aTried to help him?" Patterson was pacing. aTried to help him buy a ticket or catch a train or find the menas room? Just what is it that you mean?"

aMark was conscious briefly, and Charles Hale was seriously injured on the ground next to him. He tried to move rubble off Mark. He talked to him, took off his jacket, and wrapped it around a He, uh, tried to stop the hemorrhaging. He did everything he could. There was nothing that would have saved him, but he wasnat alone. I am so grateful for that. Now there will be a new life in the world, and I am thankful I could do something in return. It helps. There is at least some meaning. No. Iam not a saint. The need was mine, too. When I helped the Hales, I was helping me."

The room was so quiet it was as if it were empty.

The woman wearing red lipstick leaned forward a little to get Pattersonas attention.

aI expect Charlie Hale is way over there in England. But I wonder if we could subpoena Benton Wesley?"

aItas not necessary to subpoena either one of them,a I answered. aBoth of them are here."

When the foreman informed Patterson that the special grand jury had refused to indict, I was not there to see it. Nor was I present when Grueman was told. As soon as I had finished testifying, I had begun frantically looking for Marino.

aI saw him come out of the menas room maybe a half hour ago,a said a uniformed officer I found smoking a by a water fountain. aCan you try him on your radio?" I asked.

Shrugging, he unfastened his radio from his belt and asked the dispatcher to raise Marino. Marino did not respond. I took the stairs and broke into a trot when I got outside. When I was in my car, I locked the doors and started the engine. I grabbed the phone and tried headquarters, which was directly across the street from the courthouse. While a detective in the squad room told me that Marino wasnat in, I drove through the lot in back looking for his white Ford LTD. It. wasnat there. Then I pulled into an empty reserved place and called Neils Vander.

aYou remember the burglary on Franklin - the prints you recently ran that matched up with Waddell?"

aThe burglary in which the eiderdown vest was-."

aThatas the one."

"I remember it."

aWas the complainantas ten print card turned in for exclusionary purposes?"

"No, I didnat have that. Just the latents recovered from the scene."

aThank you, Neils."

"Next I called the dispatch.

"Can you tell me if Lieutenant Marino is marked on?"

I asked.

She came back to me, aHe is marked on."

"Listen, please see if you can, raise him and find out where he is. Tell him this is Dr. Scarpetta and itas urgent."

Maybe a minute later the dispatcheras voice came over the line. aHeas at the city pumps."

aTell him Iam two minutes from there and on my way." The gas pumps used by the city police were located on a bleak patch of asphalt surrounded by a chainlink fence. Filling up was strictly self-service. There was no attendant, no rest room or vending machines, and the only way you were going to clean your windshield was if you brought your own paper towels and Windex. Marino was tucking his gas card in the side pouch where he always kept it when I pulled up next to him. He got out and came around to my window.

aI just heard the news on the radio." He couldnat contain his smile. aWhereas Grueman? I want to shaker his hand."

"I left him at the courthouse with Wesley. What happened?" I suddenly felt light-headed.

aYou donat know?" he asked, incredulous. as.h.i.t, Doc. They cut you loose, thatas what happened. I can think of maybe two times in my career that a special grand jury hasnat returned with a true bill."

I took a deep breath and shook my head. aI guess I should be dancing a jig. But I donat feel like it."

aI probably wouldnat, either."

"Marino, what was the name of that man who claimed his eiderdown vest was stolen?"

"Sullivan. Hilton Sullivan. Why?"

aDuring my testimony, Patterson made the outrageous accusation that I might have used a revolver from the firearms lab to shoot Susan. In other words, there is always a risk involved if you use your own weapon because if itas checked and itas proven that it fired the then youave got a lot of explaining to do."

aWhatas this got to do with Sullivan?"

aWhen did he move into his condo?"

aI donat know."

aIf I were going to kill someone with my Ruger, it would be pretty clever of me to report it stolen to the police before I commit any crimes. Then if for some reason the gun is ever recovered - for example if the heat is on and I decide to toss it - the cops might trace the serial number back to me, but I can prove through the burglary report I filed that the gun was not in my possession at the time of the crime."

