“We’re in love.”
“That’s so sweet I may puke.”
“It’s true.” Petulant. “Besides, we haven’t hurt anyone. Why are you being so mean?”
“Please don’t blame her.” Raines was still sucking air.
Slidell whipped around. “She thinks I’m mean? I’ll tell you what’s mean, you worthless piece of shit. Disappearing without a bump in your thoughts to enjoy a little poontang with Miss Sex Kitten Slut over here. Letting your wife and kid wonder if you’re dead in a ditch, and letting a hundred police officers spend time searching for you.”
“You can’t talk to us like that.” Nolan’s fingers were twisting her robe sash so tightly the knuckles bulged white.
“Ever hear of alienation of affectation? Maybe we should all query Mrs. Raines. See if she thinks anyone’s been hurt.”
I cringed at Slidell’s mangling of the legal term, but said nothing.
“Ted’s going to ask for a divorce,” Nolan said. “Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”
Raines now looked like jelly on the couch.
“Ted?”
Raines’s gaze remained pointed at his knees. Slidell charged back across the room and jabbed a finger at him.
“While you’re here sharpening your Captain Winkie skills, you don’t give a flying fuck what kind of shitstorm you might be causing?”
Slidell’s face was now the color of claret. I thought it best to lower the intensity.
“Just for the record. How did you two hook up?”
Perhaps seeing it as safer ground than the topic of litigation, Nolan fielded my question.
“Ted’s a research assistant on a project that studies how poisons get blown around by air. The company I work for does sort of the same thing. You know. You were there.”
I nodded.
“Last January CRRI sent me to work the exhibit booth at a conference in Atlanta. Ted was there with his team. We met in the hotel bar.”
“And fell in lust.” Slidell’s voice was thick with disgust.
“It’s more than that.”
“Touching.”
“Where’s your husband?” I asked.
“Afghanistan.”
“We’ll order a medal to hang in your window,” Slidell snarled.
Nolan crossed her arms on her chest and puffed air through her nose, a look of blank insolence on her face.
“OK, lover boy.” Slidell finger-flicked the top of Raines’s head. “Let’s talk poison.”
Raines looked up, features gathered in a look of puzzlement.
“Let me tell you a little story.” Slidell had regained his breath, and his tone was now dangerously calm. “Two bodies turn up at a morgue. One tests positive for ricin. The other’s got abrin on board. As we both know, your average Joe can’t lay his hands on stuff like that.”
Raines’s eyes narrowed in uncertainty. Or perhaps he was considering answers to create the best possible spin.
“Fast-forward. A guy’s in the wind. Gets busted. Turns out this guy has access to abrin and ricin. You see where I’m going, Ted?”
“What are you saying?”
“I hear you’ve got a real interesting part-time job.”
“What does that have—”
“That’s a mighty big coincidence. You working with biotoxins.”
“You’re suggesting I killed someone?”
Slidell just looked at him.
“That’s insane.”
“Is it?”
“Who are these dead people?”
“Eli Hand and Wayne Gamble.”
Beside me, I heard a sharp intake of breath.
“I don’t know either of them. Why would I poison total strangers?”
“You tell me.”
“The substances I work with are strictly controlled. You can’t just waltz out of the lab with a jar in your pocket. Every gram of powder, every fricking red seed has to be accounted for.” Raines’s voice was taking on an edge of alarm. “Call my supervisor.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Do I need a lawyer?”
“Do you?” Slidell asked.
“I didn’t do anything!” Shrill.
“Why are you in Charlotte?”
Raines’s eyes bounced from Slidell to Nolan and back. He answered with a nervous snigger, conspiratorial, guy to guy. “Look, man. I was just getting a little on the side.”
“Bastard!”
I eased Nolan back into her chair.
“Your girlfriend knew Wayne Gamble.” Slidell kept his eyes on Raines as he spoke to Nolan. “Didn’t you, Mrs. Nolan?”
“What?”
