While she waited, she remembered Jonathan’s call about his mother. She thought she should tell Alex. But when she called, it went straight to his voicemail. She decided to send him a quick, tersely-worded text.
Finally the machine finished its routine, the chugging sound gave way to a rapid high-pitched whirring and the printing started up again.
Juanita’s heart leaped into her mouth as she waited for the machine to spit out the next sheet of paper.
00:12 PDT
David had finally recovered the MP3 file. He wasn’t sure if the recovery process was bit perfect, but even if there were a few inaudible or distorted parts, they would still have the bulk of it.
He had copied it over to a PC in the lab; now he had to run it and listen to it. But the PC didn’t have any speakers, it was built as a high-spec functional machine, not a games machine — so, although it had a sound card, it had no speakers.
He wandered off in search of another computer that he could borrow. The trouble was, most of the offices were locked, making it impossible to check them out. The offices that
Finally, on a hunch, he decided to check the drawers in some of the offices and labs that were open. He eventually found what he was looking for: a set of headphones.
He raced back to the lab and plugged the speakers into the PC. Then he put them and played the MP3 file, listening to the voice of a girl who may or may not have been dead, addressing her daddy.
00:13 PDT
“How did you kill her?”
“Slowly?”
“I thought you said it was a mercy killing?”
“Some things can’t be rushed.
He was still facing Nat. In the background, several other people seemed to be taking an interest in them.
“He’s dead!” said a reporter in the background.
Alex and Nat half-turned.
“Are you sure?” asked another.
“Yeah, they’ve just confirmed it.”
“Why did they try to halt it?”
“The warrant was withdrawn.”
“Procedural or substantive?”
Some of the reporters were looking at Alex from a few yards away, as if hoping for a reaction from him.
“God knows.”
Alex, for his part, kept his eyes locked on Nat.
“So what did you do with the body?”
“I buried her.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere deep.”
Nat hadn’t noticed the uniformed men who came up behind him, until Alex motioned to them with his eyes. When Nat did eventually look to his side he noticed them — a slightly fat older one of just below average height and a lean younger one, maybe two inches taller. They were wearing the uniform of Marin County Deputies.
“Nathaniel Anderson?”
“Yes.”
“We have a warrant for your arrest for obstruction of justice.”
One them flashed the warrant in front of him, while the other clamped his hand behind his back and handcuffed him. Nat offered no resistance and made no attempt to run. As he was about to be led away, he smiled at Alex.
As Alex watched them leading Nat away, he switched his iPhone back on. As soon as it came on, a message came through. He looked at it. It was a message from Juanita.
Had call from Jonathan. Esther Olsen died.
As he walked out into the corridor toward the entrance area and the exit from the prison, Alex felt the pain in the pit of his stomach. He had been moved by the death of Clayton Burrow. But it was nothing compared to the gut-wrenching feeling that ripped at him now. This poor woman, who had wanted only to bring happiness to her daughter, had instead alienated the girl and lost her love forever. This woman who had tried to ease her husband’s pain and guilt as best she knew how, had lost him — and lost her daughter trying to keep him. This woman who had gone to unimaginable lengths to give her tormented husband a son, had lost the son’s affection and love. This woman who had sacrificed everything and let other people walk all over her for the sake of those she loved had died alone … unloved.
He remembered what Nat had told him about how he had expressed himself so forcefully to Sally Burrow, criticizing her hands-off parenting technique that had left her son Clayton bereft of any sort of moral guidance. At the time, he had chided Nat — albeit mildly — for his loose tongue and lack of tact. But now when he thought about it again he realized that Nat was right — that there is a time to speak out and tell the other person what one really thinks of them … and why.
He could still see Nat ahead of him, accompanied by the two county deputies, and was determined to have his say. He wanted Nat to know what he thought of him. It was a futile, fruitless gesture, but he was determined to go through with it.
He hastened his steps, lengthening his stride to close down the distance between them. By the time he reached the entrance area, he had caught up with them. But he didn’t want a scene inside the prison gates. Instead he waited until the entrance security staff had let them out into the floodlit courtyard, where the two groups of demonstrators were still assembled, kept apart by lines of law enforcement officers. Then, as the deputies escorted Nat to the waiting police car, Alex strode up to them.
Sensing his approach, all three turned to face him. The two cops bridled at his proximity. Only Nat remained calm.
“I just want you to know that not only have you deprived an innocent man of his life, you’ve also deprived a mother of peace and resolution of her grief.”
“What are you talking about?” Nat scoffed. “If Clayton was innocent, then he couldn’t have told her where the body was in any case.”
“No, but you could.”
“Maybe I still can.”
“No, you can’t! Esther Olsen died half an hour ago.”
Alex didn’t understand why of all the things he had said to Nat in this confrontation, this was the first thing to really touch him.
There was an uncomfortable twitching on Nat’s face and then the man who had been so arrogant only moments before broke down in tears, crying like a baby, his nose running pathetically. The arresting officers looked embarrassed and the older one took pity on him and unlocked the handcuffs so that he could reach for his handkerchief, while the younger officer was opening the driver’s door.
Removing the handcuffs was strictly against the rules, but Nat had been passive until now and his comparatively small size made him look unthreatening. But the cop had misread the situation. For in a second,
