"If he had a fetish about wearing women's clothing when he did his auto erotic thing, he could have stolen them. He was in and out of her house while he was working Emily's case. He could have taken lingerie from her very easily. And wearing something of hers while he masturbated added to the fantasy."
"Is that really what you think?"
"I really don't know what I think. I'm throwing these things out at you because I know what's going to happen. I know what Marino will think. Creed Lindsey is a suspect. In fact, what he told you about following Emily Steiner gives us probable cause to search his house and truck. If we find anything, and if Mrs. Steiner thinks he looks or sounds like the man who broke into her house that night. Creed's going to be charged with capital murder."
"What about the forensic evidence?" I said.
"Have the labs come back with anything more?" Wesley got up and tucked his shirttail in as he talked.
"We've traced the blaze orange duct tape to Attica Correctional Facility in New York. Apparently, some prison administrator got tired of duct tape walking off and decided to have some specially made that would be less convenient to steal.
"So he picked blaze orange, which was also the color of the clothes the inmates wore. Since the tape was used inside the penitentiary to repair things like mattresses, for example, it was essential that it be flame-retardant. Shuford Mills made one run of the stuff-I think around eight hundred cases-back in 1986. "
"That's very weird."
"As for the trace evidence on the adhesive of the strips used to bind Denesa Steiner, the residue is a varnish that's consistent with the varnish on the dresser in her bedroom. And that's pretty much what you would expect, since he bound her in her bedroom. So that information is relatively useless."
"Gault was never incarcerated at Attica, was he?" I asked. Wesley was putting on his tie in front of the mirror.
"No. But that wouldn't preclude his getting hold of the tape in another way. Someone could have given it to him. He did have a close friendship with the warden when the state pen was in Richmond-the warden he later murdered. I suppose it's worth checking that out, in the event some of the tape somehow ended up there."
"Are we going somewhere?" I asked as he slipped a fresh handkerchief into his back pocket and his pistol into a holster on his belt.
"I'm taking you out to dinner."
"What if I don't want to go?"
"You will."
"You're awfully sure of yourself." He leaned over and kissed me as he removed his jacket from my shoulders.
"I don't want you by yourself right now." He put the jacket on and looked very handsome in his precise, somber way. We found a big brightly lit truck stop that featured everything from T-bones to a Chinese buffet. I ate egg drop soup and steamed rice because I did not feel well. Men in denim and boots heaped ribs and pork and shrimp in thick orange sauces on their plates and stared at us as if we were from Oz. My fortune cookie warned of fair-weather friends while Wesley's promised marriage. Marino was waiting for us at the motel when we got back at shortly after midnight. I told him what I knew and he was not happy about it.
"I wish you hadn't gone up there," he said. We were in Wesley's room.
"It's not your place to be interviewing people."
"I am authorized to investigate any violent death fully and to ask any questions I wish. It's ridiculous for you to even say such a thing, Marino. You and I have worked together for years."
"We're a team, Pete," Wesley said.
"That's what the unit's all about. It's why we're here. Listen, I don't mean to be a hardass, but I can't let you smoke in my room. " He put his pack and lighter back into his pocket.
"Denesa's told me Emily used to complain about Creed."
"She knows the police are looking for him?" Wesley asked.
"She's not in town," he evasively replied.
"Where is she?"
"She's got a sick sister in Maryland and went up there for a few days. My point is. Creed gave Emily the creeps. "
I envisioned Creed on the mattress sewing up his thumb. I saw his crooked stare and pasty face, and I was not surprised that he might have frightened a little girl.
"A lot of questions still aren't answered," I said.
"Yeah, well, a lot of questions have been answered," Marino countered.
"To think that Creed Lindsey did this doesn't make sense," I said.
"It's making more sense every day."
"I wonder if he has a television in his house," Wesley said.
I thought for a minute.
"Certainly, people don't have much up there, but they seem to have TVS."
"Creed could have learned all about Eddie Heath from television. Several of these true crime and news shows did segments on the case. "
"Shit, stuff about that case was all over the friggin' universe," Marino said.
"I'm going to bed," I said.
"Well, don't let me hold you up." Marino glared at both of us as he got up from his chair.
"I sure wouldn't want to do that."
"I've about had enough of your insinuations," I said as my anger boiled up.
"I sure as hell ain't insinuating. I'm just calling'em as I see'em."
"Let's not get into this," Wesley calmly said.
"Let's do." I was tired and stressed and fueled by Scotch.
"Let's just do it right here in this room, the three of us together. Since this is all about the three of us."
"It sure as hell isn't," Marino said.
"There's only one relationship in this room, and I'm not part of it. My opinion of it's my own business, and I have a right to it."
"Your opinion is self-righteous and wrongheaded," I said, furious.
"You're acting like a thirteen-year-old with a crush."
"If that ain't just the biggest load of bullshit I ever heard." Marino's face was dark.
"You're so damn possessive and jealous you're making me crazy."
"In your dreams."
"You've got to stop this, Marino. You're destroying our relationship."
"I wasn't aware we had one."
"Of course we do."
"It's late," Wesley warned.
"Everybody's under a lot of stress. We're tired. Kay, now is not a good time for this."
"Now is all we've got," I said.
"Marino, goddam it, I care about you, but you're pushing me away. You're getting into things here that are scaring me to death. I'm not sure you even see what you're doing."
"Well, let me tell you something." Marino looked as if he hated me.
"I don't think you're in a position to say I'm into anything. In the first place, you don't know shit. And in the second, at least I'm not screwing anybody who's married. "
"Pete, that's enough," Wesley snapped.
"You're damn right it is." Marino stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard I was certain it could be heard throughout the entire motel.
"Dear God," I said.
"This is just awful."
"Kay, you spurned him, and that's why he's out of his mind."
"I did not spurn him." Wesley was walking around, agitated.
"I knew he was attached to you. All these years I've known he really cares about you. I just had no idea it went this deep. I had absolutely no idea. "
I did not know what to say.
"The guy's not stupid. I suppose it was just a matter of time before he figured some things out. But I had no way of knowing it would affect him this way."
"I'm going to bed," I said again.
I slept for a while, and then I was wide awake. I stared into the dark, thinking about Marino and what I was doing. I was having an affair and did not feel concerned about it, and I did not understand that. Marino knew I was having an affair, and he was jealous beyond reason. I could never be romantically interested in him. I would have to tell him, but I could not imagine the occasion when such a conversation might occur.
I got up at four and sat out on the porch in the cold, looking at the stars. The Big Dipper was almost directly overhead, and I remembered Lucy as a toddler worrying that it would pour water on her if she stood under it very long. I remembered her perfect bones and skin, and incredible green eyes. I remembered the way she had looked at Carrie Grethen and believed that was part of what went wrong.