Dead Guilty Part 38

"You have a little bit of insanity running in your family, don't you?"

"Possibly. What are you going to be doing this weekend?"

"I'm taking Kevin and Star to the Atlanta Raceway."

"Now, see, that's crazy. Is Star looking forward to that?"

"Sure, she loves it. Star knows quite a bit about cars."

Diane got out of bed and put on her clothes. She was lacing up her boots when Frank put his arms around her waist and kissed her on her jaw. "Watch where you're going."

"Always."

She loaded her gear in the SUV and drove to pick up Neva. The two of them were dressed similarly- jeans, tee-s.h.i.+rts and flannel s.h.i.+rts over them, lace-up boots. Neva stored her gear in the back and got in the front with Diane.

"Excited?" said Diane.

"Very nervous. My parents think I'm crazy."

"Funny, I was just told that too. You'll do fine. Didn't I hear that you're into tai chi?"

Neva nodded. "I like it a lot. Very relaxing exercise."

"As I understand it, one of the objectives of tai chi is to develop a tranquil mind and become aware of your surroundings."

"A lot of people think you learn to zone things out. It's really just the opposite."

"That will really help you caving. You have to be constantly aware of your surroundings, notice where you've been and watch for hazards. Once you've had enough practice, it's second nature."

"In some of the caver meetings we discussed differ ent methods of walking in caves so you don't get tired out," said Neva.

"It's good that you've done that. Fatigue is a major enemy. Remember to keep your head as high as you can as you walk. There's a natural tendency to want to stoop over inside a cave."

"Mike said we're going to start meeting at the museum."

"I thought it was a good idea. Up in the rock room, probably."

After a pause, Neva asked, "Who killed the man in the hospital? Everett Littleton, right?"

"It's still open. The nurse on duty has a vague mem ory of an orderly coming into the critical care unit. That's about all. Garnett likes Steven Mayberry for it."

"And you?"

"I don't know. It was someone who was bold and proficient, or reckless."

"Everett Littleton killed the three in the woods?"

"That's what it looks like. I think he tried to tell me he executed them, but with him dead, we may never know the whole story."

"Did he kill Chris, Kacie and Raymond too?"

"I don't know. Chief Garnett thinks either Everett Littleton or Steven Mayberry killed them."

"So Steven Mayberry went from forestry student to super ninja serial killer?" said Neva. "A lot of this just isn't tracking for me."

"Obviously, there are a lot of loose ends. But our part is over now. We've a.n.a.lyzed the crime scene evi dence and turned in our reports. It's up to the police and the D.A. to figure it out and make a case, if there's anyone left to make a case against."

"So many dead, and no one to prosecute," Neva said.

Mike Seger and a slightly husky young man with a short straggly beard stood waiting at the curb in front of Mike's house.

"This is d.i.c.k MacGregor," said Mike. "His cousin owns the land the cave is on."

"Yeah, it's my favorite cave," said MacGregor. "Did you like my map? I started it when I was a kid. I don't know much about how cartographers do it, so I just did it my way, as the song says."

"The only thing that matters in a map is that it reflects what's there," said Diane.

Mike shot her a glance as he climbed in the back seat. Diane was not above flattery if it got her access to an interesting cave.

They drove for twenty minutes and MacGregor chatted the whole time. Diane hoped he would tone it down inside the cave.

"Mike told me you've done a lot of caving on rope," he said.

"Yes, I have."

"I haven't done much of that. I'd like to learn."

"Mike says he has a friend who just opened a gym with a good rock-climbing wall," said Diane. "That'd be a good place to start working on your climbing muscles."

It was just daylight when they arrived at the cave. They piled out of the car, and Diane left her custom ary note and map detailing where they were going. She had also told Frank, Andie, David and Jonas. She never went caving without several people knowing where she was going and how to find her.

They hiked through the woods, through a gate and up a trail. The cave entrance in the side of a rock outcrop was s.h.i.+elded by thick brush and vines growing out of the cracks in the rock face.

