Chapter 26 Section 25

Bracco was always baffled by his partner's thoughts and when he would do what.Sometimes his ideas are trivial and have little to do with solving the case.But if he had some weird idea, he'd get them somewhere to work for a while. Yesterday, the two of them ran non-stop all day outside, and their feet were flattened.I kept walking from one place to another, talking to people non-stop, went to the hospital, coffee shop, Zhu Da Clinic and other places, and wandered outside for more than ten hours.When they finally returned to the homicide unit, Griski was no longer in the building, and reporting to him was out of the question.They asked someone else, only to know that he answered the phone and hurried out. It seemed that something made him very angry.Because last time they had figured out that Griski didn't like the rule of his people coming home to talk about work, they thought they had to wait until the next morning to report to him in the lobby.However, today they waited until after ten o'clock, and when they had to rush to make an appointment with Casey West, the captain hadn't even entered the building.

At this moment, the two of them have been sitting on a terrace in the Italian ghetto for more than two hours.This terrace is full of light and shadow, and there is no wind blowing in.Like Bracco said, they were having an Italian lunch.Eating this kind of lunch was a daily part of the community, and he wondered why they didn't have big bellies?Of course, he found that Harlan had put on weight.But then again, does a lunch take two hours?I haven't finished eating until now, it's really boring.Perhaps this is how his father felt following the mayor every day. Bracco had to admit that his partner had done a lot of homework to get to know Nancy Ross.Of course, he had his aunt Cassie's permission and help to allow him to join her social circle, so they were now part of the dinner party for four.Even so, Bracco believed that Fisk had handled the inquiry fairly well.Although the tape recorder is now sitting in the middle of the table, surrounded by half-empty coffee cups and plates of Italian desserts, Nancy is still her usual self-satisfied look, and she does not seem to show the slightest uneasiness or disgust. .

Bracco believed she would be so calm and composed at any time.She was a well-bred person, and seemed born to order and be waited upon.Though not quite as physically attractive as Ankensen, with her glamorous eyes and provocative curves, Nancy Rose made up for her lack of shape with her well-dressed looks, exuding a perpetual Change the charm.But in any case, she doesn't come across as a pretentious, unattainable grim queen.She always has a smile on her face, and some witty words come out of her mouth from time to time.Now, out of nowhere, she was joking with Cathy West about the word "long." "God, it's long...the loaves they serve here." Or "Did you notice our server's long... earlobes?" the two of them spun around the word Several times, people are dizzy.

Fisk was very relaxed with her.He was wearing a tailored suit, a cream silk shirt, a bright silk tie, and fringed Cordovan loafers, apparently before coming here. He made careful preparations and paid attention to the details of his attire.Bracco had to admit that the guy looked really good in this outfit, like he was supposed to be wearing it, the cut was perfect, and he had lost thirty pounds. Fisk had told Bracco in advance to dress decently for this luncheon, so he wore his corduroy sports coat and a T-shirt with a collar, which compared to those present looked like It's like a dock worker.Bracco felt that his clothes were inappropriate and did not match the clothes of other people present, so he was unwilling to speak at all.Not just because he felt out of place with the clichés of this social situation, of course, but also because, until ten minutes ago, their police duties hadn't begun.He knew that homicide detectives didn't have to clock in every day, but it made him uncomfortable to waste time like this while on the job, even though he sometimes did unrelated things during work hours.

Now it's clear that Fisk had planned for this.The anecdotes and small talk during the meeting are the foreshadowing for the following.Nancy Ross was finally willing to help this nice man in the way she could—the policeman's nephew of City Supervisor Cassie West. "I know," she said, "Malachy was very disturbed this morning. Can you believe this is the first time he's ever stood before a grand jury? He hasn't gotten a single parking ticket in his life. Been there, or hadn't spoken to any real cops, or even anything serious like that. I hope he'll see you soon, Harlan, and you, Darrell, too .It never occurred to him that he would be involved in this case."

