The Motive Read Online Free PDF

inspector in the city, and he said it was you.”
    “I don’t know about that,” Glitsky said, “though of course I’m flattered. But I’m not in homicide anymore, as you know. They have good people down there.”
    West stared at him for a long moment. “Abe, I don’t want to beat around the bush. I’d consider it a personal favor if you would agree to help investigate this case. Chief Batiste has agreed to assign someone else temporarily to your administrative duties, press conferences, public appearances and so on, during the interim. You’ve made no secret about how little you like that stuff. You’ll enjoy the break.”
    “And what about Cuneo?”
    “That’s a police matter, Abe. I’m confident that between you, Frank and Lieutenant Lanier, you’ll be able to come to some resolution there.”
    Glitsky looked out over the mayor’s shoulder to the citybeyond. Though it wasn’t particularly warm in the room, he had broken a light sweat and wiped a sleeve across his forehead. “Ms. Mayor,” he began.
    “Abe, please.” She held up a hand. “It was always Kathy at Lou the Greek’s,” she said. “It’s still Kathy.”
    He had the permission, but that didn’t tempt him to use it. Nodding, noncommittal, he drew a breath. “I was going to say that it’s impossible to predict where an investigation is going to lead. I’m concerned that I won’t find what you’re looking for.”
    “But I’m not looking for anything,” she said.
    “Forgive me,” he said, “but it very much sounds like you don’t want me to find that Hanover killed anybody. Or himself.”
    “No, if that’s what he did, then that’s what you’ll find. And I’ll live with it. But what I want is somebody who’ll really look. Somebody who won’t go to the press on day one and say it looks like a murder/suicide, that it looks like Hanover killed his girlfriend.”
    Glitsky chewed at one side of his cheek. “All right, then. I need to ask you something else.”
    “Of course. Anything.”
    “What was your relationship with him? Hanover?”
    The mayor’s eyes closed down. “He was a friend and a donor to my campaign.”
    “Nothing more?”
    She straightened her back. “What are you implying?”
    “I’m implying nothing. I’m asking. Call it the start of my investigation.”
    “All right, I will, and I’ll give you the same answer. He was a friend and contributor. Nothing more.”
    “All right.”
    West cocked her head to one side. “You don’t believe me?”
    “If you say it, I believe you, but you’ve got lots of friends and lots of contributors. Your interest in how one of them is remembered after his death seems a little…unusual.”
    West scratched again at her blotter. “That’s not it, how people remember him,” she said. “Or rather not all of it. Maybe it’s a corollary.” She took a minute. “What I’m getting at,” she said, “is if he didn’t do it, somebody else did—killed him, I mean.”
    “Don’t you think that would probably have been the girlfriend, Missy? I’m assuming from what I’ve heard that she was the other body.”
    “If she was, then, all right. At least we’ll know for sure. At least someone would have really investigated, and Paul deserves that.” She lowered her voice, narrowed her eyes. “I want to be satisfied that whoever killed him is either dead or caught. Call it simple revenge, but I liked the man and I don’t buy that he killed himself or anybody else. And okay, maybe it was this Missy, but if it wasn’t…”
    Glitsky jumped. “Is there any reason you think it might not have been?”
    “Like what?”
    “I don’t know. Business problems, family issues, something you’d got wind of?”
    “No. But I’d be more comfortable if the various possibilities got eliminated.” She turned a palm up. “So how about it, Abe? You want to help give a tired old lady some peace of mind?”
    It wasn’t really a request. West seemed about as tired as a hummingbird,