Part 30 (1/2)

”Can you place him on any flights to Omaha or Lincoln?” I asked.

”Not so far,” he said. ”The whole thing was a bit more complicated than I thought it would be. You can't just go into a travel agent's system and retrieve past reservations made by people who didn't use that agent. I had to worm my way into the billing database for each airline, and it took some time.” I remained silent a moment. Jayne got out of bed, let the dogs out the door from my bedroom to the backyard, then removed her pajamas and went into the bathroom where I heard her start the shower. Then she used her index finger and gestured for me to come hither. ”What do we do next?” Scott asked.

”I'm going to take a shower,” I said. ”I'll call you back.”

32.

I NEVER GOT THE CHANCE to return Scott's call. Soon after Jayne headed down the mountain for the math department, Susan Thompson phoned me and told me the connection between Amanda Slowiaczek and Finn. I punched in the number for the Lincoln Police Department.

”Detective Slowiaczek,” she said.

”Amanda,” I said cheerfully, ”how are you?”

”Who's this?” she demanded.

”Pepper Keane.”

”Do I know you?”

”Limp-d.i.c.k lawyer turned private eye,” I said.

”Oh,” she said, ”what do you want?”

”I was going through your reports on the Carolyn Chang murder-I got copies from Sheriff Bowen down in Kansas-but I seem to be missing a few. I was wondering if you could fax me a copy of the paperwork on the hara.s.sment complaint Carolyn filed a few years”-she hung up on me-”ago.”

I smiled to myself-few things are more satisfying than making someone eat their words-and I pondered what to have for breakfast. I was in the process of slicing a whole-wheat bagel in half when Russ Seifert called.

”I searched Don's office from top to bottom and couldn't find anything like what you described,” he said, ”but this may interest you.”

”What's that?”

”I got to thinking about your theory and I remembered that a day or two before Donald's death, we had some problems with our security cameras.”

”What kind of problems?”

”The power went out in our building one night that week and the cameras were out of service for about an hour.”

”Don't you have batteries or generators?”

”We have backup generators for the mainframes, but not the security system.”

”Anything taken that night?”

”Not that we know of, but if your theory's right, an intruder wouldn't have been looking for our materials. He would have been looking for something Donald had been working on. We wouldn't even have known it existed.”

”Yeah.”

”Does that help?” he asked.

”It's not the connection I was hoping for, but it's mighty suspicious.”

”Let me know if I can do anything else.”

”I will,” I said.

I ate the other half of the bagel, then went downstairs to work the heavy bag. I usually start out sluggish and finish sharp, and this morning was no exception. After a few minutes my punches were quick and full of snap. I felt good when I came upstairs. Things were falling into place.

Then Jayne called and said, ”We need to talk.” She sounded distant.

”What's up?”

”You weren't completely honest with me.”

”What are you talking about?”

”While you were being so honest with me about your depression, it didn't occur to you that I might like to know about your manslaughter trial?”

”Who told you?” I asked.

”Stephen.”

”It was self-defense,” I said. ”I was acquitted.”

”That's not the point,” she said. ”I had a right to know.”

”Yes,” I said, ”you did.” She remained silent. ”I wanted to tell you,” I added, ”but I was waiting for the right time.”

”And when would that have been?” I had no good answer and said nothing for a moment, then asked if she would like to hear the story.

”Maybe in a day or two,” she finally said.

”Okay,” I said. ”Let me know when you're ready. And call me if you need me.”

”Good-bye,” she said.

”Jayne, I'm-” Click. I placed the receiver in its cradle.

I sat in my office and tried to organize my thoughts. I should've been focused on the fact that Mike Polk looked like a pretty good bet to be a player in the fractal murders. Instead I found myself thinking about Jayne. And the more I thought about it, the more I wondered why Finn had been at my home and why he had taken it upon himself to dig into my past and tell Jayne about it. I thought I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it from the triathlete's mouth, so I headed to Boulder.

The math department was busier than normal, but I managed to reach Finn's office without being seen by Jayne or Mary Pat. He was at his desk, wearing Dockers and a blue poplin s.h.i.+rt. He looked up at me. ”Mr. Keane,” he said, ”what can I do for you?” I closed the door behind me, then sat down on one of the two wooden chairs in front of his desk. I took a deep breath and let it out in order to relax.

”One of my neighbors saw you snooping around my house a few weeks ago. I was hoping you could explain that to me.”

”I don't know what you're talking about,” he said. He removed his wire-rimmed gla.s.ses and set them on his desk.

”She saw your picture in the paper and she can identify you,” I said. ”Let's put that issue aside for a moment. Perhaps you can tell me what prompted you to dig into my past, and why you felt compelled to share my manslaughter arrest with Jayne Smyers this morning.”