Show of Evil

'And you say Hines was in there at the time?'

'Yes. Came in while I was on the phone.'

'Thank you, Mr Laverne. You've been a great help.'

'It was a hacker, right?'

'Yes. We're investigating it.'

'I knew it. Too nutty to be anything else. You people always work this late at night?'

'When it's something this important. Thanks, Mr Laverne. Goodbye.' He cradled the phone. 'Do you know someone in clean-up named Hines?'

'Yes. Rudi Hines.'

'Show Ms Wilonski the picture of Tribble,' Vail said to St Claire.

Harvey took a flat wallet out of his pocket and removed the photograph of Tribble supplied by the Justine Clinic.

'Is this Rudi Hines?' Vail asked.

She looked at the photograph and shook her head. 'No, this is a man. Rudi Hines is a woman.'

Her answer stopped conversation for a moment. Vail looked at St Claire. 'Show her the other one,' he said. St Claire showed her the photo of Rene Hutchinson. She studied it for a moment and then slowly nodded. 'Yes, her hair's darker and much shorter, but that's Rudi.'

'Can we take a look at the billing office?'

'Of course.' She took a ring of keys out of a drawer and led them down a maze of hallways to a fairly large room with several desks and a bank of computers at the rear. The screens faced away from the door. Meyer walked straight back to them and stopped short.

'Christ, look at this,' he said. They all crowded around the screen and read the message:

Very Clever…

The prince who keeps the world in awe;

 The judge whose dictates fix the law;

The rich, the poor, the great, the small,

Are levelled - death confounds them all.

Hydra

'I don't know what the hell it is, but it'll be in one of Rushman's books, that's for damn sure,' St Claire said.

 'What's it mean?' Eve Wilonski asked. 'Who is Hydra?'

'Greek mythology, ma'am,' St Claire answered. 'Hydra was a demon with two heads. Every time Ulysses cut one of 'em off, she grew two more in its place.'

'Or maybe grew a new name whenever things got hot?' suggested Vail.

'Maybe,' agreed St Claire.

'He's telling us something, Harve. Everything he does sends a message - names, quotes, everything. He's taunting us.' Vail read it again and then a chill rippled through him. He repeated the second line aloud: ' 'The judge whose dictates fix the law.' '

'Shoat?'

'What other judge could it be? I'll get Shock Johnson on the portable.'

St Claire turned back to Eve Wilonski. 'Tell you what the message really means, ma'am. It means we need an address on this here Rudi Hines ASAP,' he said.

Stenner parked the car in front of Venable's house and opened the door for her. As they approached the front door, he drew his gun. Venable was surprised. Stenner always seemed so totally in control, it was hard to imagine him armed. He took her gently by the arm, stepped in front of her at the door, and held out his hand for the key. She gave it to him and he unlocked the door, then swung it open with his foot. He moved cautiously into the foyer, then moved quickly and professionally through the first floor, checking the living room, kitchen, guest bedroom, and all the closets.

'We're clear down here,' he said. The outside guard was sitting on the terrace with his back to the door. He was wearing earphones and listening to a Walkman.

'I could have walked out there and pulled the chair out from under him, he wouldn't know the difference,' Stenner said, walking to the door of the terrace. 'I want him to stay in here with you while I check the second floor.'

He opened the door and tapped the house guard on the shoulder. The man pulled off the earphones.

He stood up and turned around.