Robert Parker - Split Image

"Aha!" she said.

I TALKED to the cab company," Molly told Jesse. "They said the cabbie picked up Mr. Ognowski and his daughter-in-law in front of the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston, took them here, then back to the Four Seasons."

Jesse nodded.

"I called the hotel, and Ognowski's not registered there."

"Call around," Jesse said.

"Could be there under another name," Molly said.

Jesse nodded.

"Or he could be elsewhere and picked up a cab there because it was handy, or to confuse us."

Jesse nodded.

"I'll call around," Molly said.

"Good idea," Jesse said.

Molly started to leave. Then she stopped and closed the door and turned back to Jesse.

"How are you?" she said.

"That's not entirely clear," Jesse said.

"You talk to that shrink?"

"Dix," Jesse said. "Yes."

"What does he say?"

"He nods and says, 'Um-hm.' "

"Which means?" Molly said.

Jesse smiled.

"I think it means, 'We'll talk about it some more,' " Jesse said.

"You believe in that stuff?" Molly said.

"Shrinkage?" Jesse said. "I'm hopeful."

"You think it's helped you?"

"I'm better than I was," Jesse said.

Molly nodded.

"Ever hear from your ex?" Molly said.

"No."

Molly was silent for a moment. Jesse waited.

"How about you and Sunny," Molly said.

"We're fine," Jesse said.

"What's 'fine' mean?" Molly said.

"Means I don't want to talk about it."

Molly nodded.

"That's what I thought it meant," she said. "Sunny's a nice woman."

"So are you," Jesse said.

Molly smiled.

"True," she said. "But I'm married."

"And Sunny isn't," Jesse said.

"Exactly."

"She's divorced," Jesse said. "But she's not out of it yet."

"And you are?"

"Yes."

"Which," Molly said, "is why you drank yourself into a coma last week?"

"That was regret," Jesse said. "I am done with Jenn."

Molly nodded.

"I appreciate what you did to cover for me while I was in the coma," Jesse said.

"Suit, too," Molly said.

"I know," Jesse said. "You went further out on a limb for me than you had any good reason to."

"You're a good cop, Jesse. We didn't want one excess to end your career."

"There's been more than one," Jesse said. "But I thank you. Being a cop is what I've got right now."

"You have us," Molly said.

" 'Us'? "

"The Paradise police department, all of us, like your family."

"Some family," Jesse said.

"Just remember that we love you, Jesse," Molly said. "All of us."

"You, too?" Jesse said.

"Me especially," Molly said.

"Does that mean that you and I could…?"

"No," Molly said. "It doesn't."

She grinned at him.

"But you could maybe promote me to sergeant instead," Molly said. "You know, as a gesture of gratitude?"

"Absolutely not," Jesse said.

Molly sighed loudly and spoke.

"Maybe I should have said yes."

THEY WERE on the Southeast Expressway, with Suit driving. "Why are we going to Hempstead?" Suit said.

"See what we can find out about Rebecca and Roberta Bangston," Jesse said.

"They're from Hempstead?"

"Yep."

"Who we gonna talk with?" Suit said.

"Start with the Hempstead chief of police."

"Wow," Suit said. "Two in the same room. What am I doing there?"

Jesse grinned.

"We may need coffee," he said.

Suit nodded.

"It's good to be useful," he said.

Hempstead was the most affluent town in the southern commuter suburbs. The police station was white clapboard with green shutters.

"Slick," Suit said, as he got out of the car.

"What's wrong with red brick?" Jesse said.

"You see an awful lot of it," Suit said.

"I suppose," Jesse said.

The chief's office was big. It had a big desk, and a big American flag, and big windows, which overlooked a golf course. The chief was dark-haired and overweight, but his uniform was tailored to fit.

"Howard Parrott," he said, when Jesse came in.

"Jesse Stone," Jesse said. "And Luther Simpson."

They all shook hands.

"We're down here looking into a couple of former residents," Jesse said. "Twins, who, when they lived here, were Roberta and Rebecca Bangston."

"The Bangstons are a well-known family here," Parrott said.

"You know them?"

"I knew Mr. and Mrs. Bangston," Parrott said. "Had a big place on the water. Had a huge picnic every year, raised a lot of money for Catholic charities."

"The twins would be about forty-one," Jesse said.

"So they graduated high school in 1986," Parrott said.

He grinned.

"I'm not that quick at math," he said. "One of my nephews graduated that year. My sister's kid. I was a patrolman then, kids had a huge beer party, and we had to break it up. I hadn't been there, he'da been tossed in the clink."

"What's an uncle for," Jesse said.

"You got that right," Parrott said. "To serve and protect, and get your nephew off."

Parrott grinned again and leaned back in his chair.

"Now he's a cop, too," Parrott said. "Works for me."

"Probably grateful," Jesse said.

"Sure," Parrott said. "He was a kid, you know. You guys ever drink too much?"

Suit nodded.

Jesse said, "Now and then."

"Sure," Parrott said. "Me, too. Why are you interested in the Bangston girls?"

"Roberta's husband was murdered," Jesse said.

"Really? What a shame. You suspect the girls?"

"Nope."

"So why you down here talking about them," Parrott said.

"Got nowhere else to be," Jesse said.

"That's police work for you," Parrott said, "isn't it?"

"Gotta start somewhere," Jesse said.

"Lemme make a suggestion," Parrott said. "I got a Rotary meeting at noon, but my nephew is here; why don't I turn you over to him. I'll bet he even knows these girls."

"Go to high school with them?" Jesse said.

"No," Parrott said. "He went to Hempstead High. Bangstons woulda sent their kids to Holy Spirit."

"Catholic school," Jesse said.

"Yeah. But the schools are close and the kids mix with each other," Parrott said.

He leaned forward and flipped a switch on the intercom.

"Sergeant Mike Mayo, please come to the chief's office," Parrott said.

MAYO WAS obviously a weight lifter, a big genial-looking guy with short red hair and a nineteen-inch neck. He shook hands with Jesse and Suit when they were introduced.

"Mikey," Parrott said. "These people are interested in the Bangston twins; you know them?"

Mayo smiled.

"I do," he said.

"Could you talk to Jesse and Luther about them?" Parrott said. "I gotta go to Rotary."

"Sure," Mayo said.

"Use my office," Parrott said. "Close the door when you're through."

Parrott shook hands with Jesse and Suitcase and left. Mayo went around and sat behind Parrott's desk.

"Try it out for size," he said.

"I notice you smiled when Chief Parrott asked if you knew the Bangston twins."

Mayo nodded.

"Tell me why you want to know about them," Mayo said.

Jesse told him.

"Living side by side," Mayo said.

"Uh-huh."

Mayo shook his head and smiled again.

"I knew them," he said. "We all knew them. We went to Hempstead, they went to Spirit. But we still hung together. We all believed that Spirit girls were easy… You know how it was in high school."

"Ever hopeful," Jesse said.

Mayo nodded.

"We used to call them the Bang Bang Twins."

"Because they were, in fact, easy?" Jesse said.

"Yes."

"None of my business," Jesse said. "But did you…?"

"Most of us did," Mayo said. "But they had a trick they did."

"Trick," Jesse said.

"You never knew which one you were having sex with."