"When was it?"
"About a month ago, the first time. Then a couple more times. Yesterday. When he was in the office."
"Are calls there logged?"
"No. Not local ones."
"If it was long distance it would be."
Eyes on the floor. Waters was miserable.
"What, Tony?"
"I got him a phone card. You call an eight hundred number and punch in a code, then the number you want."
Dance knew them. Untraceable.
"Really, you have to believe me. I wouldn't've done it, except the information he gave me . . . it was good. It saved--"
"What were they talking about?" she asked in a friendly voice. You're never rough with a confessing subject; they're your new best friend.
"Just stuff. You know. Money, I remember."
"What about it?"
"Pell asked how much she'd put together and she said ninety-two hundred bucks. And he said, 'That's all?' "
Pretty expensive phone sex, Dance reflected wryly.
"Then she asked about visiting hours and he said it wouldn't be a good idea."
So he didn't want her to visit. No record of them together.
"Any idea of where she was?"
"He mentioned Bakersfield. He said specifically, 'To Bakersfield.' "
Telling her to go to his aunt's place and pick up the hammer to plant in the well.
"And, okay, it's coming back to me now. She was telling him about wrens and hummingbirds in the backyard. And then Mexican food. 'Mexican is comfort food.' That's what she said."
"Did her voice have an ethnic or regional accent?"
"Not that I could tell."
"Was it low or high, her voice?"
"Low, I guess. Kind of sexy."
"Did she sound smart or stupid?"
"Jeez, I couldn't tell." He sounded exhausted.
"Is there anything else that's helpful, Tony? Come on, we really need to get this guy."
"Not that I can think of. I'm sorry."
She looked him over and believed that, no, he didn't know anything more.