Mercy Falls

17

His meeting with the psychologist was scheduled for 10:00 A.M. and he was already five minutes late.

He said, “Thanks, Margaret,” into the phone and hung up.

Cork had worked with Special Agent Margaret Kay of the FBI’s Minneapolis field office on an important case over a year ago, one that had put both Jo and Stevie in mortal jeopardy. He’d called to ask a favor of her: would she be willing to check on Dina to verify the woman’s claim about her background with the Bureau, and to supply any other background information to which she might have access? Kay had agreed to help.

Cork left his office and headed to the converted Old Firehouse where Dr. Faith Gray had her practice. The psychologist smiled pleasantly when Cork hurried in, and she offered him herbal tea. They sat in green stuffed chairs in a room with a big dieffenbachia in a corner and a lush Swedish ivy in a brown jute macrame hanger at the window. Filled bookshelves lined the walls, a garden of knowledge. Faith Gray’s long hair flowed white like fast water down the middle of her back. Her eyes were bright blue and kind. She wore a long denim skirt, a white turtleneck, and an oval of turquoise on a long silver chain around her neck.

“How’s that ear?” she asked.

“Itchy. I’ll be glad when the stitches come out.”

They chatted awhile, then she lifted her cup to her lips. “How have you been sleeping?”

“I sleep.”

“Not well, I’d wager, from the look of you. Trouble going to sleep? Staying asleep?”

“Both,” Cork said.

“Do you dream?”

“Yes.”

“Any disturbing dreams?”

He related the recurring dream in which his father transformed into a wounded Marsha Dross and he couldn’t save either of them.

She listened, nodded, then said, “Tell me about the shooting.”

Cork said, “You know about that. I had Pender drop off the incident report, as you asked.”

“Tell me about it anyway.”

Cork went through it from the time the call came in from the Tibodeau cabin to the moment the EMTs rushed Marsha Dross away in the ambulance.

“Look at your hands,” she said when he’d finished.

“What?”

The light changed as clouds passed across the sun and the room took on a gloomy cast.

“Look at your hands, Cork.”

Her eyes drifted gently to his fingers, which were dug into the padded arms of the easy chair so hard, his fingernails had turned red and his knuckles white. He loosened his grip.

Her eyes moved next to the pendulum clock on the wall behind Cork. “Our time’s up,” she said. “I’d like to see you again.”

“Faith, I’m pressed for time these days.”

“Let me rephrase that. If you want to continue performing your duties, you need to come until I tell you not to. It’s in the regulation, Cork, the one you and I wrote together.”

Cork, Larson, and Rutledge met before Dina Willner arrived. He told them what FBI Special Agent Margaret Kay had reported to him, confirming Willner’s background and excellent record. They discussed her involvement. Neither Rutledge nor Larson liked the idea of an outsider being a part of the team, but the speed with which she might be able to get evidence analyzed was very appealing. They’d dealt with law enforcement agencies at all levels, and working with a consultant, they decided, wouldn’t be significantly different. They wanted to meet her in person before they agreed.

Promptly at noon, Willner entered Cork’s office. After shaking hands all around, she said, “You have the look of probation officers. Honestly, I’m here to help in any way I can, to offer anything you need that might facilitate your investigation. I’m also here as an intermediary. Sheriff O’Connor’s already dealt with Lou Jacoby, so he knows that Lou prefers a cattle prod to diplomacy. He’d make your lives miserable, believe me.”

She looked refreshed, as if she’d managed a nap or taken a shower. She wore jeans, a yellow cable knit sweater, and hiking boots. Cork noted again that although she was modest in size, there was a surety in her manner that made her seem substantial, someone you could trust watching your back. That she was attractive didn’t hurt in the least.

“Questions, gentlemen?”

“My only concern is maintaining the integrity of the investigation,” Larson said. “I’d like you to agree not to pass along any information to Mr. Jacoby or anyone else without explicit permission from us.”

“Agreed,” Dina said.

