The Mole in His Bed novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: The Question

"Get out of my kitchen," my mother said.

Neil turned around.

It was the first time I'd seen his face up close in five years.

He looked tired in a way I hadn't known him to look, with lines beside his mouth and the gray at his temples.

"Mrs. Tallant, I need five minutes with your daughter."

"You stood up in front of the whole department and called her a disgrace."

"Yes, I did."

He didn't explain it. He didn't look away from her either.

My mother's jaw worked.

"Five minutes," she said. "I'll be in the next room with the door open and a rolling pin."

She took the rolling pin out of a drawer to show him, and carried it out with her.

The door stayed open.

Neil and I stood on either side of a small kitchen table with a plastic cloth on it.

"Who sent you in?" he said.

"Hello to you, too."

"Who sent you into Crane's company?"

"My captain. He ran it off the books, with nobody above him."

"Prove it."

"He died at Pier Nine, Neil."

"Then you can't prove it."

"I have five years of Crane's ledgers on a thumb drive."

"That proves you kept his books," Neil said. "It doesn't prove who you were keeping them for."

I put both hands on the table.

"You stood up in court this morning and swore I sold out a hundred and twelve people."

"I did."

"Is that what you believe?"

He took a moment too long.

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