Kindness Goes Unpunished

by Craig Johnson

  “Do what?”

  “Do not do this thing.” He waited, but I didn’t say anything. “Do not do this thing, because I cannot save you from the man you would become, if you do this thing.”

  I took a deep breath and could feel the rattle all the way down to my boots. “I guess it’ll all depend on what happens next.”

  He leaned in, trying to get within my line of sight. “That is not what it depends upon.”

  I looked at him, but his eyes were drawn to something behind me. I turned to look at the uniform, badge, gun, and Moretti standing in the doorway. “How ya doin’?”

  “We’ll see.” I turned back to Cady as Henry made his way around the bed and extended his hand, quietly palming the cell phone into his left.

  “Henry Standing Bear.”

  They shook hands. “Michael Moretti.”

  Henry held on to his hand and took a closer look. “I assumed Vic had eaten any brothers or sisters.”

  He smiled. “Some of us made it.” The Bear followed the young man as he stepped to the foot of the bed. “Any improvement?”

  “Not really.” We all stood there for a moment, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that could hear my heartbeat. “They say it’s still early…” I knew which question I was going to have to ask next, so I thought I’d get it over with. “Did you get a statement from Devon Conliffe?”

  Every trace of the smile vanished. “Didn’t see her last night.”

  I turned and looked at him. “What?”

  He pulled out a thin black note pad and consulted his own writing. “I spoke with Mr. Conliffe this morning, and he stated that he had not met with Miss Longmire.”

  I listened to my heart. “You spoke with him this morning?”

  “Yeah.”

  The thumping was like the traffic on I-95. “What about last night?”

  “I tried his residence about a half-dozen times.”

  I nodded. “Did he say where he was?”

  “Phillies game and then his parents’.”

  “A baseball game.”

  “Yeah…” He glanced back at the notebook. “I’ve got two witnesses, and his parents corroborated. His firm’s got a box, and he said he’s got it today at 12:30 for the businessman’s special.”

  I thought about it. “He lives here in the city?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Any word on why it is he would have gone to his parents’ house to sleep?”

  “No.”

  Henry was watching the two of us, finally speaking when the silence got to be too much. “He went from the ballpark in South Philadelphia to his parents’ home on the Main Line and then back in this morning to go to work?”

  “That’s what everybody’s saying.”

  “He did a lot of driving around last night.” I’m sure the pounding in my chest was causing my shirt to jump. “Did he seem concerned that his girlfriend was lying at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in a coma?”

  The young man closed his notebook and watched me for a moment. “Mr. Conliffe conveyed to me that the relationship between himself and your daughter was not of the serious nature you might have believed it to be.” He pushed the notebook into the inside breast pocket of his jacket. “He stated that he had been out on a couple of dates with her but that he had ended the relationship because it was far too serious on her part.”

  I looked at Henry, who was watching me closely. Devon had lied and, if his parents and two other people had corroborated, then they had lied, too. I nodded, and Henry tossed the phone to me. I punched the necessary buttons and handed it to Michael. He glanced at the two of us and then held the phone to his ear. The young man stared at Cady’s feet, covered with a sheet and a polyester blanket, for the full two minutes. His expression didn’t change; he pushed the disconnect button and closed the phone.

  I watched him and then spoke very slowly. “There are twenty-six received phone calls from Devon Conliffe from 5:11 P.M. through 10:03 P.M. last night, ending with the message you just heard.” I took a breath, pointed to the cell phone, and continued. “To me, that doesn’t sound like a man involved in a relationship he doesn’t take seriously.” I could barely talk. “And I didn’t hear any baseball game in the background of that message.”

  He held the phone close to his chest. “Do you mind if I take this?”

  “I think I’ll insist.”

  His smile was grim, and I was liking him more and more. He nodded and placed the phone with his note pad. “I may not be the one who talks to you about this next.”

  I looked at my daughter. “That’s all right, as long as somebody does, and damn soon.”

