Page 44 of Go First
The Portland field office always smelled of yesterday’s coffee.Kate had never decided if it was comforting or depressing; today, it just felt like a dare.
She was in a meeting with Winters, who’d requested an update on the investigation. They’d just finished viewing the CCTV of Santos’s attack on Cox.
“It’s very clever,” Winters said, biting the end of her pen.“Both men are on the floor, the table and Santos’s back effectively obscure the line of sight.It’s possible that Cox brings the weapon into the room.Or that the weapon is already in there, for example, affixed to the underside of the table.”
“It looks well-rehearsed and passionless, though, don’t you agree?”
“What’s your point, Kate?”
“Well, Santos alleges he acted in some state of temporary insanity, yet everything is so smooth and efficient.It’s almost a dance routine.And the audio doesn’t help,” Kate went on.“They go from a good-natured discussion about good and evil to Cox’s coughing fit.Santos doesn’t express alarm or concern, nor does he exclaim anything as he attacks Cox.Equally, Cox doesn’t seem to have anything to say about being stabbed.”
“True, but Cox is apparently choking to death when the attack occurs. And a clever lawyer, backed by an obliging psychiatrist, could argue that Santos’s blank manner is proof of his insanity.”
Kate sighed.“It’s not right, ma’am.I mean, none of itlooksright.”
Winters nodded.“I don’t disagree.But what can we do about it?”
“We need to sweat him some more.”
“Definitely.Question Father Santos again.Tell him Cox is on the critical list.If he thinks he could be heading to Death Row, he might start telling us the truth.And see if we can interview Cox as well.He’s lost some blood, but that shouldn’t put him off-limits for questioning.”
Marcus was waiting by the incident board, arms crossed, a paper cup balanced on the rail as though he’d rather fling it than drink it.
“Morning, Vee.You hear the news from the Phillips case?”
Kate dropped her coat over the back of a chair.“Tell me.”
“Nothing to do with her.A random attack.”He said as if the word itself left a bad taste.“Guy was an ex-Philosophy student.Degree revoked after they caught him using AI on his final exam.No connection to Phillips—she never even taught him.”
“That’s supposed to make us all sleep better?”
“Supposed to,” Marcus said.“Means no mastermind, no pattern.Just a lone idiot with a grudge.”
Kate shook her head.“It doesn’t fit.None of this can be random.Let me tell you what the Winters just said.”
She filled him in on the conversation she’d just had about the prison visit.
Marcus gave a dry laugh.“OK, so it sounds like there’s something fishy there.But that doesn’t mean there’s something fishyeverywhere.That’s how you get folks believing the U.S.staged the 9/11 attacks.People are so used to governments lying, staging events, covering up, they start thinking everything is a hoax—even when the evidence is a hundred percent Al-Qaeda and nothing else.”
Kate met his gaze.“Listen, if it hops like a frog, croaks like a frog, catches flies with its tongue—”
“—then it’s a frog,” Marcus finished, rolling his eyes.“Yeah, I know the saying.”
“It’s more than a saying, though.It’s instinct.”
“Instinct can get you lost in the woods,” Marcus shot back.“Sometimes a frog is just a noise in the swamp.Not everything is connected.Some stuff is random.”
The office door swung open and Poppy Klamath hurried in, her hair bouncing wildly, a flush across her freckled cheeks.
“You just would notbelievethe time I’ve had getting a warrant,” she said, dropping a stack of papers on the table.“Every judge in the county suddenly has golf dates or migraines.Finally found one—Elias Bell—but he’s going over the application like it’s the Dead Sea Scrolls.”
“Judge Bell’s thorough,” Marcus said.“Pain in the backside thorough.”
“Tell me about it.So while he was sharpening his quill, I did some digging on Edward Stone.”
Kate straightened, alert and eager.
“First off,” Poppy said, ticking the points off on her fingers, “the man doesn’t drive.Lost his license in a DUI twelve years ago.Can’t ride a bike either.Which makes committing the first two murders a logistical nightmare.”