with this Matisak thing? That's what the press conference was all about, wasn't it?”
“ The press conference was on the Hearts Killer, and I'd like you to be present at my next conference for questions.”
“ Everybody wants me around and for what? Window dressing?”
“ No one knows this case like you do. We both… we all know that from just looking over your meticulous case file notes.”
“ Look, Dr. Coran, you know the score; you've been to hell and back; you know what it's like to be given a case, to get involved in it heavily only to see it snatched away. It's my case, they tell me, my responsibility from the outset, right? But every time I turn around someone else's nose is in it and her nose… this ridiculous miracle approach… well…”
“ I pushed for the Surrette exhumation, and so did Landry. Kim was against it.” She slipped into the dark booth.
“ Yeah, Carl's a great one for going along with whichever way the wind blows these days.”
“ Look, if nothing else, it'll give me an opportunity to compare the scars on the Surette corpse with the more recent ones. You may well be vindicated in your own hunch that Surette was the first victim.”
He nodded, conceding the point. “Maybe something good could come of it. I just hope the press doesn't get wind of it.”
“ They will. But there's no foundation to your belief that Kim Desinor is a charlatan, now is there? What're you basing your opinion on? Past experience? Kim's not like anyone I've ever known or met.”
“ What, you think because someone puts the word psychic after her name that she's automatically directed by some divine light?”
“ No, I'm thinking you've got a hell of a lot to learn about women, and one woman in particular.”
“ Ask Ben, my partner.”
“ Ask him what?”
“ He'll tell you straight. I haven't been fit company for anyone since… since…”
“ Since the first Hearts victim, I know. But together we can help you get through this, Alex, if you'll let us.”
“ You've been talking to that damned deYampert, haven't you?”
“ Yes, about you,” she confessed. “He's very-”
“ Nosy, an old washerwoman, I know.”
“ Concerned is what he is.”
“ I know. The big bastard.”
“ Ben's your friend and so am I. What's so wrong about accepting help where it's offered, Alex? No one… no one should be in this… alone.”
“ Is that how it is with you, Dr. Coran? You feel out there… alone?''
She forced a phony smile and lied. “No, not really. I have the backing of the entire FBI, remember?”
“ Yeah, right… the entire FBI.”
“ Thanks Alex,” she said, getting up. “I'm glad we had this little talk. Thanks for listening.”
He thought he saw a tear drop, but she turned her head away as she made for the door. He started to call her back, but she was bent on racing out. Stubby frowned from behind the bar and shook his head in wonderment.
“ No luck with the ladies today, huh, Lieutenant?” he called out. This made others in the room laugh. “What gives?”
“ None of your goddamned business, Stubby.”
“ Sure, sure… Lieutenant.”
“ Thanks for understanding, Stubby.”
“ Hey, Alex, no problemo, sure…” Stubby went back to wiping glasses and picking up loose change and
