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"He took a K-bar," I said

"Twelve hundred names, twelve hundred K-bars"

"He took a tire iron or a crowbar"

She nodded

"And he took yogurt," I said

She said nothing

"Four things," I said "Hiurt Where did the yogurt coerator in his quarters," Summer said "Or one of the mess kitchens, or one of the mess buffets, or the corocery store so hard, walking fast, , a bloodstained knife and a crowbar clutched together in his right hand, an e a destination, looking down, seeing the pot, hurling it into the undergrowth, putting the knife in his pocket, slipping the crowbar under his coat

"We should look for the container," I said

Su

"He&039;ll have ditched it," I said "Not close to the scene, but not far from it either"

"Will it help us?"

"It&039;ll have some kind of a product code on it Maybe a best before date Stuff like that It ht"

Then I paused

"And it ht have prints on it," I said

"He&039;ll have worn gloves"

I shook urt containers But I&039;ve never seen anyone do it with gloves on There&039;s a foil closure With a tiny little tab to pull"

"We&039;re on a hundred thousand acres here"

I nodded Square one Norrunts on the post lined up a yard apart on their knees, crawling slowly across the terrain like a giant hu every blade of grass by hand And then doing it again the next day, and the next, until one of the for With manpower like the army has, you can find a needle in a haystack You can find both halves of a broken needle You can find the tiny chip of chrome that flaked off the break

Summer looked at the clock on the wall

"Our thirty minutes are up," she said

We used the Huet over to Psy-Ops and parked in a slot that was probably reserved for someone else It was nine o&039;clock Summer killed the motor and we opened the doors and slipped out into the cold

I took Krah the old tiled corridors and caht was on I knocked and ent in Norton was behind her desk All her textbooks were back on her shelves There were no legal pads on view No pens or pencils Her desktop was clear The pool of light from her lamp was a perfect circle on the empty wood

She had three visitor&039;s chairs She waved us toward theht I sat on the left I propped Kra Norton, like a ghost at the feast She didn&039;t look at it

"How can I help you?" she said

Ithe briefcase&039;s position so that it was coht on the chair

"Tell us about the dinner party last night," I said

"What dinner party?"

"You ate with so"

She nodded

"Vassell and Coomer," she said "So?"

"They worked for General Kraain "So I believe"

"Tell us about the meal"

"The food?"

"The atmosphere," I said "The conversation The mood"

"It was just dinner in the O Club," she said

"Soave Vassell and Coomer a briefcase"

"Did they? What, like a present?"

I said nothing

"I don&039;t re dinner," I said "Or as they were leaving"

Nobody spoke

"A briefcase?" Norton said

"Was it you?" Summer asked

Norton looked at her, blankly She was either genuinely puzzled, or she was a superb actress "Was it ave theive them a briefcase? I hardly knew them"

"Hoell did you know theo"

"At Irwin?"

"I believe so"

"Why did you eat with them?"

"I was in the bar They asked me It would have been rude to decline"

"Did you know they were co?" I asked

"No," she said "I had no idea I was surprised they weren&039;t in Gerh to knohere they&039;re based"

"Kramer was an Armored Branch commander in Europe They were his staffers I wouldn&039;t expect to find them based in Hawaii"

Nobody spoke I watched Norton&039;s eyes She hadn&039;t looked at Kraer than about half a second Just long enough to figure I was soet all about it

"What&039;s going on here?" she said

I didn&039;t answer

"Tell me"

I pointed to the briefcase "This is General Kramer&039;s He lost it on New Year&039;s Eve and it showed up again today We&039;re trying to figure out where it&039;s been"

"Where did he lose it?"

Summer moved in her chair

"In a nation with a wo a Hu for women who knew Kramer, and who have permanent access to Humvees, and ere off-post on New Year&039;s Eve, and ere at dinner last night"

"I was the only woht"

Silence

Summer nodded "We know that And we pro quiet, but first we need you to confirave the briefcase to"

The room stayed quiet Norton looked at Summer like she had told a joke with a punch line she didn&039;t quite understand

"You think I was sleeping with General Kra

"Well, I wasn&039;t," Norton said "God forbid"

Nobody spoke

"I don&039;t knohether to laugh or cry," she said "I&039;m seriously conflicted That&039;s a completely absurd accusation I&039;m astonished youtime Norton smiled, like the er She closed her eyes and opened the the conversation fro from the briefcase?" she asked me

I didn&039;t answer

"Helpto see the point of this extraordinary visit Is there so from Kramer&039;s briefcase?"

"Vassell and Coomer say not"

"But?"

"I don&039;t believe them"

"You probably should They&039;re senior officers"

I said nothing

"What does your new CO say?"

"He doesn&039;t want it pursued He&039;s worried about euided by hiator I have to ask questions"

"The army is a family," she said "We&039;re all on the same side"

"Did Vassell or Cooht?" I said

Norton closed her eyes again At first I thought she was just exasperated, but then I realized she was picturing last night&039;s scene, at the O Club coat check

"No," she said "Neither one of them left with that briefcase"

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"I&039; dinner?"

She opened her eyes

"They were relaxed," she said "Like they were passing an e"

"Did they say why they were at Bird again?"

"General Kramer&039;s funeral was yesterday, at noon"

"I didn&039;t know that"

"I believe Walter Reed released the body and the Pentagon handled the details"

"Where was the funeral?"

"Arlington Cemetery," she said "Where else?"

"That&039;s three hundred miles away"

"Approximately As the crow flies"

"So why did they come down here for dinner?"

"They didn&039;t tell

"Anything else?" she asked

I shook my head

"A motel?" she said "Do I look like the kind of woree to meet a man in a motel?"

I didn&039;t answer

"Dismissed," she said

I stood up Summer did the same I took Kramer&039;s briefcase from the center chair and walked out of the room Summer followed behind me

"Did you believe her?" Su in the Hu and the heater was blowing hot stale air that smelled of diesel

"Totally," I said "As soon as she didn&039;t look at the briefcase She&039;d have gotten very flustered if she&039;d ever seen it before And I certainly believed her about the et in her pants"

"So what did we learn?"

"Nothing," I said "Nothing at all"

"No, we learned that Bird is a very attractive place, apparently Vassell and Coo all the way down here, for no very obvious reason"

"Tell me about it," I said

"And that Norton thinks we&039;re a family"

"Officers," I said "What do you expect?"

"You&039;re an officer I&039;m an officer"

I nodded

"I was at West Point for four years," I said "I should know better I should have changed my name and come back in as a private Three promotions, I&039;d be an E-4 specialist by now Maybe even an E-5 sergeant I wish I was"

"What now?"

I checked my watch It was close to ten o&039;clock

"Sleep," I said "First light, we go out looking for a yogurt container"