eddied about him like steam in a soup kitchen. All the men in the room wore suits and ties, all the women wore dresses and heels. There was a liberal sprinkling of gold jewelry among the women and a fair number of expensive wristwatches among the men. As the candidate spoke with the people, there were no questions, only shared certainties.
'You know what they're buying with food stamps? Cupcakes. I saw a woman in front of me at Star Market…'
'Do you know what they were reading in my kid's English class? Girls and boys both? You ever hear of Eldridge Cleaver?'
Ronni Alexander had a glass of wine.
'As long as the private sector has to compete with the government for money, the interest rates will stay up. It's simple supply and demand…'
I noticed that Ronni Alexander had finished her wine and gotten another.
The smoke thickened in the room. Born-again Christians didn't seem to sweat lung cancer.
'… even have a Christmas pageant in school this year. Some Jew complained…'
Fix Farrell said to me, 'Okay, we gotta get going. Ronni's started on the wine.'
Ronni was getting her plastic cup refilled at the buffet.
Farrell muttered to Westin. 'Make the fucking late announcement.'
Westin said loudly above the room noise, 'Excuse me, excuse me, folks.'
Farrell moved over beside Alexander and whispered to him. Dale Fraser went out to get the cars brought up.
'Meade would stay here all night if we'd let him. But someone's got to be the bad guy. We have to get him to bed. So we thank you for coming, and if you'll just hold still a second, I know Meade will want to say good-bye. Then I hope you folks will stay and enjoy the wine.'
Alexander stepped beside Westin and his smile freshened the thick air.
'I thank you all for coming. Remember me when it's time to vote. Listen to your conscience, and God bless.'
Then he took his wife's arm. She smiled brilliantly, and with Farrell beside them and me and Cambell behind mem, they headed out of the room and toward the waiting cars. Ronni had brought her plastic cup with her. One for the road.
Chapter 4
Back at the hotel in Boston, Fix wanted everyone to eat in their rooms, but Ronni wanted to try the new dining room, Apley's.
'Francis,' she said. 'I'm tired of being shut up in one room or another. I want some elegance.'
Alexander nodded at Fix. 'I'm sure it will be fine,' he said. 'Mr. Spenser can join us, if you're worried about security.'
Farrell shrugged. 'Your funeral,' he said. 'I don't eat that French crap myself.'
The maitre d' recognized Alexander and found us a table for three without trouble. Apley's was mirrored and elegant. A woman played a harp near the middle of the room. The menu was aggressively nouvelle cuisine.
The waiter took our drink order. I had beer. Alexander had a martini, and Ronni had a Jack Daniel's on the rocks.
Ronni looked at the menu and then smiled at me.
'Do you mind eating here, Mr. Spenser?'
'No. I like it. I eat French crap a lot.'
The waiter brought the drinks. Alexander lifted his martini and smiled at us.
'Cheers,' he said. We drank. 'How do you like campaigning, Spenser?'
'On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia.'
'It can be tiresome, I suppose. Ronni and I have gotten used to it. And I must say there's a lift from…' He made a gesture with his hands as if he were packing a large snowball. 'From being with the people. From actually seeing the voters.'
'Including the young woman who asked about your stance on public education?'
Alexander smiled his splendid smile. 'Politics is compromise, Mr. Spenser.'
'You saw how she was dressed,' Ronni said. The s's slushed just a little.
'To try and articulate my position at that time, in that place, would not have been wise. She was obviously unsympathetic. The press was there. They'd like nothing better than to describe how I got into a shouting match in a shopping mall.'
The waiter appeared. 'Excuse me,' he said. 'May I tell you about our specials this evening.'
Alexander nodded.
'First you can get me one more drink,' Ronni said.
'Certainly, ma'am.' The waiter took the glass, looked at Alexander and me. We shook our heads. The waiter departed.
'Tell us a bit more about yourself, Spenser. We know only that you come highly recommended, that you are unmarried, and agnostic.'
'That says it all,' I said.
'One of Francis's sources said you were, how did he put it, an ironist.'
'That too,' I said.
The waiter returned with Ronni's bourbon. She drank it while he explained about the specials. The explanation took a while and I wondered, as I always did when people recited a menu at me, what I was supposed to do while they did it. To just sit and nod wisely made me feel like a talk show host. To get up and go to the men's room seemed rude. Once in Chicago I had tried taking notes in the margin of the menu, but they got mad at me.
When the waiter got through, Ronni said, 'Is that duck good?'
'Yes, ma'am.'
'How about the stuff with the green peppercorns?'
'The game hen? Yes, ma'am, that's excellent.'
'Which do you think would be better?' she said.
'Both are excellent, ma'am.'
Alexander said, 'I'll have the tenderloin of beef, please.' The waiter looked grateful. He looked at me. I ordered duck. He looked reluctantly back at Ronni. She finished her bourbon.
'I don't know what to have,' she said. The waiter smiled.
'If you'll bring me one more little glass of bourbon, then I'll decide.' The last word sounded suspiciously like deshide.
'Anything for you gentlemen?'
I had another beer. Alexander shook his head. The waiter departed. Ronni was studying the menu.
'I assume you have done police work at some time, Mr. Spenser?'
'Yes.'
'You didn't like the police?'
'Yes and no,' I said. 'Like everything else. The work is worth doing, most of it. But'-I shrugged-'too many reports. Too many supervisors who never worked the street. Too much cynicism.'
Alexander raised his eyebrows. 'Too much cynicism? I would have thought you a cynic, Mr. Spenser.'
I shrugged.
'You're not?'
'Not entirely,' I said.
'What do you believe in?'
The waiter came back with Ronni's bourbon and my beer.
Alexander said to Ronni, 'Why don't you have the game hen with peppercorns?'
Ronni swallowed some bourbon and nodded.
