Pierce did as he was instructed. As he lifted Renner by the right arm he could tell the smell of carbon had permeated the man's clothes.
'What are you smiling at?' Renner asked.
'I think our plan ruined your clothes, even before the bullet. I didn't think you'd be stuck in there with the furnace so long.'
'I'm not worried about it. Zeller was right, though. It does give you a headache.'
'I know.'
Renner pushed him away with his right hand and then walked by himself over to where Wentz's body was lying. He looked down silently for a long moment.
'Doesn't look so tough right now, does he?'
'No,' Pierce said.
'You did good, Pierce. Real good. Nice trick with the lights.'
'I'll have to thank my partner, Charlie. The lights were his idea.'
Pierce silently promised never to complain about the gadgetry again. It reminded him of how he had held things back from Charlie, how he had been suspicious. He knew he would have to make up for it in some way.
'Speaking of partners, mine's going to shit himself when he finds out what he missed,'
Renner said. 'And I guess I'll be headed to the shitter myself for doing this on my own.'
He sat down on the edge of one of the desks and looked glumly at the bodies. Pierce realized that the detective had possibly jeopardized his career.
'Look,' he said. 'Nobody could have seen all of this coming. Whatever you need me to do or say, just let me know.'
'Yeah, thanks. What I might need is a job.'
'Well, then you've got it.'
Renner moved from the desk and lowered himself into a chair. His face was screwed up from the pain. Pierce wished he could do something.
'Look, man, stop moving around, stop talking. Just wait for the paramedics.'
But Renner ignored him.
'You know that stuff Zeller was talking about? About when you were a kid and you found your sister but didn't tell anybody?'
Pierce nodded.
'Don't beat yourself up on that anymore. People make their own choices. They decide what path to take. You understand?'
Pierce nodded again.
'Okay.'
The door to the mantrap snapped loudly, making Pierce but not Renner jump. Gonsalves came through the door.
'They're on the way. Everybody. ETA on the ambulance is about four minutes.'
Renner nodded and looked up at Pierce.
'I'll make it.'
'I'm glad.'
Pierce looked back at Gonsalves.
'You call Vernon?'
'Yes, he's coming.'
'Okay. Wait upstairs for everybody and then bring them down.'
After the security man was gone Pierce thought about how Clyde Vernon was going to react to what had happened in the laboratory he was charged with protecting. He knew that the former FBI man was going to implode with anger. He would have to deal with it.
They both would.
Pierce walked over to the desk where Cody Zeller's body was sprawled. He looked down upon the man he had known for so long but now understood he hadn't really known at all. A sense of grief started to fill him. He wondered when his friend had turned in the wrong direction. Was it back at Palo Alto, when they had both made choices about the future? Or was it more recently? He had said that money was the motivation but Pierce wasn't sure the reason was as complete and definable as that. He knew it would be something that he would think about and consider for a long time to come.
He turned and looked over at Renner, who seemed to be weakening. He was leaning forward, hunched over on himself. His face was very pale.
'Are you okay? Maybe you should lie down on the floor.'
The detective ignored the question and the suggestion. His mind was still working the case.
'I guess the shame of it is, they're all dead,' he said. 'Now we may never find Lilly Quinlan. Her body, I mean.'
Pierce stepped over to him and leaned back against a desk.
'Uh, there's a few things I didn't tell you before.'
Renner held his gaze for a long moment.
'I figured as much. Give.'
'I know where the body is.'
Renner looked at him for a long moment and then nodded.
'I should have known. How long?'
'Not long. Just today. I couldn't tell you until I was sure you would help me.'
Renner shook his head in annoyance.
'This better be good. Start talking.'
40
Pierce was sitting in his office on the third floor, waiting to face the detectives again. It was six-thirty Friday morning. The investigators from the county coroner's office were still down in the lab. The detectives were waiting for the all-clear signal to go down and were spending their time grilling him on the moment-by-moment details of what had happened in the basement of the building.
After an hour of that Pierce said he needed a break. He retreated from the boardroom, where the interviews were being conducted, to his office. He got no more than five minutes by himself before Charlie Condon stuck his head through the door. He had been rousted from sleep by Clyde Vernon, who had of course been rousted from sleep by Rudolpho Gonsalves.
'Henry, can I come in?'
'Sure. Close the door.'
Condon came in and looked at him with a slight shake of his head, almost like a tremor.
'Wow!'
'Yeah. It's 'wow' all right.'
'Anybody told you what's going on with Goddard?'
'Not really. They wanted to know where he and Bechy were staying and I told them. I think they were going to go over there and arrest them as co-conspirators or something.'
'You still don't know who they worked for?'
'No. Cody didn't say. One of his clients, I assume. They'll find out, either from Goddard or when they get into Zeller's place.'
Condon sat down on the couch to the side of Pierce's desk. He was not wearing his usual suit and tie and Pierce realized how much younger he looked in knockabout clothes.
'We have to start over,' Pierce said. 'Find a new investor.'
Condon looked incredulous.
