Michael Palmer - Fatal

"Thanks for the rose and the note," she said.

"Thanks for taking the pressure off."

"I can't really say anything in response right now."

"I didn't expect you to."

"But I'm going to be looking hard at my feelings and I'll certainly keep you posted."

"What more could a guy ask?"

"You're really a very wonderful man, Rudy."

"I know," he said. "Just cursed by being really, really choosy."

Ellen felt herself blush.

"So," she said, clearing her throat, "what do you have there?"

"Well, I have an old friend, a lawyer, who works at the IRS. He wouldn't give me any more information except to say that Vinyl Sutcher exists, filed a tax return last year, and lives right where his passport says."

"West Virginia."

"Tullis, to be exact. It's right here, not too far from the Virginia border."

"I know the police chief in my town pretty well. I'm sure he'll run this man Vinyl through his computer for me. Maybe he could even check with the police in Tullis to see if they know anything about him. If I have to, I'll just take a drive over there and meet with the police myself. Let me just call Beth and make sure she's still okay with getting Lucy to school."

Ellen caught her daughter just as she was leaving the house.

"Hi, Mom. I only have a minute. Lucy's got a dentist appointment. We can't be late because they clear the office out when they have to work on her."

"I know," Ellen said understandingly.

"It takes the whole damn staff to keep her still and she screams like a banshee. It makes sense they should clear the place out. I mean, who would ever want their kid to hear that in a dentist's office? Everything else she doesn't react enough to, but this — "

"I know," Ellen cut in quickly. "Honey, just hang in there. That's all you can do. You're doing a great job."

"Last night Dick started talking again about adopting. Mom, I just can't, I…"

Ellen could tell Beth was coming unglued. There was a time when she was strong, competent, and centered. Not anymore.

"Beth, I was calling to see how things were going, and also to see if you're still able to handle the school run for a couple of days."

"Sure. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. Just some commission stuff I need to take care of. I'll call you."

"Okay."

"And Beth?"

"Yes?"

"I meant what I said. You're a terrific mom." She set the receiver down. "Dentist day is even tougher on Beth than on Lucy."

"You're right, she is doing a great job."

Ellen shrugged off a sudden wave of melancholy.

"So, if need be," she said, "I'm all set for a trip to West Virginia. If I can get this Sutcher arrested, then I'll feel much safer about Lucy if we decide to take any action."

"I like that approach so long as you're very careful. Meanwhile, I'll do a little more research on these men — starting with a trip into the passport office in D.C. to see if I can get a look at their pictures."

"Terrific."

"Tullis doesn't look like much on this map," Rudy added. "Just a speck, really. The nearest town of any size is right here. Belinda. Belinda, West Virginia."

"Pretty name," Ellen said.

Ellen was humming along with a Sinatra CD as she crossed the Shenandoah River. She was in northern Virginia, heading southwest toward the West Virginia state line. The late morning sun was therapeutically warm, the highway was newly paved and virtually empty, and soon, very soon, she might be helping to cage the beast who had threatened her family and single-handedly infected a large number of people with a hideous, deadly disease. It wasn't at all a sure thing yet that Vinyl Sutcher was the man she wanted, but getting a look at him was the only way she would ever know for sure.

Her first stop of the day had been at the police station in her hometown of Glenside. Chief Ed Curran was a member of the club where Howard had played golf and she had played tennis, quite often with Curran's wife, Lorraine. She arrived at the station only to discover that the Currans were away in Italy for another week, celebrating their thirtieth anniversary. Ed's stand-in, a much younger man named Wes Streeter, was a homegrown product — a former high school football hero — totally lacking Curran's warmth and, Ellen quickly discerned, much of his intelligence as well.

"So this man with the scar, he broke into your house, waited for you to come home, and then threatened to kill your granddaughter. Why?"

"I don't want any publicity about the reasons why. Can you promise me that?"

"Mrs. Kroft, I can't promise you anything until you tell me what's going on."

"Never mind. I'll take care of matters myself."

"You should file formal charges against this man right here," Streeter said. "This is where the crime occurred."

"I don't even know for certain if the name I have is the man who broke into my house. I just want to get a look at him. One look. A photo or in person, I don't care which. The moment I see him I'll know if he's the one or not. Isn't there some sort of police computer site where you can punch in his name and address and see if he's been in trouble before?"

Streeter, clearly feeling that there might be more to the matter with the woman seated across from him than with the alleged criminal, ran the name Vinyl Sutcher of Tullis, West Virginia, through his computer, but came up empty. Eventually, with some hardly subtle prompting from Ellen, he determined that Tullis, West Virginia, had no police department of its own, but was serviced by the adjacent town of Belinda. By this time, the policeman was bewildered by Ellen and her story, and most anxious to move on to other business. He presented her with the number of the Belinda police, the name of the chief, William Grimes, and a quiet room where she could make a call. She had an image of Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, and Mayberry in mind as she dialed, so after she told the officer who answered why she was calling, she wasn't that surprised to be told that Chief Grimes would be right with her.

"Chief Grimes."

Ellen's mental image was of a man older than Wes Streeter and younger than Ed Curran. Andy Griffith.

"Chief Grimes, my name is Ellen Kroft. I'm calling from the police station in Glenside, Maryland, where I live, at the urging of the acting police chief here. A few days ago a man broke into my house and threatened me and my family if I didn't do something he wanted. I have reason to believe the man might be from Tullis, next to your town. His name is Sutcher, Vinyl Sutcher. Do you have a few minutes?"

"We always try to make time for our neighbors in Maryland," Chief Grimes replied.

The truncated story she told to Chief Bill Grimes included her suspicions regarding the Lassa fever outbreaks and the way she had ultimately derived Sutcher's name from the passenger manifest.

The Vinny Sutcher the chief recalled didn't fit the description Ellen gave him all that well. From what Grimes remembered — and he admitted he wasn't at all sure he was thinking of the right man — Sutcher was stocky, but not that tall, and had no scar like the one Ellen described above his lip. He was a woodsman and occasional bodyguard of some sort who did live in the next town. Grimes recalled seeing him briefly a year or so ago after he allegedly shoved a man who rear-ended him at a traffic light. The police chief couldn't remember how that incident had been resolved, but he didn't think formal charges were ever filed.

If she wanted to drive down to Belinda, he would be pleased to meet with her, take a statement, and share what information he could obtain on the man, including a photo if, in fact, Sutcher had actually been arrested. And if the evidence she presented was compelling enough, he would certainly contact the FBI and assist them in putting together an arrest warrant, he said.