“Yeah?”
“Carl, with the use of the IV stick, that's the only point where the circulatory system was breached, you know. So, it very likely took her a while to die, and she was conscious almost to the end.”
“Okay… ”
“When people bleed to death, they become feisty after a bit, agitated. They tend to get aggressive on you. You might not be looking for conspicuous blood spurts after all, but I'll bet there was some sort of thrashing about going on, at a later stage.”
“How later?”
“I expect that she passed through the agitated stages a good forty-five minutes before she died. She would just have been sleepy after that. Subdued state, going to a shocky one. You know.”
That I did. Accident victims will do that, for example. But forty-five minutes?
“Doc, you said forty-five minutes, is that right?”
“That's right. It took her some time, I think.”
“Okay. So, maybe not any indentations, from ligatures, at least.”
“Right. Oh, and Carl?”
“Yeah?”
“She'd maybe tend to get whiny, you know? Like some drunks. Mumbling, too, maybe. If you need anything like that to confirm an account. From a suspect.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate this.”
“Just get whoever it was, Carl.”
“Yeah. We will.”
Afterward, I briefed Hester on the conversation.
“So, now we know at least one more piece of the thing,” she said.
“Yep. Jesus, Hester. Forty-five minutes, at least. I get this image of her knowing what's going on, at least at some point. That she was going to die that night.” I took a deep breath.
“I wonder how long it really took,” she said. “For her to die, I mean.”
“I got the impression of an hour or so,” I said. “At least.” I shrugged. “Gets us right back to 'where' doesn't it? Where could you have that level of isolation and privacy for a good hour?”
We stood in the kitchen, and drank our coffee.
“We gotta talk to Jessica Hunley,” said Hester, running a little cold water in her cup at the sink. The coffee was too hot and too old. “We just have to do that.” She took a sip and poured the rest of the cup into the sink. “Think you'd be able to come along?”
That was a good question. First, our budget was a bit thin. Second, we were short of help due to the damned flu. Third, there was the awkward complication of Hester and me not being able to share a room.
“Let me check with Lamar,” I said.
“Don't go paying for it out of your own pocket,” she said. “I'm serious.”
“Okay.” I sat at the table. “I won't.”
“Remember when Toby said 'When we killed her the first time.' That one gave me the willies, Carl, and I'm not kidding.”
“Me, too. And she asked for help.” I shook my head.
“The little shit was there, all right. She asked for help. She had to know, then, didn't she? That she was going to die.”
Hester nodded her head. “Yeah.”
“Makes you wonder just who else was there, doesn't it?”
“Of those we know, Hanna, Melissa, and Kevin come to mind.” Hester grabbed a paper towel, and wiped up a small coffee spill on the table, from the previous occupant. Busywork.
I hated to ask, but, “How about Huck? Think she was there?”
Hester shook her head. “At the murder scene? No. But she knows who was, I'd bet my life on it.”
I called Lamar, and got him thinking about my trip to Lake Geneva. I could tell on the phone he'd approve it, but it would take him a little while.
I called Harry over in Conception County. I wanted to have him connect me with the local cops in Lake Geneva, but he went one better. He said he'd just come along, since he thought we were pursuing the same suspect. Great news.
Hester and I decided against calling Jessica Hunley to make an appointment. We both agreed the element of surprise, or at least unexpectedness, was going to be the key when we came calling on her. We'd just have Harry contact the locals and make sure she was in town.
On the other hand, we wanted to be expected, if not downright anticipated, at the Mansion.
We left instructions with Dispatch that we would give them a “ten-twenty-one” over the radio, at which point they would telephone the Mansion. We told them exactly what to say when they called to tell the group we were coming.
“Just handle it all as code sixty-one traffic,” I said. “Everything to an absolute minimum.”
About thirty minutes later, we'd driven all the way up the Mansion lane, until we could just see the door of the house over the crest of the hill. We stopped. It placed us about a hundred yards out, with just the edge of the car roof and about two thirds of the windshield visible to anyone looking our way from the house.
I picked up the mike. “Comm, Three… ”
“Three?”
“Ten-twenty-one.” She knew what I meant.
“Ten-four. Stand by One… ”
A few moments later, after having informed whoever answered that Hester and I would be there in a while to bring them up to date on the situation with Toby, she came back on the radio.
“Three, ten-sixty-nine, they said 'Fine.' ” A ten-sixty-nine is the code for message received.
“Ten-four.”
It was that simple. Then we waited; to see if anybody did anything unusual, like try to leave. Although we weren't able to see the rear of the house, the relative lack of success of people leaving via the back door should have been having some effect. Well, with the mere mortals, anyway.
We waited two minutes, by the dash clock. Nothing.
“They're still pretty confident, aren't they?” Hester shifted in her seat.
“They sure seem to be.”
“Well, let's go see what we can do about that.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
Tuesday, October 10, 2000
15:17
We drove ahead, and as we got out of the car, Kevin came to the door. Excellent.
“What do you want?”
Direct, and to the point. I was encouraged.
“We want to tell you about Toby, where he is, and what's happening with him.”
“Can't he just call us himself?”
“Not just yet,” I said. By that time Hester and I had ascended the steps, and we were standing just outside the front door. “May we come in?”
He hesitated. Even better. Then, “Sure. Why not.” He stepped back, and held the door for us.
We were met by Huck, who was just coming down the stairs.
“Hello, again,” she said.
I could see Melissa in the kitchen, with her back to us, doing something at the counter. She turned as she heard us in the parlor, wiped her hands on a towel, and moved to join us. She didn't look particularly happy to see us.
