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Chapter 31

“Have you lost your mind?”

Quinn glanced briefly at Amelia and returned his gaze to the slowing traffic ahead. They were approaching the first toll booth on the southbound West Virginia Turnpike, and Quinn starting rummaging in the car’s ashtray for change.

“This whole thing is crazy. You realize that, don’t you?” The anger and exasperation in her voice was really starting to grate on Quinn’s nerves. As they had headed south from Charleston, he had recounted his conversation with Gabriel Montgomery.

“Montgomery told you she’s dead. There’s evidence to support it. Why won’t you let go?”

“They’re not sure that the body was her. No dental comparison and no DNA equals no positive I.D. The location of the body could be coincidence, or maybe even a set up.”

Amelia gave an angry sigh and lapsed into silence. After they had passed through the toll plaza, she turned to Quinn.

“Where are we going now?”

“Reliance University Hospital,” replied Quinn.

“The hospital where Eleanor Eastman was treated? What do you think you’ll find out there? You don’t have a warrant, and I seriously doubt they’ll give you anything.”

“I’m just going to talk with someone who was there at the time.”

“How are you going to find such a person?”

“Already done. I had my friend from the state police check into it. Lucky for me, he knew someone who works there and they passed along the information.”

“What makes you think this person will even talk to you?”

Quinn didn’t bother to respond. They rode for several miles in silence, interrupted occasionally by rumble of the tires as they passed over a rough section of road.

“You’d think if they charge you to drive on this road they’d at least keep it maintained,” muttered Quinn after a particularly bumpy stretch. Amelia looked at him with a faint smile.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“Always a first time for everything.”

Amelia glared at him.

“At least one of us is thinking,” she said angrily. “The only thing I’ve seen you do is run around on some wild goose chase, all because of some crackpot theory. Now you’re going to harass some poor person at the hospital, and they’ll tell you the same thing as everyone else. Eleanor Eastman was the victim of a terrible tragedy, not the cause. What do you hope to accomplish?”

“I want to know how much contact Eleanor Eastman had with Eli Glinn while she was in the hospital, especially before her ‘disappearance’.”

“Who the Hell is Eli Glinn?”

“Her uncle and legal guardian. Also the one responsible for arranging her transfer to another hospital, right before she vanished.”

“So what?”

“He also visited our office a few days ago.”

“Why?”

“Rick...Sheriff Mathies called him. Apparently they were old friends. This Glinn owns an engineering firm that also happens to do forensic profiling.”

“So? It makes perfect sense for him to help with the case, especially if he suspected there was a connection.”

“That’s the thing. He didn’t agree to help on the case. He drove all the way from New York to talk to Rick about it, and then he says he can’t help. Doesn’t that strike you as just a little bit suspicious?”

“Well, maybe he didn’t see the connection.”

“Anyone who was involved in both cases, or knew about both cases, has made the connection. He’s involved in this somehow, I’m sure of it.”

Amelia remained silent, unsure of how to respond. In her mind, she resigned herself to the fact that there was no way to discourage Quinn once he was on a mission. She’d just have to ride it out. For now.



Pendergast opened the door of the truck and guided Tigg into the passenger seat. He walked quickly around to the driver’s side, climbed in, and shut the door before turning to Tigg.

“Who?”

“C-chris Jenkins. And his family.” Tigg’s voice cracked on the final word.

“One of the people on your list,” said Pendergast, almost to himself. “And his family. Do you mean Rebecca Jenkins?”

“No. She was at work...at the time.” Suddenly, Tigg slammed her fist on the dashboard, causing a passerby to turn and stare. Pendergast waved her along, and when the young woman had moved out of earshot, Pendergast returned his attention to Tigg. She was shaking worse than before.

“What else?”

“The sheriff thinks it’s a copycat, but they’re telling everyone that it’s a burglary gone wrong. I guess they don’t want people to panic. I don’t think anyone else knows about it.”

“Except you.”

“I...”

Pendergast regarded her for a moment before continuing.

“You didn’t strike me as being an ungraceful person. When you knocked those files off the desk in the sheriff’s office yesterday, I suspected you had some ulterior motive. Now I understand what it was.”

“What?”

“Mr. Glinn said you did work for him in the area of ‘electronics and surveillance equipment’. I assume that includes, ah, listening devices.”

Tigg stared at him, momentarily unable to respond.

“But we’ll speak of the repercussions of this at a later time.”

Finally Tigg found her voice.

“Repercussions? I was trying to help, damn it! Do you really think that the sheriff would have told you everything? I was just trying to make sure we were getting as much information as we could.”

Pendergast lowered his voice. “I meant personal repercussions. You learned something that upset you greatly, and I fear the shock has been too much for you.”

Tigg stared at the floor. She couldn’t bear to meet Pendergast’s gaze.

“You’re losing control of your emotions. You will need to pull yourself together, not only for the sake of continuing the investigation, but for your own safety. Do you understand?”

“I’ve lost a friend,” said Tigg, her voice trembling with emotion. “Innocent people have died because I haven’t done enough.”

“I understand. But you must compose yourself. You must.”

“I...will.”

Pendergast placed his hand on the door handle.

“I will go make your excuses to Mr. Harlow and ask a few more questions. That should give you time to calm down and compose yourself before we go speak to the sheriff. Agreed?”

