Published at 18th of November 2020 09:22:35 AM
Chapter 27: 27
Anthony’s car headed west of Barton Northern District . On the map of Barton, there was Barton’s largest stadium, [Fenway Stadium] on the east end of the mouse tail-like Charles River . But Anthony’s destination was not the stadium, but a place located on the north side of Fenway Stadium, closer to the “Back Bay” of the Charles River . Cologne’s sister lived here and he was going to a birthday party for a ten-year-old girl . Anthony was invited by Cologne . In fact, the chief of the Barton Police Department was worried about being bored, so he forced him to come to the party .
The surrounding scenery gradually became monotonous, and the residential area filled with single houses replaced the prosperous business district . As Anthony opened the car window, the noises of children came . Anthony looked at the front yard of the house that had been decorated as a fairy tale castle . “We are here . Zach, you stay here! ”
“What?” Zach, who sat in the driver’s seat, just turned off the engine . He stared at Anthony in surprise: “I can’t go to the party?”
“No! You watch out the surroundings! Also, if you find something, keep it quiet! ”
“Yes, mayor . ” Zach tilted his head in disappointment and leaned back against the back of the seat, but the light green eyes had begun to look around .
A somewhat familiar figure, with a clown makeup on his face, was performing tricks among a group of children . Zach chuckled lightly . This Coulson was really an interesting guy . Zach remembered the confrontation with Detective Coulson in the hotel last night . Hardworking, and also knew how to please his superior, he was not bad .
“Rance!” Coulson, who wore the clown makeup, saw his partner at a glance! “James, why are you here! Uh, Mr, Mr . Mayor!”
Anthony looked at Coulson and nodded slightly . This was the greatest etiquette that a mayor could give to someone, who he has never heard a name before today .
James stopped next to Coulson . This was actually the first time he met this partner, and he felt a little awkward .
Coulson led a group of little girls to a slide, took the opportunity to get away, and pulled James aside: “Why are you here? And why did you come with the mayor? Did you say anything? You didn’t say anything about the case, right?”
A series of questions made James a little confused . He replied according to the excuses discussed before: “I want to see the bodies of prostitutes, but because of the privatization of funeral business, I don’t have the access to the bodies . I ran into the mayor on the way to the prosecutor’s office, then…”
Detective Coulson’s clown face froze in confusion for a second . The prosecutor’s office and the city hall were not far apart, so he accepted the explanation .
“Uh, Fitz, Fitz stayed in the backyard . You can look after him . ” Coulson thought about it and then added: “You can eat whatever you want here, but don’t touch the cake! The cake is for kids!”
James stared at Coulson in speechlessness .
Coulson called over his wife and asked her to lead James to the house, then he continued to play with the little girls . James looked back at Zach hidden in the mayor’s car and took the biscuit that Mrs . Coulson passed to him and then walked into the house .
In the house, Anthony had met with Cologne . The two of them had drinks in their hands, and looking at their expression, they seemed to be discussing serious matters . From time to time, their eyes would glance at James . The eyes of Chief Cologne had obvious doubts . After arriving at the backyard, James saw Fitz sitting alone on the porch, holding a glass of soda and a cookie .
“Anthony, I really don’t like that kid . ” Cologne took a sip of his special soda with a straw . Drinking alcohol at his niece’s birthday party, he needed a bit of disguise . “He doesn’t have manners and he is not very smart! The only thing worth saying is the word ‘Rance’ after his name! ”
“Just cut him some slack . ” Anthony also took a sip of ‘Cologne’s special soda’, “He just retired, we have all experienced it, he needs some time to adjust . That’s all . Moreover, this time, he did us a big favor! ”
“Okay . ” Cologne nodded . “This credit indeed belongs to him . We don’t want to wait until there are other cases before we find the loophole in the privatization of the funeral business . ” Cologne turned to look at his friend, the Mayor of Barton, Anthony . Looking at his face, he was testing whether Anthony was aware of the case of ‘David’ . But it seemed that this James guy didn’t say anything .
“Then, do you have any thoughts?” Anthony took a small bear-shaped cookie: “Do you want to use contracts to establish cooperation with the funeral business, or do you want you to build a containment facility?” Anthony carefully asked for development in the direction he wanted: “I need to tell you first, I don’t have money to build new facilities . ”
Cologne rolled his eyes at Anthony, this guy! Wasn’t this just telling him that he could only find an existing funeral home to cooperate! Why did he even bother to give him a choice!
Cologne snorted, “After some time, we will gather all the funeral homes . I am thinking of open tender . It will be easier to negotiate the terms . ”
Anthony had a little smirk expression in his eyes and nodded, “You can do however you like, in terms of funds, you’ll have to deal with the Treasury yourself . ”
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“Let’s not talk anything about me . ” Cologne changed the topic: “so how’s your day today, I heard that those two senators are not easy to deal with!”
