The Incumbent Read Online Free PDF Page B

blue when it contacts blood—even if the blood has been there for years.” He offered no more explanation.
    I nodded. “I’ve seen it on television. And you say you found no indication of blood?”
    “Just the four drops on the card.” He paused, studying me through those dark eyes. “Chief Webb said he told you about that. Is that correct?”
    “Yes.”
    “I don’t know about it,” Celeste said. Her eyes were wide and there was alarm in her voice. The word blood could have that effect.
    “I’m sorry, I assumed you knew, since you were in the house,” I explained.
    “They didn’t let me go past the foyer. They made me stand just inside the door.”
    “We have to be careful with the crime scene,” West said. “I know it must have been hard.”
    “What about the blood? You found blood?”
    “Just a little,” I said.
    “Four drops.” West shifted in his seat. He told her about how the drops of blood were arranged on my business card.
    “I don’t get it,” Celeste said.
    “Neither do we.” He turned to me. “Do you have any idea why someone would put blood on your business card?”
    “As I told Chief Webb, many people have my card. Lisa worked on my last two campaigns. I imagine she had several. Whoever did this probably just grabbed what was at hand and that happened to be my card.”
    West shook his head. “It’s a little more complex than that . . . a little more premeditated. We found several other cards on the table where we found yours. There was one for her attorney, one from her business, and a few other miscellaneous cards. They were set to the side, as if someone had dropped them there . . . as if someone had gone through a stack of cards, looking for one in particular.”
    “My mother kept those kinds of things in the drawer of the china cabinet,” Celeste said. “It’s near the phone.”
    “The drawer to the cabinet was partially open when we got there. The cards lay on the dining room table. Have you been in the house, Mayor?”
    “Once, but it’s been quite a while.”
    “Then you might remember that the living room opens to the dining area. The table and china hutch are in the dining room. How long has it been since you’ve visited Ms. Truccoli?”
    “It was for a fund-raiser for my mayoral race, so it has to be over two years ago.”
    He pursed his lips and nodded.
    “What’s that nod mean?” I was suddenly feeling suspicious.
    “It means that we shouldn’t find any of your fingerprints.”
    “What! My fingerprints?”
    West raised a steady hand. “We have to follow up on all possibilities, Mayor. That’s all. No one is saying you’re involved, but if we don’t do a complete job, we might overlook something. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”
    “Of course not.”
    “Have you ever been fingerprinted?”
    “No.” I didn’t like where this was going. The rational part of my brain understood the need for thoroughness, but another part of me was insulted by the implication. “Well, just my finger for the DMV.”
    “Just so we can say we did our job, we’ll need to take some impressions. It won’t take long and you can do it while you’re down at City Hall. You are going to your office today, right?”
    No, I dressed up for you! I chastised myself. This wasn’t personal; it was an investigation. If we had been talking about someone else, I would have been in hearty agreement. “I’ll do it this morning.”
    “Thank you.” West let slip a smile. “We’ll be sensitive to your . . . special public needs.”
    “What?” Celeste asked. “I don’t understand.”
    “Detective West is saying that he understands what it could do to my career as mayor if word got out that I was being fingerprinted for a criminal case. In politics, being innocent means nothing; appearing above reproach is everything.”
    “Oh.” Poor Celeste was getting a lesson in real-world adult life, much faster than anyone her age should.
    I looked at West. He seemed as cool and