Джон Коннолли - The Dirty South

Cresil would not be going with him, though. His experiences with Kovas in Arkansas, and especially the maneuverings in Burdon County, had caused him to conclude that, at some point in the future, Charles Shire would end up in prison – sentenced, because of the depths of his delinquency, to the kind of period of incarceration typically associated with mass murderers. Cresil did not intend to go down with him. He would finish what needed to be done here, his fee would be wired to an offshore account, and he would stay low for the rest of his life. And if, by some misfortune, his actions came back to haunt him in the guise of state or federal investigators, Cresil would feed Shire to them like chum to sharks.

‘How did it go with Butcher and Bowers?’ said Shire.

‘As well as could be expected, given the parties involved.’

Shire continued to tap at the keyboard. He was analyzing figures, and making adjustments where required. His fingernails were trimmed so short that swathes of the nail beds lay exposed. Cresil couldn’t fathom how Shire accomplished this, short of prying the nail itself from the bed before he began to cut. The man’s obsession with his own hygiene knew no bounds.

‘Butcher and Bowers,’ said Shire, ‘are both unreliable, but each in their own individual way: Bowers because he sets his sights too low, and Butcher because he sets his too high.’

‘Funny that they’re both going to end up disenchanted,’ said Cresil. ‘You’d have thought they could have settled somewhere in the middle and avoided a shitload of trouble.’

‘In which case they’d be like the vast mass of humanity, and each aspires to more.’

‘If you say so.’

From the bathroom came the sound of a tap running. Cresil hadn’t known anyone else was in the room with them. He glanced over to see the door open, and a woman emerge.

‘Hello, Mr Cresil,’ said Delphia Cade. ‘I hope you’ve been having a productive day.’

71

The Dairy Bell was peaceful, with only a sprinkling of customers, none of whom was under sixty or displayed more than a passing interest in Parker’s arrival. Nealus Cade was seated at a booth away from the window, his presence partially concealed by a pillar. He had also parked his red coupe behind a big rig making a delivery to a warehouse in the adjoining lot; Parker wouldn’t have spotted it had he not been watching out, so he doubted a more casual eye would pick up on it. He took a seat across from Nealus. When the server arrived Parker ordered coffee, and a peach pie to go. Nealus already had a hot tea before him.

‘You must really like peach pie,’ said Nealus.

‘Not so much, but I was asked to buy one for a friend.’

‘If the rest of my family is to be believed, it’s a surprise that you have a friend for whom to buy it.’

‘Are you trying to prove the exception to the Cade family rule?’

‘I don’t know you, but I believe in giving people a chance. I got that from my mother.’

‘And from your father?’

‘I got little from my father, other than a name.’

The coffee and pie arrived, the latter wrapped in plastic. It was heavy, with the kind of crust that could withstand an earthquake. Parker set it aside and waited for Nealus to get to the point. If he wanted to unburden himself of his daddy issues, Parker would have to charge him by the hour, or at least ask him to pay for the pie. But when Nealus did speak again, it was with the bluntness of the very young and the very rude.

‘Did you give up being a detective because of what happened to your wife and daughter?’ said Nealus.

Parker guessed that this information must have come from Jurel.

‘I haven’t “given up” being a detective, otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here.’

‘I think you know what I mean.’

‘I know what you mean. I just don’t believe it’s any of your business.’

‘No, I don’t suppose it is. Consider it unsaid.’

‘Mr Cade, I’m very busy, so—’

‘Do you know a man named Leonard Cresil?’

Parker tried the coffee, but it was lukewarm, so he set it aside. He had a vision of his life, the days marked by countless unfinished cups of bad beverages.

‘I know of him,’ he said, ‘but we haven’t been formally introduced.’

‘He’s not a very nice human being.’

‘I can believe it. Do you have personal experience of this?’

‘I only know what I overhear.’

‘And what have you overheard?’

A mist had descended over the land. Nealus Cade watched a state police cruiser drift through it, like a big fish hunting amid turbid waters.

‘My family doesn’t communicate very well,’ he said, ‘or not with one another. My father likes to believe he’s still in charge, but he seldom leaves the house anymore, not since he got sick. Of course, he won’t admit that he’s seriously ill. It would be a sign of vulnerability, but I think he’s also afraid that to acknowledge his infirmity would be to allow it dominion over him, and hasten his end.

‘It’s hard to maintain control when you’re largely trapped inside your own four walls, so he has to work through my brother and sister. Jurel is his voice and strong hand in Burdon County, and Delphia performs the same functions in Little Rock. Jurel listens to him, Delphia less so. Jurel wishes he didn’t have to cooperate with you and Chief Griffin, but he understands why it’s necessary. Delphia contends that it would be better if you weren’t involved.’

‘And how does Leonard Cresil enter into this sibling difference of opinion?’

‘Delphia has asked Cresil to find a way to harm you.’

In the kitchen of the diner, two male voices were discussing the fortunes of the Razorbacks. Everyone in Arkansas had an opinion on the Razorbacks. It was the Razorbacks or nothing.

‘Are you sure?’

‘I heard her speaking to him on her cell phone. I didn’t catch everything she said, but she doesn’t want Cresil to do it himself. She wants him to get Randall Butcher to take care of you instead. You can be hurt up to a point, but she’d prefer to avoid a killing. Did you do something to offend her? Because her grievance sounded as much personal as professional.’

‘I may have declined to be employed by her, or sleep with her – or perhaps to be employed to sleep with her. The terms of recruitment weren’t completely unambiguous.’

‘That would suffice to aggrieve her,’ said Nealus. ‘If it helps, my sister is more particular about her bedmates than rumor might suggest.’

‘Should I be flattered?’

‘It’s probably too late for that, if she’s involving Cresil and Butcher. Do you know who Randall Butcher is?’

Griffin had given Parker a brief account of Butcher in the course of their earlier conversation, which meant he didn’t know a lot about him, but enough.

‘I’ve heard the name.’

‘My father thinks that Butcher and a local businessman named Ferdy Bowers are working against our family interests, and may even jeopardize the Kovas negotiations, if inadvertently.’

‘How?’

‘Butcher is a criminal, and therefore unpredictable. He’s also an exploiter of women. He wants his share of the Kovas wealth, but my father believes that no good can come of him being involved, and Delphia agrees. Leonard Cresil works for Charles Shire, who is set to make a great deal of money in bonuses and kickbacks when Kovas finally arrives in Burdon County, on top of whatever he’s already earned in bribes. My father has been cultivating Shire, and Shire has been cultivating my father in turn, but Shire is also engaged in discussions with Butcher, and to a lesser extent Ferdy Bowers. Shire likes to keep his options open, but in the end, he’ll almost certainly be forced to cut Butcher and Bowers loose. My father will insist upon it, but the severance will also make sense for Kovas. The company has a reputation to protect, which is why it’s letting Shire and Cresil do the grunt work before it formally sets foot in the county.