The phone rang a fourth and a fifth time. The thing must be out of Jess's ear shot, ringing incessantly somewhere. Perhaps she was in the shower or otherwise indisposed. He flashed on the notion of seeing her in the shower via her cam-phone.
Finally the ringing ended and she was on, sounding a little winded as if she had just finished climbing stairs. Clearing her throat, getting her bearings. Another noise he could not place, an incessant knocking on a door, and then a sound like a grunting animal.
“Richard, it's you again!”
“Surprise, yes. Just got into my room here,” he replied. “Why is your cam off? I want to see you.”
“Ahhh… food is… room service just arrived.”
“That's a good thing normally.”
“And I'm running late. Lots to do at the lab. Lots to process, and I want to go over the evidence gathered and the body once again.”
“I'm going to sack out for a few hours, catch up, but I wanted to see you again before doing so. A funny thing…”
Something crashed to the floor at Jessica's end like silverware hitting one another.
“Please! Keep it down,” he heard Jessica say.
“Busy place you have there,” he commented. “Want me to call back?”
“No, no, dear. Just my breakfast, room service. I must have laid back down. Fell asleep after your last call… showered… almost missed your call.”
“Great to hear you, love. Strangest thing happened on my way to an exhumation today.”
“Can you hold that thought a moment, darling?” she said. “Didn't eat much last night,” she lied, “and-and I am so famished.”
“Switch on your camera, so I can see what you're having.”
Jessica feared him finding Darwin in her room at this early hour-despite her innocence, she told herself-but then she knew that her thoughts hadn't been entirely guilt free, and that this was making her sound erratic. Finally, she said, “Oh… ahhh… appears Darwin is here, too. He's brought over autopsy files on the Millbrook and Portland cases for me.”
“Then it does sound as if you are busy there. I'll just bugger off then and get some much-needed sleep.”
“No, no, Richard, hold on just a moment.”
Her camera came on. She panned around the room, showing the breakfast cart and cutting quickly to the table where folders lay stacked neatly. It panned to Agent Darwin Reynolds who smiled at Richard and lifted a tentative hand.
“Say hello to Agent Reynolds, dear. He wants to personally thank you for doing what you can from there.”
The two men exchanged pleasantries.
She had just moments before shushed Darwin after he had barreled past her to exchange their dinner dishes for breakfast, resulting in a lot of clanking noise. He had taken the hint. Darwin now grimaced and, like a bad actor, woodenly said to Richard via the cam-phone, “I brought Dr. Coran the latest toxin and serology reports over from Dr. Sands. He says basically there was nothing whatsoever in the woman's system. The bastard didn't even give her the benefit of a sedative.”
Jessica returned the camera focus to herself and smiling, said, “Why don't you get that well-earned sleep, Richard. I'll call you later before we fly out to Portland.”
“To Portland? Both of you?”
“To talk to the governor… bring him up to date on what we have, our suspicions, all of it.”
“No way they're going to have DNA tests completed by then. Last I heard the earliest is forty-eight hours even on a rush job.”
“I'm aware of that, sweetheart. But we've got to go with what we have. Try to stall the governor until these DNA tests in Minnesota are done.”
“Right… sure. Agreed.”
“So, what were you saying about the exhumation?”
“Ahhh… just a strange Jungian serendipitous thing having to do with a… a bird. Seems silly now. Nothing really.”
“This Dr. Krueshach, he did put your request at the head of the line didn't he?”
“In Millbrook, Minnesota, dear, even if you are at the head of the line, let me tell you, life moves slow here. I built as big a fire under their asses as I thought prudent without pissing them off. On second thought, I guess I did piss Krueshach off, but he's now moving as fast as he can, I assure you.”
“Then you did find enough tissue under her nails to have tests performed?”
On hearing her question, Darwin inched closer in an attempt to hear the answer. Richard saw a cup in one hand, a pastry in another.
“Affirmative, and I'm assured that a DNA fingerprint for Guide's murderer will come of it.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Call it intuition, instinct, whatever. I sense the killer reasoned wrong, thinking his DNA was under only her left-hand nails.”
“You sound fairly certain of it.”
“You see, he didn't bother with the hand clutching the charcoal drawing. I see it this way: She tears at him with the one hand, and he grabs both her wrists, one hand clutching the drawing. He forces her to her knees and brings down the hammer. She was struck twice with it according to Krueshach. Once while standing, once while on the ground.”
“I see… on her knees, bending to his will.”
“Yes, he sees the drawing and draws the conclusion from it, that her scratching him had been done with the free hand, but-”
“-but somewhere in the struggle, she's exchanged the drawing from left to right, the actual hand she attacked with.”
“Precisely… perhaps. All hinges on these tests.”
“We don't have the luxury of time, Richard, so have them run a test for blood type in the interim. It's quick and easy. If the blood type foils to match Robert Towne's at least we'll have that to add to our arsenal of items that don't add up!”
“Good thinking.”
“Meantime, Reynolds and I will fly up to Portland, meet you there. We'll need time to locate Towne's DNA fingerprint.”
“Are you certain he has one on file in Portland?”
“Reynolds assures me he does. Nowadays, Portland, like a lot of cities, does a DNA fingerprint for anyone arrested on a class-A felony.”
Just then Reynolds knocked over a lamp on the table. “Zeus, what was that?” asked Richard.
“Sorry, Darwin's like a bull in a china shop.”
“Big man, I could see that much. And handsome.”
“I hadn't noticed.” she said, waving the silverware in her hand to cover the lie. Off camera, she gritted her teeth and glared at Darwin. He mouthed, Sorry.
“Darwin is leaving now. We are both late for Dr. Sands, who has been extremely cooperative, Richard. A delight to work with.”
She felt an unreasonable guilt over the lie of omission already, the failure to tell Richard that Darwin had in fact spent the entire night in her hotel room, regardless of its having been in a perfectly innocent fashion. “He's had his coffee and roll now and is out the door.”
She panned the camera on a willing subject now as the Milwaukee agent, coffee cup in hand, waved good- bye while disappearing through the door, closing it behind him.
“The privilege of your company,” began Richard, “I should think, is uppermost on that young fellow's mind. Wants to learn from you, doesn't he?”
“He wants to use me, if that's what you mean. It was a set-up from the get-go. Darwin didn't want us here to solve the Olsen woman's case but to prove his theory about the connection between Louisa Childe and Sarah
