George wanted to add that he hoped Jagger had never laid a hand on either Tammy or Rosalie. He knew better than to do it though. The man was gone, and no matter what he had or hadn’t done, they were free of him now. No use waking sleeping dogs. Or dead ones.
“Always so loud. He stomped and screamed, always screamed. I hated it, hated it so much. Now it’s quiet again, so good. He’s gone forever.” Tammy grinned. “You like the music? Celeste says it’s sad music, but I think it’s soothing.”
Andi nodded. “My gran used to listen to this kind of music. And yes, it sounds sad, but ultimately the message is one of solace—once death takes you, you go to paradise.”
“The man made music to this song.” Tammy nodded.
“Which man?” George asked before thinking.
“The man in the movie. Celeste showed me. I don’t understand it. It’s the same as the words in the song, but I liked the man. His eyes turned yellow, and his ears bled, and then he heard everything.”
“Tammy, what have you been watching? Do I have to talk to Celeste?” Rosalie was now wringing her hands in front of her body, getting more and more agitated.
“Don’t worry. If it’s the film I think it is, there’s nothing too bad going on.” Andi looked at Tammy. “The man, he has dark hair, to his shoulders, doesn’t he? And he goes to a town and plays the organ in a church?”
“Yes! He wins! Because he can hear everything!” Tammy said triumphantly.
“It’s a good film. Thank you for talking to us, Tammy.”
“It wasn’t difficult. You listened.” With that, she turned around, shut the door, and a moment later, the music started anew.
“I’m so sorry, she’s?—”
“It’s fine, Miss Byrnes. And don’t worry about the film. It’s called Schlafes Bruder, just like the choral, and it tells the story of a musical prodigy in the early 1800s in Austria. There’s a book as well, and the author is Robert Schneider.”
“Oh, well, if you say it’s fine.”
“It’s a sad story about not finding one’s place in life, but it’s not harmful.” Andi tried to smile. A sure sign he wasn’t telling the whole truth. Before Rosalie could get another word in, George offered her his hand to shake.
“Thank you, Miss Byrnes, for your help. Should we find anything new, we’ll keep you informed.”
She took his hand and nodded. “Thank you, detective. It’s nice to know that somebody cares.”
The words resonated like a bell in George’s mind. If Agent DeCapristo weren’t on a power trip to further her career, nobody would have cared about the death of a small-time criminal like Mr. Thomasin. George himself wouldn’t have cared too much. He didn’t like what it said about the police as a whole and himself in particular.
They left the apartment building and went back to the Escalade. When they were seated, Andi turned to him. “You can’t save them all, and you can’t know everything. You have to make decisions based on what you know. We all do. Sometimes, we’re wrong. Sometimes, we’re right. That’s just how it is.”
“I know.” George sighed, simply accepting the fact that his partner knew exactly what was going on in his head. “It’s just a sobering thought. Nobody would have cared about Thomasin if it weren’t for an agent and her drive to get a leg up in the world.”
“Then let’s be glad DeCapristo is in the picture this time. We still don’t know for sure if this whole thing isn’t just a very unfortunate accumulation of coincidences.”
“There are no coincidences.”
Andi shrugged. “Even Gibbs could be wrong?”
George snorted. Before he could answer, though, Andi’s cell rang. In his usual fashion, his partner had forgotten where he’d put the thing and had to search both his jacket pockets as well as the inside pocket before he found it. Luckily for them, it was Evangeline Melcourt, coroner extraordinaire, calling them. She was used to Andi’s delayed reactions.
“Manuia le aso, Andi, George. You’ve been busy.”
“A good afternoon to you too, Evangeline. I guess Gelman has contacted you about Jagger Thomasin?” George put his hands on the steering wheel without starting the motor yet. They could also have this conversation while they were still standing.
“Yes, he has. The body will be at my lab the day after tomorrow. What kind of trouble are you in now? Usually it takes a lot longer to transfer a body from one jurisdiction to another. You’re lucky he hasn’t been prepared for burial yet or, worse, already incinerated.”
“We’re not in any kind of trouble. You know us. We never are.” George winked at Andi.
“Uh, that’s still Andi sitting next to you, not some imposter who has stolen his cell?” Evangeline sounded amused.
“Yeah, why?”
