“Ohio’s flusher than some states. The county’s got a good pension plan. And two weeks’ vacation. After one year of service, of course. Paid maternity leave too. Or paternity. For what it’s worth. I’m just saying.”

—

Three days later, Shaw was back in Florida.

He bypassed the elaborate appliances in the kitchen and dropped a cut-up chicken and pieces of onion and orange into a Crock-Pot and added a half bottle of cabernet. He was having Teddy and Velma Bruin over for dinner that night. He’d just turned the knob to LOW and had a sip of beer when his phone hummed.

It was Arnie Sterling, who told him in an excited voice that Travis Lanford had accepted a plea bargain: twenty years in prison, no parole, and the state would not seek the death penalty.

The same day a judge signed an order releasing Jude Sterling and expunging his record in the Williams case. The prosecutor declined to bring a case on the theft from Williams and the possession of controlled substances.

Shaw had also heard from Detective Sonya Malloy, who’d phoned with the information that Trimbeaux and Garcia had been arrested for illegal arms and drug sales. They’d pled not guilty. He told her he was more than happy to return to Ohio to be a witness at the trial. He floated the idea that he might arrive a day or so early and they could discuss the case over dinner. She offered the refinement: that she’d cook. Apparently he was destined to learn about baseball cards firsthand.

A triple-note chime sounded. It was from his Atlas radar intrusion system on the driveway. True, it might have been an actual intruder—Shaw had scores of enemies—but since this was the time of day when the mail person arrived, he figured he didn’t need to fetch his Glock.

He met the woman halfway down the walk and collected the bills and flyers and an envelope measuring about nine by eleven. Inside was a package wrapped in gray tissue paper. He tore it open and found himself looking at a framed drawing, done in color pencil on off-white construction paper.

Shaw had to laugh. The image was of Jude’s Wasp Man, the half-human, half-insect superhero. The curious creature, wearing an old-time leather helmet, was standing at the mouth of a deep pit—maybe a quarry. The sun was rising, or setting, behind him, and he struck quite the pose, head up and his arms (all four of them) were raised to the sky. Light beams radiated from his head. His uniform was a blue jumpsuit, and on the chest were two letters in gold: C.S.

At the bottom of the picture were two words in careful script: Thank You.