Hearts of Sand(50)

Gregor went back to the security pictures. He went back and forth.

The accomplice could have been Martin Veer. In fact, faced with this same evidence, if he’d have been on the case at the time, that’s the way he would have bet. There was still something about it he didn’t like.

He went back to the picture book and paged through slowly, looking at photographs so wildly divergent, they might have had nothing to do with one another. Some of those photographs were of the principals as small children. In those, Martin Veer was freckled and awkward. There was another set that consisted of baby pictures. Gregor looked through the Bureau file and found that the agents had picked up on this the first time Ray Guy Pearce published them, and had discovered that these same photographs were genuine.

After that, the file contained a lot of references to Ray Guy Pearce and his publishing company, but in the end they had come to nothing. It was obvious somebody was feeding him material, but nobody had ever discovered who that was. The last note suggested that Ray Guy Pearce might be getting fed by more than one person, especially if he was paying them.

He paged through more photographs, one coming after the other with only the slightest nod to organization.

He put the book away and thought for a moment.

The day after tomorrow was the Fourth of July. If he was going to get something done, he would have to do it fast.

There were at least two things that would make sense if only you worked them right.

The first of those things he would have to deal with tomorrow.





FOUR

1

Evaline Veer hadn’t been able to sleep all night. She’d finally given up trying at half past four, and at quarter to six she’d started into the center of town again. The walk was eerily quiet, as if lots of people were taking the day off before the Fourth.

Evaline was just coming around the corner at the depot when she saw a very tall, massively built man get out of the backseat of a car and come around to the depot’s front door. She hesitated. There was no mistaking who the man was, even though she had never met him. In the natural order of things, she would be introduced to him by Jason Battlesea, or one of the detectives. She was a little miffed that Jason hadn’t brought him over yesterday.

There was a lot to do yesterday, she told herself as Demarkian walked through the station’s doors. Evaline went in after him. She looked for him at the single open ticket window, but he wasn’t there. She spotted him at the newsstand. He was taking an absolute armload of books and putting them on the counter.

Evaline thought it over for a split second, and then walked right over to him. The books he’d laid on the counter were all books about Chapin Waring.

She leaned close to him without touching and said, “Mr. Demarkian? We should be introduced. I’m Evaline Veer.”

Gregor Demarkian looked up from his apparent attempt to buy one copy of every title of what the newsstand had of those books.

“Evaline Veer,” he said.

“I’m the mayor,” Evaline said helpfully. “I just thought I’d come over and introduce myself.”

“It’s very good to meet you,” Demarkian said. “Give me a second here.”

Evaline watched as he turned away from her and took out his wallet to pay for the books. The man behind the counter found a big bag and piled them all inside.

“Boy,” the man said. “You must be taking the train to Hawaii.”

Evaline waited until Gregor Demarkian turned back to her and tried a smile.

“Is that what you came in here for?” she asked. “I was worried you were taking the train back to Philadelphia. I know we must seem completely clueless out here. Jason indicated that you might be a little—annoyed.”

“Not annoyed, exactly,” Gregor said. “A little exasperated might be more like it.”

“Because of the forensics, and all that kind of thing?” Evaline asked. “I do know that the state crime lab has lost its accreditation. Connecticut prides itself on being very sophisticated, but the truth is we’re mostly suburbs with a few small urban spots that are going completely to hell. It’s not New York out here, even if most of the people in town work in New York.”

Gregor Demarkian tilted his head, as if he were trying to think something through. Then he straightened it again and said, “I don’t mind the weakness of the forensics, or even the lack of acquaintance with serious crime. It’s my job to help people out with just those things. No, what was getting me a little exasperated was the lack of interest in the crime at hand. All anybody seems to want to talk to me about is the crime that happened thirty years ago.”

“Ah,” Evaline said.