Дэвид Балдаччи - Walk the Wire

“It can be, yes,” said Jamison. “But we have to follow up other angles as well.”

“We’re just trying to trace her past. It might have an impact on what happened to her,” explained Kelly. “At least we can’t discount that yet.”

“Meaning it might be someone from her past who killed her?”

“Could be.”

Gunther nodded. “Well, that is a little comforting. At least it might not be anyone from London. I would hate to think that we might have a brutal killer running around here.”

“You’d be surprised how many places have brutal killers running around,” said Decker, drawing a sharp look from Gunther.

Ames said, “I know that you have to look into what happened to Irene, but do you have any clue as to who killed my daughter?”

Decker looked at Ames. “As Detective Kelly said, we’re working hard on it. Both these cases are a priority for us.”

“Do you think they might be connected?” asked Gunther.

“How so?” asked Kelly.

“Well, both women had ties to this place. Both were killed when they were off our property. Do you think it might be someone who had a grudge against our lifestyle and beliefs? These things do happen. Religious persecution.”

“Yes they do,” said Jamison. “And we will look at that angle, although Cramer was not a member of the Colony.”

“Someone might have held it against her that she taught here or had a mistaken belief that she was a member somehow.”

“Again, we will look into that,” said Jamison, glancing at Decker.

Kelly added, “Do you have any idea where Pamela might have been living in London?”

“She never told me,” said Ames. He paused and his expression grew uncomfortable.

Jamison was quick to pick up on this and said, “Is there something on your mind?”

“The way she was dressed when she was found? I saw the clothing. I... she never had clothing like that when she lived here. I saw how she dressed at the truck stop but this... this was far more... What was going on there? I would like to know. And Susan asked me about it, too. She was deeply worried.”

Kelly said, “She might have just been, you know, trying out a new style.”

Ames said, “You... you don’t think she was? I mean... s-sex? With Hal Parker? She wouldn’t have done that because she found him... attractive. He was older than we were!” He looked down. “But she might have...” He stopped and shook his head. “No, I cannot believe something like that about my daughter. She would not have done that. Never.”

Decker said, “The postmortem showed that they didn’t have sex, if that makes you feel better.”

Ames put his head in his hands, moaned, and looked like he might retch right there on the flowery tablecloth.

Decker reached out and put his hand on Ames’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Mr. Ames. I just wanted you to know that whatever she went there for, that particular act didn’t happen with Hal Parker, okay? Just put that right out of your mind. And tell your wife that, too.”

Ames lifted his head, rubbed his eyes dry, and nodded. “Okay. Right. Thank you.”

When Decker glanced at Jamison, she was gaping. She quickly said to Gunther, “We understand that you bought some land from the Air Force? And then leased some of it to frackers?”

Gunther nodded. “Yes. The lease payments have come in very handy. It was one of the best investments we made, winning that auction.”

“I’m sure,” said Jamison.

Decker said, “Did you ever notice anything odd at the Air Force facility?”

“Odd? I haven’t. But I don’t really pay attention to it.” Gunther looked at Ames. “What about you, Milton?”

“My home is not near there. But there are others who do live closer to the facility. I can ask them.”

“Do you mind if we do that, and if we could meet with them now?” said Decker.

Gunther said, “All right. But what is all this about?”

“I wish I could tell you,” said Decker. “But I’m not sure myself.”

Judith and Robert White sat across the table from Decker, Jamison, and Kelly in the dining hall. They were young, having been married for less than three years, but she was already pregnant with her second child. Her scarf was colorful, his clothes were dark and nondescript. He looked nervous; she looked intrigued.

They had been asked to come here because their small farm was closest to the Air Force’s outer perimeter fencing.

Robert fiddled with his hat and looked at his feet while Decker scrutinized the pair.

“Anything you can tell us,” he said, now looking directly at Judith. “Whether it seems important or not.”

Robert shrugged and glanced up. “I don’t know nothing.”

His wife elbowed him in the arm. “Bobby, tell them.”

“Shush, Judy, this is no business of ours.”

“Two women have been killed,” said Jamison. “One of them lived here and the other worked here. That makes it our business.”

Judith started to tear up. “Bobby, tell them. It’s important. Oh, poor Pammie and Ms. Cramer.”

Robert straightened, resignation clear on his features. “Okay, there were odd noises at night.”

“Odd? Like what?” asked Decker.

“Planes coming and going. Choppers doing the same. Seen the lights going over our house.”

“And the dogs, tell them about the dogs,” implored his wife.

Robert sat up straighter and his expression became somber. “They got guard dogs there. Fierce things. We got a puppy. Went over to the outer fence one time. Just curious. Well, thank God there were two fences between it and them. Thought they were going to tear right through both to get our little pup.”

“And tell them about the you-know-what,” prompted Judith.

Robert screwed up his mouth and shook his head.

Decker leaned in. “The ‘you-know-what’?”

“The man!” said Judith. “Bobby, if you won’t tell them I will.”

“Good Lord, woman, don’t you see what you’re getting us into talking like that?”

“The truth is always better,” said Decker. “You tell the truth, you won’t get in any trouble.”

“Says you,” retorted Robert.

“Bobby!” exclaimed his wife.

He sighed again. “It was about a month ago. Late. I couldn’t sleep. I was out in my little workshop repairing some tools. It’s about a hundred yards from the fence. That’s when I heard a commotion outside. Around two in the morning. We’ve never had any problems around here, but, well, this sounded not good. I picked up an ax from my workbench and went outside. I could hear the sounds of someone running. And there were shouts and then I heard those dogs barking. They were in a frenzy, seemed like. I ran over toward the fence but stopped before I got there because I could see lights. They were wobbling around because the people holding them were running.”

“Go on,” said Kelly.

“I got scared, so I dropped to the ground, but I kept watching. It was a pretty full moon that night. And then out of the darkness this man jumps up on the inner fence and he’s trying to climb to the top.”

“What did he look like?” asked Decker.

“He had a beard, and his hair was all wild and thick like. Tall and he looked skinny, but he was climbing that fence for all he was worth.”

“Clothing?”

“Like overalls and his feet were bare.”

“What happened next?” asked Jamison.

“He was halfway to the top when a dog got to him. Jumped up and grabbed a hold of his pants leg. He was screaming.”

“Could you understand anything he said?”

“No, I was too far away and it sounded like gibberish to me. I think he was crazy or on drugs or something. But I would’ve been doing the same thing if a dog had a hold of me like that. Then the men came running up and they called the dog off and pulled him down from the fence. He just gave up and went limp. A truck pulled up and they put him in that, and it drove off. Then the others left. By the time I got back to the house I was shaking like a leaf.”