“Yes,” whispered Tigg, still staring at the floor.

Without another word, Pendergast opened the door and climbed out, shutting the door gently behind him. He walked to the front door of the bookstore and disappeared inside.

Tigg raised her head and looked out the front window of the truck. She saw the young woman who had passed by earlier seated on a bench, pushing a baby carriage back and forth with her foot, her attention focused on the child inside. After a few minutes, the woman lifted the crying infant out of the stroller and began to rock it back and forth. As Tigg observed the scene, an old memory, long buried, surfaced in her mind.



She sat on a wooden bench that had been built around a towering oak tree, one of the oldest on campus. The late summer breeze stirred the hair of the infant she held in the crook of one arm, and he started to stir, fussing a little. She rocked him slowly, hoping he would sleep for just a few more minutes until his mother and father returned. She sang to him softly, an old favorite, one of the songs her mother had sung to her as a child. By the time she had reached the second verse, he had drifted off to sleep again, but she continued to sing.

“And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.”

“Corrupting that poor kid already, are you?”

Eleanor looked up.

“Hey Zoey.” Eleanor glanced at the other two girls. “Hey Julia, Faith. What’s up?” she asked, keeping her voice low and hoping they would have the sense to do the same.

“We’re headed off to class. Printmaking and Design.”

“All three of you? I thought you had CVA lab this afternoon?”

“I switched to the morning section. Don’t you know, I just love the smell of formaldehyde in the morning. Besides, the TA is much cuter.” Zoey turned and winked at her companions. Julia giggled, while Faith rolled her eyes.

“Then I imagine that the TA is the only pleasant thing to look at in that class.” Eleanor wrinkled her nose. “But I can’t see how an art class fits into pre-vet curriculum.”

“All work and no play makes Zoey a dull girl. Besides, I have to fill up those BS humanites requirements somehow.”

Julia shot Zoey a dirty look.

“I would think you’d take it as an opportunity to become a well-rounded individual,” she said stiffly.

“Whatever. I don’t need to be well-rounded, I just need to be perfect at what I do.”

Zoey turned to Eleanor, who had resumed slowly rocking the slumbering infant, humming softly as she did so.

“How’d you get stuck with babysitting duty?”

“Chris and Becca got stuck with classes that meet at the same time. I’m free, so I offered to watch Robin.”

“Oh, well, I guess it will be practice for the future, right?”

Eleanor laughed quietly.

“Hardly. I might use the ‘skills’ when I have nieces and nephews, but I think I’ll just be a career woman.”

“So sayeth the totally mature sixteen-year-old,” said Julia with a laugh.

“Almost seventeen. Old enough to know what I want, I think.”

“Whatever,” said Zoey. “Hey, listen, we were looking for you anyway. Dr. Meadows posted the results of the auditions for the fall drama. Congratulations, you got the title role.”

“Wow. I never expected that.”

“We...were rather surprised, too,” said Faith. “Considering that you’ve never acted in a play before. But it’s a great opportunity. Think you’ll be up to it?”

“Sure she will,” said Julia. “I saw her audition. But we all got parts, even Becca. Frankly I was surprised she would have time to try out, much less do the play.”

“Chris thought she needed to do something for herself. They’ll work it out. They always do.”

“I guess they have to since they have no other family,” said Faith. “I can understand that.”

“That’s not something I’ll ever have to worry about,” said Eleanor with a laugh. “With five brothers and sisters, I’m sure there’ll be someone there for me.”

“Too true,” said Zoey. She looked at her watch. “Well, we better get going. See you later.”

With a wave, the three girls departed. Eleanor watched them leave and turned her attention to the front door of the biology building from which she expected Becca to emerge shortly. After a few minutes, she spotted Becca working her way through the crowd of students entering the building. Becca’s anxious expression faded when she saw Eleanor and Robin, right where she had left them an hour before. She hurried over to them, sat down next to Eleanor on the bench and held out her arms. Eleanor gently handed the still sleeping infant to his mother. Becca held him close for several minutes before speaking.

“Thank you,” said Becca. “I hope he wasn’t too much trouble.”

“No trouble at all.”

“Chris thought we should look into day care, but you know, I hate to leave him with a stranger. You never know...”

“I understand. He means a lot to you.”

Becca sighed. “More than you know. I really don’t know what I’d do if something happened to him. I’d probably just curl up and die.” Becca blushed. “That probably seems silly to you, doesn’t it? Chris says I worry way too much.”

“No, not really. But I don’t think you have too much here to worry about. I think this little corner of the world is relatively safe.”

“I hope you’re right.”



I was wrong, thought Tigg. I’m so sorry, Becca. She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself as Pendergast had instructed.

I understand...you must compose yourself. You must.

No, thought Tigg, you don’t understand. You can’t possibly...

Soon, Tigg’s shaking subsided. A new emotion had taken control, blocking out her anguish and doubt. Her anger helped her focus.

I will get through this, not for my safety, but because I have to. I must stop this, somehow...

By the time Pendergast re-emerged from the bookstore, Tigg was calm, grim determination and a new resolve in place to steel her against what she knew lay ahead.

I will stop this. I will help find this bastard if it’s the last thing I do.

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