  After Michael left, we sat in chairs on either side of the bed and watched Cady. “It was the right thing to do.”

  I had been listening to him think it for so long, I wasn’t sure if I needed to reply. “Yep.”

  He glanced over to me. “Why am I not so sure that you believe that?”

  “Maybe it was the halfhearted response you just got.”

  “Maybe.” He waited. “Is there anybody you want to call?”

  “Not yet.”

  He nodded, his eyes returning to her. “You should get some sleep.”

  “No.”

  “You are not doing anybody any good falling asleep in a chair.” I looked at him. “You might as well lie down.”

  “No.”

  “How about something to eat then.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  He sighed a large sigh. “Then go take a walk, anything, but do not just sit here brooding.”

  “I’m not brooding.”

  “Planning then.” I looked at him, the man who knew me better than I knew myself. “Concentrate on walking, breathing, eating, drinking, anything but this.” I could still see the streaks on his face. “I will watch her. Go.”

  I didn’t make it very far, but I made it outside and, with the number of hallways, elevators, and stairwells I had to use, that was a miracle in itself. I walked through the revolving doors and onto the University of Pennsylvania campus. It was spring, even in the winter of my discontent, and all the freshmen were hurrying to their eight o’clock classes. They looked as asleep as I felt.

  There were a few roach-coaches across the street, and I figured I could get a cup of coffee from one of the food carts without contracting a disease. As I stood in line, I noticed people looking at me, and I figured I’d strangle the first one that made a smart remark about my hat. I stepped up to the counter and asked for a large one, which cost me two bucks.

  “Here ya go, Tex.”

  I let him live.

  I wandered back across and sat on one of the low cement walls that had flowering shrubs planted behind them. My back hurt and my shoulders ached. I took off my hat; even Atlas shrugged. It was a gorgeous day, and the apple and cherry trees were exploding in a riot of effusive color. I pulled in a deep breath. As a westerner, I’m always amazed at the balm of eastern air, the coursing, life-giving humidity. Even on the busy street, I could feel the trees, the river, and maybe just a little bit of the ocean off the coast of New Jersey, not so far away.

  I took the top off to allow the coffee to cool when someone moved my hat and sat on the wall beside me.

  Lena Moretti looked a lot better than I did. She was wearing a simple floral-print sundress and was carrying two small bags that she set on the concrete. She placed my hat on her head, and it dropped down over her ears so that I could barely see her eyes. “Didn’t trust me to bring breakfast, huh?”

  “I forgot.”

  She tipped my hat back and pointed to the cup in my hand. “Is that coffee?”

  I looked at the cup. “I’m just waiting for it to cool.”

  She reached out a hand. “Here, I’ll show you what to do with that.” I handed her the cup, and she poured it out on the sidewalk. A young woman, slouched over with the weight of her backpack, was walking past and gave her a dirty look.

  “That was my coffee.”

&nbs
p; “No, this is your coffee.” She handed me another lidded cup from one of the bags, and I held it with both hands. She opened her own and took a sip. “I took your dog for a walk this morning.”

  “Thank you.” I had forgotten about him. “Where did you find a leash?”

  “I used an electric cord.” She crossed her legs at the ankle. I was beginning to think that she was capable of just about everything.

  I opened my coffee and looked at the decisively dark brew. “This looks strong.”

  “Espresso, tall, double-shot. I thought you could use it.” She looked at me. “How’s she doing?”

  I took a sip and swallowed most of the enamel from my teeth. “I figured one of your troopers would have reported in by now.”

  “He did, but that was almost half an hour ago.”

  I nodded. “No change.”

  We sat and drank our coffee in silence. “The Indian up there now?”

  “Henry. He ran me out.”

  She smiled. “Here, I brought you something to eat.” She dug into the other bag and handed me a collection of biscuits and a tiny paper napkin. “Biscotti. I didn’t think you would be very hungry.”

  “You’re right.”

