Day of Confession Read Online Free PDF Page A

Italian. Roscani hesitated. Then Pio said something else. Roscani relented and they went out.
    Harry watched the door close behind them and turned away. The long-haired woman at the keyboard was staring at him. Ignoring her, he walked to the window. It was something to do. Through its heavy glass he could see the narrow cobblestone street below and across it a brick building. At the far end was what looked like a fire station. It felt like a prison.
    What the hell had he walked into? What if they were right and Danny had been involved with the assassination? But that was crazy. Or was it? As a teenager Danny had had problems with the law. Not much, but some, like a lot of restless kids. Petty theft, vandalism, fighting, just generally getting into trouble. It was one of the reasons he had gone into the marines, as a way to get some discipline in his life. But that had been years ago; he was a grown man when he died and had been a priest for a long time. To envision him as a killer was impossible. Yet—and Harry didn’t want to think about it, but it was true—he would have learned how in the Marine Corps. And then there was the phone call. What if that had been why he had called. What if he had done it and there was no one else he could talk to?
    There was a sound and the door opened and Pio came in alone. Harry looked past him, waiting for Roscani to follow but he didn’t.
    “You have hotel reservations, Mr. Addison?”
    “Yes.”
    “Where?”
    “At the Hassler.”
    “I will arrange to have your luggage taken there.” Reaching into his jacket, Pio took out Harry’s passport and handed it to him. “You’ll need it when you check in.”
    Harry stared at him. “I can go…?”
    “You must be tired—from your grief and from your flight.” Pio smiled gently. “And from a confrontation with the police you were hardly prepared for. From our view necessary perhaps, but not very hospitable. I would like to explain what has happened and what is happening…. Just the two of us, Mr. Addison… . A quiet place at the end of the street. Do you like Chinese?”
    Harry kept staring. Good cop, bad cop. Just like in the U.S. And right now Pio was the good one, the friend on Harry’s side. It was why Roscani had led the questioning. But it was clear they weren’t quite done with him and this was their way of continuing it. What it meant was, bottom line, he had no choice.
    “Yeah,” he said finally, “I like Chinese.”

6
    “ MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Addisons ”
    HARRY COULD STILL SEE THE CARD, THE DECorated tree in the background, the posed faces smiling from it, everyone wearing a Santa Claus hat. He had a copy of it somewhere at home, tucked in a drawer, its once bright colors slowing fading, now almost pastels. It was the last time they were all together. His mother and father would have been in their mid-thirties. He was eleven, Danny eight, and their sister, Madeline, almost six. Her sixth birthday came on January first, and two weeks later she died.
    It was a Sunday afternoon, bright and clear and very cold. He and Danny and Madeline were playing on a frozen pond near their home. Some older kids were nearby playing hockey. Several of them skated toward them, chasing after the puck.
    Harry could still hear the sharp crack of the ice. It was like a pistol shot. He saw the hockey players stop short. And then the ice just broke away where Madeline was. She never made a sound, just went under. Harry screamed to Danny to run for help, and he threw off his coat and went in after her. But there was nothing but icy black.
    It was nearly dark when the fire department divers brought her up, the sky beyond the leafless trees behind them a streak of red.
    Harry and Danny and their mother and father waited with a priest in the snow as they came across the ice toward them. The fire chief, a tall man with a mustache, had taken her body from the divers and wrapped it in a blanket and held it in his arms as he led the