“A courier, huh? Like they don’t have overnight mail anymore?”

Muir puffed up again, and Condley sensed that he was in for another patriotic speech. “We can’t risk losing these files, Brandon.”

“How about a computer? Can’t they send you the data?”

“You can’t e-mail dental records. And anyway, the file is thirty years old. Do you know how many million veterans there are? It hasn’t been reduced to computer text.”

“What you’re saying is that somebody in St. Louis wants a few days R and R in Hawaii.”

Muir allowed himself a small smile. “Why are you such a cynic? But you may be right. Partially, at least.”

The huge scientist now looked at the remains, an unhidden revulsion creeping into his eyes and tightening his mouth. “But I had them fax me a few pages from his service records and give me a preliminary report over the phone. I’ve got some news for you. As I mentioned to you, Specialist Deville was never a POW or an MIA. In fact, I must confess that our earlier respect for him was misplaced. It seems our man was a deserter.”

“Your earlier respect, you mean,” corrected Condley. “I told you something was wrong about him.”

“Yes, but did you ever think he’d be a deserter?”

“In Ninh Phuoc? No. That doesn’t make any sense. The people I know of who deserted in-country stayed in Da Nang or Sai Gon. I’d say there were a couple thousand of them living in Sai Gon by the end of the war, and another few hundred in Da Nang. Usually it was a guy who maybe fell in love and ran away with his girlfriend or got into a fight with his first sergeant and ran away, period. Or got involved in the drug culture.”

“Two out of three isn’t bad,” said Muir rather stiffly, picking up five pages of notes from a table next to the gurney. “Here’s what I do have. Specialist Theodore Deville started out as an infantryman with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, seeing extensive action in Tay Ninh Province west of Sai Gon during late 1966 and early 1967. Not a bad soldier, from all indications. Wounded in action. Received the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medals for valor. In March 1967 he extended his tour in order to switch to a supply unit at Long Binh, just outside Sai Gon. Got involved with drugs. Was accused of being a dealer. In September 1967, while awaiting court-martial on the drug-dealing charges, he apparently killed the government’s principal witness, who was a fellow soldier, and then disappeared. Last seen heading from Long Binh to Sai Gon, in what turned out to be a stolen jeep.” Muir fixed Condley with a steady, questioning gaze, his bushy eyebrows furrowed. “What am I missing here?”

“When was he buried in Ninh Phuoc?”

“What did they say? August 1971, I think.”