DETECTIVE SERGEANT HALLORAN pulls up to the front gate of a Cove Hill estate. The uniform at the gate lets him in and he parks his car in a space, off the driveway. He gets out of his car and walks to the large, ornate front door of a mansion. He rings the bell and a uniform lets him in. “Up the stairs and all the way to your left.” Halloran climbs the stairs. As he gets to the end of the second-floor hallway, there are two uniforms and a very frightened woman, dressed as a maid. Halloran asks,
”What’s the story here?”
The maid blurts out, “I’m a maid, employed by Mr. Falcone (she pronounces it as fal-cone-ay.) We got a call, from the security service. They said that Mr. Falcone was in trouble. Pedro, the butler, and I went upstairs, to check. I opened the door and Pedro went in to check. He came back and told me that Mr. Falcone was dead. Pedro then got a gun and said that he was gonna go out and check the grounds. Shortly after that, I heard sirens and the police came.”
One of the uniforms says, “We picked up one Pedro Garcia, trying to sneak down the road.”
Halloran sighs, “Ah yes, Pedro Garcia, also known as Pistolero. He’s wanted by the Mexican police for murder, kidnapping, arson and overtime parking, although that last hasn’t yet been proven in a court of law. I’m familiar with Pistolero.”
Halloran turns to the maid. “You are not a maid.”
The woman sighs, “I have what you call a Masters Degree in languages. I speak Español, Spanish, your English, French, German and I can get by in Russian. I manage the maids. There are three maids and a cook. The maids and the cook speak Español and a very few words of English.”
Halloran asks, “And, Pedro Garcia, Pistolero?”
The woman sighs, “Pedro Garcia speaks mainly filth, in either Español or English. I have as little to do with him as I can manage.”
Halloran asks, “The maids and the cook?”
The woman sighs, “The maids and the cook are downstairs, scared out of their minds.”
