A Perfect Grave Part 6

Some went back for decades.

He'd learned the value of revisiting old files-most cops welcomed attention to their coldest cases. It often resulted in a fresh lead, a good read, and a new source. He'd also learned that it was critical to check all details of a fast-breaking crime story for links to previous cases.

But as for tonight-nothing had come up when he searched the scant details he had on the nun's murder. Other than a few urban-life features on the Sisters of the Compa.s.sionate Heart of Mercy and their work, there was nothing that would point to anything gang related. The shelter helped down-and-out types, people from the street, some with criminal records. Maybe the link was there, he thought, heading northbound on the Aurora Avenue Bridge.

He wasn't sure.

He found a soft-jazz station and glanced at the lights of Gas Works Park as he drove over Lake Union. He liked to come to the bridge to watch the sailboats, or the s.h.i.+ps navigating the Ballard Locks and the Lake Was.h.i.+ngton s.h.i.+p Ca.n.a.l on their way to the Pacific.

He looked in his rearview mirror at the twinkling lights and the skyline and his thoughts went beyond the city's beauty to a cold, hard truth he'd learned as a crime reporter. Death was his beat and for him metro Seattle was a burial ground. Cases like the Green River killer, Bundy, the mall shooter, the firefighter's arson, the unsolved hooker killings, the deadly heists, and the baby abduction marked its history like headstones.

And now we have a nun, slain near Yesler Terrace.

It would never stop.

It was Jason's job to understand it, write about it, to try to make sense of it while finding the nerve to ask a grieving mother, father, husband, wife, sister, brother, daughter, son, or friend for a picture of the victim.

"All of Seattle shares your loss."

Contrary to what most people thought of reporters, he hated that part of the job. It took a toll on him, too. Keeping his emotional distance from a story never, ever ever got easier, no matter how many tragedies he'd covered. It was always a struggle to keep from numbing himself with a few beers, because a few beers would lead to a few more. got easier, no matter how many tragedies he'd covered. It was always a struggle to keep from numbing himself with a few beers, because a few beers would lead to a few more.

Which would lead to...

Forget it.

He was exhausted and hungry as he came to the edge of Fremont and Wallingford, where he lived in a huge nineteenth-century house that had been carved into apartments. His one-bedroom unit was on the third floor.

He'd moved here when he was still in college and wanted to be on his own-for a lot of reasons. The big one being that he'd needed to put some distance between himself, his old man, the brewery, and the c.r.a.p that had permeated their lives.

Since moving in, he hadn't changed the place at all. He had the same two secondhand leather sofas discarded by a dentist who was closing his office. They faced each other over the same low-standing coffee table, which was covered with newspapers. At the far end of his living room, a giant poster of Jimi Hendrix, his beloved G.o.d of rock, overlooked a thirty-gallon aquarium.

Jason was hungry and grabbed his last can of baked beans.

He loathed this, the loneliest time of his day. He put a spoonful of cold beans in his mouth to kill his self-pity and sat before his tank. It cast the room in a soft blue light. His tiny tropical fish gliding among the coral, the sunken s.h.i.+p, the diver, and bubbles soothed him as he chewed on his thoughts.

Had he been too hard on Grace? What was up with her, anyway? She seemed to want to call a truce. He wanted her to know that he was still p.i.s.sed off at her. Still wounded.

And how long was he going to sulk?

She still drove him wild. He'd never met anyone like her and he couldn't believe she'd ended it with him. He couldn't get her out of his system. Maybe he should try to talk to her? G.o.d knows, he was going to need all the help he could get on this homicide.

After finis.h.i.+ng his beans, he tossed the can, brushed his teeth, went to his bedroom, undressed, then fell into bed.

Tango.

And his line on payback for something Sister Anne did. What the h.e.l.l was that? Could be something to it? He had to follow up on it, maybe even take it to Grace. Proceed with caution. Maybe that was the way to approach things with this story.

And with Grace.

He couldn't sleep. He was thirsty from the beans and went to his fridge. It was empty but for a halfeaten can of ravioli and an unopened beer. The bottle stood there as a personal test to prove that he was stronger than the temptation.

He settled for a gla.s.s of water from the tap.

See, he was not like his old man.

His father.

Cripes, he'd forgotten about his old man, getting the bar to call him when all he was doing was sitting there. Alone, staring into his gla.s.s. And that nasty cut on his hand. "Jay, you have to help me, son, I don't know what to do here." Something had been eating his father, something that was going to push him off the wagon, something that compelled him to call for help.

Guilt p.r.i.c.ked at Jason's conscience and he glanced at the time. Why had he been called away just when his father needed him? He'd have to try him later. Man, he prayed it wasn't too late, that his old man had been able to hang on.

Jason rubbed his hands over his face, took in a long breath, then slowly let it out before picking up the printouts of the old stories he'd retrieved on the nuns with the Compa.s.sionate Heart of Mercy. He found Sister Anne's face in a group shot that accompanied one of the stories.

