Iris Johansen - Stalemate

"I do. I will." He paused. "Before Elspeth came to us I thought I felt sorrow for you but it's nothing to what I feel now. I didn't understand. Maybe I still don't understand but, my God, how I empathize."

"Thanks, Galen." She cleared her throat. "I'll let you go so you can get back to Elspeth."

"She's okay. She's playing with her piano now. No, dammit, she's on top of her piano. Oh, hell, I said it again. Every curse word and we have to put a dollar in her college fund. She's got enough for Harvard already. No, Elspeth, we don't jump off-" He hung up.

Eve was still smiling as she pressed the disconnect. Lord, it was wonderful to hear Galen so happy. She had told him the truth. She wouldn't have cheated him of one precious moment just because those moments were no longer hers. Bonnie. Elspeth. All the other children who shared the magic of childhood and made the days golden.

"He's going to help?" Joe asked.

"Yes. He said he'd get right on it but I'm not sure when I'll hear from him. He seemed to be busy with dog water and pianos."

"What?"

"Elspeth."

Joe nodded. "And any delay is forgiven in the name of the baby girl."

"Of course. Galen has his priorities straight." She got to her feet. "I have to go through the mail and send a refusal to the Moscow police department for the job they asked me to take on."

"I thought there was a possibility you'd do their reconstruction."

She shrugged. "I changed my mind. If they're willing to delay, I may still do it. If they want it right away, they'll have to get someone else."

"But you're clearing your calendar."

She didn't answer directly. "Dealing with the Russians can be a headache. They have so many current mafia problems they're not interested in cold cases." She went to the mail basket and got the sheaf of letters. "I don't need any more headaches right now. Marty was difficult enough…"

Montalvo didn't call when the five days were up. Nor did he call on the sixth day, nor the seventh.

On the eighth day her cell phone rang at 3:32 p.m.

"Have you been waiting with bated breath?" Montalvo asked. "I assure you it wasn't a strategy on my part. I hate not being able to meet a challenge with utmost efficiency. I was most unhappy with my head operative, Norton, in the U.S."

"Are you going to shoot him as you did that man Aquila?"

"Ah, Soldono discussed it with you. Actually I wasn't that displeased with Norton. There's no similarity in the cases. Aquila was armed and would have killed me given the smallest chance. Inefficiency deserves replacement and withdrawal of favors. That punishment is usually enough in most situations. However, since I'd given you my word and the issue was earning your trust I was particularly irate."

"I'd never trust you."

"But you could trust my ability to do what I promised," he said softly.

"I had no faith in you. There was no way you could find the killer in such a short time."

"But I did."

She went rigid. "What?"

"I've no concrete proof. There wasn't time, but I believe I located him."

"How?"

"I had my men checking the police records of all child molesters in the towns surrounding Valdosta and Macon. None of them seemed a match. There were two attempts at kidnapping in Columbus, Georgia, and Stockbridge at about that time. But those men were apprehended almost immediately. No reports of attempts in Macon. Yet the boy was found in a grave outside Macon."

"So?"

"I studied the situation and decided to focus in on Macon. If I was looking for victims, I wouldn't commit a crime in my own backyard. I'd pick up the victim in another town and dispose of the body in a grave some distance away."

"And you found a suspect in those records?"

"No, we located a few sex perverts who were in Macon at the time. It took a little while to track down and eliminate them. And, no, I don't mean that literally. Though I'm sure they deserved it. Two were in jail at the time. The other offender had an alibi. I thought we'd run into a stone wall. I don't like to be wrong."

"You said you found him," she prompted.

"Impatient? I'm getting to that. Since I didn't want to admit being wrong, I went down another road. If he wasn't a known sex offender and didn't have a record with child molestation, what was the answer? Macon is a big college town. What if one of the students was the killer? It was a long shot but I gave the order to scan police records for any students picked up loitering near schools or day-care facilities. Donald Palker came up in the computer. He had a bottle of whiskey in the car and claimed he'd passed out after a frat party in front of Jolly Time Day Care. The Macon police get a lot of students who can't hold their liquor. Palker was a sophomore, clean-cut, got good grades, and was polite and apologetic. They let him go."

"And Marty died," she whispered. "He wasn't arrested again?"

"Yes, but not in Georgia. Last year he was put on trial in Connecticut for suspicion of murdering a ten-year-old boy. The evidence was compromised and he was released."

"He's still loose?"

"Yes, he's living with his parents in upper New York State. As I said, I didn't have time to get proof. I have a man watching Palker now. If you can have Quinn get Valdosta to search through their forensic records for DNA other than the boy's, we can get a match." He paused. "Or if you don't want to bother, Palker can disappear. It would save the courts a good deal of money and maybe save a life. It's up to you."

She shuddered. "And land in an unmarked grave? We'll get the DNA."

"I thought that would be your response. You have a horror of unmarked graves."

"Is that why you told your Miguel to bury Aquila in one?"

"No, that was purely for my convenience. Not all of my actions revolve around you." He chuckled. "But certainly a good portion of them do at the moment."

"I've no desire to be the focus of your attention."

"Nevertheless, you are." He paused and when he spoke again all trace of humor was gone from his tone. "I didn't keep to the letter of the test you gave me, but you have to admit I did very well. I showed you I was capable of giving you what you want."

"No, you didn't. Marty's murder was recent history compared to Bonnie. She was killed a long time ago. Joe and I have been searching for years with no result. We've explored every avenue. And you think you could just step into the picture and actually find her?"

"It's not what I think. It's what you think," he said softly. "Or what you hope, Eve. Right now, you're remembering all the information I gathered in just eight days. You're wondering whether if you pass up the opportunity you'll ever be able to forget that you might have found your Bonnie."

"My God, you're sadistic."

"No, I'm desperate. This is no game to me. I have to have you. You do this for me and I promise I'll find your little girl."

"And if I don't?"

"I've stacked the situation with good and bad cards. It's up to you how I play them."

"I'm responsible? Don't lay your blame on me."

"I'd never do that. I take total responsibility for everything I do. I'm going to hang up now so that you can consider the gift I've offered you."

"A gift has no strings."

"True. Good-bye, Eve. I'll be-"

"How long have you known about Palker?"

"I found out last night."

"And why didn't you call me then?"

"Why don't you tell me, Eve?"

"You didn't want to keep me in suspense. Your ego would have told you to call me as soon as possible so that you would have at least come closer to your deadline."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then why didn't I do it?"

"Joe. You knew Joe wouldn't be home at this time of day. You didn't want him to hear what you said to me before. You don't want him to know now."