Dead Hunt Part 27

"Do I want to know what that was about?" said Kingsley.

"Museum stuff."

They stopped once more so he could look at the Brachiosaurus, then moved on to the osteology lab and Diane's office, where she had the pictures from Colonel Kade. There was something she wanted to look at in the pictures that nudged at the back of her mind.

Chapter 43.

Diane sat down behind her desk in the osteology office. Kingsley pulled the upholstered burgundy chair nearer to her desk and sat down.

"This is nice," he said, settling into the deep comfort. "It is. It's a nice reading chair."

Diane called up her e-mail and printed out Alex Kade's message to her containing the photographs and the summary of information he had told her over the phone.

"I think you will find this interesting," said Diane. She handed him the material.

Kingsley was smiling when he sat down, wondering about the conversation about exhibit preparations, no doubt. His smile quickly turned to a frown.

"This explains almost everything," he said. "This man Heinrich, or Greene, or whatever you want to call him, was her first kill. He has to be. I'd bet my reputation on it."

"That's what I thought," said Diane.

"Diane"-he gently struck the pages with his hand-"this is just the kind of thing I had hoped for. How did you find this?"

She told him about Col. Alex Kade and his crusade.

"He deserves all the credit," she said. "He cropped the photographs out of consideration for my sensibilities. He said he would send the complete pictures if we need them."

The marshals wanted only to find Clymene to put her back in prison. Kingsley wanted more than that. He wanted to understand what had created her. For that he needed detailed information about what she had experienced.

"I'll take his e-mail address from here." He gestured at the page. "And ask him to send the pictures to my office. You know, I feel sorry for her. She was what, fourteen, fifteen? What kid should have to go through this?"

"I feel sorry for that little girl in the pictures. The adult has a choice," said Diane.

"Does she? Does she really have a choice when- if we are right-her father sold her to a maniac who enslaved her in the s.e.x trade?" He sighed. "Who really has choices?"

Diane didn't argue with him, but she didn't agree with him, at least not completely.

"I wish we had her real name," he said.

"I've been thinking about that. Did you ever see Clymene's cell?" asked Diane.

"Yes."

"How was it decorated?" she asked.

"Simply. She had pictures of flowers in vases. I think she tore them out of magazines."

"Were they irises, roses, and lilies?" asked Diane.

Kingsley looked surprised. "Yes . . . they were. Only those flowers."

"Those are the three sisters' names," said Diane. "Clymene's name is Iris. Her sisters are Rose and Lily."

"It makes sense-triplets, flowers. Easier than names that rhyme," he said. But how the devil did you come up with that?"

"At lunch I saw the waitress putting wildflowers on the tables and it tickled something in the back of my mind . . . something I had seen. Look at the pictures Colonel Kade sent. Every picture has an iris in a clear vase in the background. When I spoke with Rev. Rivers, we were in the chapel. He said most of the flower arrangements were by Clymene. The arrangements were of three flowers-irises, roses, and lilies."

"So all we need now is a last name," he said, grinning. "See, you did this very fast. I knew I was right in bribing you."

Diane gave him half a smile. The phone on her desk rang and she picked it up.

"Fallon," she said, still smiling at Kingsley.

"Dr. Fallon, I'm Trenton Bernard, an estate attorney in Seattle. I'm calling in regard to your e-mail. It says you are the director of the crime lab in Rosewood, Georgia?"

"Yes, Mr. Bernard. Do you mind if I put you on speakerphone? I have Ross Kingsley, an FBI profiler, with me and we are both working on the case."

"I suppose that's all right. I have to say, this is very strange," he said.

Kingsley's attention perked up when he heard his name. He leaned forward as Diane switched the phone over to speaker.

"h.e.l.lo, Mr. Bernard," said for speaking with us."

"Do you know the woman asked Diane.

"I know someone who looks very much like her," he said.

Kingsley. "Thank you in the photograph?" "How do you know her?" asked Diane.

"She was married to a client of mine. But I have to tell you, this can't be the same woman you e-mailed about. The woman I know is just the nicest woman. However, I was persuaded by my secretary that I should probably call because the woman in the photograph looks so much like her," he said.

"Can you tell us about her?" said Diane. "Her name is Estelle Redding. She and my client Glenn Redding were married about three years altogether. Glenn is now deceased," he said.

Kingsley raised his eyebrows at Diane. Diane nodded.

"He was one of Seattle's most prominent citizens and they were a good couple. Very much in love."

"How did he die?" asked Kingsley.

"It was tragic. He had tracted a staph infection.

bypa.s.s surgery and conThey just couldn't get it under control. As soon as they thought he was getting over it, it would flare up again. Hospitals are so bad these days for staph infections. Now I hear that sports locker rooms have the same problem. It's frightening. Poor Glenn suffered terribly before he died."

"When was this?" asked Diane.

"He died in 2001," he said.

"Who inherited?" asked Diane.

"Estelle inherited the bulk of the estate. I know that sounds suspicious, but it wasn't," he said.

"Why do you say that?" asked Kingsley.