“You gonna tell him? Or should I?”
“I knew his sister. Like, centuries ago. Wayne was just a kid.”
“Sweet God in heaven.” Raines flopped back like a rag doll, hands covering his face.
Slidell peeled his glare from Raines and turned it on Nolan. “You aware Gamble’s dead?”
“While Ted was getting a little….”—she spat the phrase at Raines—“we weren’t exactly keeping up with the news.”
“You don’t look real upset.”
“I haven’t seen Wayne Gamble since he was twelve years old.”
“Tell me what you overheard at the Double Shot.”
Slidell’s change of direction seemed to confuse her.
“I already did.”
“Tell me more.”
“Like what?”
“Describe the guy that was talking to Cale Lovette.”
“Kind of tall and thin. Old.”
“How old?”
Nolan shrugged. “Probably not as old as you. It was hard to tell because he was wearing a hat.”
“What kind of hat?”
“Like a baseball cap. Red with a big number above the brim. Oh. And it had a button pinned to the side. The button had a picture of a cowboy hat.” Nolan smiled, pleased with the brilliance of her recall.
I’d seen a hat like that. Where? Online? At the Speedway?
“What was the tenor of their conversation?” Slidell asked.
“Huh?”
“Friendly? Heated?”
“Like, they didn’t look happy.”
“What were they saying?”
“I already told you this.”
“Do it again.”
Nolan crossed her legs, raised her toes, and pumped one foot as she searched her memory.
“OK. The old guy said that thing about poisoning the system. Then Cale said something about it being too late. It was going to happen. Then the old guy said something about knowing your place.”
We waited out an interval of rapid foot pumping.
“When I passed them again, Cale was telling the old guy to, like, quit carping. Then the old guy told Cale not to act so holy. Then something about a bloody hatchet. But there was a lot of noise. I couldn’t really hear that part.”
“Go on.”
“Then I went back to the booth and sat with Cindi.”
“And?”
“She was all in a wad because Cale was taking too long, so she walked over there. Cale put his arm around her waist. That was nice. But it was creepy the way the old guy looked at her.”
“Creepy how?”
“Cold.” Nolan’s eyes did the saucer thing. “No. More than that. Like he hated her guts.”
“Then what?”
“The old guy said something. Then Cale said something, all in the guy’s face, like he was really mad. Then the old guy stormed out.”
“When Cale came back to the booth, did you ask him who he was talking to?”
“He said a jackass he wished he’d never laid eyes on.”
“You didn’t pursue it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ask again.”
“Cindi told me to let it go. I mean, she didn’t, like, say it. She gave me this look, and I knew what she meant. I’m not stupid.”
Yes, I thought. You are irrevocably stupid.
??
?Honest to God, that’s all I remember,” Lynn whined. “I’m tired. I need to go to bed.”
“How come you never mentioned this man’s hostility toward Cindi before tonight?”
“Because no one ever asked me about, you know, what happened after. Just what they were saying at the bar.”
I looked at Slidell. Your call.
“OK, honeymooners. Here’s what’s gonna happen.”
When Slidell laid down the usual “don’t leave town” spiel, Nolan shot to her feet and pointed at Raines.
“Fine. But I want this jerk out of my apartment. Mr. Get a Little on the Side is not staying here.”
So much for true love.
En route to the Annex, Slidell and I shared impressions.
“They’re both moral invalids.”
“Yeah,” Slidell agreed. “But Raines doesn’t feel right for Gamble or Hand.”
“Where was he living when Hand went into the landfill?”
“Atlanta.”
“And what motive would he have for wanting Wayne Gamble dead?”
“Exactly. But I’m still going to give the dirtbag a real close look.”
“Nolan’s description of the old guy doesn’t fit Grady Winge,” I said. “Or J. D. Danner. Perhaps Eugene Fries, but he claims to be a victim.”
“I plan to squeeze Winge first thing in the morning.”