“Anything else?” Cork waited a moment. “If not, then could you step outside for a minute, Dina?”

“Of course.” She left the room and closed the door behind her.

“Well?”

“Her credentials seem all right,” Rutledge said. “And the chance of getting faster lab results is attractive.”

“As long as she doesn’t interfere, I don’t see a problem,” Larson said.

“Simon?”

“Goes for me, too.”

When Dina returned, she took a chair to the left of Larson and Rutledge.

The day had warmed. A few minutes earlier Cork had opened a window, and the smell of fall drifted into the room. In the park across the street, children too young for school filled the playground, and their small high squeals provided an odd background music to the grim discussion taking place.

Larson reported that he’d talked to most of the women on the list of known prostitutes. They all knew about Eddie Jacoby’s penchant for cruelty and claimed they’d refused to have anything to do with him. They were all able to account for their whereabouts the night he was killed.

“I haven’t followed up on the alibis yet,” Larson said. “But if we get anything that points us in that direction, I’ll hop right on it.”

Dina gestured at the accordion folder Larson held. “Is that Eddie’s case file?”

“Yes.”

“May I see it?”

Larson looked to Cork, who nodded, then handed it over.

Rutledge had finally received the fax of the records for Jacoby’s cell phone. He’d made copies, which he supplied to everyone present. In the week Eddie had been in Aurora, he’d called a lot of folks on the rez, and had received calls from them. All the names listed with the phone numbers were members of the Reservation Business Committee. Some calls had also come from a pay phone located at the North Star Bar. Rutledge asked about it, and Cork told him it was an Indian bar in the middle of nowhere. Several calls had been made to the Chicago area, mostly to Starlight Enterprises, and one to Ben Jacoby’s cell phone the afternoon Eddie died.

Cork said, “Jacoby told me about his brother’s call. I’d like to know what they talked about, exactly what was said. Ed, you mind taking that one? I want to follow up on some of these calls to the rez.”

“Sure. You want to come?” Larson asked Dina.

“I’d rather work the rez.”

Cork said, “You go anywhere, it’s with Ed.”

She didn’t argue.

Cork turned to Rutledge. “Any word from the BCA lab?”

Simon looked a little chagrined. “I called. They’re backlogged. We probably won’t get anything for another week at least.”

“Do you have any of the cigarette butts left that you found in the SUV?”

“One.”

Dina said, “I’d be happy to send it to our lab in Chicago. We could have a DNA analysis by this time day after tomorrow, guaranteed.”

“I’ll consider it.”

She looked as if there was something more on her mind.

“Yes?” Cork said.

“I’m just wondering.” She’d taken the autopsy report from the file and she tapped it with a polished nail the color of pearl. “I’ve been looking at this. Death was the result of a stab wound directly to the heart.”

“Yes,” Larson said.

“And it appeared that Eddie put up no struggle, right?”

“That’s right. High blood alcohol content in his blood and traces of Ecstasy. He was probably pretty high.”

“Hmmmm,” she said.

“What is it?” Larson asked.

“Eddie Jacoby was in terrific physical condition. All the Jacobys are. Even drunk, even high on Ecstasy, even surprised, he’d fight, believe me. Unless…”

She put a finger to her lips and the men waited.

“The very first knife wound was the fatal one.”

Larson thought it over. “That would require a lot of luck on the assailant’s part.”

“Wouldn’t it,” she said.

“Or someone who knew where to stick the knife, knew what would kill a man instantly.” He rolled that over in his mind. “Maybe somebody put more thought into this than it might appear at first glance.”

The men looked at one another, then at Dina.

“Of course, it could be a jealous husband, as you’ve speculated,” she said. “But he’d have to be one cold, calculating son of a bitch with more restraint than most jealous husbands, in my experience, are capable of.”

Larson nodded slowly. “So scratch jealous husband.”

She waited a moment, then offered, “According to the autopsy, the wounds on the body came from a long, slender blade approximately seven inches in length,” she said.

