I nodded.
"And you know how difficult this is for me, which is why you are being very quiet."
I nodded.
"You are, of course, right, you bastard."
"Don't you hate when that happens," I said.
Susan nodded. I began to cut the steaks into small squares. Susan was quiet. I looked up at her and there were tears running down her face.
"Jesus Christ," I said.
She turned her head away. But she couldn't stop her shoulders from shaking. Pearl raised her head from the couch and looked at Susan with a mixture of annoyance and anxiety. I came around the counter and started to put an arm around her shoulder. She stood and turned half away from me. Her shoulders were shaking hard now and she was cursing to herself.
"Goddamn it," she said. "Goddamn it, goddamn it."
I moved around so I was facing her and put my arms around her. It was like embracing a coat hanger. I didn't force it. But I didn't take my arms away.
"What is wrong with me?" she said. "What in hell is wrong with me?"
"Don't know yet," I said. "But we'll find out."
And then it broke and she leaned in against me and put both her arms as far around me as she could reach and sobbed. Pearl got off the couch and came over and tried to get her head in between our thighs and failing that put her head against mine and looked up at me. She'd have to wait.
chapter thirty
WE DIDN'T GET to sleep until very late that night and got up far too early in the morning. Susan was very late, so she left Pearl with me for further spoiling. I fed Pearl and walked her and now she was in the office with me looking out my window and barking at things on Berkeley Street. I was drinking coffee and sharing an
oatmeal scone with Pearl and trying to feel perkier when Quirk came in. Pearl abandoned me at once and hustled over. Quirk bent down low enough for Pearl to give him a lap, and scratched her behind the right ear for a moment before he straightened up.
"You got custody this week?" he said.
"It's take your dog to work day," I said. "You want some coffee?"
"Of course."
I got a cup from the storage cabinet and handed it to him and pointed at the Mr. Coffee machine on the side table.
"There's milk in the little refrigerator," I said.
Quirk poured some coffee, and added milk and sugar. Pearl paid close attention. There was a canister of dog biscuits beside the coffee maker. Quirk took one out and gave it to Pearl. Then he came and sat in one of my conference chairs. Pearl sat on the floor beside him and put her head on his thigh.
"Why you," Quirk said to Pearl, "why not my old lady?"
Pearl wagged her tail.
"Going through Sterling's address file, we came across the name Richard Gavin," Quirk said.
I nodded.
"When we talked the other night in Sterling's office," Quirk said to me, "you mentioned a guy named Gavin who kept popping up in whatever it is you think you're doing."
"Investigating," I said. "I'm investigating."
"Sure you are," Quirk said. "Gavin has popped up again."
"And you stopped by on your way to work to share?" I said.
"Spirit of cooperation," Quirk said. "Maybe you can learn by example."
He drank some coffee.
"Good coffee," he said. "You remember the name of the stiff in Sterling's office?"
"Cony Brown," I said.
"Right. You remember he was tried for assault in Massachusetts."
"Yeah, dismissed because the plaintiff got frightened."
"Uh huh. You want to guess who his lawyer was?"
"Richard Gavin."
Quirk pointed his forefinger. "Bingo," he said.
"Richard gets around." I was thinking out loud. "He warns me away from Carla Quagliozzi, who is Sterling's ex-wife. Number 3, I think, who is the president of a charity, of which Gavin is a board member, which was part of Galapalooza which Sterling produced. Gavin's name is in Sterling's address file"
"To which you of course have no legal access," Quirk said.
"Right. And a guy who answers Gavin's description is calling on some of the other charities in Galapalooza asking how much money they made from the event."
"Is he now?" Quirk said. "You got any idea why?"
"No. All I know is that nobody made a dime, except Civil Streets."
"How much did they get?"
"I don't know," I said. "Maybe they didn't get anything either. They won't talk to me."
"I'll bet I can get them to talk to me," Quirk said.
"You have a winning way about you, Captain."
"Yeah. You want to make a wager what I'll find out?"
"If you get past the cooked books?"
"I got people can get past those," Quirk said.
"I'll bet they made a bundle."
"No bet," Quirk said.
We sat quiet for a time drinking coffee, both of us thinking.
"Here's what I know," I said to Quirk.
"See, spirit of concentration is working already."
"He talks a good game, and he puts up a nice front, and he won't admit it, but financially, Sterling is in the crapper. He's got alimony and child support. He can't pay his bills. He's apparently run out of people to borrow from. Even his sister won't lend him money."
I held up a last small corner of my oatmeal scone.
Pearl left Quirk and came over and I gave it to her. She ate it with a lot more enthusiasm than its size deserved.