“That is an opinion not based on any sort of fact, but I appreciate it nonetheless. And I also want to express to you my great sadness over Mark’s death. I did not know him well when he was here, but he seemed to be a decent-enough fellow.”
“Thank you.”
I got up and put on my coat. It took me a moment to find my car keys.
He got up, too. “What do we do next, Dr. Scarpetta?”
“I don’t suppose you have any letters or other items from Ronnie Waddell that might be worth processing for his latent prints?”
“I have no letters, and any documents that he might have signed would have been handled by a number of people. You’re welcome to try.”
“I’ll let you know if we have no other alternative. But there is one final thing I’ve been meaning to ask.”
We paused in the doorway. Grueman was leaning on his cane. “You mentioned that during your last conversation with Waddell, he made three last requests. One was to publish his meditation, another to call Jennifer Deighton. What was the third?”
“He wanted me to invite Norring to the execution.”
“And did you?”
“Well, of course,” Grueman said. “And your fine governor didn’t even have the manners to RSVP.”
10
Kay Scarpetta 4 - Cruel and Unusual
10
It was late afternoon, and Richmond’s skyline was in view when I called Rose.
“Dr. Scarpetta, where are you?”
My secretary sounded frantic. “Are you in your car?”
“Yes. I’m about five minutes from downtown.”
“Well, keep driving. Don’t come here right now.”
“What?”
“Lieutenant Marino’s trying to reach you. He said if I talk to you to tell you to call him before you do anything. He said it’s very, very urgent.”
“Rose, what on earth are you talking about?”
“Have you been listening to the news? Did you read the afternoon paper?”
“I’ve been in D.C. all day. What news?”
“Frank Donahue was found dead early this afternoon.”
“The prison warden? That Frank Donahue?”
“Yes.”
My hands tensed on the wheel as I stared hard at the road.
“What happened?”
“He was shot. He was found in his car a couple of hours ago. It’s just like Susan.”
“I’m on my way,” I said. gliding into the left lane and accelerating.
“I really wouldn’t. Fielding’s already started on him. Please call Marino. You need to read the evening paper. They know about the bullets.”
`They?” I said.
“Reporters. They know about the bullets linking Edgy; Heath’s and Susan’s cases.”
“I called Marino’s pager and told him I was on my way home. When I pulled into my garage, I went straight to the front stoop and retrieved the evening paper.
A photograph of Frank Donahue smiled above they fold: The headline read, “STATE PENITENTIARY WARDEN SLAIN.”