“Like a fillet knife,” Larson suggested.

“Or a stiletto,” she said. “So. An isolated rendezvous, prints wiped clean, a postmortem castration. I think we can scratch hysterical woman, even a lucky hysterical woman.”

“For the moment, let’s assume that Jacoby brought his own drugs and his murder had nothing to do with that,” Cork said. “He’d been working to secure a contract with the RBC. It’s a controversial issue on the rez.” He paused as he realized something, and he looked at Dina. “You already decided this was about Starlight. That’s why you wanted to go with me to the rez.”

“Given everything we know at the moment, it seemed the best prospect,” she replied.

Larson said, “What about those cigarette butts and his need for female companionship? Are we going to ignore that?”

“Maybe he was lured to Mercy Falls,” Dina said.

Larson nodded. “It would be good to know if he was seen with anybody that night. I’ll check his hotel again and the bars in town. Maybe somebody remembers something.”

“Sounds good,” Cork said. He moved on to the other investigation. “Anything more on the shooting, Simon?”

Rutledge shook his head. “We blanked on the tires. But I’ve been thinking. It’s possible we’re dealing with somebody who has a military background. A lot of strategy in the planning and setup. A good position to shoot from. The hardware to do the job. An escape route chosen to keep the shooter away from traffic at the cabin.”

Cork said, “What about the shell casings he left behind? Not great planning there.”

“I don’t know. That is puzzling. It’s as if the shooter was distracted from his mission.”

“The shooter may not have been alone,” Cork said. “The woman who imitated Lucy Tibodeau on the phone may have been with him. Maybe she panicked, and that was the distraction.”

“I think we’d do well to look for someone with a good knowledge of the Iron Lake Reservation who has a military background and a grudge against you, Cork,” Rutledge said. “Do you know anyone who fits that description?”

“I could name a few Shinnobs who were Vietnam vets and weren’t happy when I arrested them, but I can’t imagine any of them wanting to kill me for it.”

“What about a hunter rather than a soldier?” Dina said. “From what I understand reading the incident report, the sniper was two hundred and fifty, maybe three hundred yards from his target. That’s not a difficult distance for a good hunter, especially one with a reasonable rifle and scope. I would imagine hunters in this area are quite used to having to adjust for upslope and downslope shots. And they probably have a good understanding of where to position themselves for maximum effect. Plus,” she went on, “I think there’s a fundamental problem with the military scenario.”

“What’s that?”

“Again, just from what I understand reading the report, the sheriff saw a flash of light off the rifle, maybe from the scope, maybe a plate on the rifle stock. A trained sniper would never let that happen. The scope would be hooded and any metal on the stock that might reflect light would be covered. It also seems to me that a trained sniper would have chosen a position on the west side of the hollow, in the shadow of the hill behind the cabin where sunlight in his eyes or on his weapon wouldn’t have been an issue.”

“A hunter,” Rutledge said, and gave a slight nod. “The problem there is that this is a county full of hunters.”

She tilted her head. “That is a problem.”

There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” Cork said.

It was the dispatcher Patsy Gilman. “I’ve got the flowers, Cork. I’m heading to the hospital.”

“I’ll be right with you.”

“I’ll wait,” she said, and closed the door as she left.

The department had taken up a collection to buy flowers for Marsha Dross. Patsy wanted to deliver them before she had to report for her shift at three o’clock that afternoon. Cork had asked to go along.

He took his copy of Jacoby’s cell phone records. “After the hospital, I’ll head out to the rez and have a talk with the members of the RBC.”

“I’d still like to petition mildly that I come with you,” Dina said.

Cork shook his head. “People on the rez will be reluctant to talk to me as it is. With you along, they wouldn’t say a word.”

“If you’re going rural, Cork,” Ed Larson said, “wear your vest.”

Cork wasn’t sure he would. He didn’t want to sit down and talk with people if it appeared that he was dressed for battle. And this trip to the rez would be different from the one he’d made with Marsha Dross. This time, no one knew he was coming.