  She chewed on one herself, and I watched as she unconsciously began swinging her intertwined legs. “Almond, Michael’s favorite.” The biscuits were good, and the only sound for a while was the munching of our communal breakfast. I noticed she was looking up at the brim of my hat that was still barely above her eyes. “Does the Terror wear a hat like this?”

  “No, she says they’re goofy.”

  She munched some more. “How disappointing.” She glanced down at my feet. “She wear boots?”

  “She has one pair she wears on special occasions.”

  She watched me for a long while. I took another breath and looked above the buildings to the clear blue sky. I could feel the thumping in my chest as the temptation to turn and count the floors up to five tugged at my jaw. A few fat pigeons ambled over from across the quad and positioned themselves in front of us. I broke off a little biscotti and tossed it their way. They grabbed the pieces and looked at me some more, giving up on Lena as a native.

  “Dr. Rissman said the damage was blunt trauma from a fall?”

  I nodded. “Concrete steps.”

  She didn’t say anything for a while. “She’s going to be okay.”

  I looked at her, still wearing my hat like a child. “How do you know?”

  She ignored my ridiculous question, smiled, and looked back into the bag. “I’ve got a coffee for Henry, too.”

  I had been about to apologize, but took another deep breath instead; the darkness was there as we made small talk. “You got cream and sugar?”

  “Yes.”

  I tossed the pigeons more biscotti. “He’s particular.”

  She smiled. “I’ve heard that.” She sipped her coffee and watched as I continued to feed the birds. “We may have to toughen you both up a little while you’re here.”

  The pigeons stood next to the blunt toes of my boots. The darkness was with me again, and a plan was unfolding like a crisp linen tablecloth, snapping across the expanse of a long table and floating down to cover everything. “Lena, I may need a favor later today.”

  She turned at my tone of voice. “Anything.”

  The pigeons were now standing on the wide part of my boots, happily taking the crumbs from my fingers. “I may need you to take a shift with Cady.”

  “Any time. I’m a woman of leisure.” She sipped, and her ginger eyes stayed steady. There were too many cops in her life to fool her for long. “You got plans for the afternoon?”

  I handed the remainder of the biscotti to Mutt and Jeff and looked across the street toward the river. “I thought I’d take in a baseball game.”

  4

  “This is a really bad idea.”

  I looked around at the thousands of Philadelphia Phillies fans walking along Pattison Avenue toward Citizens Bank Park. “Seventy degrees and sunny. It’s a beautiful day for a ball game.”

  “And a lousy one for aggravated assault.” He looked at me and shook his head. “Where do you want to hide the body?”

  “I just want to talk to him.”

  The Bear pursed his lips. “How about behind third; the Phillies have not shown any signs of life there in years.”

  I bought some upper-tier tickets from a guy standing behind an abandoned magazine stand on the corner of 11th and Pattison. I handed Henry a ticket and stuffed the rest of my money back in my wallet.

  We were undercover. The Cheyenne Nation was resplendent in jeans, his weathered chambray shirt, and a pair of running shoes. He had bought a Phillies hat as we’d gotten off the subway at Broad and had tucked his substantial ponytail over the adjustable strap in the back. He could have been from Philadelphia; he could have been a very large Indian from Philadelphia, but he could have been from Philadelphia. I was blending in even better. I had left my hat at the hospital on Lena Moretti’s head, had purchased a natty fitted cap and a vast red-satin jacket from the Broad Street vendor, and now approached the major league ballpark looking like a British phone booth.

  “What if he is not here?”

  “Then we watch a ball game.” The tiny terror was creeping in on me again, even though we had checked with Lena no more than ten minutes earlier. She said that eleven lawyers from Cady’s firm had stopped in, that even David Calder—the Calder of Schomberg, Calder, Dallin, and Rhind—had been to visit. Lena said she had recognized him from Philadelphia Inquirer society page photographs, that he was ancient but that he liked my cowboy hat. She also said that Cady was resting comfortably but had shown no signs of change.

