TRUSTED LIKE THE FOX

chapter 18

"It's the police," I said. "He's coming in here!"

Delphina picked up a cloth and wiped her hands.

"I'll handle him," she said. She was as calm and as unruffled as a bishop presiding at a tea party. "It's all right, John."

It was easy for her to be calm. She hadn't to face Sentinel. The sight of that fat police froze my blood.

Both Caleb and I stood aside, and we watched her walk into the lunch room. As the door swung shut behind her, I heard her say, "Why, hello, police, you're quite a stranger."

I felt sweat on my face as I leaned against the wall, listening. Caleb stood on the other side of the door, also listening and watching me.

"Hello there, Mrs, nice to see you." The cop had a booming voice that carried easily to us. "Is Mr. Cooper around? I wanted a word with him."

"Why, no. Perry is away."

Delphina voice sounded casual. I imagined her facing the cop, her green eyes bland, and her expression unruffled. It would take a lot more than a fat cop to rattle her, but he was certainly rattling me.

"Mr. Cooper —away?" His voice registered his startled surprise. "That's an event, isn't it? I've never known him to leave here before. Where can I find him?"

"I don't know." She managed to convey by the tone of her voice that she didn't care either. "He's moving around—anyway, that's what he told me. He is supposed to be either in Cuba. Since he left, I haven't heard a word from him."

"Any idea when he'll be back?"

A pause, then she said in a cold, flat voice, "I don't think he is coming back."

I heard the cop's grunt of surprise.

"Not coming back? What do you mean?"

"He's walked out on me."

There was a long pause. I could imagine him staring at her and getting a blank stare in return. I looked across at Caleb, who was listening with the same intenseness as I was. Our eyes met. He frowned, shaking his head.

The cop said, "Well, this is a surprise. What makes you say that?"

"It's not the first time a husband has found someone else he likes better than his wife." She managed now to get a waspish note in her voice. "What business is it of yours anyway, cop? If Perry likes to make a fool of himself over some woman, that's my headache, not yours."

I heard him shuffle his feet.

"That's a fact, Mrs. Cooper, but I'm sorry to hear it. Some woman, huh?"

"Oh, I suppose it is as much my fault as his. I shouldn't have married him. It was too good to be true. Well, at least he did the decent thing: he left me this place. I won't starve. What did you want to see him about? Anything I can do?"

The cop cleared his throat noisily.

"I understand there's a fella working here—Carlos Parker. Is that right?"

My heart began to thump violently. I looked quickly around the kitchen for a weapon. There was a meat cleaver lying on the table. I reached out and grabbed it. I wasn't going back to Sentinel. If this fat cop imagined he could take me, he was in for a surprise.

Caleb, watching me, shook his head. He had lost color. Maybe he could see from the expression on my face that I wasn't going to be arrested without a fight.

Maybe the sight of the cop's gun scared him: it didn't scare me. I would rather be shot than face Sentinel.

I heard Delphina say, "Carlos? Why, yes. He works here. Perry hired him before he left. I have to have someone here to help out."