liked-or at least respected-the woman.”
Lew Clemmens found them, a cell phone in his hand. “I've got someone in Houston, Texas, willing to run out to Huntsville and interview Goddard. Goddard's on borrowed time, waiting to hear if his appeal is going to go forward. If he's shut down, he dies by the switch in seven days.”
“ Who've you got?” asked Eriq.
“ Guy that Dr. Desinor recommended, Detective Lucas Stonecoat with the HPD. He knows something about Goddard, and he has a special place in his heart for Judge DeCampe. Says she busted his chops more than once.”
“ When did you speak to Kim Desinor?”
“ She called in. Wanted to know if we were any closer. I told her about the Houston, Texas, connection.”
Jessica took the line, holding her hand over the mouthpiece for the moment. She knew something of the Texas Cherokee Indian detective's recent history with successfully closing out a string of unusual cases in his home state and beyond. Kim Desinor, acting as the FBI psychic consultant on the case, had spent time in Houston working with Stonecoat and the police psychiatrist Meredyth Sanger there. Jessica recalled that Kim had once urged her that if ever she needed insight into Texas and the Texas penal system, that Lucas Stonecoat was her man. “Hello, Detective Stonecoat, this is FBI Medical Examiner Dr. Jessica Coran. We appreciate your help.”
“ I'll interview Goddard with the help of our resident po-lice shrink. Dr. Meredyth Sanger,” he replied. “She's the best Houston has. If anything can be shaken loose from Goddard, she can do it.”
“ Excellent news, and thanks.”
“ No thanks necessary. Let's just find Judge DeCampe. Underneath that scaly, rough yet too-liberal exterior beats a beautiful heart. She's good people.”
Beats a beautiful heart still, we hope, Jessica thought but replied, “Yes, yes, she is.”
“ I'll call you back the moment we have anything.”
“ We're working up a sketch of the abductor now. We'll fax it to you. Clemmens will take your fax number, and again, thanks.”
“ Hold on. You've got a witness who can ID the abductor?”
“ We do.”
“ Excellent work.”
“ Lucked out.”
“ Not from what Dr. Desinor tells me about you. She tells me you are the most intuitive detective she has ever known.”
“ She's being generous.”
“ The state here just executed a guy named Purdy three days ago. Purdy's original trial played out with Judge DeCampe presiding-one of her first trials, long before she became an appellate judge.”
“ What's so interesting about this guy, Purdy?”
“ He was in the same cell block as Goddard. They had to have known one another. Now Purdy has been fried. It could have something to do with your case, maybe… maybe not.”
“ This fellow Purdy by any chance from Iowa?”
Stonecoat's stentorian voice silenced. “I… I'm not sure. Will look into it. What does it matter? I mean, does it matter?” He quickly answered his own question with, “Of course it's important; otherwise, we wouldn't be discussing it, right?”
“ Suffice to say, it could be vital, yes.”
“ We're looking under every rock in Houston. Trust me.”
“ I'm sure you are. We'll forward the artist's sketch as soon as we have it. Hasn't actually been created as yet.”
Lucas Stonecoat replied, “We've begun with traffic records, any tickets, maybe DMV and also have my computer whiz kid cross-reference between the DeCampe caseload and anything to do with threats.”
“ We're doing the same here. That's how we focused on Goddard.”
“ I'll have him cross for anything doing with Iowa and Purdy then.”
“ Same here.” Jessica hung up, sighed heavily, and leaned into an institutional gray wall. “Man, I hope something substantive comes of Marsden's interrogation. For all we know, he's making it up as he goes. That's what one voice is telling me; another voice is telling me he's our best shot yet.” Santiva, who had listened intently in on her side of the conversation with Detective Stonecoat, now said, “Jess, keep me posted on what you learn from Texas and from Jasper, Georgia.”
“ Course, will do.”
“ And Jess…”
“ Uh-huhr
“ You sure got some second sight or something.”
“ Meaning?”
“ I'm sure glad you kept me out of the interrogation box and away from this guy, Marsden.”
“ And why's that, Eriq?”
“ I might've strangled him when he dropped it about the dog.”
Jessica laughed lightly, and Eriq, shaking his head, went in search of his office, a little privacy with his phone, paperwork, and coffee, no doubt. “It's going to be a long night,” he muttered back at her from the elevator where he now stood.
Aren't they all? Jessica thought but only waved Santiva off.
She turned to stare at the interrogation room where Richard Sharpe, now one of Santiva's agents, continued to study Marsden through the one-way; but overhearing Santiva's last remark, he heartily agreed in her ear as she came close, saying, “The boss is right. It's going to be a long night, dear heart.” Sharpe had made his presence felt on the case, and at the same time he had often put Santiva at ease, acting as a kind of right-hand man for Eriq. Jessica's only fear was that Richard might get assigned to direct duty alongside Eriq. That would be a nightmare come true, Jessica thought. Richard would not own his own time if that should become the case. It would be like the relationship she had with Santiva-always on call. Like her, Richard would never know peace. “Yeah, long night,” she agreed.
Eriq disappeared via the elevator, and Jessica imagined him, instead of rushing back to his stuffy office, going straight for a set of doors that opened onto the world outside. Air, a clean breeze, something Jessica herself wanted right now so badly. Instead, she turned back to Richard, taking him in her arms, saying, “I could sure use a hug about now.”
“ I'll take one as well,” he replied, obliging. They stood that way in the corridor outside the interrogation room. “I think I've seen enough of Dr. Marsden to last me.”
They kissed. “Strange case,” he muttered when their lips parted.
“ And getting stranger by the moment. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, not just for the judge but for Kim.”
“ Did she really appear as bad as you say?”
“ Worse.”
“ But if they're psychosomatic lesions-”
“ No, no, these were as real as knife cuts.”
Keyes stepped off the elevator and came through a milling crowd of agents and toward Jessica. “I'll write up my notes on the interrogation,” she said, her hands full with some food in a bag from a nearby Boston Market. “Your captain requested a copy pronto. Caught him on the way out.”
Jessica momentarily wondered what words had transpired between Santiva and Keyes, and if Keyes were working for Jessica or for Eriq. She wondered if Keyes might not be the eyes and ears of the upper brass, peeking over Jessica's shoulder. It wasn't unheard of in the organization.
“ Yeah, me, too,” added Jessica, looking weary and shopworn. “Poor Eriq needs PR fodder, and he needs it badly.” Jessica smiled, then frowned and shook her head. “The eyes of a nation are on our every move, Dr. Keyes. Imagine if we fail. Who's going to be the first to blink?”
Keyes gave her a firm glare and replied, “Certainly not the most famous forensic detective in die history of the bureau, not Dr. Jessica Coran.”
