Page 50 - Labelle Gramercy, Detective

Road Kill

So I found a question I thought would get her talking, although
the answer to it really didn’t matter to me. “By the way, Labelle, why
didn’t you have me meet you at the Peace Corps office? It’s a lot
closer to the scene of the accident.”
“Oh,” she sounded startled, as if her mind had been very far away.
“I guess I didn’t tell you. I’ve already been to the Peace Corps office
tonight. That was my first stop after Amadou radioed me. I talked to
a few people there, found out what I needed to know, and had the
call placed to the embassy to get the duty officer—you—to meet me
at Durer’s house.”
“You didn’t want to go immediately to the scene? Sally might still
have been alive.”
She ignored the implied rebuke. “But I did go there first. I
examined the body and waited until the investigating team showed
up. Then I went to meet you; that’s why you got there first.”
“I see,” I said, although I didn’t. She enlightened me.
“Look,” she said earnestly, “I’m going to need your cooperation
because the victim is an American. As far as I can determine, you are
the most competent person in the embassy. If you are willing to back
me, I think we can get to the bottom of this.”
I was taken aback, both flattered and insulted. “My job, as you
probably are aware, does not include involvement with local police
matters. You should talk to Harry Hofbrauer if you need support.”
“Oh, I will. He knows what I’m trying to accomplish at the
ministry, and he has no complaints. But you have authority over the
American community at large. If my inquiries take me beyond the
Peace Corps and the Falidougou police, I’ll need your help. Will you
help me?”
Generally, an older man will not say no to such a request from a
young woman, but I was on my guard. An hour with Labelle had
taught me a few lessons.
“I will not deny you any assistance my office can legally render
you or any official of the Jolibanan government in the execution of
his or her duties. You evidently are seeking an explanation for her
death other than a simple hit-and-run.”
She may have breathed a sigh of relief. The car was too noisy to
permit that specific an identification of that soft a sound. “All right,
Mr. Tate. I think you can be of service to this investigation, and I

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