Invisible Prey

was probably touching the skin. There was almost no dispersion of powder outside the wound, very little tattooing on the skin, so the barrel was close. I could see a murder being done that way…but it’d be rare, especially since the victim doesn’t appear to have been restrained in any way.”
     
    A S THE SUN was going down, Lucas stood in his office, calling the members of his crew; and he called Rose Marie, and borrowed an investigator named Jerrold from the Highway Patrol.
    “We’re taking Widdler’s word for it,” he told them all. “We’re gonna stake out Anderson.”

24
    T HEY GOT TOGETHER in Lucas’s family room: Del, Jenkins, Flowers, Jerrold, Smith, and Lucas, Letty sitting in, the four state agents gently bullshitting her, Letty giving it back. Shrake was already on Anderson, picking her up in St. Paul, tagging her back home.
    Smith was uneasy with state cops he didn’t know well, although he and Del went way back. Lucas passed around bottles of Leinie’s, except for Letty, who wanted a Leinie’s but took a Coke. Smith and Lucas, who’d be talking to Amity Anderson, also took Cokes.
    “I think it would be perfectly all right for me to drink one beer in the house,” Letty said.
    “If I gave it to you, I’d have to arrest myself,” Lucas said.
    “And probably beat the shit out of himself, too,” Del said, winking at Letty.
     
    L UCAS BRIEFED THEM on Amity Anderson. Jenkins, who’d worked the casual surveillance, suggested good spots to sit, “as long as we don’t get rousted by St. Paul.”
    “I talked to the watch commander, he’ll pass it along to patrol, so you’re okay on that,” Smith said.
    With six people, they could track her in four-hour shifts, four on and eight off. That would wear them down after a while, but Lucas planned to put pressure on Amity, to see if he could make her run, see what she took with her.
    Lucas and Flowers would take the first shift, from eight to midnight. Shrake and Jenkins would take midnight to four, Del and Jerrold from four to eight, and then Lucas and Flowers would be back.
    Tonight, after the meeting, Flowers would be set up, on the street and watching, and then Lucas and Smith would call on Anderson and rattle her cage.
     
    L UCAS AND S MITH drove to Anderson’s house separately, and Lucas left his truck at the end of an alley that looked at the back of the house. Then he got into Smith’s Ford, and they drove around the corner and pulled into Anderson’s driveway. Smith said, “I oughta take a shift.”
    “No need to,” Lucas said. “The rest of us have all worked together…no problem.”
    “Yeah, but you know,” Smith said. He didn’t want to, but it was only polite to offer.
    “I know—but no problem.”
     
    T HEY WENT UP the walk, saw the curtains move and a shape behind them, and then Lucas knocked on the door and a second later, Anderson opened it, looking at Lucas over a chain. She was holding a stick of wet celery smeared with orange cheese. “Lucas Davenport, I spoke to you once before,” Lucas said. “This is Detective John Smith from the St. Paul police. We need to speak to you.”
    “What about?” Didn’t move the chain.
    Lucas got formal, putting some asshole in his voice: “A friend of yours, Leslie Widdler, was found dead in a car a few blocks from here this morning. Shot to death. We have questioned his wife, Jane, and she has hired an attorney. But our investigation, along with statements made by Jane Widdler, suggests that you could help us in the investigation. Please open the door.”
    “Do you have a warrant?”
    “No, but we could get one in a couple of minutes,” Lucas said, talking tougher, his voice dropping into a growl. “You can either talk to us here, or we’ll get a warrant, come in and get you and take you downtown. It’s your call.”
    “Do I get an attorney?” Anderson asked.
    “Anytime you want one,” Lucas said. “If you can’t get one to come tonight, we’ll take you downtown, put you in a cell, and we can wait until one gets here tomorrow.”
    “But I haven’t done anything,” Anderson said.
    “That’s what we need to talk about,” Lucas said.
     
    I N THE END, she let them in, then called an attorney friend, who agreed to come over. While they waited, they watched American Volcanoes for forty-five minutes, a TV story of how Yellowstone could blow up at any minute and turn the entire United States into a hell-hole of ash and lava; Anderson drank two glasses of