At the entrance, Diane hung her compa.s.s around her neck and took a reading. They put on their hard hats, turned on their helmet lights and arranged their backpacks comfortably. MacGregor went in first.

"Anybody has claustrophobia, now's the time to say something," he said, and laughed.

Diane followed him. Neva came right behind her, and Mike brought up the rear.

The entrance chamber was small and filled with de tritus blown and washed in from the outside. The walls were steep solid rock that curved upward and inward to make a dome-shaped ceiling. The entrance didn't allow much sunlight to filter in, so the twilight zone- the dim area between the light of the outside world and the deep darkness of the cave-came quickly. Diane saw a black hole in the rear wall. She remem bered on the map it led to a short pa.s.sage and to a larger chamber beyond-the Tail of the Lizard, MacGregor had labeled it.

"Now entering the twilight zone," said MacGregor, and he hummed the theme song from the TV pro gram. Diane glanced in Mike's direction. He smiled and shrugged.

They had to duck low to enter the new pa.s.sage. The limestone walls closed in with smooth, undulating shapes with bulges that curved gently like the begin nings of an arm carved eons ago. They were entering the realm of geologic time where the ama.s.sing of years was almost impossible for humans, who have been on earth the mere blink of an eye, to wrap their brains around.

Diane loved everything about caves-the an cientness, the wildness, the ornate shapes, the bejew eled and flowered mineral features, cave creatures and even the absolute velvet darkness. The lights from their headlamps made strange shadow puppets of the shapes and protrusions of the wall. Had any of them been overweight, the pa.s.sage would have been a squeeze. She glanced briefly at Neva. She looked fine.

The tunnel was short. It led into a larger chamber strewn with boulders of various sizes, the largest being the size of a human. The rock face of one wall leaned toward the chamber, looking like it might fall over on top of them. They were in the dark zone now. Without their lights, they would be as blind as some of the creatures who lived there.

Diane turned and examined the tunnel they had just come through so she could recognize it from the oppo site direction. You have to learn how to see in a cave. You can see only in the direction your head faces because your light is on top of your head and points straight ahead. And in the darkness of a cave, the light beam is quickly swallowed up. You don't get the panoramic view your peripheral vision gives you up in the world of sunlight.

She took another reading of the marked it in her notebook. They all books. Mike had a camera and snapped shots of the formations, making a quick burst of light with each picture. He wrote things in his notebook that looked like chemical notations, from the brief glimpse Diane got of them. Neva drew sketches in her notebook. MacGregor looked like he was writing a novel. Per haps he was, and a cave was where his muse talked to him. Diane could understand that.

The easy trail through the cave was a succession of tunnels and rooms like beads on a string, frequently crossed by other pa.s.sageways. MacGregor's chatty na ture was useful inside the cave, for he freely explained what was down each pa.s.sage they crossed.

"There's lots of mazes in this cave-little twisting pa.s.sages that all look alike." He laughed, indicating that he'd just told a joke, or quoted something.

"Zork, an old computer game," Mike whispered to her. an old computer game," Mike whispered to her.

Sometimes they took one of the cross tunnels when it was marked as part of the easy route. They came compa.s.s and carried note to a pa.s.sage that MacGregor called Fish Scale pa.s.sage and was just what Diane thought it would be-a tun nel that once had water moving through it, creating scallops in the ancient streambed as it flowed. The steep side of the scallops was the upstream direction from which the water had traveled. The small size of the scallops and the curviness of the pa.s.sage told her that it had been a fast-moving stream. Mike snapped pictures, made measurements and explained the water movement to Neva as she rubbed her hand on the water-carved surface.

Diane continued taking compa.s.s readings as a pre lude to mapping. Direction gave her an understanding of the cave. That was how she defined a cave-a direc tional s.p.a.ce through rock. Her compa.s.s readings hardwired the cave system in her mind, giving her a visual image of it. That made it easy when she got down to actually drawing the maps. With every compa.s.s bear ing she took a backsight from the opposite direction to check her first reading, in case the cave had mag netic rocks that influenced the compa.s.s, or in case she made an error.

