McClellan looked at him goggle-eyed. “Walt? Why?”
“We don’t know yet. Maybe a guilty conscience. Did you know him well?”
“I knew him. But we weren’t close or anything.”
Decker eyed Dawson, who changed expression when he caught Decker’s gaze. “Guilty conscience?” said Dawson. “What for?”
“Can you think of a reason?”
“No. And I didn’t really know the man well enough to have knowledge of any demons that might have led to his killing himself.”
“Surely he would have done your wife’s funeral.”
Dawson’s eyes narrowed at this provocative statement. “So what if he did? That wouldn’t make us best friends.”
“So Walt Southern did the autopsy on her?”
“Yes. And it was confirmed that she died from carbon monoxide poisoning. And—” Dawson stopped and stared at Decker. “What are you implying?”
“I’m not implying anything. And what did Alice Pritchard die of?”
“Exposure. She apparently tried to make it to her car when Maddie didn’t show up. They found her outside, frozen stiff.”
“And the text your wife sent you?”
“I was in France with Caroline. We didn’t see it until the following morning. By then, it was too late.” He looked away.
Jamison said, “That’s what Caroline told us.”
“How is Liz Southern?” asked Dawson slowly.
“Shaken, distraught, as you would imagine,” answered Jamison.
“You know her?” asked Decker.
“Walt moved here about twenty years ago and started his business. But Liz is from London. Our families knew each other. Her parents are dead now, and she and Walt live, well, nowshelives in town. But she still has her parents’ farmhouse about ten miles outside of town. And she and Caroline have become good friends over the years. Liz is older than Caroline, of course, doesn’t have any siblings, and never had any children. I think she sees Caroline as a younger sister.”
McClellan interjected, “So now can you get on with your investigation and leave us to our business?”
Decker eyed Dawson. “Caroline is very proud of her new restaurant. Does that get sold to this guy, too?”
McClellan said sharply, “This isprivatebusiness.”
“Again, an answer in itself.”
Dawson said, “Don’t worry. Caroline will be just fine.”
“I wouldn’t bet the farm on it,” replied Decker.
LONG-RANGE NIGHT OPTICSwere Will Robie’s best friend. He was lying prone, sighting through one of his favorite pieces of surveillance hardware. It didn’t match the “eyesight” of the radar array facility he was watching currently, but it was more than good enough for his purposes.
He’d been here for an hour and during that time had barely moved. Being able to lie motionless and intensely focused on his target for inordinately long periods of time was Robie’s bread and butter. Without it, he couldn’t do his job.
Vector guards continued to make their rounds. A small jet had landed about an hour before. He couldn’t see who had gotten off. Before that, two choppers had lifted off the ground and one had returned. A few vehicles had left the facility through the main gate but all had returned.
He watched another car head toward the front gate. He zeroed in on Colonel Mark Sumter as the driver. Robie had been briefed on him and seen multiple photos of the man. Sumter was alone in the vehicle, and he was not in uniform.
Where might the colonel be going at this late hour?