Mind Prey

of their organs, or more than that. If you asked most people who have two million dollars whether they’d rather lose one million, or lose a foot, I think most of them would rather lose the foot.”
    “But that only holds if Andi Manette really wants a divorce,” Lucas said. “Dunn says he was trying to put it back together.”
    “What else would he say? That he hates her and he’s glad they were kidnapped?”
    “Yeah.” The problem wasn’t a lack of motive. The problem was picking one.
    “Don’t forget the last possibility,” Weather said. “Tower. Her father.”
    “You’ve got a sick mind, Karkinnen.”
    “It wouldn’t be the first time that a father went after his daughter. If he’s desperate…”
    Lucas lay flat on his back, his fingers laced across his stomach, and he said, “When I had my little bout of depression, whenever that was, one of the worst things was lying awake at night with everything running through my head, in circles, and not being able to stop it. This isn’t quite the same, but it’s related. Jesus. I keep going around and around: Dunn, Wolfe, the Manettes; Dunn, Wolfe, the Manettes. The answer is there.”
    Weather patted his leg. “You’ll figure it out.”
    “Something else is bothering me. I saw something in Gloria Crosby’s apartment, but I can’t remember what it was. But it’s important.”
    She pushed herself up: “You forgot? ”
    “Not exactly forgot. It was there, but it’s like I never really recognized it. It’s like when you see a face in the street, and an hour later you realize it was an old classmate. Like that. I saw something…”
    “Sleep on it,” she said. “Maybe your subconscious will kick it out.”
    After a while in the dark, after Weather had rolled back to her own pillow, he said, “You know, those two Bible verses have me whipped, too. Must be Stillwater. That would be too much of a coincidence—or a trick, or something—not to be right. But what’s he talking about?”
    And Weather said something that sounded like “ZZZzzttug.”
     
    W HEN HE WOKE, before he opened his eyes, he thought of the Bible verses. Maybe the not was the key. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. But even if the not was the key word, he thought wryly, ye had no understanding. And who was coming near unto whom?
    He thought about it through shaving, through the shower, and came up with nothing brilliant, and began dressing. The day was gorgeous: sunlight slanted in through the wooden blinds in the living room, and the whole feel was that of a perfect fall day. As he put on a shirt and tie, he watched the Openers morning show. The weatherman said that the low pressure system responsible for all the rain had rambled off to the east and was presently peeing on Ohio; additional micturatory activity could be expected in New York by evening, if you were going there. The weatherman said neither peeing nor micturatory , but should have, Lucas thought. He found himself whistling, stopped to wonder why, and decided a nice day was a nice day. The kidnapping wasn’t the day’s fault, but he stopped whistling.
     
    “S O WE’RE STUCK?” Roux asked. She lit a cigarette, forgetting the one already burning in an ashtray behind her. Her office stank of nicotine, and would need new curtains every year. “All we can do is grind along?”
    “I had those Bible verses sent out to Stillwater,” Lucas said. “Maybe the local cops will figure something out.”
    “And maybe the fairy godmother will kiss me on the sweet patootie,” Lester said.
    “Nasty thought,” Roux said. “Nasty.”
    “I think we ought to start pushing the big four: the Manettes, Dunn, Wolfe. Start taking them apart. Somebody is talking.”
    Roux shook her head. “I haven’t entirely bought that. We’ve got the wiretaps going, but I don’t think I’m ready for a full-scale assault.”
    “Who’s listening to the wires?” Lucas asked.
    Lester made a sound like he was clearing his throat.
    “What?”
    “Larry Carter, from uniform, then tonight, uh, Bob Greave.”
    “Ah, shit,” Lucas groaned.
    “He can do that,” Lester said defensively. “He’s not stupid, he’s just…” He groped for a phrase.
    “Investigatively challenged,” Roux suggested.
    “That’s it,” Lester said.
    Lucas stood up. “I’ve gotten everything I can out of the raw paper on Dunn, Wolfe, and