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I walked back to the bank, cup in hand, and sat in the parking lot I read the paper, keeping an eye open for Michael Sutton or any of the various and sundry bank officers who should be arriving for work The paper didn’t offer much in the way of news, only column after column of items pulled off the wire, most of which I’d read the day before in the LA Times I skipped the funnies but pored over the obituaries The people who’d died in the last few days were in their eighties and nineties I made a mental note of the names in case William had overlooked a hot one in his search for a funeral to attend

At 9:54 a petite, dark-haired woman approached the bank, dressed smartly in a suit, panty hose, and heels She looked like a sympathetic person, and I wished I was in the market for a loan so I could borrow lass door and punched in the code for the alarht Fiveht and the guy was a bank eh on cue, I heard heels tapping on the pave, heavyset fellow lulanced atbruises on his right cheek, purple, yellow, and green--quite the dashing assortht a full-on view of his face so I couldn’tblack eyes Seemed reasonable to assume that whatever door he’d walked into would have rendered sufficient da with the puffy cheek I waited until he’d gone in and then folded the paper and put the lid on er-side floor

I went into the bank There were two half-walls in front of me with a wide aisle between A corridor opened off each side of the reception area I counted five doors down one hallway and tn the other There was no sound, not even bad ht Clearly, they were in their cubbyholes, gearing up for the day, unprepared for the early arrival of customers or bank robbers, whichever came first I was at leisure to case the joint, but it didn’t look like a place that carried cash I’d have paid a hundred dollars for a ladies’ rooht "Oh, sorry I didn’t know anyone was out here Can I help you?"

"A o and I think heabout?"

"Sure That’s Walker McNally, the VP of New Client Relations He has , but if you want to talk to him, I can see if he has a minute"

"No need He looked fa a bell so I must have mistaken him for someone else"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive"

I did not actually gallop back to the car, but I proceeded with all due speed, heart thuht of me Not to flatter h school while he’d been transfored man I unlocked the car door, slid into the driver’s seat, turned the key in the ignition, and pulled out I turned the corner onto the side street and parked Shit Walker McNally A critical piece of the puzzle had just fallen into place Walker had had access to anih his father’s veterinary practice Our senior year in high school, ruht have supplied weed to Creed and Destiny at the Unruhs’, where they’d parked the bus That was a stretch, but not beyond possible If Walker was one of the two pirates, I even had a candidate for his sidekick He and Jon Corso had been joined at the hip What a pair Eighteen years old, arrogant, privileged, stoned, and bored It didn’t take a leap to i up with a scheine why either one would be hard up for cash, but maybe their respective parents were parsimonious

I returned to the office and called Michael’s house again No answer Where the heck was he? Madaline had probably already left on her trek don She’d been on the verge of hitting lewhile she showered and did her hair

It was time to talk to Cheney Phillips and I wanted Michael at ain Sutton’s as suspect, but what else did we have?

Not one to re and went out tostructure adjacent to the public library and wound my way upward to the roof, where I found the only spot left I reached under the passenger seat and hauled out the Thomas Guide to Santa Teresa and Perdido Counties I toted it with hts of stairs and crossed the access lane between the parking lot and the entrance to the library