Mike moved ahead. Neva followed, and MacGregor walked quickly to catch up with Mike. Walk slowly in a cave, Walk slowly in a cave, thought Diane, but she didn't say anything. This particular tunnel was clear of breakdown, jutting or overhanging rocks. Not much to b.u.mp into or stum ble over. They came to another cross pa.s.sage. Diane tried to visualize it on the map. She walked slowly, looking at every feature of the tunnel. thought Diane, but she didn't say anything. This particular tunnel was clear of breakdown, jutting or overhanging rocks. Not much to b.u.mp into or stum ble over. They came to another cross pa.s.sage. Diane tried to visualize it on the map. She walked slowly, looking at every feature of the tunnel.

Mike had taken the lead, following the things he was interested in, and they all followed him. He fre quently checked the map to be sure they didn't stray into a wild zone. MacGregor seemed to be trying to regain leaders.h.i.+p.

"There's a small chimney up here," said MacGregor. "Are you game to give it a try, Neva?"

"I don't think so-not this time. Anyone notice that the lights are acting funny?"

"What do you mean?" asked Diane.

"I don't know. I think someone's light is flickering."

"It's not Mike snapping photographs?"

"Maybe."

"We better check out the headlamps," said Diane.

As they walked, the tunnel changed midstream, so to speak, from a rectangular pa.s.sage to a rounded tunnel.

"Well, this is interesting," said Diane.

"Funny how the shape changes," said Neva.

"The slope too," said Diane.

"Yeah, I've always wondered about it," said MacGregor.

Mike was scrutinizing the walls. He took photos of the change.

"What do you make of it?" asked Diane.

Mike grinned. "I think it's a place that marks the change from phreatic water movement to vadose water movement. This is why I love caving. Where else would you get to see this?"

"Ooookay," said MacGregor, "I'm glad we cleared up that little mystery-yes, sir, I'll sleep well tonight. What the heck does that mean?"

Mike had started to explain, when Diane heard a sharp crack. The next thing she knew, MacGregor was staring at her, a puzzled look on his face.

Chapter 44.

The first thing Diane saw after hearing the noise was blood dripping down MacGregor's s.h.i.+rtsleeve. He clutched at his arm and looked at the blood on his hand, confusion showing in his eyes.

"What the h.e.l.l?" Mike saw him and took a step toward him.

"Gun!" yelled Diane. "Get out of this tunnel."

She grabbed MacGregor and pulled him into a side pa.s.sage. Mike and Neva followed on her heels. The lights from their headlamps made chaotic swaths of light across the walls and ceiling. But she could see they were in a large chamber strewn with breakdown. Diane shoved MacGregor behind a large boulder.

"I'm bleeding. Is somebody shooting at us?"

"Who the h.e.l.l are you?" yelled Mike. "Are you crazy?"

"Dr. Fallon, you're a hard woman to find. Good thing you left maps and directions for me."

The voice sounded familiar, but it was distorted by the echo effects of the large chamber they were in.

"What do you want?" she yelled.

"I want my G.o.dd.a.m.n f.u.c.king diamonds."

"Diamonds?" MacGregor's voice was approaching a high-pitched squeak. "What's he talking about? There's no diamonds in this cave," he yelled. "I'd have found them already."

Diane turned off her headlamp and Mike and Neva followed suit. She reached over and turned off MacGregor's. The eerie glow of a flashlight radiated around the corner from the pa.s.sage they just left.

"I don't have your diamonds," said Diane.

"You know where they are, and I'm going to haul your a.s.s back to get them."

"You know, it's not safe to shoot off a gun in a cave," said Diane.

"Then don't give me any trouble."

"Detective LaSalle?"

"Right on the first try."

"How did you get here so fast?"

"I never left."