hunting artifacts. We get a new development project, first thing we go after is the burial sites. See? Kind of adds a little fun to the job.'
I switched off the recorder before I asked, 'Ivan Bauerstock is the collector?'
'No. Well, he buys stuff for his kid, but Teddy's the one. He's crazy about artifacts. His dad says it's 'cause he used to screw their colored maid, who was like a voodoo woman or some such thing. She had a big influence on him. Teddy collects artifacts like he's starving for the stuff. Wears the shit, prays to it for all I know. He's nuts.
'After the thing with the girl, him killing her, the old man sent him off to some private loony farm. Then kept him in very strict private schools after that, making sure he didn't get into any more trouble. As long as Ted stays righteous, the old man gives him anything he wants. He made it through college okay, been practicing law for his dad's companies, no problems that I know of. So he's like rehabilitated. But he's still nuts. Lately, it's that wooden carving. Ted was putting all kinds of pressure on his old man. He had to have it. Their luck had been running kind of bad, the old man's businesses, too. We find them that wooden carving, or maybe another gold medallion, that was supposed to change their luck. Give them more power, whatever. Ted even tracked down the girl's father, thinking maybe he had the same gift for finding stuff. But Dart Copeland, he's a bum, a drunk. Talk about nuts? Ted hired him anyway 'cause the guy had unusual eyes.'
Still lying on the deck, Rossi stopped, tried to turn and get more comfortable, but couldn't. 'So that's about it, pal. What you say, you cut me loose, then we go on back and have a beer? One day, we'll probably laugh about this shit, huh? A tough guy! Come down here to rough you up a little and I run into another tough guy. What're the fucking chances?'
The recorder was off. I placed it in the black briefcase, stepped over Rossi and stored the bag in a dry locker. 'Where's the Bauerstocks' ranch? How do you get there?'
'Easy, only I don't try going in there without an invite. They got fences, cameras, the whole works. Security you wouldn't believe. You know where Port of the Islands is on the Tamiami Trail, east of Naples? They own about a thousand acres west of there, but that's the road you take in. Get within a mile of the mansion, though, someone will stop your car.'
'What about by water?'
'Water? What'a you mean, water?'
'How hard would it be to go in there by boat?'
'By boat, yeah, I hadn't thought about that. The back way, you mean. They got water access. A river cuts in behind their place, and it's connected to the long canal that leads in from the islands. I can't remember its name. Hey, pal? You gonna let me go now, right? I cooperated. I'm gonna have to move out of Florida now that I spilled the beans. Maybe even outta the country, because of it. But, hey, I told you everything you wanted to know. I was honest.'
In the vertical rod holders bolted to the console, between my fishing rods, I keep a stainless scissors. I reached for the scissors now, held it for a moment, then touched the point to
Rossi's neck. 'You watched that girl die. You did nothing to stop it.'
'Hey! What was I supposed to do? The man was on his own private property with a girl I'd never even met. It wasn't none of my business.'
I said, 'So she deserved it. That's what you're saying.'
'The girl who died? Who knows? Maybe she got smartass with Teddy. It ain't my problem.' Rossi was looking up, into my face. There was more light now, a pale dawn rising, and he could see what was in my eyes. 'Hey, wait a minute, pal. I don't like what you're thinking. Wait… don't. You got no reason to blame me. Really, I'm begging you. Don't kill me, please.'
With a slash, I cut the tape that bound him to the anchor, then I cut the tape around his legs.
'Get out of the boat.'
'What?'
I repeated myself.
'Jesus Christ, you're not serious. It's gotta be a quarter mile to that island, and with my hands tied?'
'Get out of the boat!'
I grabbed him by the belt and throat, lifted him and threw him over. Watched him thrash and splash for a moment… until he got his feet under him, then he stood.
'Fucking water's only three feet deep! You bastard, you fucking lied to me!'
I said, 'You got conned, Frank. So you're not very bright. Who you going to blame? Me?'
I told him he could wade two miles to Key Largo where his car was waiting at Shell World. Or wade to the island and hope to flag down a boat. He was still screaming at me when I started my engine and left him.
Back at the Mandalay, Reefer Vinny, one of the locals had already popped a sunrise beer. He was wearing a T-shirt that read, Think Globally, Drink Locally. When I told him I'd been out by Ronrico Key, he became concerned. 'Watch your step out there, Captain. You didn't know? They should note it on the charts. Someone released a bunch of circus chimps there years ago when they got too big and mean. A deserted island, what's the harm? they figured. Plenty of wild monkeys around the Keys, islands full of them. But these chimps, they bred. That's why no one goes there. They're big. There's not much to eat, and they hunt in packs.'
Twenty-two
Tomlinson said, 'Just because Ted had some emotional problems when he was younger, it doesn't mean he's crazy now. I myself spent a year or so in, well, let's just say a confined, safe environment.'
I looked at him sharply. 'You ever murder anyone?'
In his expression, I could see the question jolt him; could see that it hurt. He said softly, 'I think you know the answer to that. I think you've known for a while.'
We were in the upstairs apartment, and I was packing. I was also hitting the redial button on the phone, trying to contact Detective Parrish, trying to warn Nora.
It was a little after eight a.m.
Parrish didn't answer. I got an infuriating recording when I dialed Nora: 'The Cellular-One customer you have called is unavailable or has traveled outside the coverage area…'
I said, 'Once again, I don't know what you're talking about.'
He ignored the evasion, looking at me. 'There are things I've done in my life that I will regret for eternity. There is no absolution. None. Not from outside or from within. Some things make me wince, others make me want to cry. I try to make up for those sins as best I can.'
'Ted Bauerstock doesn't strike me as the crying type. Delia and Nora need to get the hell out of there. If I can't get Parrish in the next twenty minutes or so, I'm leaving. I'll have to go by boat.'
'You already spoke to the Sheriff's Department?'
'The woman on the desk treated me like a crank. Mr. Bauerstock is dangerous? She laughed at me.'
The apartment's dining table was made of glass and chrome. On it was a fax I'd found tacked to my door when I came up the steps from the fueling dock. It was from Dieter Rasmussen. At the top of the first page he used precise block letters to note: This is consistent with the man in question.
There were four pages. Some parts were more telling than others:
Date: (Confidential) Place: St. Elizabeth's Hospital Fargo, ND
This is a report of a psychiatric observation requested by the sole parent of padent 05715 and approved by Circuit Court Judge Amos Johnsleur. The examiner is the head of a team of psychiatrists that has examined the patient over a four-week period. All procedures were videotaped.
The patient is an adolescent male who is 17 years old. He is 75 inches tall and weighs 185 pounds…
… The patient also underwent several batteries of psychological examinations including Rorschach and Meyers-Briggs tests. An abnormality was found in the EEG, the PET scans and the CAT scans.
Tests confirmed a distinct abnormality in the right amygdala portion of the subject's brain. Studies showed that the patient's amygdala did not respond to a series of actual news photographs of individuals who were about to be shot or burned or who were falling. Victims included children and women. This battery of photographs produces marked electric activity in the amygdala of normal subjects. Perhaps because his intellect was measured
