Catch As Cat Can

30

All that evening the phone lines hummed throughout Crozet and Albemarle County. Usually a crisis would propel people to one another but the weather, increasingly awful, kept them inside.

Harry tried calling Diego but gave up, defeated by international codes. Uruguay's code was 598 but she couldn't get the number of zeros and ones right to get a line out. She'd figured rightly that he was two time zones ahead of East Coast time. That was a victory. She had enough trouble keeping time in her own time zone. Finally she humbled herself and rang BoomBoom.

“I just heard!” BoomBoom's excitable voice sounded higher than usual.

They discussed the dolorous news, then Harry felt she'd minded her manners and could ask her question. “Have you heard from Thomas?”

“This morning.” BoomBoom dangled the bait, forcing Harry to ask another question.

“The reason I'm asking you is because I can't reach Diego and well . . .”

“It seems their government is having some crisis over loans to the International Monetary Fund or something like that. Diego will call you as soon as he gets a minute.”

“I thought that was a problem for Argentina, not Uruguay, but then what do I know?” She sighed.

“We tend to ignore South America, which, when you think about it, is really dumb. After all, we're all part of the New World.”

“He's probably got a mistress in Montevideo.” Harry wasn't focusing on American shortcomings. She was focusing on Diego.

“No, he doesn't. I wouldn't do that to you . . . not if I knew. But he doesn't. Feel better?”

“Sort of.” She walked to the stove, turning the flame up under the kettle. “Boom, this welding that you do—could you cut locks?”

“Of course.”

“Steel plates?”

“Yes, but it would take some time. What I work with is thin sheets. The cutouts are strong enough to stand on the base I make for them but a heavy steel plate like the kind put in the back of pickups to hitch trailers, that kind of plate, that would take a long time. Why?”

“Donny had one of those huge old stand-up safes. If Rick doesn't find the combination, he'll have to cut it.”

“That will be a very difficult job.”

“I know but if you volunteer we'd be there first. I could help.”

“Harry.” BoomBoom considered this. “What do you think is in the safe?”

“I don't know but I'd like to find out, wouldn't you? Maybe it will tell us why Donny was shot. In fact, why don't you call Rick now, then call me back.”

“Well—all right.” BoomBoom hung up the phone. Within minutes she dialed back. “Harry, he's at Donny's shop now and said he'd be grateful for the help. I'll meet you there in fifteen minutes. I told him I need you to regulate the oxygen in the tanks.”

“Did he believe it?”

“Uh—sort of.”

“Okay, fifteen minutes.”