Page 201 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Jury-rigged

So he just barricades himself in his room at night and drinks himself
into a stupor. Mr. Carr, whom I interviewed next, also appeared
drawn and haggard. For the sake of the survivors, I’m glad this case is
just about to conclude.”
Labelle was a lifetime member of Unsympathetics Anonymous, so
I hoped she didn’t think I was being insincere. If I could suppress my
desire to jump up and run by some means other than being too
verbally expressive for her unemotional mind, this might go faster.
She was on the last page of notes, and it was almost noon.
“Just to be certain, Duncan, Curtis E. Carr once again spent the
night alone in his back-room apartment?”
“Yes. He showed me the precautions he is taking: all sorts of locks,
bolts, bars and burglar alarms. But once a person is scared, no
amount of assurance is going to restore his confidence and sense of
well-being. He wanted to know if we were making any progress on
catching the perpetrator, and I was at least able to tell him that the
Simulian family would soon have another empty chair at reunions.”
“Duncan, that sort of revelation should not be made by the police.
Procedural guidelines must be observed.”
Frankly, I was sick of hearing about guidelines. She pushed the
envelope and got away with it owing to her percentage of
convictions. My time had come, and I felt I could enjoy the same
latitude. Carr was not about to file a lawsuit against the department
for giving him a little aid and comfort.
“Finally, Eva Reddy.” Labelle put down my notes. “It was difficult
to locate the young woman. Serious delirium tremens incapacitated
her, and the YWCA had to send for an ambulance. Her downward
spiral has ended, for the time being, in a locked ward at County
Hospital.”
“Right, right. Even Super-Simulian couldn’t get at her there. Now,
really, Lieutenant, could I get some lunch and see if the information
from Kiev has arrived? Then we can go put the cuffs on Hannibal.
I’m keeping particularly close tabs on him.”
She looked up, inscrutable as a bright red banner headline. “All
right, Duncan. I need to look into a few things while you’re gone.
Then we’ll go make an arrest.”
Pronouns notwithstanding, I would get the real credit. If she
wanted to take on Hannibal in the always-likely event he became

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