'Certainly,' Susan said.
'That was pretty good, Wonder Woman.'
'Yes,' she said steadily. 'It was.'
She turned and walked unhurriedly into her house. Shorty had rolled over onto his back and his eyes were open but unfocused. Buster was sitting up, still clutching himself.
'We might want to try this again someday,' I said. 'Just you and me, Buster, without any guns, or a tough Jewess to tip the odds.'
Buster had nothing to say to that and we were quiet the two or three minutes it took for a Cambridge cruiser to come whooping down Linnaean Street with its siren on and the blue light flashing.
chapter thirty-seven
A CAMBRIDGE DETECTNE named Kearny took our statements in Susan's downstairs office. He was in the middle of it when Lee Farrell showed up. Kearny and Farrell knew each other.
'Who fought your battles before you met Susan?' Farrell said to me.
'I used to run,' I said.
'You just visiting,' Kearny said to Farrell, 'or has Boston got an interest?'
'Boston has an interest,' Farrell said. 'You people got the piece that Susan took away from one of the alleged assailants?'
'Yeah, a little bang-bang named Kenneth Philchock.'
'Somerville's got a homicide, woman named Carla Quagliozzi.'
'Broad got her tongue cut out,' Kearny said. 'I heard about that.'
'She got shot first. Be good to know if it was Philchock's gun.'
'Call Lieutenant Harmon about that,' Kearny said. 'Why is Boston interested?'
'Got a case that ties in,' Farrell said.
'You want to share it with me?' Kearny said.
'Call Captain Quirk about that,' Farrell said. 'How are you, Susan?'
'I'm fine, Lee.'
'People get shaky sometimes, after the fact.'
'I know, but I'm fine.'
'DeMilo and whatsisname made a statement?'
'Philchock,' Kearny said. 'I don't know, Lee. I'm trying to get a statement from these people, you know?'
Farrell nodded.
'I'll call Central Square,' he said. 'Okay?'
He nodded at the phone on Susan's desk.
'Of course.'
'Awful polite for a cop,' I said.
'But not for a homosexual,' Farrell said.
'Oh yeah,' I said. 'I forgot.'
Farrell dialed a number.
'Okay,' Kearny said. 'I got what happened. Either of you got a theory about why?'
Susan shook her head.
'You know either of the assailants?' Kearny said.
'No.' Susan's voice was firm.
Kearny looked at me. 'You know them?'
'Nope.'
I didn't look at Farrell. He didn't say anything. He was busy telling somebody at Cambridge Police Headquarters who he was.
'You make a lot of enemies,' he said. 'Anybody mad at you?'
'Hard to imagine,' I said.
'Yeah,' Kearny said. 'Anybody?'
'Can't think of anybody,' I said.
Farrell hunched the phone in his shoulder and looked at me while he waited to be transferred to the proper department. But he still didn't say anything and I saw no reason to get too many footprints on the problem until I figured it out better than I had.
