David Baldacci - The Last Mile

He was so overweight that even that little stretch of exercise and better eating had resulted in his dropping twenty pounds, mostly liquid.

He was on the third belt notch, after starting on the first. His pants were very loose on him.

And he was still morbidly obese.

Milligan eyed him and said grudgingly, “You’re looking better, Decker.”

“Yeah, but don’t run into me on the track. I don’t want to hurt you because I’m still a blob.”

The comment drew a rare smile from the FBI agent. “Hey, you’re making an effort. Good for you.”

“Okay, let’s talk about preliminary investigative possibilities,” said Bogart.

Milligan said, “Ellen Tanner is no longer in the area. No record of where she went, nobody who knew her. We checked at UT. She didn’t go there. And with twenty years gone by it’s going to be pretty much impossible to track her down. She might have married and changed her name.”

“And the motel clerk, what was his name again?” asked Bogart.

“Willis Simone. And we did track him down. He died of a heart attack in 2001 in Florida.”

“Any connection you can see between Tanner and Simone?” asked Bogart.

Milligan said, “None. They didn’t move in the same circles. They were far apart in age. No lines of connection that I can see.”

Decker said, “Let’s assume they were paid off to lie, is there any way to track those payments?”

Milligan looked at him funny. “Twenty years later? Probably the banks they used aren’t even around anymore. Industry has consolidated. Plus, why would they lie? And who would pay them off?”

“For the moment I’m assuming that Mars is telling the truth. If so, we have to account for the discrepancy in the timelines offered up by Mars on one side and then Tanner and Simone on the other.”

Milligan shook his head. “I think it far more likely that Mars is lying. Otherwise, you’re looking at a big conspiracy against a college football player, and I just don’t see the motive.”

Bogart cut in. “But we’re here and we will explore the angles. All the angles.”

Milligan looked down at his notes, obviously unhappy with this. “I talked with the police department. Most of the officers from that time have retired, but there was one guy I spoke with who was around back then.”

“What did he say?” asked Bogart.

“That they’d never had a murder here before. Burglary, missing person, drunks getting in fights, kids stealing cars for joyriding, and even someone taking a cow as a prank, but this crime blew the town away.”

“But they latched onto Melvin Mars pretty fast.”

Milligan glanced at Decker. “Well, the evidence was overwhelming .”

“What do we know so far about the parents? Where was Lucinda from?” Decker asked.

Milligan rustled through some pages. “I couldn’t find out. Like her husband, there’s not a lot on her.”

“Where did she learn to sew? The police report said that was partly how she earned money. And Mars confirmed that today.”

Milligan had a hard time keeping a straight face. “To sew? I really couldn’t tell you.”

“And she also taught Spanish,” said Decker.

Bogart said, “There are a lot of Spanish-speaking people in Texas.”

“But we don’t know if she was from Texas,” pointed out Decker. “Now, if she were Hispanic, I could understand the language thing. But she was black.”

“Well, last time I checked black people can learn to speak Spanish, Decker,” said Milligan. “And sew.”

Decker didn’t ignore this one. “Right now we’re speculating. So to compensate for that we have to deal in probabilities. Lucinda certainly could have learned to sew and speak Spanish. I would just like to know where and how.”

“Okay, if you really think it’s important,” said Milligan. “Feel free to check it out for yourself.”

“I plan to,” said Decker. “She also worked at a janitorial service?”

“Yes. They cleaned places around town.”

“Busy woman. Any other family?”

“Not that I could find. Same for her husband.”

“Doesn’t that strike you as odd?” asked Decker. “One of them not having any family around, okay, but both?”

Milligan shook his head. “It was a long time ago. Maybe they moved around. Not everybody comes from huge families. People get lost in the shuffle. It seemed the only remarkable thing about either of them was their son. There were lots of stories about him, even before the murders. Guy was a helluva athlete. What a waste.”

Bogart said, “Keep digging on the Marses.”

Milligan nodded, but didn’t look terribly enthusiastic.

“They were shotgunned and then burned,” said Decker. “Why both?”

Milligan said, “If you think it was done to obscure identification, it wasn’t. They were positively identified by their dental records.”

“Then why?” persisted Decker.

“Symbolic?” suggested Bogart. “If Mars did do it he might have wanted to obliterate them from his life. Burning might accomplish that, in his eyes at least.”

“But then we have Charles Montgomery saying he did it,” pointed out Decker. “I need to talk to him.”

“That is being arranged,” said Bogart.

“The Marses’ house isn’t far from here,” noted Decker.

“That’s right. It’s abandoned. I guess no one wanted to live in it after what happened.”

“And the motel where Mars said he stayed?” asked Decker.

Milligan said, “Knocked down. It’s now a shopping mall.”

“And Ellen Tanner’s place?”

“Still there, but she’s long since gone. So I’m not sure what you’ll find there.”

“Well, that’s why people look,” replied Decker. “Let’s go.”

After he left the room Milligan put an arm on Bogart’s sleeve.

“Sir, maybe the Morillo case wasn’t the best one, but we have a binder full of others a lot more promising than this one.”

Bogart said, “Actually, we’re just getting started here.”

Milligan removed his hand and said, “You’re putting a lot of faith in this guy.”

“Yes, I am. Because he’s earned that faith.”

Bogart walked out to follow Decker.

Milligan reluctantly did the same.

The house looked lost among a wasteland of overgrown bushes and fat-canopied trees. One might need a machete to hack through the tangles.

Decker just used his hands and his bulk to navigate it. Bogart and Milligan were right behind him.

They reached the fallen-in front porch and stared up at the façade. They could still see the char marks on the outside of one of the upper-story windows, which was boarded up with plywood.

“Where the bodies were found,” noted Decker, and Bogart nodded in agreement.

“We’ll need to step carefully,” said Milligan. “I don’t know how structurally sound this place is.”

Decker gingerly stepped up onto the front porch, avoiding the obvious areas of weakness. He reached the front door and pushed against it. The door didn’t budge.

Decker put his big shoulder to it and finally the wood cracked and the door swung inward. There was no electricity on, of course, which was why the men had brought powerful flashlights.

They moved inside to find the interior remarkably free of debris, although the smell of mold and rot was everywhere.

Bogart put a hand over his nose. “Damn, I’m not sure we should be breathing this.”

Decker looked up. “The roof and windows held. That’s why it’s not more trashed inside.”

He swung his light around the room, taking in the space bit by bit as he moved forward.

The house was small and it didn’t take them long to finish with the ground floor and the attached garage. There was no basement level; that left the upstairs.