Dead Guilty

keep them in
our safe for the time being? You have a good argu
ment, and all things being equal, it will certainly hold
up in court. However, Mr. Waller was murdered, and
Chief Garnett wants to find out who did it. And these
stones may very well belong to someone else—for in
stance, Mr. Waller may have been holding them for
a friend.’’
‘‘How would anyone else claim them?’’ asked Keat
ing. ‘‘All three look alike. How would this hypotheti
cal friend describe them to a court of law?’’ ‘‘By the internal structure. It’s like a fingerprint.
Every diamond is unique.’’
‘‘All right, then. I certainly don’t want to keep them
in my office.’’
‘‘That’s fine by me,’’ said Garnett. ‘‘And I don’t
want to take anything that rightfully belongs to his
heirs.’’ He shook his head. ‘‘This is getting far too
complicated.’’
‘‘What are you complaining about?’’ said Keating.
‘‘You don’t have to deal with the twins.’’

Chapter 38
    Chief Garnett stayed after Russell Keating went back to his office. It was not the first time he’d been in Diane’s museum office, but he hadn’t paid any atten tion to the decor that first time, as Diane recalled. It had been strictly business. He stared at the photo graph of her dangling at the end of a rope from the vertical entrance to a cave.
    ‘‘This is what you do for fun?’’
‘‘Yes. It’s very relaxing.’’
‘‘If you say so. It doesn’t look relaxing to me.’’ He
    turned his attention to the Escher prints on the other wall—an impossible waterfall, a castle with its equally impossible ascending and descending staircase, and a tessellation of angels and devils. ‘‘I wonder what our profiler would think of all this,’’ he said.
    ‘‘How’s he working out?’’
‘‘Actually, I don’t find him very useful. He has to change his profile substantially every time we get a new bit of information. He was the commissioner’s idea,’’ he added.
‘‘He’ll have to change the profile again, after this. You realize we have two victims now with diamonds that they shouldn’t have been able to afford.’’
‘‘So you don’t buy the backyard deal?’’ said Garnett with a tired smile.
‘‘Of course not.’’
‘‘Where did they get them?’’ He sat down again across from Diane and crossed his legs.
‘‘The choices are: he bought them, he stole them, he found them, they were given to him,’’ said Diane. ‘‘It seems unlikely that he bought them. He may have stolen them, but he didn’t have theft in his background.’’
‘‘A lot of money adds up to a lot of temptation.’’
‘‘Yes, it does. Perhaps Raymond Waller, Chris Ed wards and Steven Mayberry worked together,’’ said Diane. ‘‘They got hold of the diamonds, had a fallingout and killed each other. Perhaps Steven Mayberry is the last man standing.’’
‘‘For the first time, we’re getting somewhere.’’ Garnett unfolded his legs and leaned forward, his fore arms on his knees.
mind was racing
another thing Chris
through possibilities. and Raymond had in
Diane’s ‘‘There’s common afford—a victims.’’
‘‘Coincidence,’’ argument.
‘‘Maybe. Let’s were found hanging. That is a very uncommon way to murder someone. They were all dressed alike in clothes that didn’t fit. In fact, all the clothes were the same size—extra-large coveralls.’’
‘‘Were they?’’
‘‘It was in the report.’’
‘‘That’s right.’’
besides having diamonds they couldn’t direct connection to the Cobber’s Wood
    Garnett offered, as a counter
    look at them for a moment. They ‘‘That could have been to conceal their identities too,’’ said Diane. ‘‘He wanted to get rid of their clothes, but he didn’t want them naked.’’ She shrugged.
    Garnett pulled up his chair and leaned on Diane’s desk. ‘‘And the tips of their fingers were cut off. That was either to thwart identification, or to collect a trophy.’’
    ‘‘I can see why the profiler thinks it’s a serial killer,’’ said Diane. ‘‘That’s what it looks like. The guy who was calling me certainly sounded
would peg him as a candidate for
like a nutcase. I a serial killer—I
    mean, the flowers, then attacking me.’’

    ‘‘But he also suggested he was angry about some in bullying—he talked justice. What was it—gossip,
    about?’’
‘‘Yes, he did. Let’s look at
way,’’ said Diane. ‘‘He said he