Read Online Bellows Falls by Archer Mayor - Free Book Online Page B

space, like rest stops along a marathon, were weight machines, stray pieces of furniture, a small kitchenette, and a gathering spot for several rugged looking bicycles. In all, it looked like a cross between a sports equipment warehouse and a teenager’s crash pad. There wasn’t a zip-line in sight.
    “Cozy,” I muttered.
    She smiled, obviously pleased. “Used to be a ballet school. I love it here.” She steered me over to a pair of mismatched chairs, choosing a stool for herself. “Want some coffee?”
    I sat in an armchair. “I’m all coffeed out. I got to go back to Bellows Falls tomorrow on this internal, but I wanted to fly something by you first. Have we heard anything new on Jasper Morgan?”
    “Not a word.”
    “Did we ever dig deep into his background—have anyone check out his Massachusetts days?”
    “We backtracked to when he first used the phony ID on the therapists, but we did that by phone. Nobody actually went down there.”
    “Where was
there
, exactly?”
    “Lawrence, I think.”
    The same town Anne Murphy thought Bouch had come from.
    “Good. Do me a favor, then. Tomorrow, look a little harder into that, and keep an eye peeled for the name Norman Bouch. See if Jasper and Bouch ever crossed paths. Do a triangulation search if nothing pops up. Check out Bouch’s known associates and relatives in Lawrence, and see if any of them show up in Jasper’s background—maybe they had a mutual acquaintance.”
    “Who’s Norman Bouch?” she asked.
    “The main complainant on the case I’m working in Bellows Falls. But he’s also supposed to be freelancing as a drug dealer. And I found a witness who saw him and Jasper together a few years ago. Maybe Jasper’s sudden rise and fall had something to do with Bouch.”
    “Maybe all kinds of things,” Sammie said softly, her skepticism reminding me of Gail’s.
    “True, but I don’t like leaving a coincidence like this hanging.”
    Sammie didn’t look pleased. “If Bouch is the complainant, that makes him the injured party, right?”
    “Supposedly.”
    “Won’t it look a little funny, you doing a quote-unquote impartial internal, while you’re having the complainant investigated by another agency?”
    She was right, which I only found irritating. “Maybe we could try being discreet for once.”
    Not one to be cowed, Sammie merely stared at me and raised an eyebrow.
    · · ·
    I wasn’t in the right frame of mind entering my interview with the Bouches. Sammie’s comment of the night before still rankled, as did the sudden reappearance of Jasper Morgan, and biased me against both Norm and Jan Bouch. By forgoing the protocol that an internal investigator should stick with the stated facts and interview the complainants and witnesses first and foremost, I’d made a mess of my own objectivity. Sammie would have disqualified herself from the Bellows Falls case. I was too stubborn for that, which irritated me even more.
    Norm Bouch appeared on the other side of his screen door after I knocked, his mouth smiling and his eyes watchful. “You the guy who called?”
    “That’s right. Lieutenant Joe Gunther.”
    His eyes were those of an intelligent man—focused and analytical—but the rest of his face spoke only of the menace I’d seen reflected in the small boy’s face who’d had his ball deflated. My instinctive dislike of Norman Bouch was probably triggered by the same characteristic that made other people turn toward him—his self-assurance was as palpable as the shirt on his back. But my guess was it was the cruelty I’d seen in action that fueled it—and that was a motivator I’d never been able to tolerate.
    He pushed the door open but didn’t invite me in. “You with the PD?”
    “Not this one. I work in Brattleboro. I’ve been asked to look into the allegations against Officer Padget to avoid any possible conflicts of interest.”
    Seemingly relieved by this, the smile widened, and Bouch stepped aside. “Come in. You know