“I sure hope not,” I said. “I hate caves.”
He chuckled. “The troops been getting really curious why I'm telling 'em to do all this stuff. I ain't told where you are, and they're thinkin' that I'm on the case.”
“Hey, we brought in the best.”
“Uh, Carl, while I got you on the phone… did you have some sort of confrontation with Borman about that warning shot business?”
“Not really,” I said. “Why?”
“Well, he says you jumped in his shit in front of witnesses. Embarrassed him, or something. Gave him a lecture, I believe he said. Here in the office. You know anything about that?”
“Sure. He flagged me down on my way through Dispatch, and wanted to know why I told on him. Just like a little kid.”
“Yeah. Well, Carl, he's filed a grievance with the union. Alleges harassment on your part. Wants you disciplined.”
“Bullshit.”
“Yeah, but that's what he says.”
“Ask Sally,” I said. “She was there. She was there for the whole thing.”
“Okay,” said Lamar. “But don't you talk with her about this. She's a witness, let the process take its course.”
“I want that little moron off this case,” I said. “Can't do that, Carl. You know the rules, here. Just watch your step.” “Watch my step, hell,” I said. “I'm gonna strangle the little shit.”
“Right. Oh, before I forget, that Huck girl called for you guys a few minutes ago. Dispatch didn't tell me 'cause it went in your 'to do' box, but I was readin' the log.”
Quite a gear change, as Lamar intended. “When did she call?”
“About an hour ago. No message, just said she needed to talk to you before you came back.” He stopped, surprised. “Let me check that note… ”
“Back? How did she know we were gone?”
“Okay, Jesus, I didn't think. Yep, here it is. The note says '… before they come back… ' You didn't tell her you were leavin'?”
“No. I didn't… just a sec.” I covered the phone. “Hey, did you tell Huck we were leaving the area?”
“No,” said Hester. “No, I didn't.”
“Me, neither,” said Harry, just to make me happy.
“She called for us, and left a message saying that she'd talk to us before we got back.” I was getting concerned.
“Hey, Lamar? No, Hester didn't say anything, either.” I pulled a pen from my pocket. “Give me the call-back number on the note, will you?”
He did. I knew it wasn't the Mansion, but it sounded familiar.
“You know what number that is?” If it was familiar to me, it would probably be familiar to Lamar, as well.
“Yeah, it's the main administrative number for the casino boat.”
“I'll give her a call,” I said.
I handed the phone back to Hester. “Gotta get one of those.”
“The whole state would appreciate it,” she said.
“Huck had to talk to either Jessica or Tatiana right after we left the dance studio,” I said. “She called our office a few minutes ago. I think she's on the 06:00 to
14:00 shift, which means that she was at work when shecalled our office, and would have been when we left the studio, too.”
“So they called her at work, then?” Hester and I were both figuring that a long-distance call from work was something Huck probably wouldn't be doing.
“Probably. I better call her.”
Hester just handed me her phone.
The gaming boat hated to interrupt dealers, understandably, and told me to call back in fifteen minutes. That gave me time to gripe to Hester and Harry about Borman and his grievance.
Hester just shook her head. Harry related a similar incident between him and a rookie that ended with the rookie working in a discount store. “They just seem to hate constructive fuckin' criticism, these days, you know?”
“Yeah,” I said, ruefully. “What my boy doesn't know is how restrained I was.”
Our food arrived just as Hester's phone rang again. She answered, grinned, and handed it to me. “Lamar,” she said.
“Yeah?”
“Your friend Huck just called back,” said Lamar. “She gave this number, and said you're to call it right away.”
I got my pen back out, and wrote it down. “Thanks.”
“You bet. Let me know what's going on… ”
“Okay.”
I broke the connection, and dialed the number he'd given me. Of course, since he hadn't had to use the area code, I hadn't copied it down. Being in a hurry, when I dialed, I left it out. There was the familiar oscillating tone.
“Area code,” said Hester, her spoon between the soup bowl and her mouth. I noticed the spoon didn't even slow.
“Right.” I redialed.
“Hello,” said a muted voice. It was Huck, and she was half whispering. “Houseman. You wanted me to call?” “Yeah. That was fast. So, how you like Lake Geneva?” Still whispered.
“Great, so far.”
“You get around. Look, Tat called, she had some stuff to tell me, and I told her she could trust you. She can, can't she?” “Sure.” Tat? It sounded like she knew Tatiana better than I had thought.
“Okay, look, she wants to meet you in about a half hour. Jessica's got stuff to do, and Tat wants to talk with somebody. She's getting scared,” said Huck.
Well. “Okay, fine. Where at?”
There was a pause. “Before I tell you, you gotta know that Tat's in love with Jessica, all right? I mean, really in love with her.”
I wasn't exactly thunderstruck, but I was surprised. “Oh?”
She sighed. “You gotta know that so what she says makes sense.”
“Okay.”
“She wants to meet you at the observatory. You know where that is?”
“Yep. If you mean the big one? The Yerkes Observatory.” Oh, yeah.
“Yes. She'll be at the rear steps, I'll call her right now, gotta go, thanks, be good to her.” Dial tone.
“So?” asked Hester.
“Jessica and Tatiana did call her,” I said. “She wanted to make sure they were telling her the truth, for one thing.”
“She wonders about that, too?” asked Harry.
“Huck says that Ostransky, Tatiana, wants to meet us at Yerkes Observatory.”
Hester put down her soupspoon, got a map out of her purse, and said, “Looks like we take fifty west to sixty-seven, then sixty-seven south into Williams Bay. Follow it on West Geneva Street. Piece of cake.”
THIRTY
Wednesday, October 11, 2000
15:12
Yerkes Observatory is run by the University of Chicago. It's an incredible building, sort of dumbbell shaped, with a long hall connecting two observation areas. The building itself is an architectural delight. Built in 1895, it's a golden sandstone, ornately carved, complete with gargoyles, griffons and other mythological critters, as well as astronomical and astrological signs, cherubs, and just about anything else that would lend a Victorian Gothic air to the place. The domes themselves are very ornate, with pillared arches running around the lower levels, and making them look a lot like the exterior of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The whole place has a Jules Verne atmosphere, and you can almost see the famous astronomers Hale, Barnard, and Burnham out of the corner of your eye.
We all got into Hester's car, and followed the map. As we turned in the long drive, Hester got a good look at the place, and said, “Wow.”
“Cool, no?” I gave her the basic details I'd gotten years back when I took the tour. “Some momentous stuff happened here, but in a quiet way.”
“It is quiet,” said Harry.
We parked right in front of the main entrance. There were only three or four cars there, and space for about twice that many.
The mirror image of the main entrance was on the other side of the building, so we walked on the lawn around the main dome, and approached the deserted rear of the building.
Sure enough, Tatiana was sitting on the stone steps, about fifty yards from us. She'd apparently pulled a pair of black slacks on over her dancing tights, and had on a pair of ankle-high, laced walking boots. She was in bright afternoon sunlight, and her hair shone like neon. She held her hand to her forehead to shade her eyes as we approached, and stood.