"No. The state. Utah. What he liked was that you could have a lot of wives."
The Family . . .
"He said in Utah the police don't give you any shit because it's the Mormons who run the state and they don't like the FBI or the state police snooping around. You can do whatever you want in Utah."
"When did he tell you that?"
"I don't know. A while ago. Last year. Then maybe a month ago."
Dance glanced at O'Neil and he nodded.
"Let me call you back. Can you wait there for a minute?"
A laugh from Chang. "And where would I go?"
She disconnected, then called Linda Whitfield and, after her, Rebecca Sheffield. Neither woman knew of any interest Pell had ever expressed in either Mexico or Utah. As for the attraction of Mormon polygamy, Linda said he'd never mentioned it. Rebecca laughed. "Pell liked sleeping with several women. That's different from being married to several women. Real different."
Dance and O'Neil walked upstairs to Charles Overby's office and briefed him about the possible destinations, as well as the three references they'd found in the Google search, and the crime-scene results.
"Acapulco?"
"No. It was a plant, I'm sure. He asked about it just last week and in front of other cons. It's too obvious. Utah's more likely. But I've got to find out more."
"Well, front burner it, Kathryn," Overby said. "I just got a call from The New York Times." His phone rang.
"It's Sacramento on two, Charles," his assistant said. He sighed and grabbed the handset.
Dance and O'Neil left and just as they got into the hallway, his phone rang too. As they walked, she glanced at him several times. Michael O'Neil's affect displays--signals of emotion--were virtually invisible most of the time, but they were obvious to her. She deduced the call was about Juan Millar. She could see clearly how upset he was about his fellow officer's injury. She didn't know the last time he'd been so troubled.
O'Neil hung up and gave her a summary of the detective's condition: It was the same as earlier but he'd been awake once or twice.
"Go see him," Dance said.
"You sure?"
"I'll follow up here."
Dance returned to her office, pausing to pour another coffee from the pot near Maryellen Kresbach, who said nothing more about phone messages, though Dance sensed she wanted to.
Brian called. . . .
This time she grabbed the chocolate chip cookie she'd been fantasizing about. At her desk she called Chang and the warden back.
"Eddie, I want to keep going. I want you to tell me more about Pell. Anything about him you can remember. Things he said, things he did. What made him laugh, what made him mad."
A pause. "I don't know what to tell you, really." He sounded confused.
"Hey, how's this for an idea? Pretend somebody was going to set me up on a date with Pell. What would you tell me about him before we went out?"
"A date with Daniel Pell. Whoa, that's one fucking scary thought."
"Do your best, Cupid."
Chapter 13
Back in her office, Dance heard the frog croak again and she picked up her cell phone.
The caller was Rey Carraneo, reporting that the manager of the You Mail It franchise on San Benito Way in Salinas did remember a woman in the store about a week ago.