copy of
“One of the best,” Maguire told him. “If you want to borrow it feel free.”
“Maybe another time. Right now I’ve got a collection of Zane Grey’s waiting for me.”
“Those are westerns, right?”
“Yep.”
“I’ve read a few recently by Cormac McCarthy. Terrific stuff. Has the same cynicism and bleak landscapes that you get in the best hardboiled books. By the way, all those computer books are getting tossed. In the next few weeks they’ll be replaced with investigation manuals.”
Maguire snapped his fingers suddenly and turned back to the computer. “A moment of inspiration hit me,” he explained to Shannon. “I wonder what would happen if I did an Internet search for Vishna Yoga?”
He brought up a search engine and tried it. “They’re opening up more studios,” he muttered softly as he looked over the results.
Shannon’s heart dropped as he looked at the list of upcoming locations. Fort Collins. Colorado Springs. Austin, Texas. Norman, Oklahoma. Boise, Idaho. Paveeth had far more ambitious plans than Shannon had given him credit for. He was going to mine those college towns for more women who fit his emotional and physical criteria. Shannon knew more expansions would come in the future. That this was just the beginning.
“What do you think?” Maguire asked, a twinkle showing in his eyes. “Should I buy some stock in his operations? Looks like a potential boom.”
“Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?” Shannon said. “Look, I’ve got to head out. I’ll give you a call soon.”
“Sure. Let me walk you to your car.”
“There’s no need. I’ll find my way out.”
“Yeah, okay, um, you are going to give me another assignment, right?”
Shannon nodded, grabbed the photos. “Yeah, I will. You did a good job today.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that, and say hi to Susan for me.”
Shannon told him he would. Maguire walked with him out of the second bedroom and through the living room. Shannon was halfway down the steps when Maguire asked him if he had called Nancy yet. Shannon turned and gave him a puzzled look.
“My wife,” Maguire explained. “I was just wondering if you’ve talked to her.”
“No, not yet. I’ll give her a call tonight.”
“Let me know how things go.” He paused, showing a halfhearted smile. “Tell her I miss her, okay?”
Shannon told him he would. He felt lightheaded walking down the steps, realizing what he had stumbled into. True Light wasn’t just a local Boulder concern. Anil Paveeth had ambitions to go national. Maybe he had misread Paveeth’s purpose for these young women. Maybe what he was using them for was to train an army of ‘Vishna’ yoga instructors. And maybe the Russians’ role was to bankroll the expansion, and they leaned on him the other day to protect their investment. An image of Vishna Yoga studios in malls and shopping centers across the country struck him. If the sonofabitch was successful he’d be able to buy himself a boatful of parrots.
When he stepped outside he called Daniels and told him he’d stop by the station, that he had something for him. On the way over, he stopped at a convenience store and bought a large black coffee and a pack of Camel Filter Hardpacks.
Daniels looked bored as he glanced at the photos Shannon had handed him. He put them down and shrugged. “So?”
“I thought you’d be interested,” Shannon said. “Three members of True Light’s cult spending time at Carver and Gibson’s apartment.”
“First off, you don’t know that they’re members of that cult. All you know is they take yoga classes. Second, you don’t even know for a fact they ever spent time with Carver and Gibson, all you have is an impression from a neighbor that they did. And your buddy, Maguire, he doesn’t know when that was. Third, let’s say Carver and Gibson knew these girls, how the fuck does that tie that cult to their murders? You were a cop once. If someone came to you with this, what would you do?”
“I’d find these three girls and talk to them. Anil Paveeth also.”
“Who?”
“The great almighty Vishna. His real name is Anil Paveeth. This joker used to be a chemical engineer before becoming a god and starting True Light.”
“How’d you find this out?”
“A friend at the FBI.”
“So he used to be a chemical engineer. Big deal. I went to college for journalism and look at me now.”
“I still think it’s worth talking to them.”
“Let’s say I track down these girls. You know what I’ll get from them? Nothing. And I’ll get less from your pal, Paveeth. What you’re asking me to do is waste hours of my time, especially since there’s nothing connecting them to the murders. Now if you told me they were there the night Carver and Gibson were killed, or they had some altercation with them, then that would be different. Or if you told me your FBI friend has something concrete connecting that cult to those dead students. Are you able to tell me something like that?”
Shannon didn’t bother answering him.
“What I’m beginning to think is you’ve got a vendetta against that cult, that you didn’t like that a couple of their boys bruised you up the other day, and you’re looking for an excuse to send me down there to harass them.”
Shannon nodded towards the pictures he had given Daniels. “You need those?”
“Nah, why don’t you take them with you on your way out.”
Shannon did what the lieutenant suggested and took several steps towards the door when Daniels begrudgingly asked him what his theory was. “How were Carver and Gibson connected to that cult?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they did some early recruiting for Paveeth before he opened his yoga studio.”
“Or maybe there’s no connection. Maybe those girls became so distraught over their friends’ deaths that they ended up getting sucked into the same cult together.” Daniels shook his head, his chest deflating as he sighed. “You find a real connection between Paveeth and those dead students and I’ll look into it. But not until then. I already had a new asshole chewed out for me yesterday for not showing enough sensitivity to ‘our minority’ faiths here in Boulder.”
Shannon left. It was already past five. He thought about heading back to the Boulderado to see Susan, but instead made a detour to the university. He found Eddie at the fountain area outside the student center playing a kid in speed chess. Eddie had a rook and three pawn advantage but never had a chance to use it because the kid’s flag fell while he pondered his position. The kid got up and let Shannon take his place.
Eddie opened his eyes wide as he considered Shannon. “An unexpected surprise. I thought our match was tomorrow?”
“It is. I wanted to ask if this is the girl you had talked to before.”
Shannon handed him the picture of the girl with straight red hair, one of the three to have been let out of the van. Eddie studied it intently, pushing his upper plate out as he did.
“Nope,” he said, “that’s not her. The one I talked to looked like a young redheaded version of Meg Ryan with freckles, at least when her eyes weren’t jumping around on me. How about it? You up to a game of speed chess?”
“Sure, I’ve got five minutes to spare.”
“You any good at it?”
“We’ll find out.”
They set up the board with Shannon taking white and each side putting five minutes on their side of the chess clock. Twelve moves into the game Eddie muttered “fish” under his breath. Twenty moves later Eddie had his head in his hands as he stared hopelessly at the board. He stayed in that position until his flag fell.
“Why me, lord, why me?” he beseeched the sky, then turned livid as he faced Shannon. “I played the Steinitz variation of the Caro-Kann perfectly. I spent three day studying all its variations. You screwed up on your twelfth move. It should’ve been a won game for me.”
“I kind of liked my twelfth move,” Shannon said.
