“It won’t be,” Jesse said.
“How much did he get away with,” he said.
“LaBrea?”
“Yes.”
“Goodwin didn’t know.”
“How much did Goodwin take?”
“Also unknown.”
“But he felt justified.”
“Totally.”
“Self-righteous little bastard.”
“He was, wasn’t he?”
“Such an odd story,” Healy said.
“A sad one.”
“What about the woman, what’s her name again?”
“Ida Fearnley.”
“What’s in store for her?”
“Loneliness. Sadness. She’ll be devastated by Goodwin’s death.”
“But she was an accessory,” Healy said.
“To his crimes, yes.”
“Jail time?”
“That’ll be up to a jury.”
The two men headed for the door.
“You’d think it would have gotten someone’s attention,” Healy said.
“You’d think,” Jesse said. “But he’d been in charge for decades. He was an icon. The personification of bureaucratic autonomy. Who was going to challenge him?”
“The harder they fall,” Healy said.
“Exactly.”
“You knew him?”
“Some. He was a strange little guy. But he made his arguments with passion and conviction. He sure got himself into my head. I can’t rid myself of the image of the one and a half gallons of clean water it takes to flush away less than an ounce of piss. That’s ultimately why I reached out to Rita. I thought that even if the messenger was corrupt, the message would speak loudly enough to be heard.”
Healy didn’t say anything.
“The only message people will hear now is the one in which still yet another public official went rogue and managed to enrich himself at the expense of the taxpayers.”
“You okay,” Healy said.
“Disheartened.”
“Life’s a bitch.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Jesse said.
—
Jesse called Rita Fiore.
“I heard,” she said, when she picked up the call. “Sounded awful.”
“Sad.”
“You want to tell me about it?”
Jesse swiveled his chair around so that he was facing the window.
“Goodwin rode the moral high ground to the end, which infuriated LaBrea, who assumed that because Goodwin didn’t use the money for his personal enrichment and he did, he was going to be the fall guy.”
“Meaning?”
“Goodwin would somehow be absolved and LaBrea would go to jail.”
“Why did he do it?”
“Do what?”
“Shoot Goodwin.”
“Goodwin had disavowed him. Left him dangling. They argued, but neither of them gave in. Finally he just went berserk.”
“Goodwin was such a sorry man.”
“But guilty as charged. Although strangely innocent at the same time.”
“You can’t beat yourself up over this, Jesse.”
“Did you speak with Aaron,” Jesse said.
“He’s petitioning the court. Wants to place a lien on all of their assets.”
Neither of them spoke.
“What about Ida,” Jesse said at last.
“I’ll still represent her.”
“Because?”
“I’m not completely certain, to tell you the truth. Maybe it’s a woman thing. She’s definitely going to lose her job, but I sympathize with her. She barely knew what was going on. She was totally devoted to the guy and paid a steep price for it.”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“I’ll argue for no jail time and for her to retain her pension.”
“What are the chances?”
“You have to ask that question?”
“I forgot myself.”
“You did the right thing, Jesse.”
“It always comes as a shock,” he said.
“What does?”
“The aberrational behavior of the human race.”
“Tends to get you down, doesn’t it?”
“Makes you wonder why you even try.”
“But somehow you manage to dust yourself off and get back into it.”
“Somehow you do.”
“Which is what separates you from them,” Rita said.
“That doesn’t make it any easier.”
“No,” she said. “That doesn’t make it any easier.”
60
Courtney was already at work when Jesse arrived.
“She showed up early,” Molly said. “You’re sure this is the right thing to do?”
“Can’t hurt.”
“She’s still unrepentant.”
“But a work in progress nonetheless.”
Jesse found her dusting the squad room.
“You ready,” he said.
“Yes.”
She put the cleaning equipment away, and together they walked to the parking lot and got into Jesse’s cruiser.
They headed for the downtown recreational center.
“Why are we doing this again,” she said.
“Part of your community service.”
