The Web

The connection broke a few times before I finally got an international line. Wondering if anyone could listen in and deciding I didn't care, I told the desk officer at the West L.A. station that I had urgent business with Detective Sturgis. He said, 'Yeah, I think he's here.'

A minute or so later, Milo barked his own name.

'Stanley? It's Livingstone.'

'Hey,' he said, 'buena afternuna- it's got to be what, five in the morning over there?'

'Just about.'

'What's up?'

'A bit of trouble.'

'Another cannibal?'

'As a matter of fact…'

'Shit, I was kidding. What the hell's going on?'

I told him about Betty's murder and everything else that had been on my mind.

'Jesus,' he said. 'After you told me about the first one, I got curious, so I played with the computers. Thankfully, cannibalism hasn't caught on big-time. Other than that Milwaukee moron only thing I came up with was a ten-year-old case, place called Wiggsburg, Maryland. Didn't sound that different from yours- neck slash, organ theft, legs cracked for the marrow- but they caught the bad guys, pair of eighteen-year-olds who decided Lucifer was their main man had ordered them to carve up and dine on a local topless dancer.'

'Where are they now?'

'Jail, I assume. They were sentenced to life. Why?'

'There are two guys here who would have been around eighteen back then. They like to cut things up and they've been eyeing Robin.'

'But they're not suspects in the killing.'

'No, Ben does look good for it. But do you have the Maryland killers' names and descriptions, just to be thorough?'

'Got the fax right here… Wayne Lee Burke, Keith William Bonham, both Caucs, brown and brown. Burke was six three, one seventy, Bonham five five, one fifty-two. Appendectomy-'

'I don't need any more, it doesn't match.'

'No big surprise. Things have gotten nuts but I don't see lads who suck out a young lady's bone marrow qualifying for early parole.'

'How far is Wiggsburg from Washington, D.C.?'

'About an hour's drive. Why?'

'There's another guy here, D.C. background, also creepy.' I filled him in on Creedman.

'Sounds like a prince,' he said. 'Yeah, I've heard of Stasher-Layman 'cause they built public housing projects years ago in South Central, while I was riding a car at Seventy-seventh Division. Bad plumbing, gang members hired to handle security. Immediate problems. They sold the management contract, then bailed. Had a deal to build a new jail, too, out in Antelope Valley, till the locals found out about their record, protested, and got it kiboshed. So what are they planning to build over there?'

'I don't know.'

'Not that it has anything to do with cannibals… so what's Dr. Frankenstein's reaction to his protEgE's predilection for intraspecies feasting?'

'Total denial. Ben was his project- rehabilitating a kid with a rotten background. Be interesting to know if that background includes any serious criminal activity Moreland didn't mention. If you've a mind to go back to the computer.'

'Sure, give me the particulars.'

'Benjamin Romero, I don't know if there's a middle name. He's thirty or so, born here, went to school in Hawaii and did Coast Guard duty there. Trained as a registered nurse.'

'I'll have a go at it. How's Robin handling all this?'

'She's a trooper but I want out. The next boats are due in around five days. If Chief Laurent allows us off the island, we'll be on one of them.'

'Why shouldn't he let you off?'

'Public opinion of Moreland and everything associated with him isn't too high right now. We're all under informal house arrest.'

'Damned inconsiderate, not to say illegal. Want me to have a little cop-to-cop chat with him?'

'From what I saw tonight, that might make things worse. Moreland tried to influence him and he hardened his stance.'

'Maybe that's 'cause he's pissed at Moreland-'Not with my daughter, you don't.' '

'Maybe, but I'll try to handle it myself first. If I have problems, believe me, you'll hear about it.'

'Okay… bugs and cannibals. Sounds almost as bad as Hollywood Boulevard.'

***

Feeling rancid, I showered. Robin returned as I was toweling off, and I summarized my talks with Moreland and Milo and told her I wanted to book us on the next boat out.

She said, 'It's too bad it had to end this way, but absolutely.' She sat down on the bed. 'What was that construction company?'

'Stasher-Layman.'

'I think Jo had something with their name on it in her room. Stack of computer printout- I assumed it was something to do with her research. The only reason it sticks in my mind is that when she saw me looking at it, she slid a book over it.'

'How sure are you it was Stasher-Layman?'

'Very. Big Gothic initials-'S-L,' then the name. I read it just before she covered it.'

An artist's eye.

'Jo and Creedman,' I said. 'Two people with D.C. connections. Two advance agents. I've had a weird feeling about her since the roaches. I didn't tell you because I thought I was just being paranoid, but I couldn't stop thinking that she was alone in the house that night. And the time lag between hearing your scream and coming in seemed odd. She excused it as drowsiness due to sleeping pills, but tonight she was out there before us, lucid as hell. Motive stumped me, but if she's doing dirty work for Stasher-Layman and wants to get rid of distractions, that would serve nicely.'

'But then why not hide her gun, Alex? She kept it right out there, almost as if she wanted me to know she had it.'

'Maybe she did. Trying to intimidate you.'

'It didn't seem that way. There was absolutely no hostility between us. In fact, the more time I spent with her, the friendlier she got. As if I was helping her cope.'

And cope she had. Tranquilized widow to sharp-eyed interrogator in two days.

I said, 'She sure had an interest in the murder. Did you notice the way she was quizzing Moreland? That would also make sense if she's got an interest in Aruk's decline.'

'But if this company builds things, why would they want Aruk to decline?'

'Moreland said they build government projects. Milo's memory backs that up: low-income housing, prisons. Maybe they want the land cheap.'

'Low-income housing doesn't make sense,' she said, 'if the people are all leaving. But a prison might.'

'Yes, it might,' I said. 'No locals to protest. And what better place to dump felons than a remote island with no natural resources. It would be politically beautiful. Which is where Hoffman may fit in. What if Stasher-Layman paid him under the table to find a site and he chose Aruk because he remembered it from his days as base commander, knew there wasn't much of a constituency? If he embedded the prison, or whatever it is, in an extensive Pacific Rim revitalization- cash infusion for the bigger islands- who'd notice or mind? Other than Bill. But right now Bill's in a position to cause troubles for the deal because he owns so much of the island. Which could be the real reason Hoffman stopped over: making a final offer that Bill refused. So Hoffman pressured him, maybe threatened him with something.'