board, I couldn't see a connection.
The ride from Winslow is a relatively short one. I stayed in the car, watching as Seattle's nighttime cityscape slowly crystallized and emerged from the ghostly glow of cloud-shrouded lights in the distance. In thirty time- warping minutes, I traveled from sleepy rural backwoods to the heart of a metropolis still alive with its late-night diversions, from towering, darkened forests to nighttime skyscrapers whose lights beckoned like so many burning candles.
That ride and that view always have a soothing effect on me, and this time was no exception. As I drove off the ferry, I was no longer nearly as pissed with Ames and Winter as I had been when I had boarded the boat in Winslow. Driving up the hill toward the Medical Examiner's Office, I felt a sudden burst of energy, a second wind. If 'Aimless Ames and his buddy wanted to muck around in forty-year-old murders, let 'em. My job was to deal with the murders in the here and now. Specifically with the murder of Tadeo Kurobashi. Tadeo and, secondarily, that of David Lions. He was mine too. By proxy. Because I said so.
In trying to talk to Dana Lions, I would be in direct competition with other cops from other jurisdictions. Detectives from the King County Police would be there. I was sure they would want me to take a number and get in line.
I had news for them. They were coming into this case from way behind go. They were just beginning to wonder who had killed David Lions. I already knew. All I needed was one tiny smidgen of evidence to prove it.
With any kind of luck, Lorenzo Tabone would have made a slip, one seemingly insignificant mistake, that would give me something to remember him by, something that would buy him a one-way ticket to the gallows, Washington State's still extant but rarely used form of capital punishment.
CHAPTER 18
When I got to the medical examiner's office, three people were grouped and talking in low voices in the small reception area outside Doc Baker's door. Two were women, one about my age and the other much younger, no more than twenty-five. All three looked up at me questioningly as I came through the door.
'Detective Beaumont, I announced.
As soon as I said that, the younger woman leaped from her chair and hurled herself toward me. She was a tiny woman, only about five feet, but when she crashed into me, I almost lost my balance. I grabbed at a chair to keep from sprawling on the floor.
'Detective Beaumont, thank God you've come. She threw her arms around me and buried her head in my chest as though I were some long-lost relation. 'I told them you were coming, she sobbed, clinging to me like a burr.
The man stepped forward with a puzzled frown on his face. 'I'm Detective Hal Forbes, he said, 'and this is my partner, JoAnne Reece. We're with the King County Police. Miss Lions here was telling us that you're already involved in this case. Is that true?
I nodded. 'Sort of. I'm working the Tadeo Kurobashi case, I said as I pried Dana Lions' arms loose from around my waist, walked her over to a chair, and helped her sit back down.
For the first time, I got a good look at her. She was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit with the words ST. HELEN'S FLYING SERVICE emblazoned in blue embroidery on the breast pocket. Her hair, so red that it almost matched her uniform, was short and curly. Her vivid green eyes were swollen from weeping.
I took one of her small hands in mine. 'Is it your father?
She swallowed hard, nodded, and said nothing.
'Wait a minute, Forbes said. 'Isn't Kurobashi the man who was found dead in his office on Fourth Avenue South sometime this week?
'That's the one, I replied.
'I remember now, Forbes continued. 'And there was something later on about his wife and daughter being attacked over in eastern Washington?
'You got it. I glanced down at Dana before I spoke again. She wasn't going to like hearing what I had to say, but I went ahead with it anyway.
'I've been working with Detective Halvorsen from the Whitman County Sheriff's Department over in Colfax. He's in charge of the assault case. We believe that Mr. Lions' aircraft was used to create a diversion to cover up the attack on the Kurobashi women.
'No! Dana exclaimed. She pulled her hands free from mine and covered her face. 'My father wouldn't do that. It isn't true. This is all a mistake.
'There's no mistake, Dana, I said gently. 'He may not have had a choice, he may have been forced into participating, but he was there, and so was the helicopter.
'Didn't have a choice? Dana asked. 'What do you mean?
Detective Forbes looked at Dana, but he spoke to me. 'Sounds like we're all over the map on this one. Somebody dead here, somebody attacked in Colfax, the body found by Lake Kachess.
I didn't bother to tell him that I had just come back from Port Angeles, where Clay Woodruff had left me in the dust. Why make things more complicated than they already were?
Dana's eyes, bright as emeralds, pierced into mine. 'You still haven't said what you meant.
'Just a minute, Dana. We'll come back to that. I turned to the other detectives. 'Who found the body? I asked.
JoAnne Reece opened her notebook and paged through it. 'A Cub Scout named Ryan Jacobsen, she said. 'He was on a father-and-son hike and camp out. Fortunately the father is an attorney. He made sure nobody disturbed anything.
'Physical evidence? I asked.
With a meaningful look in Dana Lions' direction JoAnne Reece said, 'Maybe.
That led me to believe that some physical evidence did exist, but the King County detectives didn't want to discuss it in front of the victim's daughter. I'd have to ask them about it later. Meanwhile, I sat down next to Dana and pulled my chair close to hers.
'I'm going to ask you some questions, Dana, questions that may possibly be painful for you to answer.
She seemed to have gotten a grip on herself. 'It's all right. Ask me anything. I'll do whatever I can to help.
'Did your father ever have any dealings with the Mafia?
'The Mafia! Forbes exclaimed involuntarily, then he fell silent, watching me warily.
'Just answer the question, Dana. Did he?
She shook her head. 'Not that I know of. He had some friends that weren't such nice people, but I never thought any of them were connected to the Mafia. Why?
'That Charles Smith, your cash-paying customer, had he ever chartered with you before?
'No. At least I don't remember the name.
'Wasn't it unusual for someone to call for a charter from Seattle? Why didn't he use a company that was closer to him?
'I don't know, Dana replied. 'I've asked myself the same question over and over all week long.
'What about the name Tabone, Lorenzo Tabone? Does that one ring any bells?
Dana Lions frowned. 'It sounds familiar, but… She shook her head. 'No, I just can't place it.
'He's from Chicago, I said, trying to jog her memory.
'Wait a minute, JoAnne Reece interrupted. 'What's going on here? I don't understand what we're talking about.
Dana Lions, her brows furrowed, was still thinking. 'Lorenzo Tabone from Chicago? she murmured. 'I wonder…
'You wonder what?
'If that isn't the name of the guy Dad told me about. Only he didn't call him Lorenzo. Bones, I think it was. No, that's not right. Bony. Bony Tabone.
Dana Lions' recognition of Lorenzo Tabone's name sent a shock through my system like a jolt of pure
