Dinner six-thirty to seven-thirty. At nine, everybody had to be back in his cage. The cell gates rolled shut. The lights went out.
6
The fifth day, the loudspeaker said, ‘Kasper,’ and the guard said, ‘Lawyer visit,’ but it wasn’t wrinkled Jacob Sherman, looking to duck the work of fighting extradition. It was an older man, Asian, hair sleeked back and flesh gleaming, who rose in Armani and pastels on his side of the table. ‘I am Mr Li,’ he said, and extended a card without being asked.
The card was full of names and addresses, all in blue print on ivory, with ‘Jonathan Li’ in gold on the bottom right. Parker put it away and said, ‘You’ve got me now.’
‘Transfer complete.’ Li was amused, not by Parker in particular but by his own entire life; it made him easy to be around, but suggested there were circumstances when he might not be completely reliable. ‘We should sit,’ he said. ‘For the quiet.’
They sat, and Parker waited, watching him. His smoothly sheathed forearms on the tabletop, wrists delicately crossed, Li leaned a bit forward as he talked, to keep the conversation within their space. ‘Your friend Claire wants me to assure you she’s fine.’
‘Good.’
‘And that she expects to see you soon.’
‘We can only hope,’ Parker said.
‘Oh, we can do more than hope,’ Li told him.
‘I understand California wants me,’ Parker said.
‘California must wait its turn.’
‘That’s what I thought.’
‘Oh, yes,’ Li said. ‘My professional opinion is, you should not leave this place until you want to leave this place.’
‘That’s good,’ Parker said.
‘Also, as you may know,’ Li went on, ‘if you are to have any visitor other than immediate members of your family, you must put in the request yourself, from this end, and the authorities will or will not approve of it. Unfortunately, you have no immediate family nearby’
‘No.’
‘but it happens that your former brother-in-law is working on a construction job not terribly far from here and would be happy to have that opportunity to visit you while you’re in confinement.’
‘My former brother-in-law,’ Parker said.
‘I believe at one time he was married to your sister Debby.’
Parker had no sister Debby. He said, ‘Oh, sure.’
‘So your former brother-in-law, Ed Mackey’
‘Ah,’ Parker said. That was more real than sister Debby.
Li smiled at him. ‘Yes, I thought you’d be pleased.’
‘Even surprised,’ Parker said.
‘As I understand it,’ Li said, ‘you and your brother-in-law have been partners in business enterprises in the past, and he believes you might be interested in a similar business enterprise once your current legal problems have been resolved.’
‘He’s probably right about that,’ Parker said.
Li also had a briefcase, like Sherman, but his was on the floor and was much more glossy and polished. Dipping into it, Li came out with a thin sheaf of forms. ‘This is the application,’ he said. ‘I’ve filled in Mr Mackey’s part.’
Parker took the form. He hadn’t expected anybody else to take a hand in this. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing Ed,’ he said, meaning it, then looked at Li: ‘I understand the arraignment’s next Thursday.’
‘Oh, I don’t think we’ll be ready by then,’ Li said. He seemed comfortable with the idea.
Parker said, ‘We’ll delay it?’
Li unfolded his wrists to open expressive hands, like lily pads opening. ‘You are, after all, the client,’ he said. ‘I believe you’re in no hurry to alter your situation, in regard to these charges and so on. Am I right?’
‘You’re right.’
‘I thought so.’ Rising, putting out a hand to shake, he said, ‘I won’t take up any more of your time unless I have news.’
Shaking that firm hand, Parker said, ‘There won’t be news for a while.’
‘Only your brother-in-law.’
Parker grinned. ‘I’m looking forward to that.’
7
‘It looks to me,’ Ed Mackey said, ‘as though you zigged when you should have zagged.’
‘There was a local hand,’ Parker said, ‘dumber than he had to be.’
