hundreds of miles to the north, Kevin Tierney stood in the backyard of a house in Dorchester, wearing shorts and a Hawaiian-style shirt he’d bought when he and Erin had visited Oahu on their honeymoon.
“Erin’s back in Manchester,” he said.
Bill Robinson, his captain, flipped burgers on the grill. “Again?”
“I told you that her friend has cancer, right? She feels like she’s got to be there for her friend.”
“That cancer’s bad stuff,” Bill said. “How’s Erin holding up?”
“Okay. I can tell she’s tired, though. It’s hard to keep going back and forth like she’s been doing.”
“I can imagine,” Bill said. “Emily had to do something like that when her sister got lupus. Spent two months up in Burlington in the middle of winter cooped up in a tiny apartment, just the two of them. Drove them both crazy. In the end, the sister packed up Em’s suitcases and set them outside the front door and said she was better off alone. Not that I could blame her, of course.”
Kevin took a pull on his beer, and because it was expected of him, he smiled. Emily was Bill’s wife and they’d been married almost thirty years. Bill liked to tell people they’d been the happiest six years of his life. Everyone at the precinct had heard the joke about fifty times in the past eight years, and a big chunk of those people were here now. Bill hosted a barbecue at his house every Memorial Day and pretty much everyone who wasn’t on duty showed up, not only out of obligation, but because Bill’s brother distributed beer for a living, a lot of which ended up here. Wives and husbands, girlfriends and boyfriends, and kids were clustered in groups, some in the kitchen, others on the patio. Four detectives were playing horseshoes and sand was flying around the stakes.
“Next time she’s back in town,” Bill added, “why don’t you bring her by for dinner? Em’s been asking about her. Unless, of course, you two would rather make up for lost time.” He winked.
Kevin wondered if the offer was genuine. On days like these, Bill liked to pretend he was just one of the guys instead of the captain. But he was hard-edged. Cunning. More a politician than a cop. “I’ll mention it to her.”
“When did she take off?”
“Earlier this morning. She’s already there.”
The burgers were sizzling on the grill, the drippings making the flames jump and dance.
Bill pressed down on one of the patties, squeezing out the juice, drying it out. The man knew nothing about barbecuing, Kevin thought. Without the juice they would taste like rocks—dry, flavorless, and hard. Inedible. “Hey, about the Ashley Henderson case,” Bill said, changing the subject. “I think we’re finally going to be able to indict. You did good work, there.”
“It’s about time,” Kevin said. “I thought they had enough a while ago.”
“I did, too. But I’m not the DA.” Bill pressed down on another patty, ruining it. “I also wanted to talk to you about Terry.”
Terry Canton had been Kevin’s partner for the last three years, but he’d had a heart attack in December and had been out of work since. Kevin had been working alone since then.
“What about him?”
“He’s not coming back. I just found out this morning. His doctors recommended that he retire and he decided they were right. He figures he’s already put in his twenty and his pension is waiting for him.”
“What does that mean for me?”
Bill shrugged. “We’ll get you a new partner, but we can’t right now with the city on a budget freeze. Maybe when the new budget passes.”
“Maybe or probably?”
“You’ll get a partner. But it probably won’t be until July. I’m sorry about that. I know it means more work for you, but there’s nothing I can do. I’ll try my best to keep your load manageable.”
“I appreciate that.”
A group of kids ran across the patio, their faces dirty. Two women exited the house carrying bowls of chips, probably gossiping. Kevin hated gossips. Bill motioned with his spatula toward the railing on the deck. “Hand me that plate over there, would you? I think these are getting close to being done.”
Kevin grabbed the serving platter. It was the same one that had been used to bring the hamburger patties out to the grill and he noted smears of grease and bits of raw hamburger. Disgusting. He knew that Erin would have brought a clean platter, one without bits of raw hamburger and grease. Kevin set the platter