Five Days in Summer

island.”
    “Good idea,” Kaminer said.
    “How’s the baby?” Geary asked.
    “Doctor says she’ll be fine. I’ll have to keep her with me.”
    “That shouldn’t be a problem,” Bell said. “He’s only really interested in the boys.”
    Will’s eyes rested a moment on Bell, as if he were unable, or unwilling, to process that simple statement.
    “Well, boss, time’s wasting.” Geary slapped Kaminer on the shoulder, went straight over to Bell and Parker and sat in the one free chair.
    Kaminer stood there, shaking his head so his fluffy blond hair bounced. “I’m not your boss yet .” He turned to Amy. “Update, please.” He marched around his desk and sat down in his high-backed executive chair.
    She was the only one standing. Will Parker stood up and offered her his seat. Geary noticed the way she rebuffed the offer: stoically, with one quick shake of her head. But he also noticed that her eyes settled on Will just long enough to get a good look at the only man in the room tired enough to deserve a seatand civilized enough to give it away. Parker stayed on his feet and the chair stayed empty.
    Amy glanced at Parker, then at Kaminer. “Sir?”
    “He can stay,” Kaminer said.
    “But—”
    His eyes flashed at her. So he’d made up his mind to wield his signature double-edged sword: he’d simultaneously trust Parker and encourage Amy to investigate him. Kaminer’s strange sense of irony was starting to grate, but he was the boss.
    Amy launched into an account of their search of Bobby Robertson’s house. Kaminer, Bell and Parker listened carefully.
    “What about the Harmon woman?” Kaminer asked.
    “I told her to leave Robertson alone. I told her if she did anything to scare him off leading us to Mrs. Parker, we’d book her for hampering an investigation.”
    “They’re following him now?” A flicker of reprieve passed over Will’s exhausted face. Geary could see Will’s mind working the possibilities around his hopes: Robertson leading the police directly and neatly to Emily.
    “Right now,” Amy answered.
    Geary shook his head. Bell was watching him, waiting. Geary could feel his old friend’s agreement before he even spoke.
    “It’s not sitting with me,” Geary said. “I don’t think we should shut down because Robertson’s a pervert and he’s got the right color hair. I’m not convinced he fits the profile enough.”
    Kaminer’s head tilted back. “Speak.”
    That momentarily stalled Geary, because he was speaking.
    Bell jumped into the bubble. “Your Mr. Robertson is a suspect to be taken seriously, yes. But I must say,I share Dr. Geary’s feeling. It’s often a mistake to accept the first answer. Foregone conclusions often mislead. Would you agree, Mr. Parker?”
    Will looked surprised to be addressed by Bell. “I suppose so.”
    Bell took the opportunity to rest his gaze on Will in a way that would have seemed inappropriate without having engaged him first. Smart move. Bell didn’t really care about Will’s answer. Geary wondered how long they’d been sitting there before he and Amy showed up; he wondered what that conversation had been. He’d seen Bell in action a hundred times, and his gut told him Will had already passed the test.
    Kaminer leaned forward and his elbows dug into a mess of papers on his desk. “Here’s the plan. I’ve got the state and the feds on their way. We’re going to work with them, no turf battles, there’s too much at stake. And I’m posting someone at the top of Gooseberry Way. We want to know who goes in and out. And I’m relieving Caruso and Miles, they need some sleep. I’m putting Petersen and Shechter on Robertson’s tail.”
    Good, Geary thought; they’d seen Robertson’s collected works of pedophilia and would watch him like starving hawks.
    “You two” — Kaminer fixed his eyes on Amy, and Geary assumed he was the other part of the pair — “get up to Taunton, talk to the mother who survived.”
    “Excellent choice.” Bell pursed his lips under his tightly trimmed goatee. “The question will be how much her mind is capable of remembering.”
    Taunton State Hospital sat like a derelict castle on a massive green lawn at the end of a long private drive. As they drove slowly toward the parking lot, Geary noticed a sallow-skinned young man tilted atthe curb, watching them like their Chevy was an alien ship that had just entered his territory. The young man waited for the spaceship to float past him, like the