21
I'd made it out of bed at 0702. Nearly a record. After a quick shower, I'd pulled on sweatpants and a shirt, and made a pot of fresh coffee. The Weather Channel gave me a new shot of my blue and pink worm, coiling through North America. The upward bump was edging closer and closer. Ah, warmth was on the way. Soon.
Sue didn't flinch when I got up. Still mad about Madison, I guess. I promised myself that I'd make it up to her somehow, but then thoughts of the "five banks" took over. I decided to go see Hester again and get her thoughts before hitting the office. I called George and he agreed to come with me. He must be as addicted to the buffet as I am.
The three of us sat looking out at the red-neon-framed Beau, glittering in the clear morning and reflecting on the small patch of liquid water that surrounded her. The Mississippi, except where the slight heat from the Beau's pumps and disturbed water flow kept it from freezing, was covered with a thick coat of ice. Hester told us that she'd seen cars carrying ice fishermen on it as late as yesterday. It was warming a bit, though. I would hesitate to drive on the stuff myself, now.
"So," said Hester, wistfully, "things looking up?"
We brought her up-to-date on the interviews, and the "five banks" business.
"Five?"
"Yeah, five. Why five? We don't have the foggiest."
"Does Gabe have access to a good safe man?" asked Hester.
"Not that we're aware of," said George. "But with his training in explosives, he probably could do it very well himself."
"Daylight," said Hester. "I'll bet on daylight. He can't be in five places at once, and explosives require a high level of competence."
"That's true." We'd spent the better part of the afternoon on it, and Hester had just zipped in with an excellent point we'd overlooked. Another reason I liked her so much.
"How much cash you got floating on the old Beau out there?"
"Oh, maybe thirty to fifty thousand at any given time. They use some tokens, coins, and cash, but it's hauled to the banks very regularly…" She grinned. "You thinking piracy?"
"Well, I was…"
"They keep the cash on hand to a minimum, just for that reason." She suddenly got very serious. "They might have a lot more than that in the local bank," she said. "Especially on a weekend…"
"'Bank'?" It was George's turn to look concerned. "We considered this one, but felt that the cash flow would be small. You know. The workers here wouldn't get that much cash on a payday…"
"They take it off the boat," said Hester. "It's gotta go somewhere. I think I heard they distribute it between several banks, but I'm not really up on this operation yet. Want me to check?"
"I'll check," said George.
"So," said Hester, "Super Agent Volont have the principals wired on this one?"
"Everybody but Gabe," I said, grinning. "He says he's lost him, and I think that's true."
"Even if it wasn't," said George, "I think he'd be a lot better off trying to take him out in the world, than he would be trying to arrest him wherever he's holed up." He shrugged. "I think we can be pretty sure that Gabe will find us."
I couldn't have agreed more. Gabriel would be able to not only hold off a small army, but I wasn't so sure he wouldn't take the offensive and break out. With lots of unnecessary bodies in his wake. The man was really good at that sort of thing, and I believed he had access to more dangerous tools than even the FBI did.
"So where's Volont?" asked Hester. "I would have thought he'd be with you two."
"Last we saw of him," I said, "I think he was off to meet one of his famous sources." I took a sip of coffee. "I wonder who they are, anyway?"
"Wouldn't it be funny," said Hester, "if he was calling a psychic?"
That made my day.
As we left, she said, "Hey, look on the bright side. At least you know who did the brothers in the shed. The big case is all over but the shouting."
"Yeah, and Art'll take care of that."
When I got back to the office, I met with Mike Connors. Since he'd been with the department for over fifteen years, he was pretty much in charge of the night shift. He was also renowned for being able to keep his mouth shut.
I checked with him on the general stuff happening with the night shift. Who or what was moving. Anything suspicious. Mike just shook his head.
"You might want to keep an eye on all the banks in the county…"
He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He'd been one of those tunnel rats in Vietnam. It took a whole hell of a lot to get a rise out of him. Whether it was a case of the chicken or the egg being first, I couldn't tell you.
"We might have a problem there," I said. "There might be somebody scouting some of 'em. You see anything unusual…?"
"Sure."
"But don't tell the other people on the shift," I said. "Just you and me for now."
"Got it."
"Hey, by the way, do you know either Harvey or Linda Grossman?"
He smiled. "Linda. You should remember her, too."
"Me?" I grinned. "Sure I do, I just met her a couple of days ago."
"No, no. She was a Perrin. Married a fellow named Voshell before she got hitched to this Grossman guy. You remember now?"
Not at all.
"You remember Nola Stritch?"
Did I. She had been heavily involved with the whole Gabriel business back in '96.
"Linda's her sister."
"'Sister'? I didn't know she had a sister…" I was dumbfounded.
"Yep. Well, half sister. Nola's maiden name was Jaekel. Divorce in the family. Little sister's maiden name was Perrin. Linda Perrin. Remember her? Charlie Perrin's kid. We got her twelve, thirteen years ago for beer."
It never occurred to me to question a beer ticket from a dozen years ago. He had that kind of memory.
"I'll be damned," I said. "Be really aware around the banks. You remember the Gabriel dude who did all the shit at the courthouse?"
"Oh, yeah…"
"He's back, and he's the one we think is going for the banks."
He got very serious, very quickly. "No shit?"
"No shit. Without any names, bring the night folks up to one hundred percent, okay? I think something's gonna happen between now and Monday."
"Yep. Who else knows about this?"
"Me, and Lamar. Sally, at least part of it. Two DCI. FBI, of course. Gabriel," I added, grinning.
"Right."
"And Mike? One more thing. I think it's about one hundred percent that Gabriel offed the Colson brothers. You can figure he's in a mood."
George came in with a look in his eye.
"Let's take a drive up to the Frieberg bank."
I drove. Less conspicuous that any U.S. government Ford. Even if George had drawn one of the better ones. Forest green as opposed to navy blue.
"This could be a good day," I said.
"Let me guess. You're thinking, 'Thirty minutes of Frieberg. Minimum of thirty minutes at the bank. Time for lunch. The pavilion of the General Beauregard. Buffet.'" He looked up from studying the photographs of the field. "Right?"
It's embarrassing to be that obvious. I said as much.
"We all have our needs," he said.
The news we got at the bank took the fun right out of the day. In response to the ruse that we were engaged in a routine survey of all banks, the branch manager had been very reluctant to talk with us, even though he knew me on sight. George hit him with the Credential from God, and we got the straight dope right away.