up.”
John stewed for a minute or two, then apparently decided that I had done my job. “You believe the kid?”
“Yes. I’d like to talk to other kids in the coven, but it’s going to be hard. My connection to them—-Jacob’s friend—has run away. She left a message on my machine saying she’d call me again. I don’t know if she will, but I asked Lydia to come in here and get me if she calls.”
He scowled. “This is all a bad business. I suppose you know our esteemed editor’s ideas on tagging the Fremont murder ‘Satanist.’ I don’t like the idea of playing right into Montgomery’s hands.”
“Wrigley’s just thinking of how many newspapers he can sell. It will help him sell them all right—at the expense of the Henderson campaign.”
“You’re going to write something up about the Henderson kid’s version of the story?”
“As much as I can. It will probably be pretty thin unless I can find somebody else who was there.”
He grew pensive again. He was watching me in a way that made me uneasy.
“Irene, what was wrong this morning?”
I looked away from him. “It’s a list of things, John.”
He waited.
“Mrs. Fremont was Frank’s next-door neighbor. He found the body. I was right behind him.”
“Jesus.”
“Frank really liked her, and it was pretty rough on him. It wasn’t too much easier for me. I had talked to her a couple of times yesterday. I didn’t sleep at all last night, I walk in here and Wrigley sneers at me, then Stacee runs past me in tears. I just wasn’t in the mood to take any crap about Frank from the laughing boys in the newsroom.”
“You okay now?”
“Not really, but I’ll survive.”
“You say you saw the body?”
I could see the wheels turning in John’s mind. I nodded.
“Cops wouldn’t let anyone past the door last night. But you were inside the house?”
“Yes,” I said, thinking of the pool of blood.
“Tell me what you saw.”
I could feel my hackles rise.
“Go to hell, John. If I can’t cover crime stories, fine. But don’t turn around and try to get me to be a spy for you or to compromise Frank. One way or the other—not both.”
“Goddammit, Irene, I’d ask any witness the same thing.”
“I’m not any witness.”
He was back up to the boiling point. “You’re biting the hand that feeds you, Kelly! You’d better give some thought to who signs your paycheck.”
“I’m not ready to make a whore out of myself for the lousy sum on that check.”
“Get out of here!”
“Gladly.”
I stormed out, only to be met by Lydia frantically waving me over to the phone. Would there be no relief?
“Kelly,” I snapped into the phone.
“Irene Kelly?” It was a young woman’s voice.
“Yes.”
“My name is Julie Montgomery. I’m Monty Montgomery’s daughter. I need to talk to you. Can I meet you somewhere?”
9
T HIS WAS GOING TO BE difficult. If I met her away from the paper, I might miss Sammy or Jacob. If I stayed, it was going to be hard to find privacy. I decided to try the storage room in the basement again. Even then, I wondered how I was going to sneak her into the building without anyone seeing us meet.
“Look, I can’t leave here right now, but I don’t think this is the best place for you to be seen, either. What are you wearing?”
She gave me a description. I described Stacee to her. “She’ll meet you and take you to a room. I know all of this sounds like some kind of cloak-and-dagger operation—”
“No, I appreciate it. I understand.”
We arranged to meet in half an hour. I corralled Stacee and found she was eager to be of help.
“Just meet her and take her to Danny Coburn. Have Geoff give me a call, then go on to lunch—don’t come back upstairs and don’t let anyone else know she’s here. I mean that. Not anyone.”
She nodded, obviously enjoying the intrigue. I called down to Geoff and Danny to warn them of what was going on. Then I looked around for Mark Baker. He was working
John stewed for a minute or two, then apparently decided that I had done my job. “You believe the kid?”
“Yes. I’d like to talk to other kids in the coven, but it’s going to be hard. My connection to them—-Jacob’s friend—has run away. She left a message on my machine saying she’d call me again. I don’t know if she will, but I asked Lydia to come in here and get me if she calls.”
He scowled. “This is all a bad business. I suppose you know our esteemed editor’s ideas on tagging the Fremont murder ‘Satanist.’ I don’t like the idea of playing right into Montgomery’s hands.”
“Wrigley’s just thinking of how many newspapers he can sell. It will help him sell them all right—at the expense of the Henderson campaign.”
“You’re going to write something up about the Henderson kid’s version of the story?”
“As much as I can. It will probably be pretty thin unless I can find somebody else who was there.”
He grew pensive again. He was watching me in a way that made me uneasy.
“Irene, what was wrong this morning?”
I looked away from him. “It’s a list of things, John.”
He waited.
“Mrs. Fremont was Frank’s next-door neighbor. He found the body. I was right behind him.”
“Jesus.”
“Frank really liked her, and it was pretty rough on him. It wasn’t too much easier for me. I had talked to her a couple of times yesterday. I didn’t sleep at all last night, I walk in here and Wrigley sneers at me, then Stacee runs past me in tears. I just wasn’t in the mood to take any crap about Frank from the laughing boys in the newsroom.”
“You okay now?”
“Not really, but I’ll survive.”
“You say you saw the body?”
I could see the wheels turning in John’s mind. I nodded.
“Cops wouldn’t let anyone past the door last night. But you were inside the house?”
“Yes,” I said, thinking of the pool of blood.
“Tell me what you saw.”
I could feel my hackles rise.
“Go to hell, John. If I can’t cover crime stories, fine. But don’t turn around and try to get me to be a spy for you or to compromise Frank. One way or the other—not both.”
“Goddammit, Irene, I’d ask any witness the same thing.”
“I’m not any witness.”
He was back up to the boiling point. “You’re biting the hand that feeds you, Kelly! You’d better give some thought to who signs your paycheck.”
“I’m not ready to make a whore out of myself for the lousy sum on that check.”
“Get out of here!”
“Gladly.”
I stormed out, only to be met by Lydia frantically waving me over to the phone. Would there be no relief?
“Kelly,” I snapped into the phone.
“Irene Kelly?” It was a young woman’s voice.
“Yes.”
“My name is Julie Montgomery. I’m Monty Montgomery’s daughter. I need to talk to you. Can I meet you somewhere?”
9
T HIS WAS GOING TO BE difficult. If I met her away from the paper, I might miss Sammy or Jacob. If I stayed, it was going to be hard to find privacy. I decided to try the storage room in the basement again. Even then, I wondered how I was going to sneak her into the building without anyone seeing us meet.
“Look, I can’t leave here right now, but I don’t think this is the best place for you to be seen, either. What are you wearing?”
She gave me a description. I described Stacee to her. “She’ll meet you and take you to a room. I know all of this sounds like some kind of cloak-and-dagger operation—”
“No, I appreciate it. I understand.”
We arranged to meet in half an hour. I corralled Stacee and found she was eager to be of help.
“Just meet her and take her to Danny Coburn. Have Geoff give me a call, then go on to lunch—don’t come back upstairs and don’t let anyone else know she’s here. I mean that. Not anyone.”
She nodded, obviously enjoying the intrigue. I called down to Geoff and Danny to warn them of what was going on. Then I looked around for Mark Baker. He was working
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