The Day After Tomorrow_ A Novel - Allan Folsom [44]
“I don’t mind.” McVey sat down on the edge of the bed and glanced around, while Osborn went into the bathroom. The room was the same as he’d left it earlier that afternoon when he’d shown his gold shield to a housekeeper and given her two hundred francs to let him in.
“Would you like a drink?” Osborn said, drying his hands.
“If you are.”
“All I have is scotch.”
“Fine.”
Osborn came back in with a half-empty bottle of Johnnie Walker Black. Picking up two sanitary wrapped glasses from an enameled tray on top of a replica French writing table, he pulled the plastic off and poured them each a drink.
“No ice, either, I’m afraid,” Osborn said.
“I’m not picky.” McVey’s eyes went to Osborn’s running shoes. They were caked with the dried mud.
“Been out for a jog?”
“What do you mean?” Osborn said, handing McVey a glass.
McVey nodded at his feet. “Shoes are muddy.”
“I—” Osborn hesitated, then quickly covered with a grin. “—was out for a walk. They’re replanting the gardens in front of the Eiffel Tower. With the rain, you can’t walk anywhere around there without stepping in mud.”
McVey took a pull at his drink. It gave Osborn a moment to wonder if he’d picked up on the lie. It wasn’t a lie really. The Eiffel Tower gardens were torn up, he’d remembered that from being out the day before. Best to get him off it quickly.
“So?” he said.
“So.” McVey hesitated. “I was in the lobby when you went into the gift shop. I saw your reaction to the paper.” He nodded at the newspaper Osborn had put on the side table.
Osborn took a drink of the scotch. He rarely drank. It was only after that first night when he had seen and pursued Kanarack, and then was picked up by the Paris police, that he’d called room service and ordered the scotch. Now, as he felt it go down, he was glad he had.
“That’s why you’re here . . .” Osborn locked eyes with McVey. Okay, they know. Be straight, unemotional. Find out what else they know.
“As you know, Mr. Packard worked for an international company. I was in Paris doing some unrelated work with the Paris police when this came in. Since you were one of Mr. Packard’s last clients . . .” McVey smiled and took another sip of the scotch. “Anyway the Paris police asked me to come by and talk to you about it. American to American. See if you had any idea who might have done it. You realize I have no authority here. I’m just helping out.”
“I understand that. But I don’t think I can help you.”
“Did Mr. Packard seem worried about anything?”
“If he was, he didn’t mention it.”
“Mind my asking why you hired him?”
“I didn’t hire him. I hired Kolb International. He was the one they sent.”
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
“If you don’t mind, it’s personal.”
“Doctor Osborn, we’re talking about a murdered man.” McVey sounded as if he were addressing a jury.
Osborn set his glass down. He’d done nothing and felt he was being accused. He didn’t like it. “Look, Detective McVey. Jean Packard was working for me. He’s dead and I’m sorry but I haven’t the slightest idea who might have done it or why. And if that’s the reason you’re here, you’ve got the wrong guy!” Angrily, Osborn jammed his hands into his jacket pockets. When he did he felt the bag containing the succinylcholine and the packet of syringes Vera had given him. He’d meant to take it out earlier when he’d come back to change to go out to the river, but he’d forgotten. With the discovery, his demeanor changed.
“Look—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap like that. I guess the shock of finding out about him being killed like that . . . I’m a little on edge.”
“Let me just ask if Mister Packard finished his job for you?”
Osborn wavered. What the hell was he going for? Do they know about Kanarack or not? If you say yes, then what? If you say no, you leave it open.
“Did he, Doctor Osborn?”
“Yes,” Osborn said finally.
McVey looked at him a moment, then tilted his glass and finished the scotch. For a moment he held the empty glass in his hand as if he didn’t know quite what to do with it. Then his eyes came back to Osborn.
“Know anyone named Peter Hossbach?”