Part 24 (1/2)

”The blonde, second from the left in the second row, is the former Daphne Elizabeth Browne,” Matt said. ”Now Mrs. Chadwick Thomas Nesbitt the Fourth.”

”Interesting,” Davis said. ”The hostess of the party, right? We should have picked up on that.”

”I don't think Daffy is the type to blow things up, and/ or help fugitives,” Matt said.

”Take my word for it, Detective,” Jernigan said. ”As suming that 'nice' people can't be involved in some pretty nasty business isn't smart.”

”Which is rather what I had in mind when I mentioned to Detective Malone that 'nice' is something we should all keep in mind.”

Matt didn't reply.

”You said you knew a couple of faces?” Davis went on.

”Sitting beside Daffy is a female named Penelope Alice Detweiler,” Matt said, ”who I know know is not aiding and abetting our fugitives.” is not aiding and abetting our fugitives.”

”How do you know that?” Jernigan challenged, ”She's dead,” Matt said.

”Penny Detweiler died of a narcotics overdose,” Chief Coughlin said.

”I see. Well, that would seem to b.u.t.tress my observation about the meaning of the word 'nice,' wouldn't it?” Davis said.

The group shot disappeared from the screen and was replaced by a series of other snapshots of Bennington girls, each showing Susan Reynolds with a square box around her face and a circle around the face of either (or both) Eloise Anne Fitzgerald or Jennifer Ollwood-in some shots, of both.

”The blonde is Miss Susan Reynolds, of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, white female now twenty-six years of age, five feet five, 130 pounds, blond hair, pale complexion, blue eyes, who has puncture wounds, entrance and exit, on her inside upper thigh caused by her having taken an arrow during archery practice at summer camp when she was sixteen.”

There were chuckles around the table.

Somebody-Matt could not tell for sure, but it sounded like Jack Matthews-asked incredulously, ”Archery practice? Some girl didn't know the bow was loaded?” practice? Some girl didn't know the bow was loaded?”

There were more chuckles.

Another photo of Susan appeared, a more recent photograph. In it she was wearing a dress.

”This was taken three months or so ago, outside the Department of Social Services Building in Harrisburg, where Miss Reynolds is employed as an appeals officer,” Leibowitz said. ”She resides with her parents in Camp Hill and drives a red Porsche 911-which she obviously didn't buy with what they pay her at Social Services-and in which she frequently drove to her family's summer home in the Pocono Mountains on weekends.”

”When this came to our attention,” Leibowitz continued, ”we sought and received a.s.sistance from the local authorities.”

”What 'local authorities'?” Chief Coughlin asked.

”The county sheriff, Chief,” Leibowitz said. ”We gave him a camera with a tripod and a telephoto lens-”

”You gave gave him a camera?” Peter Wohl asked. him a camera?” Peter Wohl asked.

”I asked about that myself, Peter,” Walter Davis said. ”It was cost-effective, Agent Leibowitz told me. I suppose a good camera like that is worth five hundred dollars. . . .”

”I think that particular camera outfit cost us $412.50,” Leibowitz said.

”How do I get on your gift list?” Wohl asked.

”Anytime you're willing to place a premises such as the Reynolds summer home under at least part-time surveillance and save the FBI the man-hours of keeping it under surveillance ourselves.”

”Clever,” Wohl said appreciatively.

”And it has a certain public-relations aspect, too, Peter,” Davis said. ”Getting a camera from the FBI makes the local authorities look on us as their friends. As hard as you may find this to believe, not all police officers look on us fondly.”

”But on the other hand, Walter,” Wohl said, ”some of my officers like FBI agents so much that they take them on sight-seeing tours, absolutely free of charge.”

”Actually, now that my temper has had time to cool down,” Leibowitz said, ”I have to admit that was sort of funny. But let me show you what our $412.50 bought.”

A somewhat grainy photograph of a Ford sedan came on the screen.

”We ran the plate. The plate plate was stolen. There were no recent reports of a Ford like that having been stolen in a four-state area.” was stolen. There were no recent reports of a Ford like that having been stolen in a four-state area.”

”They switched plates,” Denny Coughlin thought out loud.

”We think that's probable. And there are just too many two-year-old Fords like that to make it cost-efficient to run every one of them down.”

”Yeah,” Wohl agreed.

”This is, in case anyone can't guess, the Reynolds summer house,” Leibowitz said. ”And this gentleman is Mr. Bryan C. Chenowith,” he said, as a picture of a young man in sports clothing and wearing horn-rimmed gla.s.ses getting out of the Ford appeared on the screen.

”Bingo!” Chief Coughlin said.

”On this occasion,” Leibowitz said, ”Mr. Chenowith was accompanied by Miss Ollwood.”

The screen now showed Jennifer Ollwood, wearing a tweed skirt and a sweater, standing on the porch of the Reynolds cabin. She was being embraced by Susan Reynolds.

Jesus Christ! Matt thought. Matt thought. There's no question about it now. Susan is in with these lunatics up to her cute little a.s.s. There's no question about it now. Susan is in with these lunatics up to her cute little a.s.s.

”Obviously,” Chief Coughlin said, ”you didn't get this in time to do anything about it, and the sheriff's deputy?”

”We asked the local authorities to locate and identify, not apprehend,” Leibowitz said. ”We want the Chenowith Group alive, taken into custody without the firing of a shot. The last thing we want to do is kill one of them and make a martyr out of him,” Leibowitz said, ”or, especially, one of the females.”

”But aren't these photographs enough to pick up the Reynolds girl?” Denny Coughlin asked. ”Charge her with aiding and abetting? Accessory after the fact? Lean on her hard?”

”After we get the Chenowith Group, Chief,” Leibowitz said, ”I'm sure the U.S. Attorney will go after her. But the priority is the apprehension of the Chenowith Group.” we get the Chenowith Group, Chief,” Leibowitz said, ”I'm sure the U.S. Attorney will go after her. But the priority is the apprehension of the Chenowith Group.”

”I understand,” Coughlin said.

”Once we had these pictures, and identified Chenowith and Ollwood, we put the premises under surveillance, of course,” Leibowitz said. ”And the to-be-expected result of that, of course, was that they never went back to the Poconos.”

”They spotted the surveillance?” Peter Wohl asked, ”That's possible, of course,” Leibowitz replied. ”But we think it's equally possible that they simply suspected they had been using that rendezvous point too often. Whatever the reason, they never went back to the Reynolds summer house.”

”What's the purpose of the rendezvous?” Matt asked.

”I was about to get to that,” Leibowitz said. ”First of all, we think it has to do with money. We believe that since we have been looking for them, the Chenowith Group has been involved in as many as four bank robberies. We have surveillance-camera proof that Chenowith and Ollwood have been involved in two bank robberies. A total of $140,000, in round figures, has been taken. One of them was a very recent case.”