Fisk clicked his tongue, expressing his sympathy and approval. "I'm sure he has nothing to worry about. The main reason they talked to him was to understand the stressful situation that Parnassus faces every day. It seems to me that after Mr. Markham's death, your husband understands this. The best source of information on the situation." "Oh, yes, he is, that's right. Sometimes I think he and Tim might both be doing the same job. And now, of course, Malachy is doing what Tim used to do, although he Never wish it was the case. It's just horrible." "Do you know if he has appointed someone to take his place?"

She shook her noble head. "No. He's looking, but... well, let's be honest, he told me the main problem is that no doctor can make the right decision in a difficult time and can't find someone suitable for this position. In the past Malachy has endured their incompetence for many years. What they've done has done him a disservice, you know, not to mention the heinous attempt to smear him." Fisk clicked his tongue again in sympathy.It seemed to Bracco that he was putting it on on purpose, but she took it as a sign of encouragement for her to keep talking. "Looks like this guy named Jeff Elliott, whoever he is, doesn't understand how hard it is to run a company like Parnassus. He thinks the officers and directors should work for what What, for minimum wage? I mean, really, he doesn't even know."

"I don't think a lot of people know about these situations." Fisk also thinks this is a very regrettable thing. "I mean," Nancy went on, "you wouldn't believe the number of calls he got in his office the day that column hit the paper. I don't know how Malachy got through it." , how not to get overwhelmed by it. He was worn out by then. I mean, the night Tim was killed. Oh, please don't mind me saying that." "It's all right, Nancy. What's the matter?" She sighed. "He's the same as usual, trying really hard to do what he thinks he should be doing, staying up late at the office, talking to that Mr Elliott, you understand. Mr. Ott failed to do that. So they talked for the rest of the night, and in his exhausted condition he couldn't figure out where to start, and what good was this conversation going to do him? Talking like that would have been a huge mistake."

As soon as she finished speaking, Fisk took over. "I don't quite believe that Elliott mentioned your husband's income in his column. If there was, it was from public archives." Both Rael and I think that income is pretty low. And, for the work your husband does, it's well deserved." Casey West chimed in. "And that's Malachy's hard earned money, right, Nancy? It's not as easy as trying to figure out how to be on a board of twenty." "Exactly. That's all our finances. We have no trusts, no inheritances, no extra income. Except throwing a few parties—without which some important charities would suffer— We lived very frugally."

Fisk continued to lead her to talk. "And half of the income is paid as taxes. The remaining half is spent on household expenses and entertainment. I agree with you. I really agree with you." Bracco was trying to calculate some numbers in his mind.Unlike his partner, he really couldn't figure out how to spend $1.2 million a year and where it went.Even if the $600,000 was taxed, half of the remaining money, more than $300,000, was spent on numerous family expenses and banquets.After tax, there is still $300,000 left, which is almost three times Bracco's annual salary, which also includes his overtime pay-a large overtime pay.

