Linwood Barclay - A Tap on the Window

“Hard to say.”

“You know what I bet?”

“What?”

“Bet that car’s full of drugs.”

“You never know,” I said, and suddenly had a dark thought. I knew the car had no drugs in it now. I hoped that was still the case when the tow truck arrived.

“So where we off to?”

I gave her Bert Sanders’ address.

“The mayor’s place?” my driver said.

“Yeah.”

“Driven him home a couple of times when he wasn’t exactly fit to get behind the wheel. Not that I’m passing judgment. That happens to all of us once in a while. I’m just glad the mayor’s got the sense not to drive home pissed, you know? I like that in my elected officials.”

We pulled up in front of the house five minutes later. “I might be a while,” I said. There was already seven bucks on the meter, so I handed her a twenty to ensure that she’d hang in.

“Take your time,” she said. “I might catch a couple winks. Just don’t scare the bejesus out of me when you get back if I’m asleep.”

There was a five-year-old black Buick in the driveway this time and what looked like one light on, upstairs. Aside from Sanders’ expensive suits, that car and this modest house spoke to an unassuming, middle-class lifestyle. There’s a perception among some that all mayors live in mansions, that they’re chauffeured about in Lincoln Town Cars. Some actually do. An old friend of mine from Promise Falls used to drive that town’s former mayor around in one. But the reality is, in America small towns are more often than not run by regular people. They sit on school boards, town councils, water commissions. These are our neighbors, the folks we run into at Walmart and the DMV and the Exxon station.

As small-town mayors went, Sanders was undoubtedly more intellectual than most. A former college professor, an author. But he’d persuaded voters he was one of them, still enough of a regular guy to be viewed as one of their own, although tonight’s town hall meeting suggested fewer of them thought of him that way than used to. I hadn’t voted for him, but I hadn’t voted for anyone, in any election, in years. After a while, you stop wanting to reward liars.

They’re all liars.

Sanders hadn’t won me over in our face-to-face meeting, either. I wasn’t expecting our second encounter to go any better.

I jammed my thumb onto the doorbell and kept it there. The chimes just inside the door rang incessantly. Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

Peering through the window, I saw a man come down the stairs, silhouetted by the light filtering down from the second floor. He was tying the sash of a bathrobe and shouting, “Okay! Okay!”

The front porch light came on over my head, and a second later I heard a bolt being turned and the door swung open.

“Jesus Christ,” he said, a lock of his hair sticking out sideways. He’d clearly been in bed. “You again. You have any idea what the hell time it is?”

I placed my palm on the door as he attempted to shut it. “We need to talk again.”

“Get off my porch.”

I pushed harder until I had the door open wide enough to step in.

“I told you, get out,” he said.

“I guess you haven’t heard,” I said. “There’s been what you might call a development in this little switcheroo Claire and Hanna pulled last night.”

“I told you I have nothing to say to you about this.”

“Hanna’s dead.”

It was like I’d hit him in the head with a two-by-four.

Stunned silence at first, then, “What?”

“Hanna Rodomski’s been murdered. I found her body under a bridge. Someone put their hands around her neck and choked the life out of her.”

Still dumbfounded, he reached for the banister to steady himself. “That’s not — my God, that’s not possible.”

“I can take you there if you don’t believe me. I doubt they’ll be moving the body for a while yet.”

“This is... this is horrible.” To himself, more than me, he said, “Doesn’t make any sense, just doesn’t...”

“Of course it doesn’t. Why the hell would it make sense?”

“I just can’t... There’s no way they’d go this far.”

“Who?” I asked. “Who are you talking about?”

“A drink,” he said, pushing himself away from the stairs and heading off to the kitchen. “I need a drink.”

He opened the cupboard and took out a small glass and a bottle of scotch, poured himself three fingers and downed it in one gulp. He went to pour another, but I grabbed his hand and forced the bottle back onto the counter.

“Tell me what the hell’s going on, Sanders.”

“I don’t know who killed Hanna,” he said. “I swear I don’t.”

“What about Claire? Where is she?”

He placed his hand over his forehead, as though all this was giving him a nuclear-grade migraine. But then, almost instantly, he got over it, and gave me a devilish smile.

“Oh, I get it. I get what’s going on here.” The grin turned into a short laugh. “Very good. You almost had me.”

“Had you? You think this is a joke?”

“Not a joke. A trick.”

“Really? Come on, then.” I grabbed a fistful of robe at his shoulder. “I’ve got a cab waiting. We can go down and have a look at her. At least what’s left. The dogs had some of her for lunch.”

He shook me off, the robe sliding down his right shoulder and almost to his elbow. He pulled it back up with a theatrical flourish, trying to preserve his dignity, but he was too shaken.

“Dear God, dogs?” He put his hand to his mouth, like maybe he was going to be sick, but then pulled it away. “Okay, even if what you say about Hanna is true, there’s no good reason for me to trust you. I’ve got a good idea what your game is. You think by telling me about Hanna you can scare me into telling you where Claire is.”

“So she’s hiding out somewhere?”

“Not hiding. Just... away.”

“When’s the last time you heard from her? For Christ’s sake, Sanders. Your daughter’s best friend is dead. If Claire were my kid, I’d be getting her on the phone right now to make sure she’s okay.”

“If there’d been a problem, she’d have called...” He was talking more to himself than to me.

“If Claire’s in trouble, she might not be able to call.”

“No, her mother. She would call. Everything’s fine. Everything’s okay.” Sanders nodded hurriedly, looking like a bobblehead.

“Claire went to stay with her mother? In Canada?”

He put his hand over his mouth again, mumbling, as though he didn’t want me to hear him thinking out loud.

“Talk to me,” I said. “Is that where she is?”

He took the hand away. “I know Augustus Perry’s your brother-in-law. You think I don’t know he’s using you to find out where she is?”

“Are you kidding?” I said. “He just had my fucking car towed. And what’s Augie got to do with Claire?”

Sanders said nothing, but kept looking at me, wide-eyed.

“Look, I told you how I became involved in this, and it has nothing to do with the chief. Claire asked me for a ride. She and Hanna pulled off their little stunt with my help, and now Hanna’s dead. I’ll find out what’s going on with or without your help.”

“I’ve nothing to say to you,” Sanders said.

“Tell me she’s alive. Do you know that much?”

Before he could answer, lights swept past the living room from outside, casting a glow as far as the kitchen. Sanders broke away from me and ran to the window, pulling back the lace curtain for a better view of the street.

“What is it?” I said.

“There’s a car sitting out there, with the lights off. Someone’s inside.”

“It’s my taxi. I told her to wait.”