‘Everything Austin said struck me as peculiar.’
‘Allow me to rephrase that. I mean anything that might help point us in the direction of his killer.’
I lay there for a moment, thinking back. ‘I do remember that he was extremely homophobic. Seemed obsessed, really. First, he insisted that one of Michael’s ex-Green Berets, Joaquin, kept staring at his pecker when they threw him in the shower. And then, after he escaped from his private sanitarium, he went so totally berserk at the sight of two gay men being demonstrative at the beach club that he actually shot one of them.’
Resident Trooper Conley nodded grimly. ‘Truman Mainwaring. He’s up on the fourth floor with a shattered clavicle. He’ll be OK, but it was quite some surgical repair job, I’m told. His friend Skip Rimer is by his side. Truman’s family has belonged to the club for two generations. They have a big place on Bill Hill Road, though they’re vacationing in France right now. Truman’s an architect in New York City. His friend Skip is a magazine editor of some kind. Avid rock climber and mountain biker. Has quite a handshake on him. They live together in the city. Came out for a few days to do some leaf peeping.’
‘You explicitly told us that the firing pin had been removed from the revolver Austin was toting around.’
His mouth tightened. ‘I know I did.’
‘Austin told me that he paid Old Tom ten thou to restore it.’
‘So I understand. I paid Tom a visit this afternoon and that no-good rascal admitted it to me. I’ll get his business license revoked, I swear.’ He glanced down at his hat in his hands, turning it round and round. ‘Can you tell me what brought Austin to Miss Nash’s farm after the beach club incident?’
‘The very same thing that brought him there the first time – he had to talk to her because only she would understand him. He was a sobbing mess. Highly agitated. When I told him what I hadn’t told him the first time – that he couldn’t talk to her because she was in Budapest – he totally freaked out. Started babbling about how he was going to make a run for it, and that the law wouldn’t dare touch him because he was taking Lulu and me along as hostages. When I told him he could forget that idea he shot a hole in the kitchen wall.’
Conley nodded. ‘Angus MacGowan and I both agreed that he would head for the mountain. He’d feel safe there, especially if he had you and your pup along with him. I contacted the volunteer fire department and immediately put together a search and rescue team of a dozen men who know the terrain well, including his cousins, Tony and Gas Hardy. Several of them are hunters who own dogs.’
‘What about Michael’s ex-Green Berets and Pinkie?’
He frowned. ‘Pinkie?’
‘Giant German Shepherd with about two hundred teeth. Kind of a wussie name, if you ask me. Don’t you think it’s a wussie name?’
‘They played no part in the rescue operation. Michael ordered them to stand guard at his home in case Austin was planning to come after him next.’
‘Which he was not.’
‘Which he was not. A trooper located Austin’s car behind some brush near the parking lot. When he popped his trunk he found your wallet hidden under a bunch of laundry. Smart thinking on your part, Mr Hoag.’ He pulled it from his back pocket. Merilee took it from him and put it in her shoulder bag with my sheaf of notes. ‘As soon as our volunteers and their dogs arrived they started up the mountain in the direction of Talmadge Farm, but it was already late afternoon by then and starting to get dark. They didn’t get very far before they realized they’d have to call it off and return at dawn.’
‘Did you make the climb with them?’
‘No, I was tasked with setting up a command post in the parking lot.’
I lay there in silence for a moment, my head aching. ‘Lulu stopped and sniffed the air as we were climbing. Someone was following us. He was being real careful about it. Staying far enough back so that we couldn’t hear him. But Lulu definitely smelled him. Probably heard him, too.’
‘Hmm … that’s interesting. Remember anything else?’
‘I was in and out of consciousness after Austin conked me on the head with his nightstick. Had no concept of time. But I thought I heard voices. Couldn’t make out any words or anything. They were very faint. And I didn’t recognize the other voice.’
‘This was when you were down in that root cellar?’
I nodded. Again, big mistake. Something was definitely loose inside of my skull. ‘It was daylight by the time I came to. Turned out that my partner here had been digging while I was unconscious. I helped her finish the job and we managed to squeeze our way out. I was dizzy beyond belief, and Lulu’s paws were ripped to shreds. But she started hobbling her way up the green trail, determined to continue on. I followed her, grabbing at trees to keep from falling over, until we reached the waterfall. That’s when I spotted Austin lying down there on the rocks, face down. I figured he’d done himself in.’
Conley thumbed his jaw. ‘Honestly? That would have been my first thought, too.’
‘I slid down the hill to check him out. Turned him over and saw that his throat had been slit. Then I started to pass out again. But I remember Lulu started barking.’
‘She did indeed. Brought the rescue team right to you. They found you on the riverbank, unconscious. She wouldn’t let anyone near you. But Gas Hardy has a real way with dogs. He coaxed her into letting them help you. Both of you. Gas was real concerned about her front paws. They were ripped to shreds, like you said. A bloody mess. You were unconscious but
