(5/10) Sea Change by Robert B. Parker Page B

boredom as the scenes became repetitive. There was sound, but little to listen to, except the sex with Darnell, which was so noisy that Jesse muted it. Somewhere in the middle of the tape the redhead got a perm. What had been longish wavy hair became short curly hair. Otherwise she continued to shower and change clothes and have sex with Darnell.
    The tape ran an hour. The boredom was penetrating. Jesse forced himself to watch it. When it ended he rewound it and sat quietly in his office for a while. He was pretty sure what was on the other tapes. Blondie probably had her own tape. What if tape number five had been Florence Horvath. Then he’d have a choke hold on the son of a bitch. Jesse shook his head. He was guessing. Darnell may not have known Florence Horvath. Florence Horvath might have fallen off the Stiles Island Causeway and drowned. Darnell may have lied just because he didn’t want to be bothered. Guys like him would be too busy to be involved in a homicide. Had nude film to watch. Jesse sat for a moment doodling the yellow legal pad on his desktop. Why would Darnell kill Florence? Why would he go to such voyeuristic lengths to get nude movies of women he saw naked regularly? Sick bastard.
    The door opened a crack and Molly looked in.
    “Got some time?”
    “Sure,” Jesse said.

26

    M olly brought in Sam Holton and his wife and daughter.
    “You know Sam,” Molly said.
    “From softball,” Jesse said. “Lotta stick, not much foot.”
    Sam said, “Hi, Jesse.”
    “This is his wife, Jackie, and his daughter Cathleen. Cathleen says she’s been raped.”
    “I’m sorry,” Jesse said.
    Cathleen nodded. She was a tall, robust, dark-haired girl with big breasts and long legs. She looked about twenty-five. Her mother was thin and small and pale-skinned, with narrow lips and small eyes which looked bigger behind thick glasses. Nobody said anything.
    “Says it happened onboard a yacht named the Lady Jane, ” Molly said.
    Thank you, Lord.
    “Tell me about it,” Jesse said.
    “I already told her,” Cathleen said.
    “Tell me,” Jesse said gently.
    “Go ahead, Cathleen,” her father said.
    “Sam, it’s embarrassing,” Jackie said. “She already told the woman.”
    Jesse looked at Molly.
    “Rape kit?” he said.
    “Inconclusive. Signs of penetration, but no semen, no evidence of force.”
    “You saying I lied,” Cathleen said.
    “No, honey, inconclusive doesn’t mean you lied.”
    “He wore a rubber,” Cathleen said. “Naturally there’s no sperm.”
    “Who?” Jesse said.
    “She doesn’t know for sure,” Molly said. “She thinks it was the boat owner.”
    Jesse nodded.
    “Could you pick him out of a lineup?” Jesse said.
    “Absolutely,” Cathleen said.
    “Good,” Jesse said. “How’d you happen to end up on the yacht?”
    Cathleen looked down and didn’t answer.
    “She met one of the crew,” Molly said, “at the Dory. He offered to show her the boat.”
    “How old are you, Cathleen?” Jesse said.
    “Seventeen,” she said. “Ill be eighteen in September.”
    “What happened when you got to the boat?” Jesse said.
    Cathleen looked irritated.
    “I can’t talk about stuff like that in front of them,” she said.
    Sam looked at his hands, folded in his lap. He was a thick man, a landscaper in town. As he got older he’d put on weight but he still looked like someone who’d worked all his life. Jackie glared silently at everyone. Her thin self was tight with anger.
    “How about me?” Jesse said.
    She looked disgusted.
    “No way,” she said.
    “Okay, then it’ll be Molly. Take her to the squad room,” Jesse said. “It should be empty. If anyone’s in there, give them the boot.”
    Molly nodded.
    Cathleen said, “I don’t like talking about it.”
    “Come on, hon,” Molly said. “I’m fun to talk with.”
    “Yeah, right,” Cathleen said. But she stood and followed Molly out.
    “She didn’t do nothing wrong,” Jackie said. Her thin hands were clenched