one breath and take another one in-Merci pretended that she could see Hess again if she wanted to. She felt spooked and giddy. But would she see him, if she could? Oh, yes. So much to talk about.
'Well, I'll let you know if I find a way to do that,' Archie said reasonably.
'Do that, Archie.'
Zamorra came into the room carrying a cardboard box in two hands. 'I've got plenty to get us started. I found what looks like video from OrganiVen. Maybe we'll get to see the rattlesnake cancer cure in action.'
Merci heard the sharpness in Zamorra's words. She knew that as Janine had faded, she and Paul had gone to a clinic in Tijuana. They had come back two days later, Zamorra quietly boiling with contempt for what they'd found down there. He'd made an unfunny joke about demolishing the place and killing the quacks with head-and-kidney punches.
'You'll like that,' said Archie, unaware.
'I bet I will.' Zamorra headed down the hall with his booty.
'Do you want me to give you a ride to the hospital?' Merci asked.
'No, thank you. I've got a few hours of things to do. I'm feeling better right now. My parents are taking me to lunch.'
She looked at him and nodded.
'You're a good detective, Sergeant Rayborn,' he said. 'I think you're intelligent and thorough. You seem to like your job. You're attractive. You don't smile very often, but you're not in a smiley kind of business. The first couple of times I saw you, I thought you were Gwen. You have very similar eyes. Intelligent eyes. The difference is Gwen's eyes had something generous and inclusive, and yours don't. Yours have something judgmental and private. Something unwelcome to other people, or maybe just to me.'
She thought about these statements but it was like being hit by different things in different places.
'I don't really care what you think of me or the way I look, or who I remind you of.'
'No, you weren't supposed to. I was trying to be factual.'
'See you later, Archie.'
'Okay, sure. Something weird just happened, Sergeant.'
She waited, feeling her anger rise.
'I just remembered what it was about that car. You know, the car the men drove to the meeting with Gwen?'
Again she said nothing.
Archie was nodding, frowning a little and looking past her. 'It was a Lincoln Town Car, black. But it had livery plates. That's what made it different. It was registered as a limousine. When I looked at the plates I saw it.'
'So they took a car to the meet,' said Merci.
'But one of them drove it. That was another thing that seemed odd. The big guy drove it but he was part of the meeting, so he wasn't chauffeur, right? And the blond rode up front, not like a customer but like a friend or something.'
To Rayborn, it seemed odd, too. And Wildcraft hadn't mentioned the blond before. 'Describe the blond man.'
'Average build, mid-forties. Hair a little longer than usual. More like a seventies look.'
'When you first saw him, did you happen to think, businessman?
'That's exactly what I thought.'
Just like Dobbs, thought Merci. 'You wrote down the plate numbers, didn't you?'
'I believe so.'
'What did you do with them after you wrote them down, Archie?
He was already shaking his head.
'You can't remember.'
'I can't remember.'
'Do you have a regular notebook?'
'Yeah, I think it was regular. Here, I'll give it to you. Just a second.'
Archie came off the bed and went into his closet. Merci could hear coins hitting coins, the rattle of change in a container, then pages being flipped.
He came out a second later with an inexpensive three-by-five notepad with a spiral binding at the top and a green cover. 'Good luck,' he said. 'I couldn't find anything that looked like plate numbers.'
'No. And you can't tell me anything more about that meeting?'
Archie shook his head, frowning, biting his lip. 'I wish I could. Just that it had to do with our OrganiVen stock, I mean, I associate the car and the stock but I don't know why. And Gwen wanted me there. I remember that very clearly. I'm really sorry.'
'Me, too.'
'Oh, wow! I just thought of something else. The light came down at me.'
'What do you mean, Archie?'
'The light. That night. I'm six-three. Most people would have to shine it up at me. That guy, he aimed down. I just remembered.'
Halfway back to headquarters, her cell phone rang. It was Sheriff Vince Abelera, speaking in his usual soft tones.
'I want to meet with you and Paul at five o'clock.'
'Yes, sir. Can you give us a sneak preview?'
'Whether or not to arrest Wildcraft. Brenkus and Dawes will be there. They want to file, they say that it's a good case. Better than good. Everyone's got strong opinions about this crime. For obvious reasons, I need yours.'
Her heart sank. 'I look forward to it, sir.'
'You and Zamorra have my complete trust and confidence on this.'
She wondered about that last statement, wondered why Abelera would bother to make it if it was true. She clicked off and sighed, told her partner.
'I was wondering when they'd lower the boom,' Zamorra said.
'Me, too.'
She looked at him and tried to read the thoughts behind his trim face. 'Paul, you've let me lead the charge on this one. Or the noncharge. But am I missing something here? Am I blind? Am I the only person not ready to charge that guy with murder?'
Zamorra was quiet for a long moment. Merci watched a man talking on a phone swoosh into the car-pool lane in front of them at about ninety, wished she could pull him over and cuff him.
'I think Wildcraft is running something on us.'
'This is news to me, Paul.'
'This morning clinched it. He doesn't remember anything more on the walk-through. But he remembers livery plates at a meeting that may or may not have taken place. He suddenly remembers the light came down on him, not up. He gives you that speech about what a good detective you are, and so beautiful too, you remind him of his wife who's been dead six days. I thought you might swat him silly for that one.'
'I almost did. Nice eavesdropping, by the way.'
'I started down the hall with the box and thought I'd listen in. Just the way he was sitting on that bed. It set off an alarm. Sorry.'
'Hey-you're my partner, listen in any time you want.'
'I didn't like what I heard. I don't like him and the little sister at Archie's place while Gwen was gone. What was going on then-I don' buy the mad-at-my-soon-to-be-ex outburst. I don't like the little sister showing up with Archie's clothes and helping him check out of the hospital. I'm going to poke around a little, have a closer look at her.
'With an eye for her getting the cute hubby once big sister is out of the way.'
'That comes to mind.'
'I could see it. All right. Okay. I'm with you.'
'I think we should keep looking at him. Hard. And surveillance him while we do. Not a twenty-four/seven-but selective-see where he goes and who he talks to. I don't think he's going far with a bullet in his head. But he might
