Plum Island

She took a deep breath. She said, 'Okay… I also obtained the directory of everyone who works on Plum Island, and we have five detectives assigned to do interviews.'

I nodded. 'Good. I want to interview Donna Alba myself.'

'I'm sure you do. If you find her, let us know.'

'Gone?'

'Vacation.' Beth added, 'That's what I mean about them being cute.'

'Right. They're still covering up. They can't help it. It's in their bureaucratic bones.' I said, 'Where are your buddies, Nash and Foster?'

'They're not my buddies, and I don't know. Around, but not visible. They left the Soundview.'

'I know. Okay, next.'

'I got a court order to take into evidence all the government weapons on Plum Island, including the.45 automatics, a few revolvers, and a dozen M-16s, and two World War Two carbines.'

'My goodness. Were they going to invade us?'

She shrugged. 'It's a lot of Army stuff, left over, I guess. Anyway, they howled about giving up the armory. I'm having each weapon test-fired by ballistics, and we'll have a report on each one in case we ever find a slug.'

'Good thinking.' I asked, 'When will you re-arm Plum Island?'

'Probably Monday or Tuesday.'

I said, 'I saw some Marine Corps activity at the ferry. I guess after you disarmed poor Mr. Stevens' security force, they felt they needed protection.'

'Not my problem.'

I said, 'By the way, I'm sure they didn't give you the whole arsenal.'

'If they didn't, I'll get an arrest warrant for Stevens.'

No judge was going to issue that warrant, but it didn't matter so I said, 'Please proceed.'

'Okay, more Plum Island. I paid a surprise call on Dr. Chen, who lives in Stony Brook. I got the distinct impression she had been coached before we met her in the lab, because she could not extemporize when I spoke to her in her house.' Beth added, 'I got Dr. Chen to say that yes, maybe, perhaps, possibly, the Gordons stole a dangerous virus or bacteria.'

I nodded. This was very good police work, top-notch procedural. Some of it was relevant, some of it was not. As far as I knew, there were only three people who would use the words 'pirate treasure' in regard to this case- me, Emma, and the murderer.

Beth said, 'I re-interviewed Kenneth Gibbs, also at his house. He lives in Yaphank, not far from my office. He's a bit of a snot, but aside from that, I don't think he knows any more than he's told us.' She added, 'Paul Stevens is another story…'

'Indeed he is. Did you speak to him?'

'I tried to… he's been giving me the slip.' She added, 'I think he knows something, John. As security chief of Plum Island, there's not too much that gets past that guy.'

'Probably not.'

She looked at me and asked, 'Do you think he's a suspect?'

'He makes me suspicious, so he's a suspect.'

She thought a moment, then said, 'This is not very scientific, but he looks like a killer.'

'He sure does. I have a whole class called 'People Who Look and Act Like Killers.''

She didn't know if I was pulling her leg or not, which, actually, I wasn't. She said, 'Anyway, I'm trying to run a background check on him, but the people who would have the most information-the FBI-are dragging their feet.'

'Actually, they've already done what you're asking them to do, but they're not going to share any of it with you.'

She nodded and said unexpectedly, 'Fucked-up case.'

'That's what I've been telling you.' I asked her, 'Where does Stevens live?'

'Connecticut. New London. There's a government ferry from New London to Plum.'

'Give me his address and phone number.'

She found it in her notes and started to write it out, but I said, 'I have a photographic memory. Just tell me.'

She looked at me, again with an expression of slight disbelief. Why doesn't anyone take me seriously? In any case, she told me Paul Stevens' address and phone number, which I tucked away in a crevice of my brain. I stood and said, 'Let's take a walk.'

CHAPTER 26

We went out back and walked down to the water. She said, 'This is very nice.'

'I'm beginning to appreciate it.' I picked up a flat stone and skimmed it across the water. It made three skims before it sank.

Beth found a nice skimmer, cocked her arm, and let loose, throwing her whole body into the motion. The stone did four hits before it sank.

I said, 'Hey, nice arm.'

'I pitch. Homicide softball team.' She took another stone and threw it at the piling at the end of the pier. It missed the piling by inches and she tried again.

I watched her chucking stones at the piling. What had turned me on, still turned me on. It was her looks, for sure-but also her aloofness. I love it when they're aloof. I think. Anyway, I was fairly sure that finding Emma in the house had embarrassed her and annoyed her. More important, she was surprised at how she felt, and maybe what she felt was competition. I said, 'I missed your company. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.'

She glanced at me between throws and said, 'Then you're absolutely going to love me because this will probably be the last time you'll ever see me.'

'Don't forget the party tomorrow.'

She ignored that and said, 'If I suspected one person out of all the people we spoke to, it would be Paul Stevens.'

'Why?'

She aimed a stone at the piling again and this time hit it. She said to me, 'I called him at Plum Island yesterday, and they said he was out. I pressed and they said he was home sick. I called his home, but no one answered.' She added, 'Another disappearing Plum Islander.'

We walked along the stony shore.

I, too, was not satisfied with Mr. Stevens' last performance. He was a possible murder suspect. As I said, I could very well be wrong about Fredric Tobin, or it could be that Tobin was in cahoots with Stevens, or it could be neither. I had thought that when I had the motive, I'd have the murderer. But the motive had turned out to be money, and when the motive is money, the suspects are everybody and anybody.

We walked east along the shore, past my neighbors' houses. The tide was coming in and the water lapped over the stones. Beth had her hands tucked in the side pockets of her jacket, and she walked with her head down as if in deep thought. Every now and then, she'd kick at a stone or seashell. She saw a small starfish stranded on the beach, bent down, picked it up, and threw it back into the bay.

We walked in silence for a while longer, then she said, 'Regarding Dr. Zollner, we had a pleasant chat on the phone.'

'Why don't you call him in?'

'I would, but he's in Washington. He was summoned to give a statement to the FBI, the Department of Agriculture, and others. Then, he's on a traveling schedule-South America, England, a lot of other places that need his expertise.' She said, 'They're keeping him out of my reach.'

'Get a subpoena.'

She didn't reply.

I asked, 'Are you getting interference from Washington?'