‘You argued, in fact. In a heated manner.’
‘We didn’t argue. We discussed a technical matter. It wasn’t heated.’
‘But the bottom line is you wanted Colonel Moorcroft to do something for you, and he refused to do it. Is that a fair summary?’
Reacher said, ‘What exactly is this about?’
Podolski said, ‘It’s about Colonel Moorcroft getting beaten half to death, late this morning, in southeast D.C. On my streets.’
FIFTEEN
PODOLSKI TOOK OUT a notebook and a pen, and he laid them neatly on the table, and he said, ‘You should have a lawyer here.’
Reacher said, ‘I wasn’t in southeast D.C. today. Or any other part. I didn’t even cross the river.’
‘Do you want a lawyer?’
‘I already have a lawyer. Two of them, actually. They’re not much use to me. In fact one of them in particular seems to be doing me no good at all.’
‘Major Sullivan, you mean?’
‘She left before the conversation was over. Moorcroft was going to file the paperwork. He agreed just after Sullivan was gone.’
‘That’s convenient.’
‘It’s also true. Is Moorcroft saying different?’
‘Moorcroft isn’t saying anything. He’s in a coma.’
Reacher said nothing.
‘You had a car, didn’t you?’ Podolski asked. ‘A blue Chevrolet sedan, borrowed from the 110th HQ.’
‘So what?’
‘You could have grabbed Moorcroft up and driven him across the river.’
‘Could have, I suppose, but didn’t.’
‘It was a brutal attack.’
‘If you say so.’
‘I do say so. There must have been blood everywhere.’
Reacher nodded. ‘Brutal attacks and blood everywhere tend to go hand in hand.’
‘Tell me about your clothes.’
‘What clothes?’
‘The clothes you’re wearing.’
Reacher looked down. ‘They’re new. I just bought them.’
‘Where?’
‘At a strip mall two blocks from my motel.’
‘Why did you buy them?’
She’ll be out and about before long.
‘It was time,’ Reacher said.
‘Were your old clothes dirty?’
‘I suppose.’
‘Did you get something on them?’
‘Like what?’
‘Blood, for instance.’
‘No, there was no blood on them.’
‘Where are they now?’
Reacher said nothing.
Podolski said, ‘We talked to the clerk at your motel. He said you made a point of asking for your trash to be emptied.’
‘I didn’t really make a point.’
‘But still, he emptied your trash. Like you asked him to. Just before the garbage truck came. So now, your old clothes are gone.’
‘Coincidence.’
‘That’s convenient,’ Podolski said again. ‘Isn’t it?’
Reacher didn’t reply.
Podolski said, ‘The clerk checked the clothes. He’s that kind of guy. They were too big for him, of course, but they might have had some value. But they didn’t. Too dirty, he said. And too stained. Including with what looked like blood to him.’
‘Not Moorcroft’s,’ Reacher said.
‘Whose, then?’
‘I’d been wearing them a long time. I have a hard life.’
‘You fight a lot?’
‘As little as possible. But sometimes I cut myself shaving.’
‘You showered, too, didn’t you?’
‘When?’
‘When you trashed the clothes. The motel clerk said you asked him for new towels.’
‘Yes, I showered.’
‘Do you normally shower twice a day?’
‘Sometimes.’
‘Was there a particular reason, today?’
She’ll be out and about before long.
Reacher said, ‘No particular reason.’
‘To rinse the blood, maybe?’
‘I wasn’t bleeding.’
‘If we checked the drain, what would we find?’
‘Dirty water,’ Reacher said.
‘You sure about that?’
‘The whole room is dirty.’
‘You’re facing a homicide charge right now, is that correct? From sixteen years ago? Juan Rodriguez? Some guy you beat up?’
‘False accusation.’
‘I’ve heard that before. Which is what Colonel Moorcroft said too, isn’t it? Major Sullivan told me you mentioned the matter to him. But he wasn’t sympathetic. Did that make you angry?’
‘It made me a little frustrated.’
‘Yes, it must get tiring, being so widely misunderstood.’
Reacher said, ‘How bad is Moorcroft?’
‘Feeling guilty now?’
‘I’m feeling concerned, about him and his client.’
‘I heard you never even met the woman.’
‘Should that make a difference?’
‘The doctors say Moorcroft might wake up at some point. No one can say when, or what state he’ll be in when he does. If he does.’
Reacher said, ‘I was at the 110th HQ part of the morning.’
Podolski nodded. ‘For about twenty minutes total. We checked. What were you doing the rest of the morning?’
‘Walking.’
‘Where?’
‘Here and there.’
‘Anyone see you walking?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘That’s convenient,’ Podolski said, for the third time.
‘You’re talking to the wrong guy, detective. Last I saw of Moorcroft, he was making his way out of the OC dining room right here, happy as a clam. Whoever attacked him is running around out there, laughing at you, while you’re wasting your time with me.’
‘In other words, some other dude did it?’
‘Obviously.’
‘I’ve heard that before,’ Podolski said again.
‘You ever been wrong?’
‘Doesn’t matter. What matters is, am I wrong now? And I don’t think I am. I’ve got a guy with a history of violence, who was seen arguing with the victim right before the time of the crime, and who dumped a full set of clothes right after the time of the crime, and took his second shower of the day, and who had access to a vehicle, and whose movements aren’t entirely accounted for. You were a cop, correct? What would you do?’
‘I would find the right guy. I’m sure I saw that written down somewhere.’
‘Suppose the right guy says he’s the wrong guy?’
‘Happened all the time. You have to use your judgement.’
‘I am.’
‘Pity,’ Reacher said.
‘Show me your hands.’
Reacher put his hands on the table, flat, palms down. They looked big and tan, and worn and rough. Both sets of knuckles were very slightly pink, and very slightly swollen. From the night before. The two guys, in the T-shirts. The left hook, and the right uppercut. Big impacts. Not the biggest ever, but solid. Podolski stared for a long time.
‘Inconclusive,’ he said. ‘Maybe you used a weapon. A blunt instrument of some kind. The doctors will tell me.’
Reacher said, ‘So what next?’
‘That’s the DA’s decision. In the meantime you’ll come with me. I want you locked up downtown.’
The room went quiet, and then Espin spoke for the first time.
‘No,’ he said. ‘Unacceptable. He stays here. Our homicide beats your felony assault.’
Podolski said, ‘This morning beats sixteen years ago.’
Espin said, ‘Possession is nine points of the law. We’ve got him. You don’t. Imagine the paperwork.’
Podolski didn’t answer.
Espin said, ‘But you can come over and talk to him any time you want.’
‘Will he be locked up?’ Podolski asked.