‘I’m not certain why she picked up this Apollonia woman,’ I said. ‘And how did you find her?’

‘Easy. She works at Rumors. I’m not sure what all she sells, but it isn’t just cigarettes.’

‘Damn,’ I muttered.

‘I’m assuming the connection is coke,’ Marino said. ‘And it might interest you to know that Apollonia was acquainted with Sheriff Brown. In fact, they dated, you might say.’

‘Do you think she could have had anything to do with his murder?’ I asked.

‘Yeah, I do. She probably helped lead Gault and Carrie to him. I’m beginning to think the sheriff was pretty much a last-minute thing. I think Carrie asked Apollonia where she could score some coke, and Brown’s name came up. Then Carrie tells Gault and he orchestrates another one of his impetuous nightmares.’

‘That could very well be,’ I said. ‘Did Apollonia know Carrie was a woman?’

‘Yeah. It didn’t matter.’

‘Damn,’ I said again. ‘We were so close.’

‘I know. I just can’t believe they slipped through the net like that. We got everything but the National Guard looking for them. We got choppers out, the whole nine yards. But in my gut I feel they’ve left the area.’

‘I just called Benton and he hung up on me,’ I said.

‘What? You guys have a fight?’

‘Marino, something is very wrong. I had a sense that someone was in his office and he didn’t want this person to know he was talking to me.’

‘Maybe it was his wife.’

‘I’m heading up there now with Lucy and Janet.’

‘You staying the night?’

‘That all depends.’

‘Well, I wish you wouldn’t be driving around. And if anybody tries to pull you over for any reason, don’t you stop. Not for lights or sirens or nothing. Don’t stop for anything but a marked patrol car.’ He gave me one of his lectures. ‘And keep your Remington between the front seats.’

‘Gault’s not going to stop killing,’ I said.

Marino got quiet on the line.

‘When he was in my office he stole my set of dissecting knives.’

‘You sure someone from the cleaning crew didn’t do it? Those knives would be good for fileting fish.’

‘I know Gault did it,’ I said.

16

Kay Scarpetta 6 - From Potter’s Field

16

We returned to Quantico shortly after three, and when I tried to reach Wesley, he was not in. I left a message for him to find me at ERF, where I planned to spend the next few hours with my niece.

No engineers or scientists were on her floor because it was a holiday weekend, and we were able to work alone and in quiet.

‘I could definitely get global mail out,’ Lucy said, sitting at her desk. She glanced at her watch. ‘Look, why not just throw something out there and see who bites?’

‘Let me try the chief from Seattle again.’