Sherrill rolled her eyes and nearly took the car into the oncoming lane; Lucas flinched and she jerked it back to the right. Lucas, this is Marcy Sherrill youre talking to. I was there when you suckered John Mail, remember? I helped you track the LaChaise women. I heard you order up a traffic stop that you knew would never be made, so when we wasted them, our asses would be covered with the press. I was there, for Christs sake. I heard you work it out. So dont tell me you couldnt work out some little scheme to get close to her. When it came time to finish off John Mail, you didnt get moody
Shut the fuck up, Lucas said.
Fuck you.
Theres US West, Lucas said, pointing to the right.
Maybe you dont want her back, Sherrill said. She missed the turn.
You missed the goddamned turn, Lucas fumed.
Ill make the goddamn turn, Sherrill said, and she braked, looked quickly left, then did an illegal U, bouncing across a median strip.
Jesus Christ, Lucas said, startled, bracing himself, as the muffler dragged over the curb.
You want the fuckin turn, Ill make the fuckin turn, Sherrill snarled and, ignoring a red light, turned left across two lanes of traffic into the US West parking area. They lurched to a stop in a visitors space.
Satisfied? she asked.
Yeah, Lucas said. Really.
SHERRILL WAS OUT OF THE CAR, STEAMING TOWARD the warehouse entrance. Lucas trailed behind, deflected the door as it slammed on his face, and finally caught her at the service counter, where she flashed her ID at a guard and said, Were here to see Harold Hanks.
Oh, yeah, the guard said. Hes waiting up in the canteen on two.
Second floor?
Take those elevators.
She steamed on back to the elevators. Like youre Miss Social Life, Lucas said at her back.
Then she was suddenly calm: Lucas, I have an activesocial life. You just dont see it. A blatant lie, and they both knew it. The elevator went ding and they got inside.
Maybe Weather and I dont recover quite as quickly as you do, Lucas said, as the doors slid shut.
Thats a horseshit thing to say, Sherrill shouted, really angry now. You take that back.
I take it back, Lucas said meekly.
Id already signed off on Mike when he got killed, she shouted.
Now he just wanted to quiet her down. I know, I know…
Jesus, what a jerk.
THE ELEVATOR DOORS OPENED, AND A SHORT, ROTUND man in a brown suit was staring at them owlishly; hed obviously heard the shouting. Is there a problem?
Yeah, him, Sherrill said, tossing her thumb at Lucas, who hovered, embarrassed, in the doorway.
There are some police officers coming up, the man ventured.
We are the police officers, Sherrill said. Were looking for a man named Harold Hanks.
The canteen… that way, left around the corner.
They went left around the corner and Lucas said, That was really cute.
Shut up, she said.
HAROLD HANKS WAS A GANGLY, RAWBONED MAN who wore a billed hat over plaid shirt, jeans, and boots, and though hed spread out on a couch, he looked as though hed be even more comfortable standing in a ditch somewhere. He was drinking a Welchs grape soda from the can while he paged through a copy ofGuns amp; Ammo.
Anything good? Sherrill asked, tipping her head to look at the magazine cover.
Some. But its mostly pistol bullshit… Youre Miz Sherrill.
Yes. And this is Chief Davenport. Sheriff Krause saysyou saw somebody up by the Kresge place.
Yeah, I guessbut I didnt tell anybody about it in no bar.
Did you tell anybody about it at all? Lucas asked.
No, I never did, Hanks said. No reason to. Just somebody in the woods during deer season. Only saw him for a minute. And see, I was up on the south side of Kresges place, way around from the driveway. I didnt even think of it being up that far… I never put it together.
So whatd he look like? The guy you saw?
Bout what youd expect at that time of day, that day of the year. Blaze-orange hat and coat. Carrying a rifle.
Couldnt see his face? Sherrill asked.
Nope. He was wearing a scarf.
A scarf?
Yeah. Covered the whole bottom part of his face. His hood covered the top part of his face, down to his forehead, and the scarf came right up to his eyes.
Wasnt that a little weird? Sherrill asked.
Nope. It gets damn cold out there, sitting in a tree.
Big guy? Lucas asked.
Hanks thought for a minute, then shook his head: Mmm, hard to tell. I only saw him from about the waist up, walking along back in the trees. Not real big. Maybe average. Maybe even smaller than average.
Lucas looked at Sherrilclass="underline" Have you seen McDonald?
She shook her head. Not yet.
Six-three, six-four, maybe two-sixty.
Wasnt anybody that big, Hanks said, shaking his head. With them coveralls and the blaze-orange coat, a guy that big would look like a giant.
Did you hear a shot before you saw him?
Heck, it was a shooting gallery out there. I was wearing blaze orange myself, just to stand in a ditch. I was happy to get out of there alive. But there was a shot, sort of close by, and in the right direction. About five, ten minutes before I saw him.
Thatd be right, Lucas said to Sherrill.
Sherrill nodded and went back to Hanks. But thats all. Just a guy in orange. Nothing distinctive?
Hanks shrugged. Sorry. I told the sheriff I couldnt help much.
Didnt see any cars coming or going?
There were a couple of trucks and maybe a car or two. I dont know. I wasnt paying any attention.
What were you doing out there, anyway? Lucas asked. Six-thirty, on a Saturday morning?
Aw, theres this place called Pilot Lake, full of city people. They got maybe fifty phones around the lake, and some idiot put their exchange right on top of a spring. About once a month, the whole damn place goes down and then they all raise hell until somebody fixes it. Its a priority for us, until we can redo the exchange.
When did they go down?
About ten oclock Friday night.
Including Kresges place?
Nope. Hed be the next exchange up the road. Like I said, I was on the south side…
Okay. Lucas thought for a moment, then asked, Whatd the scarf look like? Black? Red?
Red, Hanks said. He scratched his jaw, thinking about it. Or pink.
What else? Was it wrapped on the outside, or inside…? Insidelike he covered his face, then pulled the hood up over.
Okay…
They dug for another five minutes, running him through it again, but came up with nothing more, until they both stood up. Then Lucas asked, Where would this guy have been walking to? Assuming he had a car?
I dont know, Hanks said. His eyes drifted off to the ceiling. Probably… well, he could have been heading back to the Kresge cabin. He was sort of going that way, in a roundabout way.
Could he have been going anywhere else?
Not that I know of.
How about this Pilot Lake place?
Nope. I was on that corner and he was walking… He made a hand gesture, like a time-out signal. This way to the access road.
Perpendicular, Sherrill suggested.
Yeah. Like that, Hanks said.
You didnt hear a car start?
Nope. But I was quite a way from the house, and I was wearing my hat with earflaps… So I probably wouldnt have.
Pink scarf, said Lucas.
Pink scarf, Hanks said.
WHATS THE PINK SCARF? SHERRILL ASKED, AFTER they let Hanks go. They were sitting alone in the canteen, eating Twinkies from the coin-op.
Susan ODell wears a kaffiyeh as a scarf. Its pale red and whiteshe was wearing it when I saw her Saturday.
Whats a kaffiyeh?
You know, one of those head wraps like Arabs wear, Lucas said. Like whats-his-name, the Palestinian guy, always wears.
Oh, yeah. Him. But his is black and white.
Theres another kind thats red and white. And it would look pink from a distance, or pink and white.
He said pink.
ODell said she never left her tree before seven-thirty, when she shot her buck, Lucas said. Then she gutted him and dragged him up to the trail and sat down next to her tree to wait until nine, which was the agreed-on time to take a break. Didnt go anywhere.