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“What can I do for you, darling?” he asked.
“You can get us into the church,” Patricia Payne said. “I am not on the family list, nor do we have invitations.”
“My God!” Coughlin said, and turned to the lieutenant, who handed him his clipboard.
“You keep that,” Coughlin said. “And you personally usher the Paynes inside and seat them wherever they want to sit.”
“Yes, sir. Chief ...”
“Just do it, Lieutenant,” Coughlin said. “Brewster, I’m sorry . . .”
“We know what happened, Dennis,” Brewster Payne said. “Thank you for your courtesy.”
****
The pallbearers waited to be summoned behind Saint Dominic’s, in a small grassy area between the church and the fence of the church cemetery.
Wohl took the opportunity to speak to the Jersey trooper lieutenant.
“I’m Peter Wohl,” he said, walking up to him and extending his hand.
“Bob McGrory,” the lieutenant said. “I heard Dutch talk about you.”
“All bad?”
“He said you had all the makings of a good Highway Patrolman, and then went bad and took the examination for lieutenant.”
“Dutch really liked Highway,” Wohl said. “And they liked him. One of his sergeants rolled on the ‘assist officer’ call, found out that Dutch was involved, and called in every Highway Patrol car in the city.”
“Dutch was a good guy. Goddamned shame, this,” McGrory said.
“Yeah,” Wohl agreed. “Mind if I ask you something else?”
“Go ahead.”
“We’ve got a homicide. Son of a very important man. His car, a Jaguar, turned up missing. Then I heard they found it in Jersey. You know anything about that?”
“Major Knotts found it,” McGrory said. “On his way over here last night. It was on a dirt road off Three Twenty-two.”
“Do you know if they turned up anything? Besides the car?” Wohl asked.
“Knotts told me that when they got the NCIC hit, and then heard from you guys, he ordered the mobile crime lab in. And they were supposed to have people out there this morning, when it was light, to have a look around the area.”
“You usually do that when you find a hot car?”
“No, but the word was ‘homicide,’ “ McGrory said. Then he added, “Inspector, if they found anything interesting, I’m sure they would have passed it on to you. And probably to me, too. I mean, they knew Dutch and I were close.”
“Yeah, I’m sure they would have,” Wohl said, and started to say something else when someone spoke his name.
He turned
and saw Sergeant Jankowitz, Commissioner Czernick’s aide.
“Hello, Jank,” Wohl said. “This is Lieutenant McGrory. Sergeant Jankowitz, Commissioner Czernick’s indispensable right-hand man.”
The two shook hands.
“Inspector Wohl,” Jankowitz said, formally, “Commissioner Czernick would like to see you in his office at two this afternoon.”
