veterinarians.
Besides, the killer might not even be from this area.'
'I believe she is,' McCaskey said. 'I'm convinced the murder of Robert Lawless was organized quickly to cover our discovery that William Wilson was murdered. If that's true, then the assassin was still in the neighborhood.'
'Reasonable,' Howell said. The detective turned his pale poker face from the computer monitor. 'Does the possible progress you mentioned a minute ago have to do with Senator Orr?'
'We would like to clear the senator if we can,' McCaskey answered.
'Does that mean he or someone in his office is a suspect?' Howell pressed.
'No,' McCaskey replied. If he had said yes, Howell would have informed the detectives on his team, and they would have told others. McCaskey did not want to be responsible for starting rumors. 'Detective, I don't want to keep you from your dinner plans or family any longer than I have to. Are there any leads besides the nail polish and satin fiber?'
Howell shook his head. 'I have to admit it has been tough getting off Go on this one. The security camera images have not helped, no eyewitnesses have come forward to tell us about the killer's movements, and our profiler has not found a hook to hang a psychological sketch.'
'Did the medical examiner find anything unusual about Lawless's body?'
McCaskey asked.
'Nothing,' Howell said. 'He died exactly as Wilson did.'
'Was any hair recovered from either scene?' Maria asked.
'Plenty,' the detective told her. 'Blonde, brunette, black, red, white, even green. Hotel rooms are cleaned but not that thoroughly. We have thirty-seven different strands. Six of those match the housekeeping staff. We are checking with previous guests in the room.
That will take time. If our killer was wearing a wig, that may make her untraceable.'
As the detective was speaking, McCaskey suddenly flashed on something that made him want to kick himself. Hard. 'Actually, Detective, now that I think of it, there is something the Metro Police could do for me. Do you have a computer I could borrow for a few minutes?'
'Sure. You can use mine,' Howell said. He swung toward the keyboard.
'Is there something I can look up for you?'
'Thanks, but I need to do this myself,' McCaskey said. 'Op-Center security.'
'I see.'
'We'll lock up, if you want to leave '
'I can't do that,' Howell said. 'We have security procedures. But I will step outside.'
'Thanks. I should only be five minutes or so.'
The detective left without shutting the door. McCaskey went behind his desk.
'Shall I close it?' Maria asked, indicating the door.
'No,' her husband replied. He typed in the address of the Op-Center web site which was backed up in a secure Tank. Thanks to software designed by Stoll, any subsequent addresses he typed into this remote keyboard would be unrecorded. He went to the District of Columbia personnel files. These were accessible to intelligence agencies in order to do quick security checks in the event of a crisis.
Maria stood behind him. 'What was so important it had to be done now?' she asked.
'There is one woman I overlooked. Minnie Hennepin, the medical examiner. She would know how to give an injection and she would be in a position to overlook the puncture wound.'
'She could also be an incompetent who got her high-paying job through what is the word?'