Fisk had aired with him beforehand, and bringing this up in this conversation could clarify whether Ross and his family think they're richer or on the threshold of poverty.To Bracco's surprise, things are starting to look like the latter. "You know, Harlan, how frustrating it is to talk about it with someone who understands what that number means. I mean, just a million dollars! Sounds like a lot of money, doesn't it?" Then, her tone became serious, "It was a lot of money in the past, I think so, but it's not like that now." It seems that Fisk is looking back on the good old days, and is very concerned about this Numbers laughed it off. "I used to think that if I had a million dollars, I could retire and do nothing. Can you imagine me thinking that?" Nancy smiled at Fisk's ridiculous idea. "If you only plan to live for a year or two after retirement, maybe it's enough. Maybe you can't last that long, if you also hire a domestic helper, it's not even the kind of full-time employer. Let alone the kind of food Live in the employer's house? Come on, I mean the servant who comes in several times a week, or the gardener who cleans the garden, or the kitchen helper." "And don't forget about political donations," Cassie West added half-jokingly. "And there's charitable giving, opera grants, school sponsorships for the girls, and that's not including $20,000 in tuition. When I sit down and think about it, it does scare me." Bracco couldn't bear the endless complaints.He hasn't spent even one-sixth of the $600,000 they mentioned since he was born.But he didn't know how to interrupt the familiar tune that Fisk had already uttered, especially on the topic of money, and he had to hope that his partner would turn the conversation around to what he was here for. But apparently Fisk is still sharing in Nancy's misadventures, continuing the conversation. "I find it unbelievable," he said, "that Elliott wrote that article that makes your husband look like a greedy prince. He should have written another article about actual living expenses." An article with a different content. In my opinion, if Dr. Ross leaves Parnassus - and he has every reason to do so - I'm sure someone of his kind is popular and easy to find A job with a salary commensurate with his worth." "Actually, he almost did that. Last year he interviewed people about changing jobs. Of course, it's highly confidential, not even Tim knows about it." Braco noticed her saying There was a pause, maybe she hadn't thought of revealing it.Then she sighed deeply. “I can’t put into words how much we’ve worked so hard to maintain this life, it’s unbelievable, but in reality we’re still getting by and don’t know when it’s going to change. No savings , didn't set aside a dime for our daughters' college money, and Malachy stayed in Parnassus just out of a sense of duty. But everyone thought we were very rich. What a Great irony." Fisk volunteered that perhaps he could go and talk to Mr. Elliott. "At least find a way to let him understand the actual situation on your side." "No, thank you for your kindness, Harlan. You have a good idea, but I don't think it's smart. He's just going to make a fuss about it, and don't know how else he can attack us. Although I don't know what would it be like." "The answer is, it can't be what you want," Casey West said.She clapped her hands and took the bill from the waiter. "It's going to pass, I don't worry, Nancy. The best thing to do with articles like this is to forget about them and act like it never happened." Fisk nimbly grabbed the tape recorder in his hand and stuffed it into his pocket. "I'm sorry we got into this unpleasant subject," he said. "It's part of the job, and I don't really like it. But you've done us a great favor, and the lunch was very good." rich." Nancy Ross also reached for the bill, rushing to pay it.Both Harlan and his aunt strongly objected to her doing so, but she ignored their objections and insisted on paying the bill herself.Bracco's taut heart finally relaxed, and he stammered his thanks.He glanced at the number on the bill—one hundred and forty-seven dollars and eighty-eight cents.Not including tip.This amount was half of the monthly rent that Bracco paid his father. Then everyone stood up and the four of them kissed each other on both cheeks goodbye.Nancy Ross seems to have fully recovered from this frustrating financial conversation.Braco shook Nancy's hand first, then Cassie's, and said he had a great time with them and enjoyed the time he spent with them.In a way, he realized that was the truth.It was the entrance to an up close look at another world, a completely different one that coexisted with his own. In that world, Malachy Ross had money problems. Five minutes after arriving at the office, Wes Ferrell got word about Mrs. Rowling.After thinking about it for a while, he decided that this was not the kind of exciting news that he wanted to share with his client right away. "Hi, Chuck, I'm Wes Ferrell, I have important news for you. They're exhuming your mother's body and cutting it up for medical examination." No, he didn't think he should say that. It's off to a good start for him, though, and an event to celebrate because there hasn't been enough work to do here for the past