'Susan want you to quit?'
'No.'
Rita's eyes widened. 'No?' she said.
'No.'
Rita was silent for a while.
'She's a pretty smart broad, isn't she?' Rita said finally.
'Yes.'
'I didn't think you'd quit, but I wanted to be sure you knew where we stood on it.'
'Thanks.'
'Okay, we can establish the relationship between the eyewitnesses and Melissa's boyfriend easily enough. And I guess we can establish that Clint Stapleton was her boyfriend. That's just time and money. Send some paralegals over to Taft and ask enough questions of enough undergraduates.'
Rita paused and looked out the window at the Market some more, then she shifted her gaze to me.
'I think that talking to Trooper Miller would pay off.'
'If he'll talk. Which I don't think he will.'
'You can pressure him with whatsisname's testimony.'
'Bruce Parisi,' I said. 'He won't repeat it unless I'm punching him in the kidney.'
'Okay, so you still can't take it to court. But you can threaten to take it to court and see what happens. I got some weight with the local DEA.'
'Phil Fallon?' I said.
'My God, what a memory.'
'What's Fallon going to do for me?'
'He could get Medford to pick up Parisi and hold him for a bit if that would do you any good,' Rita said. 'And make sure Miller knows it.'
'Just because you ask him to?'
'Sure,' Rita grinned. 'In moments of despondency between marriages, I did him a couple of favors.'
'That is despondent,' I said.
'I know,' she said. 'I know, but the pompous little bastard is quite surprisingly good in bed.'
'If you say so.'
'Want me to speak to Phil?'
'Does it mean you'll have to schtup him again?' I said.
'No. It only means I'll have to let him think I will.'
'Good,' I said. 'I wouldn't want to be responsible for a criminal act.'
'Oh, come on,' Rita said. 'He's not that bad.'
'So you say.'
'Let me know,' Rita said, 'if you want Phil to have Parisi collared.'
I thought about it for a little while and then I nodded.
'Go ahead,' I said. 'Have them grab Parisi.'
'Good as done,' Rita said.
'And thanks for helping,' I said.
Rita grinned.
'You hate help, don't you?'
'Hate it,' I said.
'I do too,' Rita said. 'Somebody's helping you and you have to take time off to listen to them and pretend you think their ideas are great and come up with an answer that makes them feel good, which is all time wasted when you could be thinking about the problem better than they can.'
'And when the idea is in fact great…' I said.
'Even worse,' Rita said.
'Sorry.'
'It's okay,' I said. 'I got to think long thoughts about your chest.'
'Just because I stuck it out a little?' Rita said.
'Yeah.'
'Then I must stick it out more often.'
