One Through the Heart Read Online Free

their little Cold Case Unit office. Ben suggested they use the kitchen with its long table as a place to talk and Neilley shook his head. He started to point a finger and fought the impulse. He rested a hand on Raveneau’s desk.
    ‘No, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it right. Let’s talk in an interview room with the tape running and I want a copy of the tape afterwards. I want your word on that and I don’t want to get broadsided with questions about a case that’s eight or nine years old. Ben, I know what it was to you, but for me it was just another murder investigation. I don’t remember all the details of every case I worked and I don’t have anything on this one that’s not already in the files.’
    ‘No problem, Hugh, we’ll videotape you. We’ll do it in an interview room.’
    Neilley glared at him but thought,
just calm down. You’re making too much of this
. He followed them to the interview box and Raveneau made a show of turning on the tape before they went in.
    ‘Coffee, Hugh?’
    ‘Nothing for me but let me ask you a question before we get started.’
    ‘Go ahead.’
    ‘Is it right for you to be on this investigation, Ben? You talked for years about how you let her down by missing that phone call. You were very affected and I can say that as your friend. I think you still are. If you ask me, you’re too close to the case. Why don’t you give it to somebody else? You’ve got a couple of other inspectors on your Cold Case Unit, right? What do you think about that?’
    ‘Time has gone by, Hugh.’
    ‘Not for you.’
    But he was never going to rattle Raveneau, though Raveneau wouldn’t like that comment sitting there right at the start of the videotape, and Neilley stayed with it until Raveneau cut him off.
    ‘How did you get the demolition work at Lash’s house?’
    ‘Are you kidding, we’re going to talk about my side business?’
    ‘We’re not here for that but I’m curious.’
    Neilley took a deep breath. ‘I bid for the work, Ben. That’s how it works out in the big world. You’re not that far away from retirement and you’re going to need something yourself because it’s guaranteed they’ll cut our pensions. Otherwise you’ll end up working part time as a bank security guard or worse. Do you want to greet people when they come in to make their deposits and chase away assholes parking in the bank lot while they do their other shopping?’
    ‘I want to know if you had any reservations about taking the job.’
    ‘None.’
    ‘Nothing?’
    ‘Don’t get sanctimonious with me. I got a call from the contractor. We’ve done other work for him and I wasn’t going to turn him down. If I do that, someone else gets the job. I recognized the address – of course I recognized the address – but it’s just a house now. I met him on-site and we walked the project on a Saturday when I wasn’t at Southern. I looked in the guest cottage and there was nothing in it but an old bed and some furniture. It’s just another remodeling project. There was nothing to say she ever lived there and obviously I didn’t know about the bomb shelter.’
    ‘Did you talk with your nephew?’
    ‘About what?’
    ‘About why he waited to report what he found in the bomb shelter.’
    ‘I talked to him and I’m going to talk to him more about it. He made a bad decision and I apologize for it. We’re behind on the job and the contractor is pressuring us. He’s threatening to backcharge us because his contract with the client has got a tight time frame. Matt didn’t want the guys getting distracted by a police investigation. He wanted to get done in that area and then call the police. That’s what he did. He finished with the garden shed and cottage and moved the crew back up to the house.’
    ‘He told me he didn’t touch anything when he was inside the bomb shelter.’
    ‘He’s got his issues but he doesn’t lie.’
    ‘He lied to me.’
    ‘How do you know that?’
    ‘I saw his