Part 40 (1/2)

We were sitting across from each other at the patio table. The ice in our lemonades had melted and I felt a little sunburned.

aKatie? Will you and Lucy go out after a while and get the wine?” my mother said from the window.

I could see the shape of her head and the round outline of her face. Cupboard doors opened and shut; then the telephone sounded its high-pitched ring. It was for me, and my mother simply handed the cordless phone out the door.

aItas Benton,a the familiar voice said. aI see from the papers that the weatheras great down there. Itas raining here and a lovely forty-five degrees.”

aDonat make me homesick.”

aKay, we think weave got an ID. And by the way, someone went to a lot of trouble. Fake identifications - good ones. He was able to walk into a gun store, and rent a condo, with no questions asked.”

aWheread he get his money?”

”Family. Heas probably had some stashed. Anyway, after going through prison records and talking to a lot of people, it seems that Hilton Sullivan is an alias for a thirty-one-year-old male named Temple Brooks Gault from Albany, Georgia. His father owns a pecan plantation and thereas a lot of money. Gaultas typical in some ways - preoccupied with guns, knives, martial arts, violent p.o.r.nography. Heas antisocial, et cetera.”

aIn what-ways is he atypical?” I asked.

aHis pattern would indicate that heas completely unpredictable. He doesnat really fit any profile, Kay. This guyas off the charts. If something strikes his fancy, he just does it. Heas consummately narcissistic and vain his hair, for example. He highlights it himself. We found the bleach, rinses, and so on in his apartment. Some of his inconsistencies are, well, weird.”

”Such as?”

aHe was driving this beat up old van that was once owned by a housepainter. Doesnat appear Gault ever washed it or bothered to clean it out, not even after. he murdered Eddie Heath inside the thing. Weave got some pretty promising trace, by the way, and blood thatas consistent with Eddieas type. Thatas disorganized. Yet Gault also apparently eradicated bite marks and had his fingerprints changed. Thatas as organized as h.e.l.la ”Benton, what is his history? aA manslaughter conviction. Two and a half yes ago he got angry with a man in, a bar and kicked him in the head. This was in Abingdon, Virginia. Gault, by the way, has a black belt in karate.”

aAny new developments on locating him?” I watched Lucy set up the chessboard.

aNone. But for all of us involved in the cases, Ia'll say what Iave said before. This guyas absolutely without fear. Heas very much guided by impulse and is, therefore, troublesome to second-guess.”

aI understand.”

”Just make sure you exercise the appropriate precautionsa at an times.”

There were no appropriate precautions against someone like this, I thought.

aAll of us need to be alert.”

aI understand,a I said again.

aDonahue had no idea what he unleashed. Or better put Norring didnat. Though I donat believe our good governor handpicked this dirtbag. He just wanted his d.a.m.n briefcase and probably gave Donahue the necessary funds and told him to take care of it. Weare not going to get any hard time for Norring. Heas been too careful and too many people arenat around to talk.”

He paused, adding, aOf course, thereas your attorney and me.”

aWhat do you mean?”

aIave been clear - in a subtle way, of course - that it would be a d.a.m.n shame if something got leaked about the briefcase stolen from Robyn Naismithas house. Grueman had a little tete-a-tete with him, too, and reports that Norring looked-a little queasy when it was mentioned that it must have been a harrowing experience when he drove himself to the ER the night before Robynas death.a By checking old newspaper clips and talking to-contacts in various ERs around the city, I had discovered that the night before Robynas murder, Norring had been treated at Henrico Doctoras emergency room after administering epinephrine to himself by injection in his left thigh. Apparently, he had suffered a severe allergic reaction to Chinese food, cartons for which I recalled from police reports had been found in Robyn Naismithas trash. My theory was that shrimp or some other sh.e.l.lfish had inadvertently gotten mixed in with spring rolls: or something else he and Robyn had eaten for dinner. He had begun to go into anaphylactic shock, had used one of his EpiPens - perhaps one head kept at Robynas house - and then had driven himself to the hospital. In his great distress, he had left without his briefcase.

aI just want Norring as far away from me as possible,a I said.

aWell, it seems heas been suffering health problems of late and has decided it would be wise to resign and look for something less stressful in the private sector. Perhaps on the West Coast. Iam quite certain he wonat bother you. Ben Stevens wonat bother you. For one thing, he - like Norring - is too busy looking over his shoulder for Gault. Letas see. Last I heard, Stevens was in Detroit. Did you know?”

aDid you threaten him, too?”

aKay, I never threaten anyone.”

aBenton, youare one of the most threatening people Iave ever met.”