Scattered Graves

having any intelligence whatsoever.
David laughed. ‘‘Bryce’s scores were the highest of any of them.’’
Diane shook her head. ‘‘Who knew?’’
‘‘Exactly how do you know?’’ asked Frank. ‘‘How were you able to get such personal information?’’
‘‘Part of the information I got from Bryce himself. He likes to brag,’’ said David.
‘‘And the other parts?’’ asked Frank.
‘‘Through investigation,’’ said David.
He and Frank held eye contact for several moments.
‘‘You’re a good investigator,’’ said Frank.
‘‘Yes, I am,’’ said David.
Diane could see Frank wanted to ask more ques tions. And he probably realized he would get no satis factory answers. David was very secretive about how he did things.
She looked at the diagram. It showed circles with the names of Lloyd Bryce, Edgar Peeks, and Spence Jefferies, with lines connecting all of them to one an other. Edgar Peeks was also connected to several po licemen he had hired. Lloyd Bryce was connected to the guard at the overlook, to the DNA tech/detective he wanted Jin to hire, to Rikki Gillinick, and to Jenni fer Jeffcote-Smith. Jennifer was also connected to Shane Eastling, the new medical examiner.
‘‘Do you think Shane Eastling was a member of Jefferies’ little cabal?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘I don’t know,’’ said David. ‘‘It could be that he simply knew Jennifer and recommended her. But he would have had to know Bryce was looking for a fo rensic anthropologist—ergo he would have to know Bryce in some capacity. However, it could have oc curred in passing—at a crime scene Bryce mentioned he was looking and Shane knew somebody. I haven’t done full research on Shane yet. Nor do I know where Bryce found Rikki or Curtis, or where Peeks found the policemen he hired. There’s a lot I don’t know.’’
‘‘It’s hard to fathom,’’ commented Frank. ‘‘Where did Shane Eastling go to school, do you know?’’
‘‘Cal State and the University of Chicago,’’ said David. ‘‘He grew up outside of Los Angeles, as did Jennifer.’’
‘‘You know,’’ said Frank, ‘‘you should just turn this over to Janice Warrick and let the police take over from here. Now that the principals at the center of this are dead, they’re no longer a problem. That is, except to discover what they were up to and who killed them. But it’s not your problem to solve. With the things Diane discovered about how Bryce mishan dled the crime scene, Garnett should be in the clear.’’ He paused and smiled. ‘‘The detectives are probably now looking for the shadowy figure,’’ he added.
David winced. ‘‘Look, I suppose I need to talk about that,’’ he said.
Diane didn’t say anything. Neither did Frank. The three of them sat in the light of the chandelier staring at one another.
‘‘I pulled the LUDs on all their phones,’’ said David. ‘‘There was nothing that wasn’t expected. That surprised me. Then I happened to remember seeing Bryce talking on a cell that was different from the one he normally uses. And I realized—they used prepaid cells for their activities.’’
‘‘What exactly were their activities?’’ asked Frank. ‘‘You’ve made a convincing case that they were up to something, but do you have any idea exactly what that was?’’
‘‘No. I haven’t a clue. That’s why... That’s why . . . Well, damn. Look, like I told Diane earlier, I was casing the mayor’s place looking at who came and went. I was also looking for an opening to put a bug in his house. I thought it was important to find out what he was up to, since I was convinced that he killed a judge and he staged a rash of burglaries for his own political advancement.’’
‘‘Bug the mayor’s house?’’ said Frank. ‘‘You were really going to do that?’’
‘‘I couldn’t think of anything else. And yes, that means I was there the night he was killed. But the only person I saw that night was Garnett. I believed he was innocent, but I didn’t know it for a fact. I didn’t hear anything. There were no gunshots.’’
He stopped and took a breath. He looked miserable.
‘‘I’ve been agonizing about coming forward. I didn’t want to muddy the waters. From my point of view, I knew I wasn’t the one who killed them. Until Garnett was arrested, I had no idea anyone would blame him.’’
‘‘What are you going to do now?’’ said Frank.
‘‘I don’t know. Come forward but leave out