Kay closed her eyes to the sun. It was October, election day soon, but still it warmed. You take the good days you get.
—
Come Monday the sky remained high and cloudless and the air clear. It stayed that way until dusk, when a couple of lonely clouds appeared. They seemed so high up they must have come from outer space, with the sun tingeing them blue and emerald green. From where Bob was standing, phone to his ear and leaning against the Volvo as he looked over the downtown skyline on the far side of the river, the massed buildings looked like a ragged iceberg against a background of orange fire. He’d thought a lot about Mike Lunde over the weekend. Seeing the city buildings in that way, like a work of art, led him to think back over some of the smaller details of the case. The way Mike had said an anonymous artist had apparently exhibited in Arb Park. Referring to it like that, did that mean Mike Lunde himself was Anonymous? Well, that was just one of many questions surrounding the case he knew he would probably never get the answer to. Anyway, now it wastime to put it all behind him and move on. Because, really, that was the only way.
Finally the call was answered.
“Hello, Bob.”
“Hi, Alice. Thanks for the messages over the weekend. Sorry about the very brief replies, it’s been a busy weekend tying up loose ends in the Lunde case. I’ve done nothing but sleep and work.”
“I understand, and the most important thing of all is that you’re okay. But remember that your body knows how close you were to losing your life. That’s a heavy psychological blow, even if you don’t feel it right now. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress can come—”
“—later on. Much later.” He finished the sentence for her. “Thanks, Alice, I remember you saying that. And thanks for what you said about the pills too. It really helped.”
“Good.” He could hear she was smiling.
“But talking about most important things…” he said.
“We’ve been to the hospital, got back home just now.”
“And?”
“It’s a girl. They say she looks healthy and well.”
“That is so good to hear,” said Bob. “So good. So…” He swallowed. “You’ve made me very happy, Alice.”
Silence for a few moments.
“Thank you,” she said quietly, and he could hear in her voice that she was crying.
“No, thankyou,” he said. “Say hello to Stan.”
He slipped the phone back into his coat pocket. Stood waiting. He liked waiting. Liked to see the darkness rise up from the ground, up from the Mississippi, climb up the facades around him and over the glass walls. The cold came quickly. He’d read somewhere that cashmere is eight times warmer than sheep’s wool. Not a particularly precise way of expressing it, and maybe not eventrue, but that never stopped him advertising it as hard fact whenever anyone asked him about his choice of coat.
Lights came on in the skyscrapers. And in the sign above Bernie’s. Fifteen minutes later, Liza stepped out into the street. Stopped, as though surprised.
“Again?” she asked, acting exasperated. “This is…what? The third day in a row? Is this your famous siege technique in operation?”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I just happened to be in the neighborhood,” he said. “And I needed someone to split the cost of gas with.”
“You don’t say?” she said and got in as he held the car door open for her.
“I’ll accept payment in the form of a bit ofkveldsmat,” he said as he got in and started the car.
“Kveldsmat? What’s that? Some kind of Norwegian thing? Like supper?”
“Yep. You’ll get used to it.”
She laughed. “Now who’s flattering themselves? I take it back. You’re not a sheep in wolf’s clothing, you really are a wolf in sheep’s clothing after all.”
“Speaking of sheep’s clothing, did I ever tell you this coat is eight times warmer than sheep’s wool? That it’s made of goat’s hair that has beencombedfrom the bellies of goats living five miles above sea level? That each goat yields only three and a half ounces of hair per year, so that to make a coat like this takes—”
“A lot of time and a lot of hard work?” She gave him that exasperated look again.
Bob thought about her words. Nodded. “Exactly. A lot of time and a lot of hard work. If you want a cashmere coat then you have towillyourself to get a cashmere coat.”
“I get it. And then, if you have the will, and if the coat fits?”
