• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Officer Kreider laughed, then coughed into her hand. “Sorry, the coffee went down the wrong way.”

“I did some debating in college myself.” Was there a bit of a snit in Detective Raven’s voice?

Sherlock said, “Ms. Markham—”

“Please call me Callie since I have this feeling we’re going to get quite chummy.”

“That’s fine. Call me Sherlock. My husband is Dillon.”

“You two are married?”

“Nearly forever,” Savich said. “Ever since she shot me dead in Hogan’s Alley. That’s a dummy town down at Quantico that has the world’s highest crime rate. Agents-in-training catch bad guys there. She caught me and brought me down.”

“And my name is Ben,” said Detective Raven. He eyed Callie a moment, saw that she seemed to have it together, but that could change. “Now, Callie, when did you last see Justice Califano?”

“Last weekend, our usual Saturday-morning brunch.” Her voice caught and she fell silent. She swallowed. “I was coming over this morning for brunch. It was a surprise since they thought I was in New York.”

“What did he think of this Jonah character you were hanging out with?”

“The Jonah character happens to be on staff at The New York Times, Detective Raven. My stepfather once said he only had to read the first two lines of Jonah’s supposed hard news, and the bias smacked him in the face. But he also said if anyone wanted to have objective news, he’d have to go to Mars. There was no such thing here on earth. The truth was, he thought Jonah Blazer was an opportunist. I did hear him say that once when he didn’t know I was listening.”

Savich said, “And what did your stepfather think of your reporting, Callie?”

“As I said, my stepfather was a very smart man. When one of my investigative pieces impressed him, and it did happen twice, he told me. Otherwise, he stayed out of it. We made a deal after I started with The Washington Post—get that look off your face, Detective Raven, he didn’t help me get the job at the Post. I got it on my own merits.” She paused, drew in a deep breath. “Okay, they probably hoped I’d dish up insider news to them on the Supreme Court, but I never did. I never would. It worked well.”

“I thought it was going to be ‘Ben.’ ”

“Not when you’re obnoxious. Just get that look off your face, he did not get me my job.”

Sherlock raised a hand. “All right, children, enough insults. Now, Callie, what did your mom think of this reporter in New York?”

“She despised him, although she tried hard not to show it.”

Ben said, “So your mom and your stepfather couldn’t stand this guy and yet you still had him on your A list?”

“I’m young. I’m stupid. I thought Jonah was a deep thinker.”

“You’re not that young,” Ben said.

“Thank you for the diplomatic correction.”

“Hey, it’s why I’ll never be the police commissioner. And about your reporter—after all this deep thinking, it turns out he was just horny like most of the guys on the planet.”

“That’s exactly right, Detective Raven.”

Sherlock said, “Why the strong emotion on their parts? Did they think you were going to marry the guy?”

Callie frowned down at the dregs in the bottom of her coffee cup, then leaned down to pull her boots back on. When she sat up again, she said, “You know, I really don’t know why she couldn’t stand him. I asked her once, but she slicked right out of answering. As for my stepfather, he never really said anything about Jonah other than that one comment I overheard.”

Savich said, “All right. If everyone is done for now, I think it’s a good idea for Captain Halloway to get you and your mom to Colfax.”

Sherlock nodded. “Thank you very much, Callie, for your assistance. If you think of anything that might help, call us immediately. I know this is very difficult for you, but I have a favor to ask. Please don’t report this to your newspaper or give anyone an exclusive. We really need to get a handle on all of this, and it would be helpful if you could hang back, help us keep the lid on things.”

“I would never do that.” Callie thought for a minute. “I’ll bet my editor, Jed Coombes, is jumping