Ice Cold: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

you happened to be on this property, Mr. Loftus?” Everyone turned to look at him. He had been silent up till then, an unapproachable figure who had drawn curious glances from DCI personnel, but no one had dared to challenge his presence at the crime scene.
    Though Sansone’s question had been asked in a respectful tone, Loftus bristled. “You implying something, mister?”
    “This seems like a rather out-of-the-way place to just show up. I wondered why you happened to be here.”
    “Because Bobby called me.”
    “Deputy Martineau?”
    “He said he was up on Doyle Mountain, and he thought he might have a problem. I live just east of here, so I offered to come by in case he needed a hand.”
    “Is this normal procedure, for a law enforcement officer to call a civilian when he needs assistance?”
    “I don’t know what it’s like in Boston, mister. But out here, when someone gets in a jam, folks are quick to step in and help. Especially when it’s a lawman.”
    Sheriff Fahey added, “I’m sure Mr. Loftus was just trying to be a good citizen, Mr. Sansone. We’ve got a big county to cover, a lot of territory. When your closest backup is twenty miles away, we’re lucky to have folks like him to call on.”
    “I didn’t mean to question Mr. Loftus’s motives.”
    “But that’s what you were doing,” said Loftus. “Hell, I know where this is going. Next you’ll ask if I’m the one who killed Bobby.”He strode over to his pickup and pulled out his rifle. “Here, Detective Pasternak!” He handed the weapon to the DCI detective. “Feel free to confiscate it. Run it though your fancy lab.”
    “Come on, Monty.” Fahey sighed. “No one thinks you killed Bobby.”
    “These folks from Boston don’t believe me.”
    Jane stepped into the conversation. “Mr. Loftus, it’s not like that at all. We’re just trying to understand what went down here.”
    “I told you what I saw. They left Bobby Martineau bleeding to death. And they ran.”
    “Maura wouldn’t do that.”
    “You weren’t here. You didn’t see her take off into those woods. Sure as hell acted like she did something wrong.”
    “Then you misinterpreted it.”
    “I saw what I saw.”
    Gabriel said, “A lot of these questions might be answered by the dash camera.” He looked at Sheriff Fahey. “We should take a look at the deputy’s video.”
    Fahey suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I’m afraid there’s a problem with that.”
    “A problem?”
    “The camera in Deputy Martineau’s vehicle wasn’t recording.”
    Jane stared at the sheriff in disbelief. “How did that happen?”
    “We don’t know how it happened. It was turned off.”
    “Why would Martineau shut it down? You must have regulations against that.”
    “Maybe he didn’t do it,” Fahey said. “Maybe someone else turned off the dash cam.”
    “Don’t tell me,” she muttered. “You’re going to blame this on Maura, too.”
    Fahey flushed. “You keep reminding us that she works with law enforcement. She’d know about dash cameras.”
    “Excuse me,” cut in Detective Pasternak from the state’s Departmentof Criminal Investigations. “I’m just getting up to speed on who Dr. Isles is. I’d like to know more about her.”
    Although he’d introduced himself earlier, this was the first time Jane had focused fully on Pasternak. Wan and sniffling, his stork-like neck exposed to the cold, he looked like a man longing to be in a warm office, not shivering on this windswept driveway.
    “I can tell you about her,” said Jane.
    “How well do you know her?”
    “We’re colleagues. We’ve been through a lot together.”
    “You think you can paint a full picture for me?”
    Jane thought about how easy it would be to skew this man’s impression of Maura in one way or another. It was all in which details she chose to reveal. Emphasize Maura’s professionalism, and he’d see a scientist, reliable and law abiding. But divulge different details, and the portrait became murkier, the features obscured by shadows. Her dark and blood-splattered family history. Her illicit affair with Daniel Brophy. That was a different woman, prone to reckless impulses and destructive passions. If I’m not careful, Jane thought, I could give Pasternak all the reasons he needs to treat Maura as a suspect.
    “I want to know everything about her,” said Pasternak. “Any information that can help the search team before they start off tomorrow. They’ll need to be briefed,