Charm City

Pulitzer? Principle or Pulitzer? Principle-Pulitzer? Principle-Pulitzer?

Pultizer won. She had thought it would. 'I don't appreciate your tactics, but Feeney is an excellent reporter. I'm sure he'll do well on the story. Is it all right with you-' Mabry couldn't resist a small spin of sarcasm '-if I assign another reporter to work with him?'

'Sure, as long as it's someone who doesn't buy information or twist people's quotes.' She regretted the words as soon as she said them. Rosita's crimes seemed so small now, certainly too small to die for.

'Do you ever think about going back into reporting?' Mabry asked, walking her to the door, always the gentleman. 'We still haven't filled some of the vacancies caused by, uh, this spring's events. You obviously have potential as an investigative reporter.'

The question was only two years too late. Still, it was nice to hear. Nicer still to say: 'No thanks, Lionel. I have a job, a job I think I'm getting pretty good at.'

One of her ribs sent up a little shoot of pain just then, as if to remind her not to be too cocky.

Funny, to think of the injustices to which Tess had been blind before Esskay had come into her life. For example: why was it so difficult to find a restaurant in Baltimore where dogs were allowed? The bars in Fells Point welcomed them, but Baltimore had few of the sidewalk-type restaurants that made it possible for a dog to enjoy a good meal. How species-ist.

She and Feeney settled on Donna's, a local chain of coffee bars with pretty good food, once you got past its New York aspirations. And while Mount Vernon was a little grimy for outdoor dining, the day was too beautiful to waste: a cloudless sky, a light breeze that kept the sun from being too hot. Baltimore springs had the life span of a fruit fly, so it was important to cherish each fair day. Summer would be here soon enough.

Tess ordered wine, and after a brief inner struggle, decided on the mozzarella sandwich with pesto, on olive- oil-rich focaccia. She'd be back at full strength soon enough, she'd work those calories off. Feeney had the turkey sandwich with tapenade, on sourdough, while Esskay had the roast beef and provolone, hold the bread.

'This is a great story, almost makes up for me not being able to write about Sterling,' Feeney said, studying her notes. 'Sure it's mine?'

'As sure as I can be. There's a reason he's called the Lyin' King.'

'Yeah, but he's competitive. He'll put the paper first. He always does in the end.'

'So did Jack Sterling. I wonder how he would have arranged for the Blight to get the exclusive on my death?'

Esskay, who had downed her lunch in seconds, was straining at her leash, desperate to chase the dogs she saw in the park across the street. Then her quicksilver attention turned to the trash blowing past in the breeze. A white hot dog wrapper caught an eddy of air, floated upward, then reversed direction and plummeted to earth. Had Rosita fallen like that? Had she known she was falling? Had she been knocked out, like Wink, or just woozy enough for Sterling-her former boss, her former lover-to pick her up in his arms for one last embrace, then toss her over the balcony before she realized what was happening? But maybe she had jumped, as Sterling still maintained.

'Detective Tull told me they'll probably never be able to charge Sterling with Rosita's death. If she had painkillers in her blood, like Wink, it would be different. But all they found was alcohol. And it made sense for his fingerprints to be all over the apartment. He searched it, remember?'

'The yearbook never turned up, did it?'

'No, Sterling tossed it in a land fill. Lea Wynkowski has gotten it into her head that it's my fault somehow. I made it possible for her to collect the life insurance and kept her out of Paul Tucci's clutches, and she's pissed at me over a yearbook. Isn't that rich?'

'A grateful mind/By owing owes not.' Feeney smirked at her blank look. 'Milton. Paradise Lost.'

'Well, aren't you branching out?' Her voice was harsher than it meant to be, her mind unable to turn off the image of Rosita falling through space.

'Don't mind me,' she added contritely. 'It's just that I should have known. From the moment I saw that pizza, I should have known it was Sterling.'

'How?'

'Turkey sausage. You have to be a psycho to eat that stuff.'

Feeney pointed up the street. 'Speaking of psychos, look at Whitney, trotting to keep up with Tyner's wheelchair on the downhill grade. I didn't know they were coming along today.'

'Whitney said she had something big to tell us. I assume she finally got Tokyo.'

They arrived a few seconds later, Whitney breathless from keeping pace, but still able to bark out an order for hot tea. Tyner motioned the waitress away impatiently, as if surprised that someone expected him to place an order at a restaurant.

'Hot tea?' Tess asked Whitney. 'We know you're going to Tokyo, you don't need accessories to break the news.'

'I am going to Tokyo,' she said, 'but not for the Beacon-Light. I resigned today.'

Tess looked at Feeney, but he was as baffled and surprised as she was. Whitney speared a sweet potato off Tess's plate.

'It's true,' Tyner confirmed. 'She was in my office, going over the terms of her trust, making sure it could support her at the current yen-to-dollar exchange rate.'

'Tokyo on a trust fund,' Feeney said. 'Very brave of you.'

Tess threw a piece of focaccia at his head, missing on purpose so Esskay could have a little more food. 'Hey, it is brave. Whitney's finally doing something for herself, instead of fulfilling everyone's expectations of her. It may be the bravest thing she's ever done.'

'I'm here,' Whitney said with uncharacteristic quiet. 'I can speak for myself. The fact is, things aren't going so well for me at the Beacon-Light. As it turns out, shooting an editor in the shoulder wasn't the best career move.'

'You saved my life,' Tess said. 'Isn't that a mitigating circumstance?

'Only to the police and grand jury. At work, I make the other editors nervous now. Especially all the new ones they keep hiring. They point and whisper behind my back. ‘Shot a man in Leakin Park, just to watch him die.' I had a disagreement with my boss over punctuation recently, and he called security.' Whitney sighed, then took a sip of Tess's wine, ate another of her sweet potatoes. They were back in synch again. How could Whitney move to the other side of the world?

'It's not forever,' Whitney said. 'Six months, maybe a year.'

'But you'll be on the other side of the international date line. You'll know what's happening before I do.'

'Tess-' Whitney's smile would put a Chesire cat to shame. 'I always did.'

Epilogue

Two weeks later, a package arrived from Tokyo. While Esskay watched, Tess pulled out a birdcage in the shape of a pagoda. The accompanying letter, on hotel stationery, said only: 'Is it true the crow always flies in a straight line? I'm not so sure. Birds, like all of us, might need directions and encouragement.'

Certainly, it was all the encouragement Tess needed. As she dialed the phone, she realized she had been waiting all along for someone to nudge her into action. As usual, that person was Whitney, even if she was 5,000 miles away.

'Maisie? Tess Monaghan. Where's the Floating Opera landing tonight?'

It was a new site, at least to Tess, an old cannery in West Baltimore on the same block as Bon Secours Hospital and several methadone clinics. Convenient for this crowd. She waited until 3 A.M. to show up, hoping Crow would already be on stage. He was, but without his band, or any instruments. He sat on a stool, microphone in hand, his black hair down his back in a long glossy braid without any of the not-in-nature highlights Tess remembered. He began to sing, a cappella.