The Chill of Night (43 page)
‘I’ll help you,’ said Casey. ‘Okay?’
Kyra looked surprised. ‘Okay.’ She’d never asked before. ‘Of course.’
McCabe poured Kyra a glass of Sancerre, then hauled himself up on the kitchen stool, sipped his Scotch, and watched them work.
A couple of minutes later, the doorbell rang. He debated whether or not to answer it, but then it rang again, and so he did. John Kelly was on the other side.
‘Hello, John.’
‘I stopped by police headquarters. Detective Savage told me I’d find you here.’
‘What can I do for you?’
‘I saw the pictures.’
‘I’m sorry we had to put you through that.’
‘Yes. Me, too. Her name was Kimberly Watkins. She was one of Lainie’s girls. She disappeared from Sanctuary House just before Christmas.’
‘You didn’t report it?’
‘No. I didn’t think much of it. Kids take off all the time. She’s from a town called Mapleton up near Presque Isle. I thought maybe she went back for the holidays. Even the runaways get sentimental sometimes.’
‘Well, maybe she did.’
‘Yeah, maybe. But I doubt it. So do you.’
McCabe nodded. ‘Yes, I do. Anyway, what can I do for you?’
‘Nothing really. I just wanted to thank you.’
Thank him? McCabe had spent over an hour verbally beating this guy over the head and he wanted to thank him. ‘Thank me? For what exactly?’
‘For digging deeper. For not accepting the easy answers. From me or anyone else. For stopping that bastard.’
McCabe shrugged. ‘It’s my job. I do it the best I can.’
‘A lot of cops wouldn’t have bothered. You did. I wanted to thank you for that.’
‘You’re welcome. Would you like to come in? Join me for a Scotch?’
‘Thanks, no.’
‘Or some Irish? I’ve got a bottle of Black Bush around here somewhere. My brother sent it. Wanted to prove the Irish make whisky as good as the Scots any day.’
‘Some other time, maybe. Teddy’s waiting for me downstairs in the car. You go on back to your family.’ He held out his hand. McCabe shook it. Kelly left.
McCabe returned to the kitchen and climbed back up on the stool.
‘Who was that?’ asked Casey.
‘One of the suspects in my murder case.’
‘I assume it was one who didn’t do it,’ said Kyra.
‘Yes, it was. I was wondering,’ he said, ‘do you think, after dinner, you might be able to borrow the keys to the gallery?’
‘I don’t know. I can call Gloria and ask. Why? What do you have in mind?’
‘I thought maybe, after dinner, we all ought to stop by and take a look. I understand they’re showing some new work by a major Maine artist. I heard she was really good.’
Kyra smiled. ‘Yeah, I heard that, too. I’ll see what I can do.’
Acknowledgments
Once again there are many people I want to thank for their help and insights in writing this book. They include:
Detective Sergeant Tom Joyce, who once held McCabe’s job as head of the Crimes Against People unit of the Portland Police Department and who now teaches Criminal Justice at Southern Maine Community College. Tom was always ready, willing, and able to answer my many questions, both big and small, about the Portland PD in particular and police procedure in general.
Lieutenant Tony Ward and Officer Cindy Taylor, also of the Portland Police Department.
Dr Ted McCarthy, head of the Department of Psychiatry at Mercy Hospital in Portland, for offering his insights into schizophrenia, and to emergency physician Dr George ‘Bud’ Higgins of Maine Medical Center for his help with ER procedures. Dr S. Erin Presnell, Associate Professor of Pathology and Director of Medical and Forensic Autopsy at the Medical University of South Carolina for her generosity in helping me in these areas.
Cynthia Thayer, Kate Sullivan, Brenda Buchanan, Jane Sloven, and Richard Bilodeau, who were all kind enough to read and reread the manuscript and offer suggestions that improved it enormously.
Charlie Spicer, Yaniv Soha, and Andy Martin of Minotaur Books and my agent, Meg Ruley.
I’d also like to thank the authors of two remarkable memoirs that were invaluable in helping me understand, in a very personal way, the experience of schizophrenia. Both books should be required reading for anyone interested in learning about this terrible disease:
The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness
by Lori Schiller and Amanda Bennett and
The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness
by Elyn R. Saks.
Finally, thanks to my wife, Jeanne, and to our children, Ben and Kate, for their love and unstinting support from the very beginning.
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First published in the United States of America by St Martin’s Press 2010
First published in Great Britain by Penguin Books 2012
Copyright © James Hayman 2010
Cover photographs © Ilona Wellmann/Wildcard
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ISBN: 978-0-14-195489-9