He stared at it.

She was smiling, but her eyes seemed to hold a measure of sadness.

Chapter Nine.

Jason woke from a deep sleep and didn't know why.

Then his phone rang again. He cursed and grabbed it.

"You up, Wade?"

"No, what time is it?"

Eldon Reep's voice kick-started Jason's brain and he braced for trouble.

"Did we have the murdered nun's name last night, Wade?"

"It was never confirmed when I filed for our web edition-besides they usually wait to notify family."

"Her name is Sister Florence Roy, according to everybody but the Mirror. Mirror."

"Florence Roy?"

"That's right, twenty-nine years old. Arrived at the order from Quebec. Our compet.i.tion's got her d.a.m.n picture online already. We've got squat. We look stupid. I don't like looking stupid, Wade."

"Listen, that name can't be right. Who confirmed it?"

"Did you even go to the scene?"

"Yes, I went to the scene. Who confirmed her name last night?"

"Neighbors, friends. Apparently, people all over this city."

"What about the Seattle PD or the ME? They complete an autopsy?"

"Get your a.s.s in here, now."

"I'm on nights, I've hardly slept."

"Get in here now."

Tension knotted Jason's stomach as he showered. After shaving, he tried reaching Grace Garner for confirmation of the name. No luck. Dressing, he fired up his laptop, scanning Web sites of Seattle news outlets, where he met the face of Sister Florence Roy and a wave of self-doubt.

How could he have been so far off the mark?

While driving to the Mirror Mirror, Jason ate two apples for breakfast. As he listened to Led Zeppelin's "Fool in the Rain," he reflected on his compet.i.tion's stories, finding some comfort in the fact n.o.body-n.o.body so far-had the angle that the homicide may be linked directly to something in the nun's past.

Whoever she was. Sister Florence. Sister Anne. Was his angle dead now?

Where would he take the story from here? He had to get a handle on it. But how? As he searched Seattle's skyline for answers, he remembered something important.

His old man.

Jason seized his cell phone, called his father but got his machine.

"It's me, I'm sorry, I'm jammed up with the story on the nun's murder. I want to talk about what's troubling you. Hang in there, okay?"

The metro editor's office was empty when Jason got to the newsroom, so he headed straight to his own desk and began working the phones, relieved when he connected with a trusted sergeant he knew.

"Man, I need help," Jason said, "Is Florence Roy the victim?"

"No. And this bull that's getting around about it is causing us grief. Good thing you held off, Wade, or you'd be off my Christmas card list."

"Great, I'm thrilled, can you tell me-wait, hold on, that's my cell. Got to take it."

Answering the call, Jason saw Eldon Reep far across the newsroom, emerging from a news meeting an unhappy man.

"Jason it's Grace returning your calls-all six of them."

"Thanks, I've got a lot of questions."

"You've got about thirty seconds."

"Who's Florence Roy?"

Grace took a moment to decide on the shape of the conversation, knowing that Jason often received information that could help, or hurt, an investigation. It was a delicate dance. "I'm off the record, got it," she said.

"Anything I use, I'll put to 'sources.'"

"Fine."

"Who's Florence?"

"She's the nun who found the victim. Some loudmouth TV reporter had called into the town house, got Florence's name from a distraught nun, got confused-got the story wrong-and now we have this mess. We're going to issue a statement clarifying things after the preliminary autopsy's done and ID's confirmed."

"When?"

"Should be later today."

"So is it Anne Braxton?"

"Don't publish Sister Braxton's name yet, Jason, until we put it out. But yes, you've got it right. The victim is Anne Louise Braxton."

"Have you notified her family yet? I'm going to start talking to people about her."

"We're sorting that out today with the sisters. Go ahead, but stay low-key."

"What was the last thing Sister Anne did before arriving at her apartment last night?"

"She'd worked at the shelter overseeing meals for street people. We're canva.s.sing there and the driver of her bus route. You could put out that we're looking for people who took that bus. I'll text you the route and time."

Jason saw Reep standing at the doorway to his office.

"Wade! Get in my office, now!"

Jason held up his hand, indicating that he was nearly done on the phone.

"Grace, do you have any suspects?"

"I've got to go, Jason."

"Me, too, but you do have a weapon-a knife, right?"

"I can't talk about those things. I'm getting another call."

"What about a link to her past? I've heard this is tied to something in her past. Maybe even gang related, something about payback?"

"We're hearing a lot of rumors. It's too soon to rule anything in or out. Sorry, I have to go."

When the call ended, Jason buried his face in his hands, thinking that at least he had something to build on. Then his office line rang.

"You've got five seconds to haul your a.s.s in here!" Reep said.

One wall in Eldon Reep's office was a theme park of "d.a.m.n-I'm-good" displays of framed photographs and front pages. Jason stood before Reep's desk. Reep glared at him, then held a quarter-inch of air between his right thumb and forefinger before his eyes.

"I'm this close to suspending you, Wade."

"For what?"