'I heard that,' I said.
'So, it's cool, as long as your interests and mine coincide,' Cleary said. 'But as soon as I decide they don't the leash is going to get a lot shorter.'
'I sort of guessed that,' I said.
'So you want to keep shaking this tree for a while on your own, for free, be my guest. Be kind of interesting to see if something falls out.'
'It will be,' I said.
'And in case you feel like getting cute, remember I can be a lot more unpleasant than I am now,' Cleary said.
'Wow!' I said.
Chapter 56
SOMETHING FELL from the tree quite promptly. I was in my office bright and early the next day, studying the new fall wardrobes of the women from the insurance company up the street. The phone rang. Still standing in my bay, looking down at Berkeley Street, I answered.
'Mr. Spenser?'
'Yes.'
'This is Carol Kenny at the Dowling School. President Garner would like to meet with you, at your earliest convenience.'
'How about this morning?' I said.
'Eleven o'clock would be open,' she said.
'Okay,' I said.
'So today, at eleven, here at the school. Do you need directions?'
I didn't. Pearl and I had been to Dowling so often now that I was pretty sure Pearl wouldn't need directions, either. But Pearl was sick of going. I did some quick phone work with the dog runner to have Pearl cared for all day. I took Pearl and dropped her off, and drove out to Dowling. I parked on the circular drive in front of the school in a space marked ABSOLUTELY NO STUDENT PARKING.
School was in session, and even though the front hall was empty of students, you could feel the repressed energy behind the closed doors of their classrooms. I'd been in prisons that felt this way. Prisons were noisier, and uglier, but they, too, had the same feeling of kinesis restrained that schools did.
I walked to Garner's office and went in. An attractive woman with short salt-and-pepper hair sat at her post outside the great man's office.
'Carol Kenny?' I said.
'Mr. Spenser?'
'Yes.'
'Please take a seat,' she said. 'I'll tell President Garner you're here.'
She was wearing a gray suit, a white man-tailored shirt, and sensible black shoes. But when she went to speak to Garner, I noticed that her body deserved better. She was gone for a moment and came back out.
'President Garner will see you shortly,' she said.
I smiled politely. Although he had called me, or she had, the way she spoke suggested that I was the supplicant. Make me wait a little. Soften 'em up. Cool.
'May I get you coffee, or a drink of water, or anything?' Carol Kenny said.
'I'll just sit quietly,' I said, 'and drink in your beauty.'
She giggled, which was a little disconcerting. She didn't look like a giggler. I smiled to show I didn't mind a little giggling now and then. And she went back to her computer, her hands moving smoothly over the nearly soundless keys. In a little while, Royce Garner appeared in his doorway and nodded at me.
'You may come in now, Mr. Spenser.'
'Hot diggity,' I said.
I stood and went past him into his office. Carol Kenny did not look up as I passed. Struggling with her emotions, no doubt. Garner closed the door behind me and indicated a black chair with maple-stained arms in front of his desk. The chair had the school seal on its backrest.
'You may sit there,' he said.
I sat. He leaned back in his chair and rested his gaze on me, tapping a pencil softly against the edge of the desk. I bore up as best I could.
'Before I call my attorney,' he said after a time, 'perhaps you would like to explain to me why you went to my home and upset my wife.'
I shook my head.
'Excuse me?' he said.
I shook my head again.
'What does that mean?' he said.
