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“It was that old single-action Army he loved In the flap holster It didn’t fall out He must have had it in his hand”

Van Dorn countered with a cold question to confirm Bell’s conjecture that Aloysius Clarke had tried to prevent the attack “Where was his flask?”

“Still tucked in his clothing”

Van Dorn nodded and started to change the subject, but Isaac Bell was not finished

“I had to kno he got there in the tunnel Had he died before or in the explosion? So I put his body on a train and brought it to a doctor in Klamath Falls Stood by while he examined it The doctor showed me that before Wish was crushed, he had taken a knife in the throat”

Van Dorn winced “They slashed his throat?”

“Not slashed Pierced The knife went in his throat, slid between two cervical vertebrae, severed his spinal cord, and eed out the back of his neck The doctor said it was done clean as a surgeon or a butcher”

“Or just lucky”

“If it was, then the killer got lucky twice”

“How do you mean?”

“Getting the drop on Wish Clarke would require considerable luck in the first place, wouldn’t you say?”

Van Dorn looked away “Anything left in the flask?”

Bell gave his boss a thin, sad smile “Don’t worry, Joe, I would have fired him, too It was dry as a bone”

“Attacked from the front?”

“It looks that way,” said Bell