2 in the Hat Read Online Free PDF Page A

pleasure?”
    “Happened to be in the neighborhood on a Monday morning. Thought I’d stop for a cup of joe.” Alves took a sip of his coffee. “Saw my old boss tucked away in the corner and thought I’d come over and say hello.”
    Mooney shook his head. “What’s wrong with you? You don’t come into the Greenhills Irish Bakery and order a coffee.” Mooney stood and grabbed the full cup out of his hand and stuffed it into a trash barrel.Alves sat patiently until Mooney came back with two teas with milk and sugar and two raisin scones with butter and jam.
    “Irish breakfast?” Alves asked.
    “This is the light version. You should see what the painters and plasterers eat.” Mooney broke off a piece of his scone and chewed it. He stared at Alves long enough to make him uncomfortable. “Why are you here, Angel?”
    “Double murder last night.”
    “I heard. Two white kids murdered in Franklin Park. Not good for the city’s image. Drug deal gone bad?”
    Alves shook his head.
    “Funny thing. I heard that the bodies were discovered by a homicide-detective-turned-Pop-Warner-Football-coach. Angel, you’re not ready for Homicide if you have time for your family.”
    “This is what I miss about you,” Alves snapped. “You know how to lay on the guilt whenever I try to be a good father. We’ll talk later about my lack of a work ethic, or, what do you call it…Irish guilt.”
    “There has to be something more to you stopping in Adams Village for a cup of coffee.”
    “I didn’t find the bodies. Iris did. The kids were doing a lap after practice when she found the girl.”
    “I’m sorry,” Mooney said. The ruddiness of his face deepened and Alves knew he was angry. “How is she?”
    “Pretty shaken. The first full week of school starts today. She went in, but we’ve asked them to keep an eye on her. We deal with so many kids who witness things that no child should have to see. I tried to shelter the twins, and then last night …”
    “This wasn’t your fault,” Mooney waved him off. “You moved your family to a nice neighborhood in J.P., a safe neighborhood. But you can’t shelter them from the world.” Mooney took a long gulp of his tea. “How did the case end up getting assigned to you? Because you found the bodies?”
    “My squad was on call last night. I was on-scene, the case is mine.”
    “Why are you sitting here having breakfast with me? Shouldn’t you be meeting with your sergeant? I’m not your boss anymore.”
    “I need to make a confession,” Alves said. “I miss working with you. As much as I hated you breaking my chops and trying to destroy my marriage, I know you did it because you cared about the victims. You tried to make me a better homicide detective. And you always had my back.”
    “Your new sergeant doesn’t have your back?”
    Alves didn’t respond.
    “Who is he?”
    “Duncan Pratt.”
    “Never heard of him.”
    “Exactly,” Alves said. “He’s an okay guy, but his heart’s not in it. He doesn’t know anything about homicide investigations. I’m told he found some good places to hide and study for the sergeant’s exam. He had no trouble getting higher scores than the guys that were out working the streets. And he’s tight with the mayor.”
    “How does he know Dolan?”
    “Grew up together.”
    “Politics,” Mooney said. He shook his head and laughed, an angry laugh. “No one else up in Homicide you can talk to?”
    “It’s not an ordinary double murder.”
    “I didn’t know there was such a thing as an
ordinary
double murder.” Mooney took another bite of the scone, brushing the crumbs into a little heap on the sheet of waxed paper that served as a plate.
    “Two kids, high school or college-aged. We haven’t ID’d them yet. Maybe boyfriend and girlfriend. Dressed for a night on the town. Like they were going to a black tie affair at Symphony Hall or a prom.” Alves watched Mooney’s facial expression change as he stopped chewing. “The