“Give it a couple of weeks,” Steph suggested. “We are all going to have to process this in our own way, and so is David.”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him so sure of something before. As if Jeff’s death has put things in perspective. Made him realize what’s really important. And clearly being the next mayor of Paris isn’t as important as he thought it was.”
She could understand that. She was also re-evaluating her life now. Trying to figure out what she wanted to do. Fighting for that job at WelBeQ seemed so pointless now. Even though it had seemed so important a couple of days ago, she simply didn’t care now. Or the job in Paris. Or any job, for that matter. All she wanted was to have Jeff back. But that wasn’t going to happen.
A soft rap sounded at the door, and when she opened it, her mother said that the police had arrived, and could they have a quick word with David and Pauline, if they felt up to it?
CHAPTER 27
[Êàðòèíêà: img_2]
David and Pauline Felfan looked as shellshocked as any couple who had recently lost their son could look. As they sat in the downstairs salon, listening to Chase introducing himself and Odelia, they hardly seemed to be paying any attention at all. For a moment I wondered if they even spoke English. I knew that Chase didn’t speak French, and Odelia must have wondered the same thing, for she suggested we bring in Steph so she could translate.
But then Pauline held up a slender and bejeweled hand and said,“That won’t be necessary. Though are you sure you want my husband here? He isn’t feeling well, you see.”
“It’s the jet lag,” said David, clearing his throat.
He cut a tall, imposing figure, or he would have done, if he hadn’t looked so pale and drawn. With his full head of gray hair and his fleshy face, he certainly looked like a man who made a deep impression on people. Even now, when he was clearly feeling under the weather.
“I’ll be fine in a moment,” he assured us, though he wasn’t fooling anybody. “Steph told us you have a man in custody. But she also told us you haven’t given her a lot of information about him. Is he the man who killed my son, detective?”
“I’m afraid we had to release the person we had in custody. He’s admitted to certain facts, but not the murder, and since we can’t prove his involvement, for now he’s a free man again. But he’s still a suspect, and we’re doing everything we can to build a case against him, though we’re keeping our options open, and are also looking at other possibilities.”
“I have a possibility for you,” said David, sitting up a little straighter. “Perhaps Steph told you about this, but I was going to run for mayor of Paris. Now with Jeff gone, I no longer have plans in that direction. But when my son was still alive…” He broke down for a moment, with Pauline reaching out a concerned hand. But he quickly recovered, clearly eager to stay strong. “When Jeff was still alive, there was every chance that I was going to win that election and be the next mayor. My main opponent was a man named Bill Cymbal. Now, of course, with me out of the way, he’s going to win. And so I’ve been thinking about this all through the flight to New York, and I’m convinced that Cymbal is behind the murder of my son.”
“Oh, David,” said Pauline, who seemed taken aback.
“You see, the man is ruthless. Absolutely ruthless.”
“You don’t possibly think…”
“No, but I do think,ch?ri. Steph told us that the gun used to murder my son is connected to an organized crime syndicate. Well, that proves it, doesn’t it? Cymbal is a smooth operator, and he would never get his hands dirty, but he would know how to hire a professional killer and order a hit on my one and only son, knowing it would utterly destroy me. And that’s what he wants. He wants to destroy me. And I’m afraid to admit, Detective Kingsley, that he has succeeded. I’m officially withdrawing my candidacy. I’ll announce it the moment we land in Paris.”
“Please reconsider, David,” said Pauline. “You’d make such a great mayor. And you know how proud Jeff was of you.”
“It was me who was proud of Jeff,” said David quietly as a lone tear slid down his cheek. “And I just wish I would have told him before it was too late.”
“He knew,” said Pauline. “He knew how proud we were of him and Steph.”
For a moment, no one spoke, unwilling to ruin the moment. But then David cleared his throat,“Well, there you have it. Your killer is the next mayor of Paris.”
[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]
“I didn’t know a mayor could be a killer, Max,” said Dooley.
“I guess anyone can be a killer, Dooley,” I said.
The interview was at an end, and the Felfans had left. I had the impression they were going straight to bed. This jet lag business clearly was a big pain.
“Yes, but a mayor has a responsibility to take care of people, not to murder them.”