Дэвид Балдаччи - The Guilty

“Maybe she was wrong. Or lying. She seems really good at lying.”

“Maybe,” said Robie doubtfully.

“Whatever the case, we need to find Henry Barksdale.”

“I wonder if he ever visits Jane Smith.”

“Dugan said only Emmitt did.”

“He couldn’t be sure about that. And now with Emmitt gone—”

“You think he might go to visit her?” Reel asked.

“It seems to be our only low-hanging fruit on this one.”

He took out his phone and called Dugan. The man told him that no one had visited Jane Smith since they’d been there. Robie told him to call immediately if anyone came to see the woman.

“Stakeout?” said Reel.

“Stakeout,” said Robie.

She turned the car around, and they headed off in an entirely new direction.

An hour later Reel steered through the last curve and the mental institution came into view. Against the backdrop of darkness, its lighted interior looked like a multi-eyed beast waiting to devour unsuspecting prey.

They parked in front and climbed out of the car.

The next moment they heard the siren.

They both instinctively looked at each other.

The sounds grew louder.

“Sounds like it’s coming this way,” said Reel.

The facility was really the only thing out this way. The strip mall where the McDonalds was located was a couple miles distant.

Robie and Reel sprinted toward the entrance.

Doug Dugan and a passel of upset people were crowded in the lobby. When Dugan saw them he rushed over. “Oh my God!”

“What happened?” barked Robie.

“It’s Jane Smith. I called the cops.”

Robie and Reel were already running down the hall toward her room.

The door was open.

The light was blazing.

A tray with untouched food on it sat on a table next to the bed.

Robie’s gaze darted around the room and then came back over to the window. He stepped slowly into the room.

The window glass was cracked. Its epicenter was a small hole, and the cracks radiated out from that like a spider’s web.

Right below the window Jane Smith was lying on the floor.

Robie could see the entry wound. It was a bullet hole dead center of her forehead.

Blood had pooled under her. The woman’s eyes were open and unseeing. She would chirp and cluck no more.

Reel stepped to the window and looked out.

“Nothing.” She looked down at Smith. “The blood’s already started to coagulate. This didn’t just happen. Whoever shot her is long gone.”

Dugan appeared in the doorway.

Robie strode over to him.

“What the hell happened?” he demanded.

“One of the staff came to take her dinner tray away, and... found her.”

“And then you called the cops?”

“Yes.”

“When was she found?”

“Maybe ten minutes ago. As soon as I was alerted I called the police.” He listened to the sirens, which seemed to be right on top of them.

“The shot came through the window,” said Reel. “Did anyone see someone back there?”

“Not that I know of. But I haven’t really asked, either.”

“Did anyone visit Jane Smith since I called you?”

“No! No one’s been since you two were here.”

“Any unusual visitors here today to see anyone else?”

“What do you mean by unusual?”

“Anyone who hadn’t been here before,” snapped Robie.

“No, I mean I don’t think so, no.”

“That’s not good enough,” said Reel. “We need to be sure.”

“I’ll... I’ll have to check.”

Robie thought of something. “Did anyone call today to ask about Jane Smith? Maybe what room she was in?”

Dugan looked at him puzzled. “Why?”

“They had to know which room she was in to shoot her from outside,” replied Robie impatiently. “Can you please check?”

Dugan ran out of the room and then was back in less than two minutes.

“No one called. And there were no unusual visitors.”

“You’re sure.”

“Yes.”

Robie looked at Reel. “Then how the hell did the shooter know she was in this room? The room numbers aren’t posted on the outside of the building, only on the inside.”

They heard cars screeching to a halt outside and the sirens ceased.

Dugan said, “Shit, they’re here. I’ve gotta go.”

He raced out of the room.

Robie looked around, saw the door of the bathroom, opened it, and spotted a box of Q-Tips in a box on a shelf. He pulled out a Q-Tip, stepped back out, and raced over to Jane Smith.

He swabbed the inside of her mouth with the Q-Tip and then looked at the dead woman’s face.

Reel said, “Robie, we’ve got to go. They’re coming.”

Robie said quietly to the dead woman. “I’m sorry.”

The next moment they were racing down the hall in the opposite direction from the entrance.

They exited the building at a side door and flitted back to the front. When the area was clear, they slipped to their car and drove off.

Once they hit the surface road, Reel punched the gas and the car flew down the asphalt.

Robie held up the Q-Tip.

“We need to get that to Wurtzburger,” said Reel.

Robie nodded but said nothing.

Reel shot him a glance and saw his frozen features.

“Robie, I’m really sorry.”

“We don’t know that it was Laura,” he said immediately.

“I know, and I hope it wasn’t.”

“But whoever it is, she’s dead. And someone murdered her.”

“And we’ll find out who it was.”

“Yes, we will,” said Robie.

Robie had called Wurtzburger, and they met up with the FBI agent back in Cantrell and gave him the swab sample.

“We got a sample from Emmitt Barksdale’s body,” Wurtzburger said. “I’ve asked for the highest priority on this. We have a lab in Jackson that can get this done ASAP.”

After leaving him, Robie and Reel drove back to the Willows.

It was late now and they didn’t expect anyone to be up when they got there.

But they didn’t expect the house to be completely dark.

“Hello?” said Robie as they walked in the partially open front door.

They both pulled their weapons.

“Hello?” Robie said again.

They went through the first floor until they got to the wing where Priscilla lived. The door of her bedroom was slightly cracked.

“Priscilla?” said Robie. “It’s Will Robie.”

There was no reply.

Robie eased the door open and looked around.

Reel was right next to him.

She saw it first.

Or rather, her.

“There,” said Reel.

Priscilla was lying on the floor next to her bed.

Robie raced over to her and knelt down.

“Damn it!” he said.

She was on her side. The knife was still sticking out of her back.

Reel looked over her shoulder.

“She’s dead,” said Robie. “Looks like the blade went right through her heart.”

He touched her skin. “She’s still warm. It wasn’t long ago.”

He looked back toward the door.

“There are still three people who are supposed to be here.”

They ran out of the room and up the stairs, and reached Dan and Victoria’s bedroom first.

It was empty. But there were signs of a struggle. A table was knocked over and a lamp had been broken.

Ty’s room was empty and had not been slept in.

“What was that?” asked Reel.

It had come from somewhere on the second floor.

They ran out of the room and looked in either direction.

“That room,” said Reel as the sound came again. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” said Robie. “I’ve never been in there.”

The sound came again. It was a groan.

Robie pushed the door open and looked around.