'I don't know what kind of person you are,' he said. 'But I know you have a gift. Right now, I want you to use that gift. I want you to go see Clyde Nunley's body in the morgue, and I want you to tell me what happened to him. Something tells me you'll let me know.'
Now here was a poser. What could I say?
'Why are you here?' Tolliver said. He stood behind me, leaning over so his elbows were resting on the back of the couch right by my head. 'What is your involvement with this case? I know the FBI is no longer actively involved. But you're offering your lab facilities to the police, right?'
'Right,' Koenig said. His eyes had turned their high-beam stare on Tolliver, which was a relief to me. 'But I'm also here to lend whatever help and support they need, and I'm staying until…'He couldn't finish the sentence.
'You were called in at the beginning,' I said, making my voice gentle. 'You were in Nashville.'
He took a deep breath. 'Yes, I was. Our paths never crossed there, but I was sent there when Tabitha was first missing. I talked to the mother, the father, the brother, the aunt, the uncle, the grandparents. I talked to the crossing guard who'd admonished Tabitha about jaywalking, I talked to the teacher who'd threatened to send a note to her parents about Tabitha's talking in class, and I talked to the lawn man who'd told her dad that Tabitha was going to grow up to be real pretty.' He took a deep breath. 'I went with the police to talk to the moms who drove in the car pool with Diane, I talked to Victor and his friends, I talked to Victor's ex-girlfriend who'd sworn she was going to get even with him, and I talked to the maid who said Tabitha hated to pick up her room.' He sat silent for a long moment. 'I never learned a thing from any of them. I never discovered a single reason anyone would want the girl out of the way. She wasn't perfect. Even people who loved her had a problem with her every now and then. So, Tabitha wasn't all sweetness and light. No kid is, especially no kid in that in-between age. But as far as I can tell, her mom and dad loved her no matter what she did or said. As far as I can tell, they were trying hard to be good parents. As far as I can tell, they didn't deserve what happened to them because of Tabitha's disappearance.'
'Why Tabitha? Why are you so wrapped up in this? You must have investigated other disappearances,' I said. 'Some of them children, I'm sure.'
He rubbed his face with both hands, hard, like he wanted to erase some of the lines in his flesh. 'Lots of sevens,' he said. 'Too many.'
Tolliver and I glanced at each other. Tolliver didn't understand the reference, either.
'Sevens?' I tried to keep my voice very quiet. This man was going through a lot, and I didn't want to sway his balance.
'Kidnapping. That's the program designation for kidnapping,' Koenig said.
'There was never a ransom demand for Tabitha,' Tolliver said. He was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. 'The FBI can come in even when there's no crossing of state lines? When there's no ransom demand?'
The agent nodded.
'Any suspicious disappearance of a child under eleven,' he said. 'We've offered all our facilities to the Nashville police and the Memphis police. We've got forensic experts examining the body. Our guys already went over the grave. Thank God whoever killed Nunley didn't dump him there before our team had finished. And the same team has been all over the grave this morning since the body was found.'
I shut my eyes and leaned back in my chair.
'Of course, Nunley was here last night grabbing you by the arm, Ms. Connelly. But we know he left after that. He wouldn't let the hotel staff call him a cab. They saw him get in his car and leave. Did he contact you again last night?'
'No,' I said. 'He didn't.'
'Why was he so angry?'
'He thought I'd cheated somehow. He was having trouble accepting my ability as real. He was trying to find a rational explanation for something that's just unexplainable.' I wondered if I needed to call Art Barfield.
Seth Koenig looked thoughtful, as if he was making a very large mental note.
'And where were you, Mr. Lang?' Koenig asked.
'I was walking down Beale Street, trying to find some good blues to listen to. Doing a tourist thing.'
'What time did you get back to the hotel?'
'About seven, I think. Harper had been asleep.'
'I was upset after the little scene with Dr. Nunley,' I explained. 'I had a terrible headache. I took some medicine and lay down.'
'Did anyone see you here during that time?'
'I didn't have room service, and no one called.' Dammit.
'And you, Mr. Lang?'
'It's possible someone will remember me in some of the places I stopped in on Beale.' Tolliver listed the places he'd visited, and told Agent Koenig he'd had a beer at one bar. 'It's also possible no one will recall me. The street wasn't crammed with people, but it was busy enough.'
'And you were on foot?'
'Yes, we took a cab to the movies.'
'You saw what movie?'
We went all through our afternoon, including our meeting with Xylda Bernardo and her grandson Manfred.
'I've met Ms. Bernardo,' Koenig said, a slight smile on his lips. It was the first time I'd seen him smile, and it looked good on him.
