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before. A mother killer. You think that might put a woman off having a baby, just on the off chance that matricide was genetic?
Perhaps. By your description, Harry Kipling seems harmless enough.
And he s just the type to panic. All the testosterone in his marriage is Angel s.
They sat in silence throughout an hour of Mallory fastforwarding tapes and stopping the action to have a closer look. Over the two weeks of tape, he
noted a growing tension in Heart.
Now watch the judge lie to this reporter.
A young woman approached him, smiling brightly, and the judge beamed down on her with his most avuncular smile. He was the man every boy
and girl wanted for a daddy.
I m going to wrap this up on the twenty-sixth, said Mallory. And this conversation is between us, not us and Coffey and Riker.
How can you orchestrate the day? You don t even know which one it is.
Oh, not just the day. I can even plot the moment roughly.
How?
I was always in charge of him, Charles. When I get him on camera, I start pushing his buttons. I ve got the usual buttons for Franz and Kipling. I m
going to get the judge in motion by telling him that I m going to get the paperwork to dig up his mother.
Slope won t support
I don t need Slope s permission to dig up a dead mother.
Indeed, she didn t seem to need anyone. You have a favorite, don t you?
She ignored this.
I m going to wrap him up for the DA on the day after Christmas.
Is it me you re wrapping up? asked a small voice behind them.
Justin Riccalo stood in the doorway. The boy was staring from one to the other. Is it me?
Does that worry you? asked Mallory. She didn t wait on his answer, but turned her back on the boy. Charles, when little kids can just walk into the
building, I d say we had a security problem.
Charles looked down at the boy. How did you get in, Justin? Why didn t you use the intercom?
I walked in with an old man on crutches. He dropped his package, so I carried it in for him. It seemed kind of silly to go back outdoors and use the
intercom. It s cold out there.
Mugridge let you in? Mallory seemed skeptical and with good reason. The elderly Mugridge was the most security conscious person in the
building.
Yes, ma am. I did knock on the office door. You probably didn t hear me.
There s a buzzer on the door, said Mallory.
In an effort to ward off any further interrogation by Mallory, Charles ushered the boy into his own office and pulled the door shut.
Mallory hates me, doesn t she, Mr Butler?
She s suspicious of everyone, even me. Don t take it personally. What can I do for you, Justin?
I wondered if we could go back to the cellar.
I didn t think you would want to. Not after
Yes, I would. I think I do like magic after all.
Your parents don t mind you missing a morning of school?
School s out. It s Christmas vacation.
Of course. It was Christmas Eve. Where was his mind?
Well, I ll just give them a call to let them know where you are.
I wish you wouldn t do that. I m supposed to be at the Tanner School right now.
But you just
I am on Christmas vacation. The Tanner School is warehousing me for the day. It s a holiday program for working parents. My parents are doing
the cocktail circuit this afternoon. Every corporation in town is having their Christmas parties. So they think I m at school.
The boy sat on the edge of the straight-back chair, his wriggling feet not quite touching the carpet. His hands gripped either side of the wooden
seat, as though unsure of the chair s intention to remain stationary.
I see. How would Robert Riccalo react to his son s truancy? Not well. You know, I did want another chance to talk to you alone. I have an idea that
your parents make you a little nervous.
You have a gift for understatement, Mr Butler. They both drive me right up the wall. Your partner makes me nervous, too. She thinks I m doing it. You
don t believe in this levitation crap, do you?
Oh, I don t believe anyone is levitating anything. Humanity has enough bizarre problems without dragging in the occult. Parapsychology is a non-
science as far as I m concerned. But I do think one of you is rather good at illusion. Or maybe not. Even if it was a slipshod job, who looks for the
obvious thread when a sharp object is flying toward them?
I m betting on my stepmother.
But she seems to be the target.
I think she s using this to turn my father against me. He doesn t even like me any more. He avoids looking at me. And she s already gotten to your
partner. One day, I saw Sally talking to her on the street. I know she turned Mallory against me.
Where was this?
In front of her apartment house, the Coventry Arms.
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