Blowout

was enough left for all of them to have a small slice. For a while, there was only the sound of chewing in the kitchen.
    “D ILLON ?” Sherlock’s voice was muffled against his shoulder. “I’m sorry I’m falling apart like this. It’s just that—”
    “If you weren’t falling apart, then I would be,” he said, and kissed her hair. “It’s tough, sweetheart, really tough. I’m as sorry as you are. Eliza was special.”
    “Yes. Dillon, I liked her so very much and I’d only met her. Just twice and the funeral.”
    “But all three times were emotional, the kinds of meetings that draw people together. I really liked her, too, I really did.” He drew a deep breath, kissed her again. “Why did he feel he had to kill her?”
    “This time, we don’t even know. Maybe she knew something after all, and he was afraid she was going to break. And she did break, she called you. Oh God, Mr. Maitland brought in the agents too soon.”
    “It was after Justice Califano’s funeral, everyone believed it was over.”
    Ben stood alone in the archway of the living room. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to bother you, but there’s something I forgot to tell you. When Callie and I went to see Fleurette at the Supreme Court Building this morning, only Eliza was there. She was cleaning out Justice Califano’s stuff, and constantly answering the phone, really harried. We spoke for just a few moments. Before we left, I asked her if there was anything I could do. She hesitated, I’m sure of it. She looked sort of undecided, like there was something on her mind, but then the phone rang again and she waved us out. Damn, Savich, I didn’t think anything about it.”
    “So maybe she did know something,” Sherlock said. “But what? And he was there, in the condo, with her. Do you think he let her pick up the phone, dial you, speak to you?”
    Savich said, “I wouldn’t be surprised. Maybe he needed to take a risk again, and so when he heard her on the phone to me, that was it, this time. And then he garroted her, just like Justice Califano and Danny O’Malley.”
    Sherlock said against Dillon’s neck, “And Fleurette was helpless, just like Eliza.”
    “Yes,” Ben said. “She did have a gun, a twenty-two revolver, but he wouldn’t have given her the chance to get to it.”
    Sherlock said, “Eliza was strong, probably stronger than Danny O’Malley. She must have fought him.”
    Both Ben and Savich were silent for a moment. Ben felt Callie come up behind him. He hadn’t heard her, but somehow he knew she was there. She leaned against him, but said nothing.
    Savich said, “Yes, I’ll bet she did fight him, fought him as hard as she could. They took her to Quantico. Dr. Conrad went out there to do the autopsy. Since we were there so quickly, I doubt Günter took the time to remove all evidence of himself. Maybe we’ll be lucky and she managed to scratch him. Something, all we need is something.”
    They sat together, listening to the low buzz of conversation coming from the kitchen. Savich looked up to see that Ben and Callie had gone.
    Suddenly, they heard a cry from Sean.
    As one, they looked up. “Life goes on,” Savich said as he slowly rose, bringing Sherlock with him. Sherlock straightened, scrubbed her hands over her face, and went up with him to see what had awakened Sean.
    FBI H EADQUARTERS
S ATURDAY MORNING
    D R . C ONRAD TACKED up a blow-up photo of Eliza Vickers on the corkboard behind him. “Eliza Vickers fought hard. She was a big woman, one hundred fifty pounds, strong and very fit.” He pointed to her hands. “She has defensive cuts, and she injured him at least once, scored some of his skin off. We can’t be certain yet, but the skin was probably from his neck or face. It was under her nails along with some of his blood, and there had been no attempt to clean it off. You said he was laughing when he left, Agent Savich, but he had to be hurting, too, and bleeding. He had to know he was leaving us evidence.”
    Savich said, “He was laughing because he knew I heard him killing her. He did that on purpose.”
    Dr. Conrad continued. “We have easily enough for DNA analysis, and as soon as that is complete, we will try to find a match, not just through domestic databases, but through Interpol.”
    Agent Frank Halley said, “Okay, he had to get the hell out of Dodge, so he didn’t have time to clean up after himself. The profilers might be right, though, the guy is so damned arrogant,