As we pulled in at Sharon Hall, a CMPD cruiser was pulling out. Slidell flicked a wave. The cop behind the wheel returned it.
“Guess we don’t need stepped-up patrols no more.”
“You’re convinced Grady Winge killed Cindi and Cale?”
“You kidding? You saw him at that grave site.”
“All that proves is that he knew where the bodies were buried.”
“Then why’s he so goddamn sorry?”
“What about Wayne Gamble?”
“Trust me. In a few short hours, Winge will be singing like a marching band.”
Slidell’s linguistic misadventures never ceased to amaze.
“The term is alienation of affection,” I said. “It’s a charge against the third party, not the spouse.”
“Yeah. Well, I hope the wife cleans Nolan’s shorts.”
The clock read two-ten when I dropped into bed.
In the brief period before my brain shut down, I replayed what Nolan had said.
Who was the man arguing with Cale Lovette? What system did they intend to poison? A water system? Where? Obviously they hadn’t done it. Or hadn’t done it effectively. Such an attack would have been big news.
Something bugged me.
The hat? Where had I seen a cap like that?
Had Nolan read the man correctly? Had he truly regarded Cindi Gamble with malice? If so, why? Or had the look meant something else?
And what was the bit about a bloody hatchet?
Then I was out.
WHILE I SLEPT, MY BRAIN PLAYED WITH SOUNDS.
Two phrases.
Bloody hatchet.
Maddy Padgett.
Suddenly I was wide awake.
Was that what Nolan had overheard? Were Cale Lovette and the old guy talking about Maddy Padgett?
The clock said six-twenty.
Too early to call.
Too jazzed to sleep.
I threw on a robe and went downstairs. Birdie opened one eye but didn’t follow.
While Mr. Coffee cranked up to perk, I turned on the TV.
The local news was all about NASCAR. Qualifying for the Coca-Cola 600 had taken place the previous night. Jimmie Johnson had won the pole and would go off from the inside starting position. Kasey Kahne would share the front row.
Though farther back than predicted, Sandy Stupak had also won good position. And big surprise, the tragic death of Stupak’s jackman, Wayne Gamble, was no longer the lead B-story.
The secondary headliner was the weather. Periodic strong winds, thunder and lightning, and all-day rain were predicted for Saturday, so the Nationwide Series race had been moved up to Friday night. Unprecedented, but a necessary precaution to avoid cancellation and complicated rescheduling.
The new tertiary headliner was a big-ass crater.
As Speedway management was scrambling to make the accelerated timetable work, they learned that, overnight, a sinkhole had opened on the edge of the dirt track. Measuring forty feet long and thirty-five feet deep, the thing was a monster. Fortunately, no one had been injured.
The sinkhole’s location made it unlikely that the evening’s Nationwide Series event would be affected. Safety inspectors were on site. Officials had yet to announce if the race would begin at the newly designated time.
As I filled my mug, an officious expert presented this postmortem. The Charlotte Motor Speedway was built over an abandoned landfill, and thirty-five feet below the surface, an old drainpipe had deteriorated. In his opinion, the cave-in was the result of recent heavy rains, the burst pipe, and instability of the landfill substrate.
In awed tones, an anchorwoman explained that such incidents are not without precedent. Backed by footage of packed grandstands, she described a pothole that had delayed a Daytona 500 for hours.
Birdie strolled into the kitchen as I was pouring my second cup of coffee.
At seven, I finished my third.
Wired on caffeine, I dialed.
“Slidell.” Gruff.
“Did I wake you?”
“Nah. I’m waiting for room service.”
Easy, Brennan.
“Where are you?”
“Grabbing some java. I’ve been working Winge for over an hour.”
“Is he talking?”
“Oh yeah.”
“What’s he saying?”
“Call my pastor. You’re gonna love this. The Reverend Honor Grace.”
“Did you call him?”
“I’m not in the mood for a gospel lesson.”
“Did you ever locate Maddy Padgett?”
“Cindi Gamble’s high school pal.”
