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yes,” she managed.
    McQuaid’s face was very serious. “Do you know something about Coleman’s murder?”
    Pauline jumped as if somebody had dropped a firecracker down the back of her yellow blouse. “No!” she cried. “Whatever makes you think I—”
    “Well, then, what is it?”
    “I ... well, you see—” She swallowed, bit her lip, and finally got it out. “Well, to put it bluntly, Edgar Coleman was threatening me. He said that if I didn’t do what he wanted, he would—” She stopped, gnawing on her lower lip. “He said he would tell—” She stopped again, stuck.
    If somebody didn’t prod her, we might be here all night. “Threatening you?” I asked gently. “You mean, he was blackmailing you?”
    She flinched at the word, but it brought her around. “Well, yes, I suppose you could call it that. Only he wasn’t after money. It was ‘teamwork’ he wanted.” Her round cheeks were bright as fire and her chins trembled. “That was his word. ‘Teamwork.’ ”
    “He was after your vote on that annexation project?” McQuaid asked.
    “I ... suppose,” Pauline said. Her voice dropped to just above a whisper. “Actually, he hadn’t yet told me what he wanted. That was Edgar’s way, you know. He’d never come straight out with anything. He was always so devious. He’d hint and insinuate and promise and ... and—” Her bosom began to heave and her words dissolved in huge, gulping wails. “Oh, what a fool I’ve been,” she sobbed, pulling out a yellow hanky. “What a stupid, idiotic, romantic fool!”
    McQuaid made a high sign. I got up, took a bottle of brandy and three small snifters from the cupboard, and poured. Pauline snatched hers and tossed it down. I poured again, and after a moment she was calmer.
    “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve had this on my mind for an entire week, you see, ever since he phoned me and told me what he would do if I didn’t—” She shook her head heavily, her pearl tear-drop earrings swinging against her mottled cheeks. “Then when I heard he was dead—well, I know it’s not Christian of me, but I was actually relieved. The longer I thought about it, though, the more nervous I got, so I decided I had tell you.” She drew a deep breath, tanking up for a long confession. ”You see, it all began when—”
    McQuaid held up his hand. “Wait a minute, Pauline. Before you say anything else, we’d better call Charlie.”
    She looked at him blankly. “Charlie? Charlie Lipman?”
    “He’s your attorney, isn’t he?” McQuaid asked.
    Pauline stiffened her spine. “Of course he is. That is, he’s Darryl’s lawyer.” Darryl Perkins is Pauline’s husband. “But I don’t need to pay Charlie Lipman good money to listen to—” Then it dawned on her. Her eyes grew as round as daisies and her voice was freighted with offended dignity. “You can’t mean that I ... that you suspect me of ... Why, I’m the mayor of this town! I would never stoop so low—”
    McQuaid looked at me. “Maybe you’d better tell her, China.” He reached for his canes and hoisted himself to his feet. “I think Brian needs some help with his homework.”
    “Homework!” Pauline smacked the table furiously. “You just sit your fanny right back down in that chair and listen to me, Mr. Michael Acting Police Chief McQuaid. I’m going to get this Coleman nonsense off my chest tonight, and you’re going to hear me out.” The two large red spots on her cheeks made her look like a belligerent clown. “That’s an order, do you hear? An order!”
    But Pauline was talking to McQuaid’s retreating back. As he stumped out of the room, she turned to me. “I could fire him for failure to follow a direct order,” she snapped. She narrowed her eyes, liking the idea. “And by golly darn, that’s exactly what I’m going to do! He doesn’t need to think he can get away with flouting my authority. First thing in the morning, I’m calling an emergency meeting of the Council.