“What do you expect,” Anthony shrugged: “You know, politicians . However, they all mentioned the land in the Southern District, the one seems to be called Grande Funeral Home . It seems the Federal government, too, seems to be taking a wait-and-see approach to the private trial . Should I support this Grande Funeral Home or something?” Anthony said while frowning as if he was immersed in his mayor’s world .
When it comes to politicians, Anthony was also one of them . So his acting skill was also flawless .
Just when Cologne felt bored, he saw his younger sister, which instantly made his face drop .
“Older Brother! This is a party! Don’t always hide in the kitchen!” Cologne’s little sister hugged a slightly tired man and approached them .
“Yes, Yes! This is a party! A ten-years old’s birthday party! What am I going to do outside? Roll on the lawn with a group of little girls!” After Cologne finished complaining, he shifted his gaze, staring at the man, who his younger sister hugged, his brother in law, “What excuse do you have this time, someone was hit by a car? Or is someone terminally ill? I can take my time out to attend your daughter’s party! But you are late!”
“Mr . Mayor . ” Cologne’s younger sister nodded politely to Anthony, but in a blink of an eye, she changed his expression!
“Brother!” She punched her big brother in the stomach! “He is a doctor, he needs to save lives! The lives of the citizens of Barton City!”
“Ah!” Cologne bowed down with his expression twisted, but he still carried on, “Sounds just like my job!”
Like all older brothers, Cologne hated his younger sister’s husband! ‘Doctors? Is the doctor the most important job? I am the chief of the Barton Police Department! What is he? The doctor in charge of a hospital!’
“Honey, don’t do this . ” The man apologized to the two important figures of Barton City, “something just happened last minute, so it took some time . ”
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“Huh!” Cologne straightened his back and pointed at the man and said fiercely, “You didn’t miss the moment to cut the cake this time! You are lucky this time!”
“Cologne!” Anthony seemed to be unable to tolerate Cologne’s strong desire to protect his younger sister: “as if you have never been late to a family party!”
Cologne shook slightly and looked at his friend with frowns . This comeback was too powerful .
“You are lucky this time!” Cologne emphasized again, turned around, and then left .
“Thank you, mayor!” the younger sister of Cologne smiled happily at Anthony, picked up all kinds of strange-shaped food, and left the kitchen .
“Don’t keep Cologne’s words in mind, he just doesn’t want his younger sister to always be home alone . ” Anthony nodded to some tired man, comforting him .
“I know . I also don’t want to miss my baby’s birthday . ” The man smiled back at the mayor .
“I remember that you are working at [Barton Memorial Hospital], right?” Anthony thought and asked .
“Yes . ”
“How is Mr . Quinn and Mrs . Quinn?” Anthony asked casually . After all, to the celebrities like the Quinn family in Barton, as the mayor, he must pay attention .
The man slowly shook his head: “Mr . Quinn, Mr . Quinn has…”
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Anthony who was just about to take another sip suddenly stopped, froze for a moment, and shook his head . “When is it?”
“This morning . ” The man replied equally sadly .
Anthony sighed: “Is the news public yet?”
“Mhm, Mrs . Quinn has not officially held a press conference, and she would like to wait for the funeral itinerary to be confirmed . But many people already know, and there are many reporters in the hospital inquiring about the news . ”
Anthony shook his head again . He could already imagine the headline of the newspaper tomorrow . ‘Mr . Quinn’s death, the funeral itinerary was exposed in advance . ’ However, Anthony’s prediction was wrong because no one expected that it would the Grande Funeral Home that managed Mr . Quinn’s funeral .
“How about Mrs . Quinn? How is she? “Anthony continued to ask, of course, he didn’t have to ask anything . With the professional ethics of the doctor, at most he would get the ambiguous reply like “she’s in deep grief” .
But he did not expect…
“She, she’s fine… Mrs . Quinn is very, very good…” The man’s face twitched when he answered .
Zach was tapping the steering wheel boringly in the car with a smile on his face . Mrs . Quinn was of course very good . The blood of a vampire is a panacea, even if the person is dead . It’s just that vampires don’t do this easily, because choosing descendants is a very important job!
The night gradually enveloped the city of Barton, and the sleepiness that had been troubling the vampire gradually faded . The little girls who were playing in the front yard were brought into the house by adults, and it was time to make a wish and cut the cake!
Zach’s eyes moved with the shadows swaying in the lights, he took off his hat, took off his gloves, folded his coat on the front passenger seat, and pushed open the door .