Patricia Cornwell - Cause Of Death

Snow was to the top of my boots as I drew close to it, footprints from the night before gone. The intruder, whose flashlight Lucy had seen, had climbed over the wall and then quickly left. But he must have showed up later, or someone else must have, because the footprints around our cars clearly had been made after snow had quit falling, and they hadn't been made by dive boots or surf shoes. I looked over the wall and beyond the dune to the wide beach below.

Snow was spun-sugar heaped in drifts with sea oats protruding like ragged feathers. The water was a ruffled dark blue and I saw no sign of anyone as my eyes followed the shore as far as they could.

I looked out for a long time, completely absorbed in speculations and worries. When I turned around to walk back, I was shocked to find Detective Roche standing so close he could have grabbed me.

"My God," I gasped. "Don't ever sneak up on me like that."

"I walked in your tracks. That's why you didn't hear

" He was chewing gum and had his hands in the pock meets of a leather coat. "Being quiet's one thing I'm good at when I want to be."

I stared at him, my dislike of him finding new depths.

He wore dark trousers and boots, and I could not see his eyes behind the aviator's glasses. But it did not matter. I knew what Detective Roche was about. I knew his type well.

"I heard about your vandalism and came to see if I could be of assistance," he said.

"I wasn't aware we called the Chesapeake police," I replied.

"Virginia Beach and Chesapeake have a mutual aid channel, so I heard about your problem on that," he said.

"I have to confess that the first thing to go through my mind was there might be a connection."

"A connection to what?"

"To our case." He stepped closer. "Looks like someone really did a number on your cars. Sounds like a warning.

You know, like just maybe you're poking your nose where someone doesn't think it belongs."

My eyes wandered to his feet, to his lace-up Gore-Tex boots made of leather the color of liver, and I saw the tread pattern they had left in the snow. Roche had big feet and hands, and was wearing Vibram soles. I looked back at a face that would have been handsome were the spirit behind it not so petty and mean. I did not say a word for a while, but when I did I was very direct.

"You sound a lot like Captain Green. So tell me. Are you threatening me, too?"

"I'm just passing along an observation."

He stepped even closer, and now I was backed against the wall. Melting snow heaped on top of it dripped down the collar of my coat while my blood ran hotter.

"By the way," he went on, edging ever nearer, "what's new with this case of ours?"

"Please step back," I said to him.

"I'm just not sure at all that you're telling me everything. I think you have a real good idea about what happened to Ted Eddings, and you're withholding information."

"We're not going to discuss that case or any other right now," I said.

"See? That puts me in a bad spot because I have people I answer to." I couldn't believe it when he placed his hand on my shoulder as he added, "I know you wouldn't want to cause me trouble."

"Don't touch me," I warned. "Don't push this any further.

"I think you and me need to get together so we can overcome our communication problem." He left his hand where it was. "Maybe we can catch dinner in some quiet little laid-back place. You like seafood? I know a real private place on the Sound."

I was silent as I wondered whether to jam my finger in his windpipe.

"Don't be shy. Trust me. It's all right. This isn't the Capital of the Confederacy with all these snobby old hasbeens you got in Richmond. We believe in live and let live around here. You know what I mean?"

I tried to move past him and he grabbed my arm. - I'm talking to you." He was beginning to sound angry.

You don't go walking off when I'm talking to you."

"Let go of me," I demanded.

I tried to wrench my arm away. But he was surprisingly strong.

"No matter how many fancy degrees you got, you're no match for me," he said under breath that smelled like spearmint.

I stared straight into his Ray-Bans.

"Get your hands off me now," I said in a loud, hard voice. "Now!" I exclaimed as if I would kill him instantly.

Roche suddenly let go, and I trudged with purpose through the snow as my heart flew off on its own. When I reached the front of the house, I stopped, out of breath and dazed.

"There are footprints in the backyard that should be photographed," I addressed everyone. "Detective Roche's footprints. He was just back there. And I want all of my belongings out of the house."

"What the hell do you mean he was just back there?"

Marino said.

"We had a conversation."

"How the hell did he get back there without us seeing him?"

I scanned the street and did not see a car that might have been Roche's. "I don't know how he got back there," I said. "I guess he cut through someone else's backyard. Or maybe he came up from the beach."

Lucy did not know what to think as she looked at me.

"You won't be coming back here?" she asked me. "Not at all?"

"No," I said. "I will not be coming back here ever again, if I have my way about it."

She helped me pack the remainder of my belongings, and I did not relay what had happened in the backyard until we were in Marino's car driving fast on 64 West toward Richmond.

"Shit", he exclaimed. "The friggin' bastard hit on you.

Goddamn it. Why didn't you yell?"

"I think his mission was to harass me on behalf of someone else," I said.

"I don't care what his mission was. He still hit on you.

YOU got to take out a warrant."

" Hitting on someone is not against the law," I said.

"He grabbed you."

"So I'm going to have him arrested for grabbing my arm?"

"He shouldn't have grabbed nothing." He was furious as he drove. "You told him to let go and he didn't. That's abduction. At the very least, it's simple assault. Damn, this thing's out of alignment."

"You've got to report him to Internal Affairs," Lucy said from the front seat, where she was fooling with the scanner because it was hard for her hands to be still. "Hey, Pete, the squelch isn't right," she added to him. "And you can't hear a thing on channel three. That's Third Precinct, right?"

"What do you expect when I'm way the hell near Williamsburg? You think I'm a state trooper?"

"No, but if you want to talk to one, I can probably figure that out."

" I'm sure you could tune in to the damn space shuttle," he irritably remarked.

"If you can," I said to her, "how about getting me on it."

WE ARRIVED IN RICHMOND AT HALF PAST TWO, AND)the guard raised a gate and allowed us into the secluded neighborhood where I very recently had moved.

Typical for this area of Virginia, there had been no snow, and water dripped profusely from trees because rain had turned to ice during the night. Then the temperature had risen.

My stone house was set back from the street on a bluff that overlooked a rocky bend in the James River, the wooded lot surrounded by a wrought-iron fence neighboring children could not squeeze through. I knew no one on any side of me, and had no intention of changing that.

I had not anticipated problems when I had decided for the first time in my life that I would build, but whether it had been the slate roof, the brick pavers or the color of my front door, it seemed everyone had a criticism. When it had gotten to the point where my contractor's frustrated telephone calls were interrupting me in the morgue, I had threatened the neighborhood association that I would sue.

Needless to say, invitations to parties in this subdivision, thus far, had been few.