The Girl’s Number Doesn’t Answer

Chapter 21

Six months later, I noticed two items in a newspaper that cleared up the tag ends of the Yamashita case.

I was sitting in a quiet, clean, sunny room as I looked through the paper. My mind wasn’t much on the news until I saw the first of those two items.

It was date-lined Atlanta. It concerned the death of a “hostess” at an oft-raided Atlanta clip joint. The coroner had rendered a verdict of accidental death. The inquest had shown that she’d boozed herself to the teeth with bootleg whisky. It had poisoned her. She had been identified as Rachie Cameron, daughter of a former Tampa businessman.

The second item was headed VETERAN’S HOSPITAL SURGEONS SAY NEW SPINE SURGERY TECHNIQUE WILL SUPPLANT ALL OTHERS.

I lowered the paper and looked across the hospital waiting room at Helen Martin.

Her steady eyes met mine. She managed a smile. “They’re almost through in surgery, Ed.”

“We’ll know in a little while.”

One thing I knew already. The country Nick had fought for had never stopped trying.

That kind of persistence can be defeated again and again.

But not for keeps.