Page 89 of Return of the Spider

Before we could protest, the state police detective said, “But I do.”

“Two and a half hours?”

“Do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Stop and get a coffee and a cruller on the way. I’ll finish upthis episode of ‘Daddy the Grinch Goes Christmas Shopping’ and meet you at the Mobil station in Oxford in, say, three hours?”

“Half past noon,” Sampson said. “We’ll be there.”

“Good. We won’t be but ten miles to that farm from there and not twenty to Kirkwood, where Diggs is living now.”

CHAPTER

73

A shiny blue fordF-150 rolled into the Mobil station in Oxford, Pennsylvania, about ten minutes after we did. Tommy French jumped out of the pickup.

The detective was a short, stocky man with a bull neck and a buzz cut he must’ve had since his days as a U.S. Army MP. He took off his aviator glasses and shook Sampson’s hand and then mine.

“I checked with Diggs’s parole officer, and he confirmed the Kirkwood address but said he had no record of Eamon owning any property.”

“Chester County Recorder confirmed ownership,” I said.

“I know,” French said. “I double-checked, and because Diggs did not declare it, we have ample just cause to go in and take a look around to see if he is in violation of his parole.”

French said that due to the recent rain, the way into the farm that Diggs inherited was likely to be very muddy. He suggested we leave our squad car outside town and ride in his truck with him to the farm.

We put on our body armor and got in. Sampson sat up front and was immediately enamored of the truck.

“I like this, Alex. You’re up here, king of the road. This new, Tommy?”

The detective smiled, said, “Got it last month. More practical than anything for the way I live.”

“I want one.”

“Could be tough to park in DC, John.”

“I’d learn.”

I said, “Tell us about Diggs.”

French visibly stiffened at the wheel. “Diabolical. Smart. Played mind games with the women he violated. Made them think he was going to kill them at any moment.”

“Sadistic control,” I said.

“That’s Eamon Diggs through and through.”

“How’d he get out after only twelve years?”

“Like I said, Diggs is very sharp. Once he figured out the game at the penitentiary, he played it. Zero infractions. Model prisoner. Went through counseling. Found Jesus. All that bullshit. But you know how it is with those guys. They never change.”

“Some do,” I said. “But it is rare for them to keep their urges bottled up for good.”

“Exactly,” French said. “I’ve been waiting ever since he got out for a report to surface that matched his MO.”

Sampson said, “Which was what, exactly?”