Well, Arris walked every night. Nobody knows if he took the same route every night, but his neighbors say he usually started out the same way. You want to look at this again?
Nah, thats okay. What about the print on the shell?
We know McDonalds got a fingerprint file, weve got NCIC confirmation on thathe had a secret clearance with the National Guard, Mayberry said. Theyre supposed to be sending us something right away, but it wasnt here five minutes ago. I had Chad Ogram pull up the print file on the shell. You know Ogram?
Think I met him, Lucas said.
Mayberry had been rewinding the tape, now popped it out of the VCR and handed it to Lucas. This is for you. Lets go see Ogram.
Ogram worked in a bathroom-sized office stuffed with filing cabinets. At least one clock sat on each flat surfacein the office, and a half-dozen more hung on the walls. Ogram, a thin man with vanishing hair, bent over his green metal desk, his bald spot as pink as a newborns gums.
Chad, said Mayberry, and Ogram sat up with a start. You know Lucas.
Yeah, hey, Ogram said vaguely, glancing at Lucas and then bending over his desk again. I got the fax.
What do you think? Mayberry asked.
Well, heck, Ogram said. You know theres not enough for a match.
Yeah, Lucas said, I was just wondering…
But McDonalds right thumb matches what weve got, Ogram said. We got a piece of a whorl and hes got a whorl that looks just like our piece.
Mayberry and Lucas looked at each other. Are you sure? Lucas asked.
Pretty sure: I have to rescale the fax to get an overlay, but yeah: it looks just like it.
What are the chances its someone else? Lucas asked.
Ogram scratched his bald spot with his right middle finger. I dont know. Ten to one against. Hundred to one. Not enough for court, but if you come to me and say weve got a partial and a suspect, and we get this much… Id say we got him.
Jesus, Lucas said to Mayberry. This cant be true.
Why not? Mayberry asked.
Its too easy, Lucas said. Its never this easy. And to Ogram: I kind of need to pin down the odds.
I know a guy at the FBI who could give you an idea. He fools around with that sort of math thing. Statistics and odds and chances.
Call him, Lucas said. And call me in Minneapolis when you find out. Wilson motherfuckin McDonald.
Lucas headed for the elevators with Mayberry two steps behind. Lucas pushed the call button, turned and jabbed a finger at Mayberry: Hey: Youve got a slug, right?
Piece of one, anyway.
And the ME took a piece of one out of ODellthebanker woman who got shot. Lets get them together and do an analysis and see if they match.
Okayyou guys want to do it?
Sure. Send it over.
Itll be twenty minutes behind you, Mayberry said. Hot dog, I love this. This case has been open forever.
LUCAS CALLED SLOAN FROM HIS CAR, SAID, WE GOT Abreak in the Kresge case: get Sherrill and Del if theyre around, and meet me at my office in twenty minutes.
Who done it?
Our pal, Wilson McDonald.
Youre shittin me.
I shit you not, Lucas said. The problem is gonna be proving it.
He punched Sloan off, found his notebook, looked up the number for Bones office, and punched it in as he accelerated out onto I-94. Bones assistant took the calclass="underline" Chief Davenport: Everybodys up in the boardroom right now. I think they may be picking a new CEO. So unless its a major emergency…
Is Wilson McDonald in there?
Yes, of course. Hes one of the candidates.
Thanks. Ill call back. Shed told him what he wanted to know: that McDonald was there, at the bank.
SHERRILL WAS SKEPTICAL.
More than skepticaclass="underline" she was absolutely nasty. We got diddly, Lucas. I dont care what the odds are, if it doesnt work in court, it doesnt work. And the goddamn killing is so old that theres no chance of making a case.
Helps to know who did it, Del said. Sherrill had come in wearing jeans, high-top Nikes, a suede jacket, and a slightly too tight fuzzy white sweater that showed her figure to exceptional advantage. Lucas, Sloan, and Del were resolutely meeting her eyes, though the pressure eventually got to Del and he slumped back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling.
Cmon, Del, look at the Cat case, Sherrill said. Everybody in the office knows George Cat killed his old lady. It doesnt do any good, because we cant prove it. Its gonna be even harder with McDonald, because McDonald has every lawyer in the world.
Still helps to know, Del muttered.
Because we think Wilsons done about four of them, Lucas said. If we can put together a pattern, argue it, and have semiconvincing evidence on one, a juryll pack him away.
So what do you want? Sloan asked.
I want to tear him apart. I want to look him over with a microscope. I want to get a search warrant and pull his house down.
Dont think weve got enough for a warrant, Del said.
So lets fuckin get it, Lucas said. Sloan, can you break away from the Ericson case for a couple of days?
For a while, he said.
Ask Frank. And if he says okay, look at ODell again. See if theres any way McDonald could have finessed it to get into the apartment. Del, you look at Arris again. See if theres anything else. Marcy, you take Ingall. Im going up north again, right away. I want to think about the Kresge thing again. See if I can figure out how he did it. Lets meet again tomorrow at nine oclock. And Ive got my car phone if you need me before then.
Why dont you get a real walk-around phone? Del asked. Everybody else has one.
Cause then people would call me up, Lucas said. And I couldnt say I mustve been out.
Sloan nodded and he and Del left. Sherrill lingered. Youre going up north?
Yeah. I want to talk to His phone rang and he grabbed it, lifting a finger to Sherrill so shed wait: Davenport.
Lucas this is Sergeant Ogram over in St. Paul. We talked
Yeah, yeah. Whatd you get?
I talked to my pal in the FBI and he called down to the fingerprint people and then he called me back: he says its maybe a hundred to one against having the wrong guy.
So we got him.
You got him. And listen, that slug fragments on the way over in a squad. Oughta be there about now.
Thanks. See ya.
Lucas hung up: We got him… Anyway, I want to go up north and talk to the caretaker and walk the place a little.
Okay. She turned to go, but she was going slowly.
You got a problem? Lucas asked.
She stopped again, looked at him and said, No, and turned back toward the door. Lucas thought, Uh-oh. Hed never in his life gone through a little sequence like that when the womandidnthave something to say, and one way or another, he almost always wound up getting his ass kicked.
Okay, if youre sure.
I may give you a call tonight, she said. She was nibbling the inside of her lip, as if distracted by something. I do have something I sort of want to talk about.
LUCAS CALLED KRAUSE AT THE GARFIELD COUNTY courthouse before he left and arranged to meet Kresges part-time caretaker at the cabin. The trip north was a good one: quick up the interstate, dry and fast on the back highways. The small towns were buckling down for winter: a man on a small green and yellow John Deere was mowing what must have been a glorious summer garden, now all brown stalks and dead leaves; a man in a camouflage jacket was shooting arrows across his backyard at two archery butts made of bundled wood shavings; an Arctic Cat dealership was running a special on snowmobile tune-ups and a closeout on Yamaha ATVs.
Krause was waiting at the cabin, stepped into the yard and frowned when he saw the Porsche slipping down thedriveway. Lucas punched it into an open space next to a Ford truck, climbed out. Below the cabin, the small lake showed a collar of ice, now out six feet from the shoreline.
Didnt recognize the vehicle, Krause said. Boy, thats something; dont see many of those around here.
Had it for years, Lucas said, looking back at the 911. Im thinking about trading it in for something a little larger.