Read Online Honour Among Men by Barbara Fradkin - Free Book Online

if it was old. It looked like she tried to take care of herself and watch her money.”
    Green was again pleasantly surprised by her perceptiveness. “Any scotch?”
    â€œNo, she must have bought that at a bar.”
    â€œOr someone bought it for her. Any clues to suggest who she was or why she was here?”
    Peters glanced over at Gibbs as if in silent invitation, which he accepted. “Just one small thing, sir.” He reached into his jacket pocket and handed over an evidence bag. Through the transparent plastic, Green could make out a small leather box. Slipping on latex gloves, he opened the box. Nestled inside was an embossed silver disk attached to a red and blue striped ribbon. On the front was a maple leaf inside a wreath, and on the back were engraved the words “Bravery—Bravoire”.
    â€œThere’s a little card underneath, sir,” Peters burst in, unable to contain herself. She plucked the card out and began to read. “This Medal of Bravery is awarded to Corporal Ian MacDonald for acts of outstanding heroism in hazardous circumstances, September 10, 1993.”
    â€œIan MacDonald. Have you checked this out?”
    â€œYes, sir,” she said. “It was awarded on a peacekeeping mission in Croatia, where he was serving with the Second Battalion of the Princess Patricia Light Infantry Regiment.”
    Green saw the suspense in their eyes as they waited for himto digest that information and to ask the obvious question. “So did you track down this Ian MacDonald?”
    â€œWell, that’s the thing, sir,” said Gibbs, so excited he didn’t even stutter. “Corporal Ian MacDonald died September 10, 1995, and we can’t get anyone in the military to talk to us.”

    It was now past six o’clock, and Green was unable to rouse anyone official at DND . He left an urgent message on Captain Ulrich’s voice mail to phone him the instant he got the message. Then he turned his attention back to the two detectives, who had followed him hopefully back to his office. Both were beginning to sag as the adrenaline wore off. Peters, he recalled, had now been on the job at least twelve hours.
    â€œOkay, good work, you two. Assign the follow-up work to someone on the night shift. Let them try to locate Patricia Oliver and Ian MacDonald through the various databases. You can pick it up again in the morning.”
    After the two detectives had walked back to the elevator together, Green glanced at his watch and cursed. Sharon was working the evening shift again, which meant that Hannah had been in charge of the household for three hours now. Dinner was going to be very late, even if he picked up something easy from the Bagelshop again on his way home, and Tony would be apoplectic with hunger.
    He locked his drawer, logged off his computer, and was just grabbing his jacket when his phone rang. He considered letting it go to voice mail, but thought it might be Captain Ulrich.
    Instead, a familiar, manic voice came through the line over the background of chatter and office machines. “Mike!” The man hailed him like a long lost friend. “Glad I caught you.These murders are keeping us both hopping.”
    Green muttered a soft oath. This is what voice mail was for—to intercept unwanted calls from the press at the worst possible moments. Frank Corelli was the crime reporter for the
Ottawa Sun
and, as crime reporters go, he was smart and reliable. They’d known each other for four years and had helped each other out when Green needed a certain spin put out on a case and Frank needed a story. But no publicity was going to be good publicity in the Byward murders.
    So he dusted off the classic departmental evasion. “Frank, you know I can’t comment on the Byward case at this time. Superintendent Devine has scheduled a press conference for—”
    â€œI know, I know. And I’ll be there, duly copying down the party line. But