“Of course not, solving nasty old murders is, yadda yadda yadda. But you know as well as I do that those things go together. How many of your closed files would still be open if you didn’t get media exposure when you needed it?”

“I appreciate the value of a free press. But my hands are tied.”

“By?”

“Off the record?”

“Regarding that small point?” she said. “Sure.”

“Bureaucracy.”

She said, “You’ve got to be kidding. That’s the staggering secret? We all deal with red tape, you think my employer’s all Bill of Rights and no bullshit?”

“Glad you empathize.”

“I don’t need you to tell me why your stupid, venal bosses closed you up on the second skeleton: politics as usual, the whole Maxine Cleveland real estate thing. You ever meet her? Brain-dead and clueless, should be a perfect fit in D.C. That ploy was stupid, where did it get her?” She removed her glasses. “Your idiot bosses let me get scooped by a damn student paper.”

“You want to complain, I can give you some phone numbers.”

“How far would that get me?”

“Exactly my point, Kelly. It’s like talking to dust.”

She studied him. “You’re a crafty one, aren’t you? Okay, we go off the record, as long as at some point it goes on the record and I don’t mean months.”

“Nope, can’t give you a deadline.”

“I don’t want a deadline, I just want you to be reasonable.” She put her glasses back on. Wrote something in her pad, angling the page so he couldn’t see. I’ve seen him do the same thing with witnesses, trying to kick up the intrigue, establish dominance.

The two of them would make an interesting bridge twosome.

“Define reasonable, Kelly.”

“Use common sense, cut the crap, however you want to define it. I am not going to remain mute for eternity only to have every moron on TV and the Internet going with the story.”

Bony hands slapped onto bony hips. “Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Fine.” Her pen poised. “Shoot.”

“Put the pad away.”

“You don’t trust me to keep it under wraps?”

“You just said your patience couldn’t be guaranteed.”

“We’re wasting each other’s time,” she said. “This is bullshit.”

“Then how about we table the proceedings? Something opens up, I promise to let you know.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because you’re right,” he said.

She studied him. “You’re shitting me. Nice try.”

“I’m not. You’re right.”

“Admitting you made a mistake? Have you checked your Y chromosomes recently?”