“Yes.”
“Hang on.”
I heard Slidell’s chair squeak, a drawer open, more squeaking.
“Madelyn Frederica Padgett. Guess Padgett wasn’t as crafty as Nolan at bagging Mr. Right.”
“She’s still single?”
“Eeyuh. Works as second engineer for Joe Gibbs Racing. Not sure what team. Maybe Joey Logano.” He read off a Charlotte address.
“Do you have a phone number?”
“Just a landline.”
I jotted it down.
“I’m going to squeeze Winge till he caves. Even if it takes all day and all night.”
“You know what troubles me?” I said.
“What’s that?”
“How could Winge get abrin to spike Wayne Gamble’s coffee?” I pictured the holes in the back of the skulls dug from the nature-preserve grave. “And why would he do that? Cindi and Cale were both shot execution-style.”
“Shrewd questions. For which I intend to get answers.”
Maddy Padgett had a voice like my grandma Daessee, smooth and Southern as fatback gravy.
I apologized for the early hour, then gave my name and reason for calling. “I’d like to talk to you about Cindi Gamble.”
“How did you get this number?”
“From a Charlotte PD homicide detective.”
“Homicide?”
“Yes.”
“Finally.”
“What do you mean?”
“Honey, you tell me.”
“I’d like to meet with you. Today, if possible.”
“You follow NASCAR?”
“Sure.” Sort of.
“You heard they moved the race forward to tonight?”
“Yes.”
“And now there’s a freakin’ sinkhole.”
“Yes.”
“The new start time is causing major-league havoc, so Joey wants me at the Speedway all day. Garages open at nine. We’ll be fine-tuning the car all morning. Joey’s got an autograph session
from one to two. Qualifying takes place at three, followed by a crew-and-driver meeting at the media center at six. The drivers are introduced at seven, then the Nationwide flag drops at eight. If it drops. What a nightmare.”
“It’s urgent that I speak with you.”
I held my breath, hoping she wouldn’t blow me off.
“I could give you a half hour around nine-thirty tonight.”
“Tell me where.”
“Come by Joey’s garage. I’ll arrange for a hot pass.”
She gave me the location and we disconnected.
I phoned Galimore’s mobile to tell him I’d be at the Speedway that night. As usual, he didn’t answer the phone.
What the flip? Was he monitoring calls, ignoring mine? Or was he just too busy to pick up?
I considered dialing Galimore’s office, instead left a message saying I’d be in the Nationwide garage area at nine-thirty.
After dressing, I went to the MCME to analyze Wayne Gamble’s reconstructed skull. I noted in the file that all fracture patterning was consistent with failure due to rapid loading caused by compression between the Chevy’s front end and the concrete wall.
I also updated the dossier on the landfill John Doe, adding that a positive identification had been made by the FBI based on dental records.
After lunch, I ran to SouthPark Mall to buy a birthday present for Harry. Then I returned home, washed several loads of laundry, and read the new issue of the Journal of Forensic Sciences.
At six I ate a dinner of lamb chops and peas. Then, out of ideas, I did a little more research on abrin. Printed out a few articles. Stuffed them in my jeans pocket in case I ended up having to wait for Padgett.
Throughout the endless day, I listened for the phone to ring. It didn’t. No Galimore. No Slidell. No Special or Special.
I also checked the clock. A lot. Each time, ten to twenty minutes had passed.
By seven, I was climbing out of my skin.
I decided to head to Concord early to see what all the fuss was about.
A mauve dusk was yielding to thunderheads mounding like enormous eggplants. The evening was electric with the feel of an impending storm.
The Speedway was another Hatter’s tea party of noise and turmoil. The sweaty, buggy air reeked of hot rubber, exhaust, sunbaked flesh, and fried food. Amplified announcements barely carried over the ear-splitting whine of engines screaming around a mile and a half of asphalt.
My pass was waiting at the gate, as promised. Again I was taken to the infield by golf cart.