“Right on it.” Barnes eyed Jessica in his rearview, almost striking an oncoming mail truck.
“Look out there, Barney!” shouted his partner. “We don't want to delay Agent Reynolds and Dr. Corman any further.”
“It's Coran, Dr. Coran,” she corrected the agent in the passenger seat. Jessica read between the lines that the two had engineered this delay, and each felt quite good about himself as a result. A glance at her watch told her they were already late.
The car sped toward the governor's mansion.
TWELVE
The next of kin may also donate a body.
Governor Hughes only needed the least provocation and excuse to disappear before they could get to him. He'd gotten clear of his office the moment it appeared the FBI agents from Quantico and Milwaukee were running late. He was off to his next appointment, and his appointment was in the next county.
Mrs. Agnes Dornan, the governor's appointment secretary, a thin, tall, big bird of a woman with pinched features and a stern glare, dressed them down for having wasted her boss's precious time. She then spewed forth noises from her gritted teeth as she searched and scanned her book for a moment of the governor's time. “Now… let's see… mmmm… a suitable time when the governor can see a pair of FBI agents from the East bent on discussing a reprieve for a convicted murderer… mmm… One who has been determined guilty of mutilating his wife by the great state of Oregon.”
“Listen, lady!” began Darwin, but Jessica placed both hands against his massive chest and moved him off from the frightened secretary.
“Damn it, Darwin, let me handle this. You're too personally involved. Sit it out.”
She turned back to the secretary while Darwin retreated to a corner and leaned against a window, looking out on the well-manicured lawns of the mansion and muttering under his breath, “Fucking place… fucking governor.”
The secretary looked relieved that she had only to deal with Jessica at this point, and not the brutish black giant in the corner.
“Now… Mrs…. Dornan, is it?”
“Yes, dear.”
“I'm going to get on the phone now to call the Director of the FBI. You know, the one who answers only to the President of the United States and the State Department, and I'm going to turn him over to you, and you can tell him when we can see the fucking governor of Oregon. Is that understood?”
Mrs. Dornan's icy silence and stare clearly meant she would call Jessica's bluff if it were up to her.
Jessica dialed the number. Darwin looked on with interest. Mrs. Dornan's chin rose still higher in the air.
Jessica called out, “William Fischer, please. No, this is an emergency. Do not put me on hold. Do you recognize this number? Yes, Dr. Jessica Coran, and I am calling on urgent business from the great state of Oregon. Now put me through to Will wherever the director is at, and I mean now.”
She silently hummed “What I Did for Love.” Mrs. Dornan's chin had fallen slightly off.
Then Jessica said into the phone, “Will? is that you? Good! You sound like you're inside a drum. Bad connection? What? You're in the can? Oh, shit. Sorry… I mean sorry to catch you there, but this is extremely important, Will. What? Oh, really? I–I suppose, yes… if I can get back in time. Sure… I'd love to see Mercedes, too, and how is Tricia? Uh-uh… yeah, that's so cute. Uh-uh. Look, Will, I need you to set someone here straight.”
Jessica paused a moment, her eyes going to Mrs. Dornan.
Then Jessica yelled into the phone for emphasis. “Straight, straight! I want you to set the governor's personal secretary straight.”
Mrs. Dornan swallowed hard.
Jessica continued her phone conversation. “Yes, it's what we talked about, and it appears you were right about Governor Hughes-strictly a nine to fiver. Yeah, skipped out on us. Yes. Everyone here is so very ready and excited about the prospect of executing Robert Towne day after tomorrow, seems almost like a preternatural hatred for Towne here, and the sonofa… The man won't even see us, and his secretary doesn't think she can fit us in before the bloody execution!” She laughed aloud at this. “Yeah, lotta good it'll do to see the man about a reprieve after the execution. Macabre is right. Whole thing here is surreal.” Jessica laughed more, and the voice on the other end laughed with her.
Darwin's lips curled into a grin. Mrs. Dornan crossed her arms in defiance.
Jessica held out the phone to her. “He wants to speak to you.”
“Me?” Mrs. Dornan hesitated taking the phone. “William Fischer wants to talk to me?
“Yes, the FBI director wishes to speak to you. Seems he's on a fact-finding mission in Minnesota, St. Paul, to be exact, but they patched me through, and the director wants to say hello to you, Mrs. Dornan.”
“I–I… me? Talk to William Fischer?”
Jessica shook the cell phone at her. “Yes, please take the phone.”
Mrs. Dornan took the phone in hand and placed it to her ear only to shove it off her ear as Richard Sharpe shouted on the other end, “You will accommodate my people, young lady, or your boss will hear directly from me! Do you understand?”
“Ahhh… yes, sir… of course, sir. There's just been a litrle misunderstanding here. That's all. We'll rectify the situation, I am sure.”
“Today. Rectify it today.”
Mrs. Dornan stared at the phone, now gone dead.
Darwin and Jessica stood united before her. “So, when can we see Governor Hughes?” Jessica asked.
Mrs. Dornan had gotten on the phone, located Governor James Hughes, and promised him it was in his best interest to cut the fund-raiser short and get back to the mansion to see Dr. Coran and Special Agent Reynolds. When she'd gotten off the line, she informed them that it could be upwards of two hours before Hughes might return, but that he did want to speak to them today, knowing that time was drawing short for Robert W. Towne.
“We'll call in, keep tabs, and be back,” Jessica said. “Can you get us a cab? We're both famished.”
“I recommend the Capitol House Inn,” she said, all smiles now. “It's not too far, and there's a lovely view of the lake, and they have the very best seafood if you like seafood, and no one does steaks better.”
“That sounds positively lovely indeed,” Jessica replied.
Once in a cab leaving the mansion, Darwin asked, “You had Richard Sharpe on the line the whole time?” Reynolds laughed. It was good to see him relax enough to do so.
Jessica joined him in laughter. “Saw a statistic the other day, says we laugh an average thirteen times a day. Not hardly enough.”
“Gotta hand it to you. You played Mrs. Dornan like a fiddle.” He laughed again. His handsome good looks reminded her of Sidney Poitier.
“I think she's otherwise known as Agnes of Oregon.”
Again Darwin's laughter filled the cab.
“The bad news is that Richard really is in St. Paul.”
“Not Millbrook?” asked Darwin.
“Trying to hurry along the DNA testing on the sample taken from Louisa Childe's corpse. It's at Cellmark of St. Paul.”
“Man, I hope they don't take as much time as Millbrook has on this case-two years.”
“Yeah, in two years, Argentina will likely see six more presidents if the past few years are any indication.”