"About a year before Glenn died, he came in to change his will. It stands out clearly in my mind. Estelle was with him. He had children from a previous marriage-two sons and one daughter. They were all grown. He was furious with all of them because of some irresponsible behaviors, which I won't go into. He wanted to cut them out of the will. He was adamant. Estelle told him that they were his children and even though he was angry with them now, he wouldn't always be. And that they may be irresponsible now, but they wouldn't be forever. She told him to make some provision he could live with, but he shouldn't cut them out. Estelle had a very calming effect on Glenn. She was that way. Then I remember she stood up and said that the two of us could figure out something that would work and she was going shopping. Now, does that sound like a woman who is a gold digger?"

"What did Mr. Redding do?" said Diane.

"He had a few special bequeathals and a few charities he wanted to give money to, but the bulk of everything went to Estelle, along with a letter saying that when she felt the children were mature and responsible, she was to give them their portion."

"Did she?" asked Diane.

"She was angry at the boys. They had demanded money before their father was even buried. After the will was probated, she came to me and said she was going to wait on the boys to see how they turned out, that she was still angry with them. However, she set up a generous trust for the daughter with a bonus if she graduated from a good college. She also did something which I thought was very kind and not many women would do."

"What was that?" asked Kingsley.

"Glenn and his first wife had a very acrimonious divorce. Just before he died, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It went into remission for a while but returned with a vengeance. Estelle told me that she knew Glenn hated Marilee when he was alive, but where he was now he would approve of what she was about to do. She gave Marilee two million dollars so she could be comfortable before she pa.s.sed. Now, does that sound like a woman who would do the things described in your e-mail?"

"That was very kind and decent," said Kingsley. "How much money was in the estate?"

"Roughly two hundred million dollars total value. Some in cash and the rest in investments and real estate," he said.

Both he and Diane looked at each other. Kingsley shook his head. "Wow," he silently mouthed to her.

"What did Estelle look like?" asked Diane.

"In the face, very much like the photograph in your e-mail. Not as much makeup. And her hair was platinum, I think it's called. She was quite a striking woman."

"Would you know if she liked flowers?" Diane asked.

"Yes, she did. Her greenhouse was filled with roses, lilies, and irises."

"Does she keep in touch?" asked Kingsley.

"She did up until about two years ago. She said she was going to travel. Go to some of the places she and Glenn went to. She called several times and asked how the boys were doing. Unfortunately, I could never give her good news."

"Thank you for speaking with us," said Kingsley. "We may be calling to speak with you again."

"I hope I've been helpful," he said. "As I said, I cannot believe that she is the same woman you are inquiring about . . . but I thought that I should call."

"You have been very helpful," said Diane. "You did the right thing. Thank you."

Diane hung up the phone, sat back, and looked at Kingsley.

"What do you think?" asked Kingsley.

"I think she's a clever girl. I believe she maneuvered her husband ahead of time in the decision about the will. It's like the card trick where I keep asking you to pick a card out of several that I show you. When I finally reveal the card you chose, you are surprised and wonder how I knew, when all the time I was guiding you to the card I wanted you to pick."

"I agree," said Kingsley. "That's exactly what she did. She had Redding primed before he went into the attorney's office. She made herself so reasonable and trustworthy, talked about all the different ways he could handle the will. By the time he got to the lawyer's office, he probably thought the whole idea was his. What about the gifts to the daughter and the mother?"

Diane shrugged. "Cooling the mark. Showing how generous she really is, to take attention off the fact that the boys weren't getting anything and she was getting so much. And it could be that she identifies with the daughter and maybe the mother."

"You're good at this," said Kingsley.

"I'm becoming cynical, is what I am," said Diane. "We were right; she had killed before. This deadly staph infection of Redding's sounds very much like the teta.n.u.s method she used with Archer O'Riley."

"I noticed that too," said Kingsley.

"You said you have some news," said Diane.

"I do. I showed a linguist the written entries in Clymene's sc.r.a.pbooks. There isn't much, but he identified some wording in the archaeology-theme sc.r.a.pbook that is pretty specific to a place. In one of the photographs the archaeology crew are receiving mail. The text says, 'The mail was just called over.' "

"I've never heard that expression," said Diane.

"It's unique to the Outer Banks of North Carolina," he said. "I think we may know where she is from."

Diane looked up as the door opened. Jin's head peeked in.

"Hi. I found a relative of the triplets. Interested?"

Chapter 44.

"So," said Frank, sitting down on the couch and pulling Diane into his arms, "you're going on a road trip tomorrow."

"Plane trip. New Bern, North Carolina. About five hundred miles from here," said Diane. "Kingsley wants to interview her as soon as possible and not give her any advance notice. He doesn't want to give her the chance to back out of seeing us, or possibly even notify Clymene."

"And she is?" he asked.

"Carley Volker. She had her complete DNA profile posted on one of those ancestry Web sites. Jin did a good job finding her. It's not as easy as simply matching charts. There's a lot of mathematical probability that goes into finding common alleles among relatives."

"So tell me what you know," he said.

Diane liked to talk cases out with Frank. He had a way of asking questions that made her think.

"Not a lot that we know. A lot we have some good guesses about. One of the problems is that they are identical triplets. Some of the photographs we're finding may not be Clymene, but one of her sisters. h.e.l.l, for all I know they may all be in this together-three little black widows all raking in the money."

"So, what do you think you know?" said Frank.