The Zero Hour

“What’s her name?”

“Cahill, I think. Sarah Cahill.”

“I know the name. Big in Lockerbie. Counterterrorism expert. Wonder why she’s looking into Elkind. Hmm. I want to talk to her. Get her in here. Meantime, why don’t you two go home and get some sleep?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Early the next morning, after Peter had arrived to take Jared for the day, Sarah drove in to work. Saturdays at the office had become ritual since Peter’s weekend visits had begun. Anyway, she had a lot of work to catch up on, and she wanted to search for anything she could find on Valerie’s killer.

It turned out not to be necessary.

When she arrived at work, there was a voice-mail message from Teddy Williams. She listened, and immediately took a drive over to the Homicide Squad.

“What have you got?” Sarah asked him.

“Blowback,” Teddy said. This was the sometimes invisible spray of a victim’s blood found on the shooter’s clothing.

“On what?”

“A sport coat we found in the giant closet belonging to a guy named Sweet Bobby Higgins.”

Sarah leaned against the wall, eyes closed. She felt queasy. “Sweet-?”

“Sweet Bobby Higgins lives in a big house in Maiden with no less than four wives. They refer to each other as wives-in-law. I think three of them are sisters. Each of them has his made-up crest tattooed below her navel.”

“Sort of like you’d brand cattle. Who is he?”

“Sort of an on-again, off-again boyfriend of your friend Valerie’s madam. An enforcer.”

“I doubt it.”

“Valerie was cheating on her, and the madam knew it.”

“Maybe she knew it, but I doubt she’d have some pimp whack Val. You got a tip?”

“We were there on a routine search warrant, based on the madam’s phone records. Your ex-husband saw it first. A white-and-gold jacket, looked like the sleeves were soiled. Peter looked closer, saw tiny drops, like elongated tears or commas, maybe a sixteenth of an inch long. Sweet Bobby didn’t see any blood. When we found it, he looked like he was getting ready to flex.”

“You did a PGM test?” She was referring to a phosphoglucomutase enzyme test.

“Precise match with Val’s blood. And if you’re thinking it’s a plant, he doesn’t have an alibi. Hinky as hell.”

“Does he deny the jacket is his?”

Ted laughed raucously. “Not with a straight face. That’s the ugliest jacket I’ve ever seen.”

“Ballistics?”

“Sweet Bobby’s got a Glock. Matches the 9mm rounds used on Valerie Santoro.”

“You think that clinches it? What did Ballistics tell you?”

Defensively: “They got a match.”

She shook her head. “Glocks aren’t bored. So it’s a lot more difficult to make a definitive ballistic match. But you want to say Sweet Bobby did it, go ahead. That’s your business. I really don’t give a shit, and as far as I’m concerned, the more pimps you lock up the better.”

“Degrading to women, is that it?”

“They’re just scumbags. You’d better hope he doesn’t have a lawyer slick enough to pick up on the Glock thing, or else the case’ll be dismissed without prejudice. You still don’t have a witness, do you?”

“This is a guy with priors.”

“And if you guys don’t get your clearance rate up, you’ll both be transferred to Auto Theft. No need to get defensive on me, Ted. I really don’t care. Congratulations, okay?”

***

Late in the afternoon, driving home through the streets of Cambridge, Sarah passed a large grassy field and saw Peter and Jared. Wearing muddy jeans and T-shirts, they were throwing a football. It had just started raining. Peter was making large, sweeping gestures; Jared looked small and awkward. He gave his mother an enthusiastic wave when he saw her get out of the car.

Peter turned, gave a perfunctory thumbs-up.

“You’re early,” he shouted.

“Mind if I watch for a couple minutes?”

“It’s okay, Mom,” Jared called out. “Dad’s just showing me how to run pass patterns.”

Peter now pointed, making jabbing motions. “A square-out,” he called to Jared. “Go straight five yards, and then cut right five yards. All right?”

“Straight and then right?” Jared asked. His voice was high, reedy.

“Go!” Peter shouted suddenly, and Jared began running. Peter hesitated, then threw the football, and Jared caught it. Sarah smiled.

“No!” Peter yelled. “I said a square-out, didn’t I? You’re supposed to cut on a dime. You’re running a square-out like a fly pattern!”

“I don’t even remember what a fly pattern is,” Jared said.

“You run straight out, fast as you can, and I throw it over your head. A square-out, you cut right. Get it?”

Jared ran back toward his father. As he ran, he shouted defiantly: “Yeah, but I caught it!”

“Jerry, buddy, you’re not catching the ball right either. You’re just using your hands. Don’t just use your hands. Bring it into your chest. Get your body in front of it.”

“I don’t want to get hit.”

“Don’t be a pussy,” Peter said. “You can’t be afraid of the ball. Don’t be a pussy. Try it again, let’s go!”

Jared began running, then pivoted to the right, slipping a little in the mud.