few months.He worked hard on other things and kept busy until lunch time.But just as he closed the door and turned to go back to his residence, he suddenly realized that it would take courage beyond his limits to get him back to his office before the dawn of a new day. He ate a head of artichoke and a can of tuna for lunch, then took a half-hour nap in the living room to recover.By this time he was out, walking around Buena Vista Park with his sixty-five-pound boxer, Bart.He was wearing a pair of old house pants, a pair of high-tech tennis shoes, and a sweatshirt.From a distance, this sweatshirt appears to have the word "Bush" on it, but when you get closer, you can see that it is just a pattern of "__ll__" in two small letters with a gap to be filled.Farrell likes to think that the clothes hanging in his closet may be the world's best collection he owns, applying the wisdom of reflective stickers on car bumpers to shirts. The sun has broken through the cover of the clouds and revealed its head, indicating that the weather will become warmer again.Such warm weather had been seen two days earlier, and no one in San Francisco expected it to return so soon.But now it looks like that hope is about to come true.There will always be miracles. Among these miracles was his love interest, Samantha Duncan.This sweet, stocky, strong and argumentative Sam was in his late forties and had moved in with Wes five years ago.Although they do not intend to hold a formal wedding, but two people think this kind of life together commitment is a lifetime thing.Wes had already been to church, and he was serious about this kind of thing, which Sam thought was pretty good. As soon as he got home from the outside, he called up her place of work, the Sexual Violence Crisis Counseling Center on Haight Street, and asked her if she would spare some time, maybe she would like to participate in some kind of consensual adult Activity.In this world, she hates it when people engage her in such humor, but she can tolerate Wes doing it.But she told him that she had been busy all the time, and it seemed that she would not be able to leave now. But all of a sudden, she came here, stood beside him as if she had fallen from the sky, and took his hand.He stopped, kissed her, and held her tightly in his arms.After a while, he asked, "How did you get away?" "As fate would have it. One of the volunteers just decided to come and work." Bart was tugging impatiently at the leash around his neck to walk away, so they said as they walked.She turned her head to look up at him. "What's the matter with you, are you on vacation suddenly?" He told her what was going on, and tried to get her to get some idea of ​​Hardy's idea.Strout had initially disapproved of them, but this morning things took a turn for the better, and it might have had an immediate positive impact on his earnings.For the first time in nearly five years, he found himself potentially involved in a high-profile case, seeing his name appear in the newspapers, which would attract a wider client base. "I've heard more than once from you that you don't want to do this." "If I say something like that, it's from my heart," he admits, "but that's the problem. There's a whole bunch of people who are going to pay you, and then they want you to actually work for them. This is really a great channel for accumulating resources.” "But are you really going to do it?" "I've thought about doing it. You've seen what it's like when you're trying to get five or six solid clients at once, like I've gotten the job done to the point where I can do it. You find yourself becoming a legal expert in a sense, and many clients will surround you. You only need to do the same action five times each time, and all you have to do is put the client's name or one or two Change the details, and submit the results of the inspection. In this way, your workload is reduced to one-fifth of the original, while the income on your account is doubled, becoming the original five times as much. It's really a license to print money. Fortunately, I'm a good man and will stick to my principles and not charge these people undeserved dirty money. Of course, I still want to Excellent service to them." "Of course." She let go of his hand, "I don't understand why I like you." "I'm more optimistic than other people, that's why. But if I can get more money, I will be more optimistic. It's because of my five-client plan. Except for those things that may happen when, As we've seen in recent times, the Supreme Court has come up with a rule that to lower the price of the fee, the money will be cut off, and you will be gone from me. Then I may kill myself, and it's all over. It's terrible. It's all because of those big, high-ranking adults and the carping, petty decisions they made." "Those damned ones," said Sam. "And it's two women, don't forget, I'm sure you would never do that. Anyway, I think this might be good news, a great opportunity. I can expand my business again and pick those Key clients who can afford to pay big bucks for the little work I do, and you and I can continue our freewheeling hedonism." "Do you know that you talk like a villain?" "I'm just stating the truth to you, that's who I am." "Really you're the guy who