Five Days in Summer

seconds. Meanwhile, Amy worked the phone, checking up on her leads and typing fast into the computer as she talked. When the front desk transferred in a call for Amy, she was on the other line, and Snow took it for her.
    Amy slammed down the phone and spun around. “Robertson stayed home all night but he left the house five minutes ago. He’s driving south on 28. They’re right behind him.”
    “Update me,” Kaminer said.
    She filled him in on Bobby Robertson, aka. Mr. White number one. “I got an interesting call back this morning from the State Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic up Cape. They have a Robert R. Robertson who’s been coming in for outpatient services twice a week for three years, mandated by the courts. They caught him shoplifting from a kids’ clothing store and found out he had a record but no convictions. He’s kept all his appointments at the clinic. I’ve got the name ofhis caseworker, Sally Harmon. I already put a call in to her.”
    “Find her.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Kaminer turned to look at Snow, who shifted in his chair to demonstrate that he had the phone pressed to his ear. He appeared to be on hold. Still, Kaminer pulled back a smirk, like he’d caught Snow doing nothing. Either someone came back on Snow’s line just at the magic moment, or he acted like it, because he started nodding and uh-huhing and then he snapped, “Hold on.” He shouldered the receiver and spoke to Amy. “What was the name of that car dealer?”
    “Sal Ragnatelli.”
    Snow’s face seemed to gather in the middle like someone had pulled a string inside his head.
    “When?” he asked the caller. Then he hung up the phone. “Well, Amy, you got your call back from Ragnatelli’s beeper.”
    “That was him?” She looked annoyed.
    “That was Detective Martino up in Fall River, returning all the calls on Ragnatelli’s beeper. He’s dead.”
    “What?” Amy stood up. “When?”
    “Sometime yesterday. They found him in front of a textile factory off Main Street, propped up like he was sitting. People saw him the night before but they thought he was homeless.”
    “Cause of death?” Kaminer asked.
    “Stabbed in the back numerous times. He was sitting in a lot of blood, but no one saw it until the morning.”
    Kaminer looked at Amy. “Does this tie in to your missing persons?”
    “Yes, sir, it might. Ragnatelli was a vintage car dealer, one of his vehicles was seen driving out of the Stop and Shop parking lot at the time Mrs. Parker disappeared. It was reported to be driven by an older gentleman with white hair, and it was reported that there was a female passenger with blond hair.”
    “Mrs. Parker’s a blonde?” Kaminer asked.
    “Yes, sir. Another car was seen leaving the parking lot at about the same time, also with a white-haired driver, also with a blond female passenger. This second car belongs to Robertson, sir. But he’s been home. Caruso and Miles have been watching him.”
    “So he couldn’t have gotten to Fall River,” Kaminer said.
    “No, sir.”
    “What about your other Mr. White, number two?”
    “We haven’t found him, Chief. If he killed Ragnatelli, my question is why? It would break his pattern, and if you believe Dr. Geary’s profile, this man wouldn’t do that.”
    “Unless something scared him,” Kaminer said.
    “He doesn’t sound like someone who could get scared,” Snow put in.
    Geary shook his head. “Everyone’s scared of something.”
    “By the way, Detective Cardoza, your warrants just came in, both of them.”
    “Excellent, sir. Thank you.”
    “I’ll give you backup for Robertson’s house. You going to exercise that second warrant for Gooseberry Way?”
    Geary’s ears perked up. “The Parker home?”
    Amy said, “I want to take a closer look, just routine. Well, more than that. There was a rolled-up rug I want a look at. So—”
    “Detective,” Geary interrupted, “you’ll be wasting your time.”
    Amy looked a little sorry when she said to him, “Will Parker hired you, Doctor. I don’t think you’re in a position to defend him.”
    “You’re working for him?” Kaminer’s eyebrows squeezed together into a minus sign.
    Geary shook his head. “He’s not paying me. I offered my services gratis.”
    “Why?” Kaminer asked.
    “My book on cold cases, Chief. That’s all I was interested in when I started this.”
    “But not now,” Amy said.
    Geary felt a pinch of disappointment that she doubted him. He was surprised at himself;