“Then we’ll have to try recovering it from this laptop the same way we’re recovering her text files from the other one,” Lucy said. “Do the same thing you were watching earlier when you were here with me.”

“Any other possible explanation about the photograph?” It was Scarpetta who asked.

Lucy said, “If she, assuming we’re talking about Terri, accessed an attached e-mailed photograph from a different device—such as a BlackBerry or another computer somewhere—then it won’t be on the laptop she used for the Internet.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Scarpetta said. “There’s a power cord in her office that doesn’t go to either of the laptops you have. There must be another one somewhere.”

“We should go from here to Oscar’s apartment.” Marino’s voice, to the others. “Morales had the key. He’s still got it?”

“Yes,” Berger said. “He has it. Oscar could be there. We don’t know where he is.”

“I don’t believe for a minute he’s there.” Benton’s voice now.

“You were just talking to Morales? What did he want?” Berger asked him.

“He suspects Oscar figured he was about to get arrested—said one of the guards told him that Oscar didn’t do well after Kay left. Morales said, and remember to consider the source, that Oscar feels betrayed by Kay. Feels lied to and disrespected, and he’s glad Terri didn’t witness how abusive Kay was to Oscar during the examination. She supposedly put chemicals on Oscar and caused him a lot of pain.”

“Abuse?” Scarpetta asked.

They were having this conversation as if they’d forgotten Lucy was on the phone. She continued to search through deleted e-mails.

“That was the word Morales used,” Benton’s voice.

“I certainly wasn’t abusive, and whoever this Morales is, he knows damn well I can’t say what went on in there.” Scarpetta talking to Benton. “He knows Oscar’s not under arrest. So I really can’t defend myself if he starts tossing around words like that.”

“I don’t believe Oscar made those comments,” Benton said. “He knows you can’t repeat anything. So if he really didn’t trust you, he would assume that you would defend yourself if he did start misrepresenting you. He would assume you would breach confidentiality because you have no integrity. And I’ll talk to the guard, myself.”

“I agree,” Berger said. “Morales is probably the source of the comments.”

“He’s a shit stirrer,” Marino said.

“He has a message for you,” Benton said.

“Yeah, I bet he does,” Marino said.

“The witness you interviewed earlier today, the woman across the street?” Benton said, and it seemed they had forgotten that Lucy was listening.

“I hadn’t talked to him about it,” Marino said.

“Well, he knows about it,” Benton said to him.