Bill Pronzini - Camouflage

I said, You want us to do what?

David Virden showed me his teeth in a lopsided smile. Find one of my ex-wives, he said again. The first one.

Divorced eight years, you said.

Thats right.

And you want her located for what reason again?

The same reason I had to track down the other two. So I can have the marriage annulled.

Virden looked, sounded, and acted normal enough. Executive with a manufacturing firm in the South Bay; his business card confirmed it. Forty or so, fair-haired, gray-eyed, handsome in a sleek, metrosexual way. Sitting comfortably in one of the clients chairs across my desk, legs crossed and one foot jiggling a little so that his expensive polished loafer threw off little glints of light from the overhead fluorescents. But if theres one absolute truism in the detective business, its that peoples exteriors dont always reflect their interiors. Some of the most attractive ones are like buildings full of dark rooms and the kinds of things that hide in them.

I havent seen her since the divorce, he said, and nobody else seems to have seen her in about seven years. Of course she could be dead by now. If thats the case, there wont be any problem.

Oh, there wont.

No. Anyhow, we didnt have any trouble finding the other two. They were both pretty cooperative.

In giving you annulments.

Thats right. I need the third before I can go ahead. Or proof that shes no longer aboveground.

Go ahead with what?

Marrying my fiancee, Judith LoPresti. My fourth and I hope last wife.

Id gotten it by this time. A little slow on the uptake these days, but prospective clients who walk in off the street and smack you with a job request youve never encountered before are relatively rare. At least Virden wasnt a head case, the kind with no method to their apparent madness.

I said, Are you Catholic, Mr. Virden?

No. Well, not yet.

But Judith is.

Devout. Mass every Sunday and the Pope can do no wrong.

And she wont marry you unless you convert, is that it?

Thats it. Convert and then have a Church-sanctioned wedding. Only I cant convert without the annulments from my ex-wives because the Catholic Church doesnt recognize civil divorce laws.

Uh-huh.

You know about that, right? I mean, your name I figure you must be Catholic. Most Italians are.

Born and baptized, I said. I didnt add that I was lapsed, for reasons of my own that were none of his business. I happen to believe that religion, like sex between consenting adults, ought to be-and too often isnt these days-strictly a private matter. I also believe in separation of church and state, the Golden Rule, the true definition of family values, that anybody ought to be able to get married regardless of gender, that no one has the right to distort the truth for any reason, and that people ought to quit trying to shove their beliefs and opinions down the throats of other people. Just another crazy old radical thinker, thats me.

Ive never been religious myself, Virden said, as if he was proud of the fact, but Id do anything for Judith. Shes a real prize. He showed me his lopsided smile again and added a wink to it. Her father happens to be loaded. Ill be set for life once were married.

Nice guy, Virden. Full of compassion and the milk of human kindness. I wondered if he was as up-front about his motives with his devout intended. If not, I hoped for her sake that she knew what kind of man she was taking into her faith and her bed.

He said, Heres the stuff from the Church, and passed a small manila envelope across the desk.

Inside, paper-clipped together, were a two-page letter from the Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of San Jose addressed to Roxanne L. McManus, at an address in Blodgett, California; a Church brochure; a form to be filled out by Ms. McManus and returned to the Diocese; and an SASE. The letter stated that David Paul Virden had petitioned the Diocesan Tribunal to execute a Decree of Nullity, an official document declaring that his marriage to Ms. McManus did not create a permanent sacramental bond and therefore was not an obstacle to future marriage in the Church. There was a list of twelve points informing Ms. McManus of her rights in the matter, among them the right to appoint a Procurator-Advocate and the right to review copies of the ACTA, the First Instance decision, and the Second Instance decision in the office of the local Tribunal. The brochure, which I skimmed through, provided a lengthy overview of the annulment process.

I returned the material to the envelope. When I started to slide it back to Virden, he said, No, you keep it. Give it to Roxanne when you find her.

Why not just deliver it yourself?

I dont like dealing directly with my ex-wives. You know how it is.

No, I didnt. But I said, Well, we can make the delivery if shes living in Northern California, but itll cost you extra.

I dont care about that. Id just have to hire somebody else to do it.

Right-with Judith LoPrestis money, no doubt. Not that it was any of my business who paid his bills. Is McManus your ex-wifes maiden name?

Yes. She took it back after the divorce.

What does the middle initial stand for?

Lorraine.

Roxanne Lorraine McManus. I made a note on the pad I use for client interviews. You said the last time you saw her was eight years ago?

Thats right.

Where?

In San Jose, right after the divorce.

The Diocese letter is addressed to her in Blodgett.

Her hometown. She moved back there.

But shes not there now.

No. I checked and my lawyer checked. She moved away again about seven years ago and nobodys heard from her since.

Then where did the Diocese get the address?

Its her aunt Almas. I gave it to them-they had to have one for the form.

But the aunt doesnt have any idea where Roxanne is?

No idea. Complete silence since she sold her pet shop and left Blodgett again.

Does the aunt know why she moved?

Told Alma she was going into business with a friend.

Friends name?

Didnt say, or if she did, Alma forgot it. Somebody shed just met.

Male or female?

Couldnt remember that, either. Almas memorys not what it used to be. Virden chuckled wryly to himself. But shes still a crusty old girl, cusses like a teenager. She had a few choice words for Roxie.

Why?

Pissed because of all the years of silence. Thought Roxie cared more than to blow her off that way.

Could she remember what kind of business deal it was?

No. But it probably had something to do with animals. Roxie owned the pet shop when I met her. Virden cast his eyes upward. The Warm and Fuzzy Shop, she called it. Terminal goddamn cute.

Where is Blodgett exactly? Ive never heard of it.

No reason you should have. Its a nowhere little town up near the Oregon border.

Is that where you were living while you were married to her?

God, no, Virden said. Its where she lived when we met. I was a salesman working the Highway Five corridor in those days, on the road most of the time. She was eating alone in a restaurant I stopped at one night, we struck up a conversation, hit it off, and the next thing I knew we were married. But there was no way I was going to live in a craphole like Blodgett. Roxie leased her cute little shop-she wouldnt sell it back then-and I moved her into my apartment in San Jose.

How long did the marriage last?

Two years. Then I met Elaine, my second wife, and that was the end of Roxie.

The end of Roxie. Some turn of phrase.

She have any other living relatives? I asked.

No. Both parents were dead before we were married, no brothers or sisters.

What else can you tell me about her? Hobbies, special interests?

Animals, like I said. Always yapping at me about getting a dog or a cat or some damn thing. I didnt want any part of that, so she started volunteering at one of the animal shelters. Spent more time there than she did at home with me.