Page 26 (1/2)

76

Senator Carlton Riley&039;s i visit kept the town very quiet It was as if Kelhaain I doubted that the leave order had been forood soldiers, and I was sure the base commander had dropped heavy hints about hundred-percent participation in the hoopla I left the diner and found Main Street back to its previous torpor My borrowed Buick was the only car parked on the block behind It looked lonely and abandoned I unlocked it and drove it around to the hotel and retrieved ot back behind the wheel and went exploring

I started opposite the vacant lot between the diner and the Sheriff&039;s Department I headed south from there for two hundred yards, to where Main Street started to bend, driving fast but not stupid fast I made the left into Deveraux&039;s childhood street, and hustled along to her old house, fourth on the right Total elapsed time, forty-five seconds

I turned in over the dried rown driveway, past the tue, to the deer trestle I swung left and backed up and popped the trunk and got out

Total elapsed time, a minute and fifteen seconds

There were trees to ht and trees ahead of ht Ithe wrist straps, cutting the ankle ties, carrying the body to the car, lowering it into the trunk I fiddled around four inary pads and straps and belts and scarves from trists and two ankles I stepped back to the trestle and picked up an iinary bucket of blood and heaved it over to the car and wedged it in the trunk alongside the body

I closed the trunk lid and got back in the driver&039;s seat

Total elapsed time, three minutes and ten seconds

I backed up and turned and drove the length of the driveway again and headed back to Main Street I drove the same two hundred yards I had driven before and stopped on the curb between the hardware store and the pharht at the mouth of the alley

Total elapsed time, four minutes and twenty-five seconds

Plus one minute to put the blood in the alley

Plus another minute to put Janice May Chapet back where I started

Total elapsed tio

Maybe long enough to stick in someone&039;s mind, in a social situation, or maybe not

I rewound the clock in my head to four minutes and twenty-five seconds and drove on north and then east, to the railroad crossing I caht on top of it New total, four minutes and fifty-five seconds Plus a minute to carry Roseet back to the car, and twenty seconds to get back where I started

Total elapsed time, six er, but in the same ballpark

I didn&039;t drive up to where Shawna Lindsay had been duravel No point That destination was in a whole different category That was a twenty-ht there It was the sole exception to the hurry-up rule Therefore it had been undertaken under different circumstances No company No social situation Plenty of ti dark dirt roads between ditches, turning right, turning left, doing the deed, and then coain, just as slow, just as cautious

But as interesting about Shawna Lindsay&039;s resting place was the car that carried her there What kind of car could get through that neighborhood twice, without attracting notice or comment? What kind of car was entitled to be there at that tiht?

I sat in the Buick for a spell and then I parked it outside the diner and went in and bought a new roll of quarters for the phone I tried Neagley first and found her at her desk

I said, "You&039;re late to work today"

She said, "But not by much I&039;ve been here half an hour"

"I&039;m sorry about the bus"

"It was OK," she said Public transportation was tough for Neagley Too much chance of inadvertent hue from Stan Lowrey?"

"Yes, and I already traced the name for you"

"In half an hour?"

"It was easy, I&039;o"

"How?"

"Nothing dramatic It was an accident A helicopter crashed at Lejeune It was in the newspaper, actually A Sea Hawk lost a rotor blade Two pilots and three passengers died, one of which was Evers"

I said, "OK, plan B The other name I want is Alice Bouton" I spelled it out I said, "She&039;s been a civilian for the last five years She was discharged from the Corps without honor So you better call Stan back He&039;s better than you at this kind of stuff"

"The only thing Lowrey has that I don&039;t is a friend at a bank"

"Exactly," I said "That&039;s why you need to call him Corporations know about civilians better than we do"

"Why are we doing this?"

"I&039; at straws That&039;s what you&039;re doing"

"You think?"

"Elizabeth Deveraux is as guilty as sin, Reacher"

"You&039;ve seen the file?"

"Only the carbons"

I said, "But with a thing like this, you have to flip a coin"

"As in?"

"As in, maybe she did it, maybe she didn&039;t We don&039;t know yet"

"We know, Reacher"

"Not for sure"

Neagley said, "It&039;s a good thing you don&039;t own a car"

I hung up with her and before I was a step away the phone rang on the wall, with the first good news of the day

77

It was Munro on the phone, and he wanted to tell me he had had a cup of coffee Or more specifically he wanted to tell ht him the cup of coffee The conversation had been on the subject of the day&039;s upco festivities, and Munro said the stewards expected to be very busy until after dinner, but no later than that, because the , because the last time the senator visited he had hosted everybody in town, at Brannan&039;s bar, because politically it seeuy would do the saood Riley will come to me after all And his father What time will dinner finish?"

"Scheduled to be over by eight o&039;clock, according to the steward"

"OK," I said again "I&039;ether I want you on theate But unobtrusively Can you do that?"

"Could you?"

"Probably"

"Then what makes you doubt I could?"

"Innate skepticisround until eight tonight, and use this phone number as a contact if you need "

"OK," Munro said "I&039;ll see you later But whether or not you&039;ll seeup with Munro, and I asked the waitress to answer the phone for ain I asked her to write down the callers&039; na For information, and for face to face encounters, and for decisive conclusions I stepped out to the Main Street sidewalk and stood in the sun Across the street the guy fro a break, and tasting the air On uys were on a bench outside the pharmacy, four hands piled on two canes between two sets of knees Apart from the four of us the toas deserted No hustle, no bustle, no traffic

All quiet

Until the goon squad from Kelham showed up

There were four of them in total They were Kelhauessed, preparing the ground the saround ahead of a presidential visit They cauys on the bench I guessed they had just called on the Brannan brothers and alerted theht Maybe they had ements In which case I wished the Brannan brothers the very best of luck I i experience

The four guys were all officers Two lieutenants, a captain, and a light colonel in the lead He was fiftyish and fat He was the kind of soft staff officer who looks ludicrous in battledress uniform Like a civilian at a fancy dress party He stopped on the sidewalk and put his knuckles on his hips He looked all around He saw me I was in battledress uniform too On the face of it, I was one of his He spoke over his shoulder to a lieutenant behind him Too far to hear his voice, but I could read his lips He said, Tell that uessed he would want to knohy I wasn&039;t back on the base, getting myself ready for hundred-percent participation in the hoopla

The lieutenant&039;s eyesight was not as good as mine He approached ed fast when he got close enough to read nia He stopped a respectful four feet away and saluted and said, "Sir, the colonel would like a ith you"

Normally I treat lieutenants well I was one ht then I wasn&039;t in the mood for nonsense So I just nodded and said, "OK, kid, tell hiht up"

The kid said, "Sir, I think he would prefer it if you went to hiives a shit what he prefers"

The kid went a little pale and blinked twice and about-turned and headed back Hemy response into acceptable terms, because there was no instant explosion Instead the colonel paused a beat and then set off waddling in my direction He stopped three feet away, and I saluted him very smartly, just to keep him confused

He returned the salute and asked, "Do I know you, major?"

I said, "That depends on how much trouble you&039;ve been in, colonel Have you ever been arrested?"

He said, "You&039;re the other MP You&039;re Major Munro&039;s opposite number"

"Or he&039;s mine," I said "Either way, I&039;reat day"

"Why are you still here?"

"Why wouldn&039;t I be?"

"I was told all issues had been resolved"

"The issues will be resolved when I say they are That&039;s the nature of police work"

"When did you last get orders?"

"Soo," I said "They caon, I believe"