“These are people who could have had a whole other identity
waiting around in case they needed it,” Jesse said.
“Want to go take a look at their home?”
Healy
said.
“Warrant?” Jesse said.
“Already got that covered,” Healy said.
“Why you get the big bucks,” Jesse said.
“First I have to go see
Betty deAngelo.”
“The widow?” Healy said.
Jesse nodded.
“Lucky you,” Healy said.
“She has five kids,” Jesse said.
“Hard,” Healy said.
Jesse nodded.
“I’ll meet you at the Lincolns’
condo,” he said.
Jesse got out of the car and walked across the empty parking lot
to where his car sat alone near the east entrance of the mall.
Behind him Healy’s car drove away. Healy was right, Anthony would
have hesitated before shooting at a good-looking woman. And Healy was probably right about including the state cops. Jesse should have brought them in. He didn’t have enough people. He had more
people, maybe it wouldn’t have been Anthony. Maybe it wouldn’t have
been anybody. Maybe they’d have caught the Lincolns. His footsteps
were loud in the empty darkness. Maybe he overestimated himself and his men. Maybe thinking about it wasn’t useful. He unlocked his car
and got in and started it up. The headlights underscored how still and abandoned the parking lot was. He put the car in gear and drove.
He didn’t know the names of any of
Anthony’s children. There was
probably an Anthony Junior. He hoped the children wouldn’t be there
when he had to talk with Betty.
65
When Jesse got to the Lincolns’ condominium at 4:15
in the
morning, the state crime-scene people were beginning to wind down.
A couple of state homicide detectives were poking about.
“Talk to the widow?” Healy said.
Jesse nodded. Healy nodded with him.
“You ever see the den, here?”
“Lot of equipment,” Jesse said.
“Take a look,” Healy said and walked with Jesse into the
den.
On the computer screen was a candid head shot of Jesse that looked as if it had been taken when he was leaving the Paradise Police Station. The picture had apparently been cropped and blown up so that the background was hard to be sure of.
“We found it on the screen just like this when we came
in.”
“They thought I’d be dead,”
Jesse said.
“Yep.”
Healy turned and called into the living room.
“Rosario.”
