Riptide

her daughter?"
    "Yes, I am. What kind of papers?"
    "Statistics, nothing more. Is there someone else I can speak to
    about this? I don't want to upset you."
    There was a moment of silence, then, "No, it's all right. Ask the
    questions. We don't want the government to go away mad."
    "Thank you, ma'am. You said your mother was killed? Was this
    an auto accident?"
    "No, someone hit her on the head when she was going out to
    her car at the shopping mall. He stole her car."
    "Oh, dear, I'm so very sorry. Please tell me that the man who
    did this has been caught?"
    The woman's voice hardened up immediately. "No, he wasn't.
    The cops put out a description of her car, but no one has reported
    back with anything as yet. They think he painted the car a different
    color and changed the license plates. He's gone. Even the New
    York City cops don't know where he is. She was an old woman,

too, so who cares?" The bitterness in the daughter's voice was bone-deep in pain, disbelief, anger still raw.
    "Was there anything distinctive about the car the man stole?"
    "Yes, the windows were tinted dark because my mother had
    very sensitive eyes. Too much sunlight really hurt her."
    "I see. What was the color of the car?"
    "White with gray interior. There was a small dent above the left
    rear tire."
    "I see. Did you say that there were other than just the local cops
    there?"
    "Oh, yes. Of all things, they were from New York City. They
    should have caught this guy. We don't know why the New York
    City police are involved. Do you? Is that really why you're calling?
    You want to pump me for information?"
    "No, of course not. This is simply statistical information that we
    need."
    "Are there any more questions, Ms. Martin? I'm sorting through
    my mother's things and I have to be down at St. Paul's charities in
    a half hour."
    "No, ma'am. I'm very sorry for your loss. I'll take care of everything
    here." Sherlock turned to see all eyes focused on her. "The
    killer painted a white car black and stole another license plate. The
    New York City cops were there. They know. Oh, yeah, the windows
    are tinted dark because Mrs. Bailey had sensitive eyes."
    "Son of a bitch," Hatch said and groped in his pocket for his cigarettes.
    "How come nobody told me that the cops knew about that
    damned car?"
    Adam just gave him a look and said, "They've got a real lid on
    that one. My guess is they're keeping it from the Feds, don't want
    to get aced out. And the victim loses. What the New York cops
    don't know is that our killer is here in Maine. Shall we tell them?"

Savich said, "Not the New York cops, but I can call Tellie Haw-ley,
    the SAC of the office in New York City. He'll see that it gets to
    where it needs to go."
    "Yeah," Adam said, "why not? Anyone think of a good reason
    why not?"
    "How specific should we be?" Becca asked. She was wringing
    her hands, and Adam frowned.
    Savich rolled it around in his brain and said, "Let's just tell him
    the guy's been seen on the coast. How's that? It's the truth."
    "We've got to get him," Becca said. "If we don't, then we have
    to call this Thomas person who seems to know everyone and direct
    everything, and tell him to bring in the Marines."
    "He hasn't called," Becca said, and took a bite of her hot dog.
    "Why hasn't he called?"
    Adam said as he chewed a potato chip, "I think he's going to lie
    low for a while. He's not stupid. He's going to dig in somewhere
    else, give you some time to chew your fingernails, make all of us
    jumpy as hell, then jump back into the game--his game."
    They were all eating hot dogs with relish and mustard, the team
    of guys outside coming in one at a time. Special Agent Rollo
    Dempsey said to Adam, "I knew your name but I couldn't remember
    where I'd heard it. Now I do. You saved Senator Dashworth's
    life last year when that crazy tried to stick a knife in his ribs."
    Adam didn't say a word.
    "Yeah, it was you. You saved Senator Dashworth's life. Pretty impressive."
    "You shouldn't know about that," Adam said finally, frowning at
    Rollo. "You really shouldn't."

    202

"Yeah, well, I'm an insider, I can't help it if people tell me everything."
    "I never heard anything about that,"Becca said, her antennae up.
    "What are you talking about?"
    Rollo just grinned at her and said, "Did you find out who tried
    to off him?"
    "You don't know about that, too?"
    "Hey, I'm an insider, but the spigot was off when it came to the
    particulars."
    Adam shrugged. "Well, who cares now? The guy who