Shauna let her eyes take in the lobby, trying to buy a second or two. A man entered and smiled appreciatively at Shauna. She ignored him. 'Bull,' she said at last.
'I just came from the airport,' Carlson continued. 'The flight was booked three days ago. He was a no-show, of course. But what was really odd was that the credit card used to purchase the ticket was in the name of Laura Mills. That name mean anything to you?'
'Should it?'
'Probably not. We're still working on it, but apparently it's a pseudonym.'
'For whom?'
Carlson shrugged. 'Do you know a Lisa Sherman?'
'No. How does she fit in?'
'She was booked on the same flight to London. In fact, she was supposed to sit next to our boy.'
'Another no-show?'
'Not exactly. She checked in. But when they called the flight, she never boarded. Weird, don't you think?'
'I don't know what to think,' Shauna said.
'Unfortunately, nobody could give us an ID on Lisa Sherman. She didn't check any luggage and she used an e-ticket machine. So we started running a background check. Any guess what we found?'
Shauna shook her head.
'Nothing,' Carlson replied. 'It looks like another pseudonym. Do you know the name Brandon Scope?'
Shauna stiffened. 'What the hell is this?'
'Dr. Beck, accompanied by a black man, visited an attorney named Peter Flannery today. Flannery defended a suspect in the murder of Brandon Scope. Dr. Beck asked him about that and about Elizabeth's role in his release. Any clue why?'
Shauna started fumbling in her purse.
'Looking for something?'
'A cigarette,' she said. 'You have one?'
'Sorry, no.'
'Damn.' She stopped, met his eye. 'Why are you telling me all this?'
'I have four dead bodies. I want to know what's going on.'
'Four?'
'Rebecca Schayes, Melvin Bartola, Robert Wolf – those are the two men we found at the lake. And Elizabeth Beck.'
KillRoy killed Elizabeth.'
Carlson shook his head.
'What makes you so sure?'
He held up the manila folder. 'This, for one.'
'What is it?'
'Her autopsy file.'
Shauna swallowed. Fear coursed through her, tingling her fingers. The final proof, one way or the other. She tried very hard to keep her voice steady. 'Can I take a look?'
'Why?'
She didn't reply.
'And more important, why was Beck so eager to see it?'
'I don't know what you mean,' she said, but the words rang hollow in her own ears and, she was sure, his.
'Was Elizabeth Beck a drug user?' Carlson asked.
The question was a total surprise. 'Elizabeth? Never.'
'You're sure?'
'Of course. She worked with drug addicts. That was part of her training.'
'I know a lot of vice cops who enjoy a few hours with a prostitute.'
'She wasn't like that. Elizabeth was no Goody Two-shoes, but drugs? Not a chance.'
He held up the manila envelope again. 'The tox report showed both cocaine and heroin in her system.'
'Then Kellerton forced them into her.'
'No,' Carlson said.
'What makes you so sure?'
'There are other tests, Shauna. Tissue and hair tests. They show a pattern of use going back several months at the least.'
Shauna felt her legs weaken. She slumped against a wall. 'Look, Carlson, stop playing games with me. Let me see the report, okay?'
Carlson seemed to consider it. 'How about this?' he said. 'I'll let you see any one sheet in here. Any one piece of information. How about that?'
'What the hell is this, Carlson?'
'Good night, Shauna.'
'Whoa, whoa, hold up a sec.' She licked her lips. She thought about the strange emails. She thought about Beck's running from the cops. She thought about the murder of Rebecca Schayes and the toxicology report that couldn't be. All of a sudden, her convincing demonstration on digital imaging manipulation didn't seem so convincing.
'A photograph,' she said. 'Let me see a photograph of the victim.'
Carlson smiled. 'Now, that's very interesting.'
'Why's that?'
'There are none in here.'
'But I thought-'
'I don't understand it either,' Carlson interrupted. 'I've called Dr. Harper. He was the M.E. on this one. I'm seeing if he can find out who else has signed out for this file. He's checking as we speak.'
'Are you saying someone stole the photographs?'
Carlson shrugged. 'Come on, Shauna. Tell me what's going on.'
She almost did. She almost told him about the emails and the street cam link. But Beck had been firm. This man, for all his fancy talk, could still be the enemy. 'Can I see the rest of the file?'
He moved it toward her slowly. The hell with blase, she thought. She stepped forward and grabbed it from his hand. She tore it open and found the first sheet. As her eyes traveled down the page, a block of ice hardened in her stomach. She saw the body's height and the weight and stifled a scream.
'What?' Carlson asked.
She didn't reply.
A cell phone rang. Carlson scooped it out of his pants pocket. 'Carlson.'
'It's Tim Harper.'
'Did you find the old logs?'
'Yes.'
'Did someone else sign out Elizabeth Beck's autopsy?'
'Three years ago,' Harper said. 'Right after it was placed into cold storage. One person signed it out.'
'Who?'
'The deceased's father. He's also a police officer. His name is Hoyt Parker.'
Chapter 36
Larry Gandle sat across from Griffin Scope. They were outside in the garden portico behind Scope's mansion. Night had taken serious hold, blanketing the manicured grounds. The crickets hummed an almost pretty melody, as though the super-rich could even manipulate that. Tinkling piano music spilled from the sliding glass doors. Lights from inside the house provided a modicum of illumination, casting shadows of burnt red and yellow.
Both men wore khakis. Larry wore a blue Polo shirt. Griffin had on a silk button-down from his tailor in Hong Kong. Larry waited, a beer cooling his hand. He watched the older man sitting in perfect copper-penny silhouette, facing his vast backyard, his nose tilted up slightly, his legs crossed. His right hand dangled over the arm of the chair, amber liquor swirling in his snifter.
'You have no idea where he is?' Griffin asked.
'None.'
'And these two black men who rescued him?'
'I have no idea how they're involved. But Wu is working on it.'
Griffin took a sip of his drink. Time trudged by, hot and sticky. 'Do you really believe she's still alive?'
Larry was about to launch into a long narrative, offering evidence for and against, showing all the options and possibilities. But when he opened his mouth, he simply said, 'I do.'
Griffin closed his eyes. 'Do you remember the day your first child was born?'
