Blowout

Savich said, “Of course not. All these questions help us get a handle on how Justice Califano lived his life, how he dealt with the people close to him. The more we know, the faster we’ll find your stepfather’s killer. Do you know of any possible enemies Justice Califano had? Anyone he disliked?”

She thought a moment, cupping her hand around the still-warm coffee cup. “There were a number of politicians he didn’t care for, and there were some lawyers he believed were scum, but who doesn’t? Anyone close to him—sorry, but I can’t think of anyone right now.”

“How was your relationship with your stepfather recently?” Detective Raven asked.

“It was fine. The truth is I was well aware of who my stepfather was—impossible not to realize that your mother’s husband is a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Everyone who knew was completely bowled over—there are a lot of sycophants out there—but truth be told, he was just my stepfather, nothing more, nothing less.”

“You said you admired his brilliance.”

“Detective Raven, he could have chewed you up for breakfast and still enjoyed his croissant.”

Officer Kreider laughed, then coughed into her hand. “Sorry, the coffee went down the wrong way.”

“I did some debating in college myself.” Was there a bit of a snit in Detective Raven’s voice?

Sherlock said, “Ms. Markham—”

“Please call me Callie since I have this feeling we’re going to get quite chummy.”

“That’s fine. Call me Sherlock. My husband is Dillon.”

“You two are married?”

“Nearly forever,” Savich said. “Ever since she shot me dead in Hogan’s Alley. That’s a dummy town down at Quantico that has the world’s highest crime rate. Agents-in-training catch bad guys there. She caught me and brought me down.”

“And my name is Ben,” said Detective Raven. He eyed Callie a moment, saw that she seemed to have it together, but that could change. “Now, Callie, when did you last see Justice Califano?”

“Last weekend, our usual Saturday-morning brunch.” Her voice caught and she fell silent. She swallowed. “I was coming over this morning for brunch. It was a surprise since they thought I was in New York.”

“What did he think of this Jonah character you were hanging out with?”

“The Jonah character happens to be on staff at The New York Times, Detective Raven. My stepfather once said he only had to read the first two lines of Jonah’s supposed hard news, and the bias smacked him in the face. But he also said if anyone wanted to have objective news, he’d have to go to Mars. There was no such thing here on earth. The truth was, he thought Jonah Blazer was an opportunist. I did hear him say that once when he didn’t know I was listening.”

Savich said, “And what did your stepfather think of your reporting, Callie?”

“As I said, my stepfather was a very smart man. When one of my investigative pieces impressed him, and it did happen twice, he told me. Otherwise, he stayed out of it. We made a deal after I started with The Washington Post—get that look off your face, Detective Raven, he didn’t help me get the job at the Post. I got it on my own merits.” She paused, drew in a deep breath. “Okay, they probably hoped I’d dish up insider news to them on the Supreme Court, but I never did. I never would. It worked well.”

“I thought it was going to be ‘Ben.’ ”

“Not when you’re obnoxious. Just get that look off your face, he did not get me my job.”

Sherlock raised a hand. “All right, children, enough insults. Now, Callie, what did your mom think of this reporter in New York?”

“She despised him, although she tried hard not to show it.”

Ben said, “So your mom and your stepfather couldn’t stand this guy and yet you still had him on your A list?”

“I’m young. I’m stupid. I thought Jonah was a deep thinker.”

“You’re not that young,” Ben said.

“Thank you for the diplomatic correction.”

“Hey, it’s why I’ll never be the police commissioner. And about your reporter—after all this deep thinking, it turns out he was just horny like most of the guys on the planet.”

“That’s exactly right, Detective Raven.”

Sherlock said, “Why the strong emotion on their parts? Did they think you were going to marry the guy?”

Callie frowned down at the dregs in the bottom of her coffee cup, then leaned down to pull her boots back on. When she sat up again, she said, “You know, I really don’t know why she couldn’t stand him. I asked her once, but she slicked right out of answering. As for my stepfather, he never really said anything about Jonah other than that one comment I overheard.”

Savich said, “All right. If everyone is done for now, I think it’s a good idea for Captain Halloway to get you and your mom to Colfax.”

Sherlock nodded. “Thank you very much, Callie, for your assistance. If you think of anything that might help, call us immediately. I know this is very difficult for you, but I have a favor to ask. Please don’t report this to your newspaper or give anyone an exclusive. We really need to get a handle on all of this, and it would be helpful if you could hang back, help us keep the lid on things.”

“I would never do that.” Callie thought for a minute. “I’ll bet my editor, Jed Coombes, is jumping up and down with excitement. But I’ll deal with him. I’ll drop out of sight for a while. I just hope he won’t fire me.”

“Nah, he’ll keep thinking he can talk you around,” Ben said.

“At least until the funeral,” Sherlock said. “That’ll be toward the end of next week.”

Callie stared at her. “The funeral. I hadn’t thought about that. I need to take care of things. My mother’s friends can help me.” She wrapped her scarf around her neck and headed for the door.

“Your coat, Callie,” Ben said. “You forgot your coat.”

CHAPTER

6

T HE FLAMBOYANT WHITE marble columns of the Supreme Court Building were festooned with both yellow police tape and blue FBI tape. Savich thought it looked rather like a madly decorated Greek mausoleum. The first of the forensic teams had already come and gone. Marshal Alice Halpern, flanked by two Supreme Court police officers, was first to greet them. She seemed alternatively reserved, shocked, and defensive. Savich wondered if Marshal Halpern would be forced to resign. Already she was being beaten up by politicians and the media for allowing a Supreme Court Justice to be killed on their turf. Given the large security budget, the criticism was fierce and continuous.

The snow was still coming down, thin and floaty as a bride’s veil. The wind was quiet, but as the afternoon wore on, Savich knew the temperature would drop. He stood with Sherlock and Detective Ben Raven in the third- floor library, their voices lowered out of some strange sense of reverence.

Savich slipped his cell back into his jacket pocket and looked at the two of them. “The President, the FBI director, and the Attorney General announced the death of Justice Stewart Quinn Califano to the world a few minutes ago. As you can imagine, the media are in full twenty-four-hour-coverage mode. We got Mrs. Califano out just in time. This is going to be a huge investigation, bigger than anything we’ve been involved with, coordinated by the FBI, under the control of the FBI, but with the help of Washington Metro. I’ve been assigned to report directly to my boss, DAD Maitland, and you’ll be the point person at Metro, Ben. It’ll be your job to keep all the Metro brass in the loop, all the way up to Police Commissioner Holt. Metro will have its own group interfacing with ours. You need any assistance at all, you let me know. Our first big meeting is this afternoon at FBI headquarters. Sherlock, you’ve been studying the room. What do you think?”

Sherlock pointed to the chair at the end of the beautifully carved table. “He took off his coat, pulled off his gloves, unwound his cashmere scarf, and neatly laid the lot on the back of this chair. He’s sitting in the next chair, at ease since he’s comfortable here. He’s alone, but protected. What are there—a dozen guards patrolling the building on a Friday night? And a sophisticated communication system connecting everything in the building.”

“So he’s not at all worried about being alone,” Ben said.