Merci thought for a moment. "What did you get with the polygraph? Anybody look good at all?"
"No. I figured him for an out-of-towner, probably took her far away. By the time two days went by and we didn't have a girl or body, I had this damned awful feeling we'd never close it."
"What about Archie Wildcraft?"
"First of all, how is he?"
"Wounded in the head, presently missing, possibly suicidal."
"We got that video of him up here on ABC."
"Grim."
"I guess… well, I guess you would have arrested him before then if you had the goods."
Merci heard the kindly accusation, but she didn't let it rattle her. "That's exactly right. I don't think he did it. But when his folks told me about Julia, it seemed worth asking you about him."
Matson was quiet for a moment. Merci heard ice clinking in a glass. "He was eleven at the time. Big strong kid, quite an athlete. You know, it's funny. If that crime happened today I'd look at the boy real hard. I'd bring a lot of pressure. But back then, well, it was only eighteen, twenty years ago, but it was a different world. I never seriously suspected him, to be honest. I interviewed him and he struck me as a young boy who had a big crush on a cute girl. He was stunned. He was very, very serious about her and about what happened. And he never gave up hope, either. I kept in touch with George and Natalie for a few months after that, they told me about him going to the library to read news about her. He wrote her letters for half a year or so after she disappeared. Anna Santos let me read some of them-just break your heart. Like Julia had gone away on purpose and the kid was trying to talk her into coming home. But you know, the letters stopped and Archie got older and history became history."
"Did you ever tail him?"
Matson hesitated before he answered. "Actually, I did. He liked to take a shortcut to school through the woods, and I did follow him a couple of times."
"Was the shortcut before or after you get to the bridge on the highway?"
"Before."
"And?"
"Just a kid walking through the woods. That's all I saw. You know something-I never put that in my reports because I was ashamed I did it. But I was desperate."
"Like you said, though, Captain, it was a different world."
"I like the old one."
"Me too," she said. She thought for a moment, now understanding that she was feeling like Matson had felt eighteen years ago-about the same man. "What do I need to know about Wildcraft? Captain can you tell me anything at all?"
Matson was quiet again. More ice. "I remember one thing very clearly about him. I'll never forget the look on his face after I'd finished talking to him the first time. He looked at me very calmly and told me if he couldn't be a professional baseball player when he grew up, he was going to be a detective. A missing-persons detective is how he put it. I believed him. That's how much conviction he had. My own son was thirteen at the time, and he didn't have that kind of conviction about anything. He still doesn't. I remember it was a little unsettling, the way that boy kept things inside. Meaning Archie. Very strong-willed boy. Intense. Sergeant, I'm sorry I can't help you more."
"I'm glad you can't."
"If Archie does something crazy like coming back here, I'll take good care of him and call you ASAP. Take care of George and Natalia They're good folks. Tell them I'm keeping an eye on the house. Every thing's fine. The dogs and everything."
"I will."
She was just about to go sit with Tim and watch him sleep when her phone rang again.
"This is Archie Wildcraft."
"Where are you?" She started down the hall for the living room.
"No, I'm not telling. I can't let you arrest me for Gwen. I'm positive I didn't kill her. And I've got some things to take care of, you know, things I can't do from jail or the hospital. I just wanted you to know I'm okay, taking my meds and all that."
"On TV you said you'd kill yourself, Archie."
"No, that was some kind of problem with the videotape. I said I'll kill them myself."
"Whoever shot Gwen."
"Yeah, Gwen."
"Is that what you're doing, Archie? Are you trying to track down the shooter yourself?"
There was a pause then and Merci listened to the traffic on Wildcraft's end of the line.
"Wouldn't you?" he asked.
"That's ridiculous."
"You didn't answer my question."
She thought about it but didn't take long. She knew what she would do.
"I might try."
"Especially if your own department was thinking you did it."
"I'm the lead investigator on Gwen's case, and I don't think you did it."
"Tell that to Al Madden. He called me at home. He questioned my mom and dad. It's him and Dawes. I may have a bullet in my head but I know when someone's out to cook me."
"Archie, we're not going to charge you. So meet me at UCI Medical. Or I'll drive you over. We'll get you checked in and let the doctors fix you up. You were bleeding on the CNB segment."
"It was minor."
"How do you know?"
"I'm actually kind of worried about it. I've been, well, when the pressure goes up I see colors that aren't logical. You know, like a red face or a blue hill. But I'm remembering things, and the feelings of things, so maybe the swelling's gone down. The doctor, Stebbins, he told me in the hospital that this could happen."
"Archie, damnit, will you tell me where you are and let me pick you up? Nobody's going to charge you with Gwen. Dawes just smells an easy winner because you can't remember that night. Madden's just doing his job. But I know you didn't do it and I know I can catch the people who did. You can trust me on that, Archie. I'm good at what I do. And listen to this, Archie- there's a way to help you remember exactly what happened that night."
Silence, and she knew she had him.
"Hypnosis, " she said.
"Who told you that?"
"Stebbins. It's risky, because it puts you through the trauma again. But it lets you remember everything, just how it went down."
"Really?"
"Really, Archie."
"I'd see her again. Gwen, in memory."
"Yeah."
"I think there's a chance I got a look at the shooter."
"Jesus, Arch-good of you to mention it."
"But I'm not sure. I'm starting to see this face behind the light, wonder if it's something I saw or something I'm making up."
"That's what the hypnosis can sort out."
"And when I see that face I keep thinking the word reversible."
"Reversible what?" she asked him. Damage?
"Just reversible."
"That's not hugely evidentiary. Help me out, Arch. Help me help you get back to Gwen. Those doctors can make you better, get all those memories and feelings back for you."
Another silence, this one longer. "I'll think about it. But I still won't tell you where I am."
"Think, Archie-you want your job back when you're feeling better, how's it going to look if we had to bring you in like a creep?"
"Sergeant Rayborn, I loved my job, but I don't care if I ever get it back. I have to get the man, the shooter aiming that light down on me, the guy hiding in the trees. And I have to go get Gwen."
"Go get Gwen. What do you mean?"
"I told you I hear her voice. And I guarantee you it's not in my head. It's right here, in the room or wherever I am, and it comes from above me. Not high above me, not like high up in the air, but right there, like she's hovering, say… eight feet up. Eight to twelve fee above my head, and over my left shoulder. Every time she talks she's a little bit farther away. The first time she spoke I felt her breath on my neck. But the last time, which was about an hour ago, it sounded like she was, well, approximately twelve feet up, behind me and to my left."