aAre you suggesting Sullivan falsified a report? That he staged the burglary?"

aIam suggesting you consider that,a I said. aItas convenient that he has no burglar alarm and left a window unlocked. Ita's convenient that he was obnoxious with the cops. Iam sure they were delighted to see him leave and werenat about to go the extra mile and get his fingerprints for exclusionary purposes. Especially since he was dressed in white and b.i.t.c.hing about the dusting powder everywhere: My point is, how do you know that the prints in Sullivanas condo werenat left by Sullivan? He lives there. His prints would be all over the place."

aIn AFIS they matched up with Waddell."

aIf thatas the case, then why would Sullivan call the police in response to that story about eiderdown we planted in the paper?"

aAs Benton said, this guy loves to play games. He loves to jerk people around. He skates on the edge for kicks."

as.h.i.t. Let me use your phone."

He came around to the pa.s.sengeras side and got in. Dialing Directory a.s.sistance, he got the number of the building where Sullivan lived. When the superintendent was on the line, Marino asked him how long ago Hilton Sullivan had purchased his condominium. .

aWell, then, who does?" Marino asked. He scribbled something on a notepad. aWhatas the number and what street does it face? Okay.. What about, his car? Yeah, if youave got it."

When Marino hung up, he looked at me. aChrist, the squirrel doesnat own the condo at all. Itas owned by some businessman who rents it, and Sullivan started renting it the friggina first week in December. He paid the deposit on the sixth, to be exact."

He opened the car door, adding, aAnd he drives a dark blue Chewy van. An old one with no windows."

Marino followed me back to headquarters and we left my car in his parking place. We shot across Broad Street, heading toward Franklin.

aLetas hope the manager hasnat alerted him." Marino raised his voice above the roar of the engine.

He slowed down and parked in front of an eight-story brick building.

aHis condoas in back,a he explained, looking around. aSo he shouldnat be able to see us."

He reached under the seat and got out his nine-millimeter to back up the 357 in the holster under his left arm. Tucking the pistol in the back of his trousers and an extra clip in his pocket, he opened his door.

aIf youare expecting a war, Iall be glad to stay In the car,a I said.

aIf a war starts, Iall toss you my three-fifty and a couple speed loaders, and you d.a.m.n better be as good a shot as Pattersonas been saying you are. Stay behind me at all times."

At the top of the steps, he rang the bell. aHeas probably not going to be here."

Momentarily, the lock clicked free and the door opened. An elderly man with bushy gray eyebrows identified himself as the building superintendent Marino hail spoken to earlier do the phone.

aDo you know if heas in?" Marino asked: aI have no idea."

aWeare going to go up and check."

aYou Wonat be going up because hers on this floor."

The superintendent pointed east. "Just follow that corridor and take the first left. Itas a corner apartment at the very end. Number seventeen."

The building possessed a debut tined luxuriousness, reminiscent of old hotels that no one particularly wards to stay in anymore because the rooms are too small and the decor is too dark and a little frayed. I noted cigarette burns in the deep red carpet, and the stain on the paneling was almost black. Hilton Sullivanas corner apartment was announced by a small bra.s.s 17. There was no peephole, and when Marino knocked, we heard footsteps.

aWho is it?" a voice asked.

aaMaintenance,a Marino said. "To change the filter in your heater."

The door opened, and the instant I saw the piercing blue eyes in the s.p.a.ce and they saw me, my breath caught. Hilton Sullivan tried to slam shut the door, but Marinoas foot was wedged against the jamb.

aGet to the side!"

Marino shouted at me as he s.n.a.t.c.hed out his revolver and leaned as far away from the dooras opening as he could.

