'Hurry up,' Gault's impatient voice sounded from somewhere beyond the room.
She looked in the dresser mirror and smoothed her hair. For an instant, she was staring straight into the camera at close range, and I was startled by her deterioration. I once had thought her beautiful, with her clean complexion, perfect features and long brown hair. The creature standing before us now was gaunt and glassy eyed, with harsh white hair. She buttoned the suit jacket and walked off.
'What do you make of that?' Tucker asked Marino.
'I don't know. I've looked at it a dozen times and can't figure it out.'
'She's misplaced something,' Wesley said. 'That seems obvious.'
'Maybe it was just a last check,' Marino said. 'To make certain nothing was overlooked.'
'Like a video camera,' Tucker wryly said.
'She didn't care if something was overlooked,' Wesley said. 'She left Gault's bloody handkerchief on the floor.'
'But both of them was wearing gloves,' Marino said. 'I'd say they were pretty careful.'
'Was any money stolen from the house?' Wesley asked.
Marino said, 'We don't know how much. But Brown's wallet was cleaned out. He was probably missing guns, drugs, cash.'
'Wait a minute,' I said. 'The envelope.'
'What envelope?' Tucker asked.
'They didn't put it in his pocket. We watched them dress him and zip him up inside the pouch, but no envelope. Rewind it,' I said. 'Go back to that part to make certain I'm right.'
Marino rewound the tape and replayed the footage of Carrie and Gault moving the body out of the room. Brown was definitely zipped inside the pouch without the pink note that I had found in the breast pocket of his pajamas. I thought of other notes I had gotten and of all the problems Lucy was having with CAIN. The envelope had been addressed to me and fixed with a stamp as if the author's intention were to mail it.
'That may be what Carrie couldn't find,' I said. 'Maybe she's been the one sending me the letters. She intended to mail this most recent one, too, explaining why it was addressed and stamped. Then, unbeknownst to her, Gault put it in Brown's pajama pocket.'
Wesley asked, 'Why would Gault do that?'
'Perhaps because he knew the effect it would have,' I replied. 'I would see it in the morgue and instantly know that Brown was murdered and Gault was involved.'
'But what you're saying is that Gault isn't CAIN. You're saying that Carrie Grethen is,' Marino said.
It was Lucy who spoke. 'Neither of them is CAIN. They are spies.'
We were silent for a moment.
'Obviously,' I said, 'Carrie has continued helping Gault with the FBI computer. They are a team. But I think he took the note she wrote to me and did not tell her. I think that's what she was looking for.'
'Why would she look for it in Brown's bedroom?' Tucker wondered. 'Is there a reason she might have had it in there?'
'Certainly,' I said. 'She took her clothes off in there. Perhaps it was in a pocket. Play that part, Marino. When Gault is moving the dark clothing off the bed.'
He went back to that segment, and though we could not specifically see Gault remove the letter from a pocket, he did tamper with Carrie's clothing. He certainly could have gotten her letter at that time. He could have placed it in Brown's pocket later, in the back of the van or perhaps in the morgue.
'So you're really thinking she's the one who's been sending the notes to you?' Marino asked skeptically.
'I think it's probable. |