Blood Loss

nexus of political and private life, a misleading god and an abuse of power, the results of which you see here today.

‘My wife, Marie, patiently bore the trials of being married to a politician for over a decade, and despite the devastating impact of my actions, remains by my side today, and is bravely dealing with the effects, both psychological and physical, on all our family, particularly on our children.’

He looked down.

‘Strange-ass little speech,’ said Ren. ‘Most people would say “false god”, not misleading. I mean, is he saying he was misled? Does that mean he’s not really taking responsibility?’

On screen, Collier looked directly at the camera.

‘Wow,’ said Ren. ‘He looks … genuinely anguished. That’s a first.’

‘I never believed …’ said Collier, ‘that my beautiful, and beloved wife, Marie, would become … The Good Wife.’

‘Holy shit,’ said Ren, turning to Bob. ‘No speech writer wrote that.’

‘And she is a good wife,’ Collier continued. ‘To her core. She touches so many people-’

‘Just not her husband …’ said Ren.

‘I never thought,’ said Collier, ‘that I would be a man, like the others who have gone before me, men we have all watched, apologizing on national television for their transgressions.’

A reporter shouted from the crowd. ‘Tina Bowers was underage, Mr Collier. She was seventeen years old. Are you going to talk about that?’

‘I was about to address that,’ said Collier. ‘Under no circumstances was I aware of Miss Bowers’ age.’

‘It’s your legal responsibility to confirm the age of a prostitute before you engage in sexual relations,’ said the reporter.

‘That’s a matter for the Massachusetts Attorney General,’ said Collier.

‘Shame it’s not Eliot Spitzer …’ said Ren.

‘I would like to take this opportunity,’ said Collier. ‘To tender my resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives.’

An explosion of flashes followed, and for a brief moment, Collier took the dazzling lights. But he didn’t take the questions. Instead, he turned and took the hand of his good wife.

‘Your commentary really added to my enjoyment of that, Ren,’ said Bob.

‘Why, thank you,’ said Ren. ‘OK — gotta get back.’

Ren walked into the break room. It smelled bad. She could see a dark patch of sweat down the center of Mark Whaley’s back. There were rings of coffee on the white table in front of him, as if all he had done since she had left was move the mug around. It was almost full. He half-turned to her. His eyes were swollen.

‘I’ve changed my mind,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to take the polygraph.’

20

Bob was in the command center showing Cliff and Gary a map of the town when Ren came back from the break room.

‘These are the six registered sex offenders in Breck,’ said Bob, pointing to the red pins on the map that represented their location. ‘We’ve got four solid alibis here, and these other two were home alone.’

‘Sorry to interrupt,’ said Ren, ‘but did red-Ferrari-lady fail a polygraph?’

Bob nodded. ‘She sure did.’

‘And I’m guessing that while I was on my walk to your office earlier the news report mentioned that,’ said Ren.

Bob paused. ‘Did our guy change his mind?’

‘He sure did,’ said Ren.

‘If he crosses his fingers for a black BMW, we’re in trouble,’ said Bob.

‘Ren?’ said Gary. ‘A word, please.’ He took her to one side. ‘Go get some rest,’ he said, his voice low.

‘What?’ said Ren. ‘Did I do something wrong?’

Gary looked at his watch. ‘By my calculations, you’ve had three hours’ sleep in the last forty-eight hours.’

‘Not quite,’ said Ren. ‘But … who else has had any sleep? Are you singling me out, here? That’s not-’

‘Ren, if I choose to single you out, you run with it,’ said Gary.

Do not react.

‘As it happens,’ said Gary, ‘Colin and Robbie went back to their hotels after the search. Robbie will be back to spend tonight at the hotel with the Whaleys in case a ransom demand comes in. Colin will be with the Royces. And look — Cliff is packing up too.’

‘But-’ said Ren.

‘You won’t be any use to the investigation unless you rest,’ said Gary.

‘I’m wide awake,’ said Ren.

‘Well, try not to be.’ He moved past her. ‘Goodbye, Ren.’

Ren put a call in to Karen Nyland, the owner of The Firelight Inn, a cozy Victorian Inn close to Main Street.

‘Hi Ren,’ said Karen, ‘it’s good to hear from you.’

‘You too,’ said Ren.

‘I’m guessing you’re here for all the wrong reasons,’ said Karen.

‘Sadly, yes,’ said Ren. ‘And I was wondering if there is room at the Inn. I’d need it right away. I’m on enforced rest.’

‘Someone beat you to the suite by minutes,’ said Karen. ‘But I have a room on the second floor. It’s yours for as long as you need it.’

‘That’s great, thank you,’ said Ren.

‘Those poor girls,’ said Karen.

‘Did you know Shelby Royce?’ said Ren.

‘No,’ said Karen, ‘but we know her parents to talk to in a small-talk kind of way. And we send people to The Miner and Cal Royce sends people here. We exchange bottles of wine at Christmas, that sort of thing.’

‘Can I ask, off-the-record, about Tom Olson at The Merlin?’

‘Sure,’ said Karen. ‘Well, Tony and I wouldn’t share the same opinion of him, that’s the first thing. Tony thinks Tom is the does-a-lot-for-the-community good guy,’ said Karen. ‘He organizes community events, that kind of thing. I think Tom’s the Breck native who’s spent his life getting by on his looks, and is ultimately out for his own gain … ish. If that can be an “ish”. I don’t think he’s a bad guy — I just think that he wouldn’t be beyond screwing someone over if he had to. Not in any terrible way, but …’ She paused. ‘Oh … I don’t think that he would have anything to do with taking those two girls. Not at all. I can’t imagine that.’

‘OK,’ said Ren. ‘So … what did he do before he opened the hotel?’

‘He owned an inn, not unlike ours,’ said Karen. ‘He was doing great.’

‘Until …’ said Ren.

‘He overstretched himself with the hotel venture. It looked like he was going to run out of money by the end. He’s broke, by all accounts,’ said Karen. ‘That’s why he opened before he was ready. The Dew tour brings in a lot of visitors. Accommodation can be hard to find. Tom wanted to have a few weeks’ practice before the real crowds showed up. Take this with a grain of salt — and I don’t even know if it has any significance — but I heard that Tom’s anywhere up to three million dollars in debt. But we’re a small town, there are always rumors out there, and no-one really has a clue what goes on in people’s houses or bank balances.’

‘That’s true,’ said Ren. ‘Is there anything else you can think of that might help?’

‘No,’ said Karen. ‘Nothing that hasn’t been in the news.’