The Delicate Storm by Giles Blunt Read Free Book Online

gleamed with too many teeth. “All right, turn around and put your hands against the wall. You know the position—feet spread, on your toes.”
    The .38 glinted in the light from the window. Cardinal did as he was told and stared at the wall. “What are you,” he said. “about eighteen?”
    “You’re way off. And we’ve got more important things to talk about.” The kid patted him down, looking for an ankle holster. Cardinal didn’t carry one. “For starters, how do we get out of this?”
    “What do you mean, ‘we’? You’re the one who just assaulted a police officer. And I have a feeling that—unless you’re RCMP —you’re not licenced to carry that .38, junior.”
    “And you’re the cop who just let his gun be taken away. I don’t think we want word of that getting around town, do we?”
    “That would be embarrassing. Give it back and I’ll shoot myself right now.”
    “What do you know about Howard Matlock?”
    “Did Malcolm Musgrave send you? He always had a roundabout way of making a point, even for a Mountie.”
    “I asked you a question,” the kid said. “What do you know about Howard Matlock?”
    “He’s an American. He’s a chartered accountant. He’s dead. Why are you so interested?”
    “I have the guns, so I think it’s more appropriate if I ask the questions. Why did you come back here? Your scene work must be done.”
    “Look, obviously you’re RCMP . Why don’t you tell me who you are and what you’re up to?”
    “I asked why you came back to the cabin.”
    “Obviously for the same reason you’re here—to find out more about Howard Matlock. When a tourist comes to visit my town and gets fed to the bears, it doesn’t look good. Except that he probably wasn’t a tourist, which bothers me too. I came back because I wanted to get a better sense of the guy. I came back because a lot of things aren’t clear to me. I came back because at the moment there’s no way to go forward. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get on with my job.” Cardinal waited for a moment, listening. There wasn’t a sound from the doorway. He turned to look.
    The doorway was empty. His Beretta was lying on the kitchen table, minus the clip. He got to the doorway too late to see anything. He cursed under his breath. The missing clip would be difficult to explain.
    He closed the closet door and took one last look around the cabin before locking it up. The kid was good, he had to admit. Catches him by surprise, lifts his gun and melts away like a wisp of fog. On the way up to the parking lot Cardinal thought about putting out an all-points on blond WASPS . But when he got to his car, he found his Beretta clip sitting on the roof above the driver-side door.

    When he got home, Catherine was sitting in the lotus position, absolutely motionless. A candle flickered in the breeze from Cardinal’s entry. Smoke spiralled up from a stick of incense on top of the television.
    “You’re home late,” she said.
    “Smells like Shangri-La in here.” Cardinal always made a comment about her incense and she always ignored it. “How’s my swami?”
    “More like a Buddha than a swami. I’m never going to get rid of this hospital fat.”
    “You’re not fat.”
    “All that bread and potatoes they fed me in the O.P.H. I can’t fit into any of my clothes.”
    It was true that Catherine had put on a few pounds in the Ontario Psychiatric Hospital—she always did—but on the whole Cardinal thought his wife looked great. A little heavier in the hips, a slight increase in belly maybe, but for a woman with a twenty-six-year-old kid she looked damn good.
    As she untangled her legs, Catherine let out a long sigh. Cardinal was always glad to see her doing yoga, even late at night; she rarely got sick when she was taking care of herself.
    “Your dad called. He has an appointment with the cardiologist tomorrow morning. I’ll drive him over.”
    “That’s excellent. His new doctor really knows how to get