InSight

time they came out of the bathroom, Jeff was filling Norm in on their visit to Carlotta Gentry’s estate.
    “You look mucho better, my man,” Jeff said. “Almost normal. You’ve even got color back into your cheeks.”
    Luke still felt dizzy, but the bath helped. So did Abby’s seeing hands as they revitalized his body. The thought prompted a twitch inside his boxers. “I missed half of that, but I do feel better. Thanks, everyone, for saving my ass.”
    “Thank Abby,” Jeff said. “I thought she was nuts, but doctor knows best.”
    Luke thought of the bath they shared and pulled her close. “I think I’ve already thanked her.” He smiled when Abby’s face flushed.
    “The concierge said a limo pulled up in front of the hotel and a chauffeur brought you inside. Said he found you downtown, drunk on a park bench. The concierge brought you to your room in a wheelchair. He said you were drunk, too. Smelled it on you.”
    “Now word will get out that Luke has a drinking problem,” Norm said.
    “That’s a bunch of crap.” But plausible, he thought, remembering a few fuzzy weekends after his accident. “You can dig into anyone’s closet and find a skeleton. Drinking isn’t one of mine.”
    “So what now?” Abby said.
    “There’s another development,” Norm said. “I think it’s all connected. I did some poking into Martin Gentry’s death. The day his plane went down, a couple of kids found a man by the name of Sam Davidson washed up on Folly Beach . Not a mark on him. He’d been Martin Gentry’s accountant. I pulled up the newspaper article. His wife said he got a call the night before. He left and never returned. Official cause of death was suicide by drowning. Mrs. Davidson insisted he was neither depressed nor suicidal. Matt must have connected the dots and found something big. Big enough to get him killed.”
    “Did anyone speak to his wife?” Abby asked.
    “I did,” Norm said. “Had a hell of a time tracking her down. She remarried and didn’t want to be drawn into any mess concerning her first husband’s death. She said she knew nothing about his work with Martin Gentry.”
    “Did she have any contact with Matt?” Jeff asked.
    “Not that she’ll admit to.”
    “What does that mean?” Abby asked.
    “It means if she gave Matt access to old files, she isn’t talking.”
    “What do you think?” Luke asked.
    “She reported a break-in after her husband died, but said the thieves didn’t take anything. She knows more than she’s saying. Must have figured whatever she gave Matt got him killed, and she didn’t want to be next.”
    “You’re right, Luke,” Abby said. “Something incriminating is on paper.”
    “I knew Matt well,” Norm said. “If he uncovered an important piece of evidence, he made copies and put them in a safe place. That’s the way he was. Covered his ass all the way ’round the block. Maybe he sent it to you, Luke.”
    “We checked both houses before we left,” Jeff said. “Nothing.”
    “Well, if he had anything with him, whoever took him out took it. His computer’s gone, which means they know about your email correspondence, Luke.”
    “Which means that if Abby hadn’t made that tape and blackmailed Mrs. Gentry into letting me go, I’d be dead. They didn’t know how hard it was for me to read lips when I couldn’t see straight.”
    “Wouldn’t Matt code-protect the contents of his computer?” Abby asked.
    “A good hacker can get into any system with a little time,” Norm said.
    Luke rubbed his head, felt the knot. “The answer has to be in Matt’s apartment.”
    “We searched and found nothing,” Norm said. “His sister opened his safe deposit box and let us see the contents. Nothing but personal papers. That’s probably where he was going when someone ran him off the road.”
    “Matt talked about a land deal on one of Georgia ’s islands. Do you think you could dig up anything on that after all these years?”
    “Maybe, if I’m careful. Martin Gentry is old news. I have no authority to open a cold case that never was a case.”
    “Can you get me into Matt’s apartment?” Luke asked. “I’d like to take a look around.”
    “I’ll see if I can arrange it.”

Chapter Thirty-Six
    No Turn Unstoned

    “I described you as a crime scene specialist and got permission for you to search Matt’s apartment. I mean, that’s not lying, is it?”
    “Specialist might be a stretch, but it’s what I’m doing now, so it’s