  We gave our tickets to the lady at the turnstile and walked into the broad interior thoroughfare of the ballpark. Under different circumstances, I might have enjoyed the environs, with the Kentucky bluegrass below-street-level playing field, giant scoreboard, and a capacity approximately one-tenth that of Wyoming’s entire population, but I had other things on my mind.

  I bought a scorecard and a stubby pencil from a vendor and stepped onto the metal treads of the escalator for the ride up. Henry lingered behind me. “Do we know which luxury suite?”

  I shrugged. “How many can there be?”

  There were seventy-three, to be exact. This we discovered from a kindly octogenarian in a red straw hat and vest. The Bear also asked what we should do if we were invited to stop by one of the luxury boxes but had no tickets? He said we should call our friends and have them meet us at the back of the secured area at the rear of that level.

  We went up. Henry paused at a railing and looked across center field toward the skyline of the city. “Do all the larger law firms have sky boxes?”

  “I’m not sure. Why?”

  “Do Schomberg, Calder, Dallin, and Rhind have a box?”

  It’s thinking like this that kicked Custer’s ass.

  I held out my hand for his cell phone, a device at which I had become a past master. I only slightly felt the twinge at seeing CADY/WORK just before I pushed the button. “Schomberg, Calder, Dallin, and Rhind, Cady Longmire’s office, can I help you?”

  “Patti, it’s Walt.”

  There was no pause, and her voice lowered. “The police were here, asking questions.”

  “Was the name Moretti?”

  “No, a detective by the name of Katz. He left his card.”

  “Patti…?”

  “There was a black guy with him. He didn’t leave a card, but I think he was a detective, too.”

  “Patti?”

  “They asked a lot of questions about her and Devon…”

  I let her wind down. “Patti, I need some help.”

  It was quiet. “What do you need?”

  I explained that we were on a little investigative junket of our own and was wondering if the firm had a luxury suite at the ballpark. She assured me that they did and, after a brief consultation, reported that it was being used by a coup
le of city council people today but that there were seats still available. I asked her how we could get in, and she said to check the Phillies community relations office in five minutes.

  The older lady at the double glass doors smiled as she tore our tickets and handed us the stubs. “Enjoy the game.”

  The gallery that provided entrance to the luxury suites was a carpeted hallway that arched around the balcony from foul pole to foul pole. We were in suite 38, and as luck would have none of it, we were right there. When I glanced into the box, I could see two brassy-looking older women drinking beer out of plastic cups that would have looked more at home strapped to a horse’s nose.

  One turned and looked at me, nudging her friend with the frizzy orange hair. “Franny, look, boys!”

  I stood with my head in the doorway, not sure of what to say, finally settling on a western favorite: “Howdy.” In retrospect, it probably sounded a little odd coming from someone who looked like the assistant carbohydrate coach of the Phils.

  I left Henry to entertain as I excused myself to get something to drink. Bernice said that they had waitresses, but I told her I didn’t want to wait that long.

  There were small nameplates beside the doors of each suite, so it was just a question of finding the right firm. I was relying on a distant phone conversation I had had with Cady months earlier when she mentioned where Devon was employed. I remembered it was Somebody and Somebody, as opposed to the Somebody, Somebody, Somebody, and Somebody of Cady’s firm. I remembered that they were not particularly memorable names and, about a third of the way around, I read “HUNT AND DRISCOLL.”

  I slipped my scorecard from my back pocket and pulled the pencil from behind my ear when I heard the announcer roar through the starting lineups. I was, after all, undercover. I leaned against the far railing, which gave me a decent view of suite 51. A few people passed by, but I feigned concentration and raised my head only after they had all passed.

  I could make out the backs of three young men sitting on the arm rails of their luxury box chairs. They were talking, but I couldn’t hear the conversation clearly. Having never met Devon was putting me at a disadvantage, but fortune took a hand in the form of a young woman in short pants and an abbreviated, torso-baring Phillies T-shirt. “Miss?”