I darted up the corridor as he suddenly kicked the door open wide and it slammed against the wall inside. Revolver ready, he went in, anti I waited in dread for a scuffle or gunfire. Minutes went by. Then l heard Marino saying something on his portable radio. He reappeared, sweating, his face an angry red.

aI donat f.u.c.king believe it He went out the window like a d.a.m.n jackrabbit and thereas not a sign of him. G.o.dd.a.m.n son of a b.i.t.c.h. His vanas sitting right-out there in the lot in back. Heas off on foot somewhere. Iave sent out an alert to units in the area."

He wiped his face on his sleeve and struggled to catch his broth.

aI thought he was a woman,a I said numbly.

aHuh?" Marino stared at me.

aWhen I went to see Helen Grimes, he was inside her house. He looked out the door once while we were talking on the porch. I thought it was a woman."

aSullivan was at Helen the Hunas house?" Marino said loudly.

aIam sure of it."

aJesus Christ. That donat make a d.a.m.n bit of sense."

But it did make sense when we began looking around Sullivanas apartment. It was elegantly furnished with antiques and fine rugs, which Marino said belonged to the owner, not to Sullivan, according to the superintendent. Jazz drifted from the bedroom, where we found Hilton Sullivanas blue down jacket on the bed next to a beige corduroy shirt and a pair of faded jeans, neatly folded. His running shoes and socks were on the rug. On the mahogany dresser were a green cap and a pair of sungla.s.ses: and a loosely folded blue uniform shirt that still had Helen Grimesas nameplate pinned above the breast pocket. Beneath it was a large envelope of photographs that Marino went through while I silently looked on.

aHoly s.h.i.t,a Marino muttered every other minute.

In more than a dozen of them, Hilton Sullivan was nude and in poses of bondage, and Helen Grimes was his s.a.d.i.s.tic guard. One favorite scenario seemed to be Sullivan sitting in a chair while she played the role of interrogator, yoking him from behind or inflicting other punishments. He was an exquisitely pretty blond young maid, with a lean body that I suspected was surprisingly strong. Certainly, he was agile. We found a photograph of Robyn Naismithas b.l.o.o.d.y body propped against the television in her living nom, and another one of her on a steel table in the morgue. But what unnerved me more than any of this was Sullivanas face. It was absolutely devoid of expression, his eyes cold the way I imagined they would be when he killed.

aMaybe we know why Donahue liked him so mucha"a Marino said, sliding the photographs back inside their envelope. aSomeone was taking these pictures. Donahueas wife told me the wardenas hobby was photography."

aHelen Grimes must know who Hilton Sullivan really is,a I said as sirens wailed.

Marino peered out the window. aGood. Luceroas here."

I examined the down vest on the bed and discovered a downy white feather protruding from a minute tear in a seam.

More engines sounded. Car doors slammed shut.

aWeare out of here,a Marino said when Lucero arrived. aMake sure you impound his blue van."

He turned to me. aDoc? You remember how to get to Helen Grimesas crib?"

aYes."

"Lets go talk at her."

Helen Grimes did not have much to say.

When we got to her house some forty-five minutes later, we found the front door unlocked and went inside. The heat was turned up as high as it would go, and I could have been anywhere in the world and recognized the smell.

aHoly G.o.d,a Marino said when he walked into the bedroom.

Her headless body was in uniform and sitting in a chair against the wall. It wasnat until three days later that the farmer across the road found the rest of her. He didnat know why anyone would have left a bowling bag in one of his fields. But he wished he had never opened it.

EPILOGUE.

The yard behind my motheras Miami house was half in the shade and half in the gentle sun, and hibiscus grew in a riot of red on either side of the back screen door. Her Key Lime tree by the fence was heavy with fruit when virtually all others in the neighborhood were barren or dead. It was a fact I failed to understand, for I had not known it was possible to criticize plants into good health. I thought you had to talk nicely to them.

aKatiea my mother called from the kitchen window. I heard water drumming into the sink. There was no point in answering.

Lucy knocked out my queen with a castle. aYou know,a I said, aI really hate playing chess with you."

aThen why do you keep asking me?"

aMe asking you? You force me, and one game is never enough."

aThatas because I keep giving you another chance. But you blow it every time."