was in the office all night last summer, working on McGee's suit and other cases, and then forgot to charge." "I know." Farrell's face was full of frustration, "I regretted it so much that I almost shot myself. Besides, my real intention is that they will win the lottery prize and share the prize with me. Don't Look at me like that, it's still possible for something like this to happen." They had gone out onto the grass and into the high part of the park.Sam sat down and Wes sprawled out on the floor, his head resting on Sam's lap.Bart put his mouth on Farrell's belly, as he had done for years. After a few minutes, Sam stopped running his fingers through Wes' hair. "There's one thing I don't understand," she said. "No," he said, "you seem to understand everything." "Luck is all you try to get, isn't it?" "I'm shocked and disappointed that you can think of such a thing." He put a finger on his forehead exaggeratedly like acting, as if talking to himself, "Oh no, wait Wait, I can't have both." And then to her, "I'm stunned, Sam, that you can think of such a thing. I'm not going to bow down and flatter you, expecting to trick you to satisfy my sexual preferences. Our love is very precious and very real." "I should have come in my high boots," she answered, "the grass is a little dense here, and it's very sticky." Wes shrugged. "Well, I'll take it seriously. What is it you don't understand?" "Those things you said about clearing the bed. Especially Mrs. Rowling. Dismas. Hardy said that one of the motives for killing her was to make her bed empty. But even if it did , that bed is empty, and who benefits from it?" "That way they can let other people live in," Weiss said. "Yeah, that's what I don't understand. You have a patient in a bed, and then that patient dies, and the next day you take another patient into that bed. They struggle to get the same bed Paying the same amount, right? So why would it be beneficial for someone to get rid of Patient A in order to get Patient B in?" Farrell raised his head slightly. "Bart, do you want to tell her? Oh! These hairs are precious to me." Wes put his head on her lap again and rubbed the spot where Sam had pulled out his hair. "If this makes you want to get mad and rush to get to the bottom of it, just keep it simple, that's how it works. The city has a contract with Parnassus, in what they call a headcount All employees are provided with medical expenses covered by the health maintenance organization's basic health insurance on a basic basis." "What's going on?" "I'm glad you asked. That is, Parnassus gets a fixed monthly sum from the city in exchange for providing physician and Health services in hospitals. Employees can do it, and they don’t have to pay for it themselves, it comes from the city budget.” "Okay. Let's get back to the bed issue." "I'm about to get to this point. So what actually happens is that Parnassus gets a monthly check from the city, and that becomes part of its gross revenue. And then, like some fixed Parnassus started using the money to pay the overhead of the business, the salaries of the employees, etc. So if Parnassus had to provide an expensive medical treatment to someone who joined a health maintenance organization — like chemotherapy or heart surgery — it feels like he hasn’t been paid, and he’s pretty nervous about that sort of thing.” "But everyone agreed before—" He waved a finger to signal her to stop talking. "That's not the problem. The point is that there are some patients, whether they are city employees or not, who have already opted for a more expensive medical service. It is only from these patients that Parnassus can get real living money." .” "It gets cash from the city every month anyway, right? I still don't see the difference." "Well, let's use an analogy. A city employee who joins a health maintenance organization spends five days in the intensive care unit. The city isn't going to send the hospital another check for those extra costs. Nasses only gets $150 a month in medical bills from this patient, and that's it. Yet if a patient joins a large health care delivery program, he also spends five days in the ICU. Today, Parnassus gets close to $5,000 a day in medical bills. So what this example shows is that a city employee who is part of a health maintenance Nasses was paid $5,000 a day." "every day?" "Yes, every day, dear. You don't pay too much attention to the number, it's just less and more. So now let's talk about our own Marjorie Rowling, who happens to be the one we're talking about She's a city employee, enrolled in the health insurance plan through the Parnassus Health Maintenance Organization. So if she happens to violate the medical odds of survival and stays that way for six months, How much was she going to cost Portola? At least a hundred thousand dollars, maybe more than that. "Now, if you run Portola, all other things being equal, one is Marjorie Rowling in a hospital bed, and the other not only has big health insurance, but his insurance provider has full coverage. pay all the fees, so, which one do you choose as your patient?" It didn't take long for Sam to speak again. “All other things being equal,” she said, “it sounded to me like Dismas Hardy might have figured something out of it.”