KISS THE WITCH (15 page)

“
He’s clean.”

“
Mister Snow, do you know
why we are here?”

He scoffed. “I hope you’re here to find out
the truth.”

“
The truth?”

“
About what happened to
Gerardi, Brookfield, Williams and Delaney.”

“
And McSweeney?” said
Carlos.

Snow seemed surprised. “Her, too?”

“
What is the truth?” I
asked.

“
The truth,” said Snow,
“is that the government killed those people and they want to kill
me, too.”

“
Why is that?”

“
You know why. QE647. They
want to snuff out everyone involved in its research and
development.”

“
So it’s true? QE647 is
not a sweetener?”

He laughed nervously. “Please. You have no
idea, Detective. QE647 will change the course of humanity. I knew
from the beginning the government would never let knowledge of its
existence go public. It’s Area 51 all over again. I’m telling you.
I just didn’t know they would kill for it.”

“
Who has it now,” I asked.
“Did you steal it?”

“
What? Is that what they
told you? Detective, don’t you see? It’s a sham, a cover-up. No one
stole the compound. It’s a blame game to throw you off track. Did
you see they blew up my house?”

“
We did.”

“
They want you to think
I’m dead so that you will stop looking for me.”

“
Why would they want us to
do that?”

“
So they can find me and
kill me without anyone knowing what ever happened to me. Ha, don’t
think for a moment they don’t wish I was in the house when it blew.
Ah, but I’m too smart for them. After Williams and Delaney, I knew
it was no coincidence. They must think I’m an idiot not to know
they are after me now.”

“
Mister Snow, I don’t
understand. If Biocrynetix Laboratories wants to keep this all
under wraps, why did Ferguson report the theft of the compound to
the police?”

“
Because Ferguson is
afraid for his life, too. Hell, the only reason he’s still alive is
that he has no idea what is in QE647. He knows what it is. He just
couldn’t help anyone replicate it.”

I looked at Carlos. He seemed to be buying
the story, and frankly, so was I. Things were beginning to make a
lot more sense to me now.

“
Mister Snow. We had
cadaver dogs out at your house this morning. The police know you
were not in the house when it blew.”

“
Damn it. Detective,
please, you have to help me. I have nowhere else to turn. I lost my
wife last night you know. She died.”

“
We know that. We’re sorry
for your loss.”

He shook his head. “Probably for the better.
I would not be able to stay away from her. We would both make easy
targets.”

“
I think we can help you.
We can hold off reports regarding your house for a while, maybe buy
you time. Buy us some time, as well.”

“
You would do
that?”

“
I’ll try, but you will
have to promise me you won’t leave town, at least until we can
piece a few more bits of this puzzle together. If you would like, I
can have the neighborhood patrolled every so often.”

“
No. Don’t do that. I
would rather no one knows you found me. I cannot trust a soul. You
can’t trust a soul, not even your own people.”

“
You can trust us,” I
said.

Carlos nodded.

Snow said, “Listen. I will stay here awhile
longer only under the condition you not to tell anyone. Do we have
a deal?”

“
We have a deal,” I said,
and we shook on it.

The rain began falling harder just as we
were climbing back into Carlos’ car. He mumbled something about
having just waxed it, but I paid no attention. “What do you think
of Howard Snow?” I asked.

“
Don’t like him,” he said
flatly.

“
Why not?”

“
Who the hell does he
think he is, asking if we have a deal? He is in no position to make
deals with anyone. We should have hauled him in. Been done with
it.”

“
We could,” I said, “but
then we would have to turn around and let him go again.”

“
Why?”

“
We have nothing on him.
Besides, I don’t think he stole anything. The man is afraid for his
life. And with good reason.”

“
I suppose.” Carlos
started the car, turned the wipers on and pulled out heading north
on Monroe. “So, what do we do now?”

I took my phone out and hit speed dial for
Spinelli. “We do some more digging. By the way, where are we going?
The Justice Center is the other way.”

Carlos pointed out the window. “The 7-11. I
forgot to pick up a lotto ticket this morning.”

“
A lotto ticket? Carlos,
what the hell? You don’t have enough money already? Give someone
else a chance.”

“
What? I can
play.”

“
Yes, but…. Wait. Dominic.
It’s me. What do you mean, me who? It’s Tony. Look, I need you to
find out all you can about the relationship between Biocrynetix
Laboratories, its investors and the government. I want to know
where the research money is really coming from. Can you do that?
Good. We will see you soon. What? No. Carlos is swinging by the
7-11 for lotto tickets. You what? All right. Fine.
Goodbye.”

I put my phone away just as Carlos was
pulling into the 7-11 parking lot. Before hopping out, he asked me
if I wanted anything.

“
No,” I said, shaking my
head, “but Spinelli wants a lotto ticket, too.”

“
Oh?” He gave me a look as
if not sure what to do. “Did he give you numbers?”

“
No. Can’t you do a
quick-pick?”

“
Yeah but….”

“
But what?”

“
I do the quick-pick for
myself.”

“
So?”

“
If I get two quick-picks,
how will I know which one is his?”

“
Easy. His will be the
losing ticket.”

“
Oh,” he said, seemingly
satisfy with that.

Shortly after Carlos went into the store,
Lilith called to tell me she was going shopping and wanted to know
if I needed anything. I don’t know why; call it pride or
superstition, but I did ask Lilith to pick me up a lotto ticket. A
big part of me hoped it would not win, though. Listening to Carlos
would probably take all the fun out of it.

We arrived back at the Justice Center on the
heels of a torrent. I calculated that if Carlos had not stopped for
lotto tickets we would have made it into the building minutes
before the heaviest rains fell. Worse still was that Carlos had no
umbrellas in his car. Said he left them in his other Vette. I
reminded him he was a millionaire and could afford to put one in
all his cars. He promised he would if his new ticket won.

Just as I stepped out of the car, a patrol
unit passed by, hit a puddle and dowsed me in dirty water from head
to toe. Carlos saw it happen and was quick to inform me that an
umbrella would not have helped. He ran ahead of me to the covered
overhang. I walked, reasoning that rainwater was better than dirty
street water. To be honest, though, it sucked just as bad.

Upstairs, Spinelli had better news for me.
Through the Freedom of Information Act, he was able to produce
documents indicating the U.S. Department of Agriculture contracted
with Biocrynetix Laboratories to conduct research on a corn syrup
substitute. When I asked how much the contract was for, he could
not tell me.

“
The problem,” he said,
“lies in the fact that the Department of Agriculture has a budget
allowed by Congress, but that Congress does not require
accountability for every dollar spent. The GAO oversees
that.

“
GAO?” said
Carlos.

“
U.S. Government
Accountability Office,” I said.

Spinelli added, “I’ve petitioned the
Comptroller General’s Office for figures relating to DOA’s affairs
with Biocrynetix Laboratories, but they told me to get in
line.”

“
What does that
mean?”

“
It means they are
backlogged with thousands of requests to furnish information on
everything from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, the
Troubled Asset Relief program, the auto industry bailout, and
financial aid to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan–you name it.
Cutting through the red tape could take years.”

“
We don’t have years,”
said Carlos.

“
Don’t need it,” I said.
“But this does swing the pendulum back to the corn syrup substitute
question. Which means Snow is not telling us everything he
knows.”

“
Then what do we
do?”

“
We need to go back and
see Howard Snow.”

Carlos gave me a look as though I had
stepped in dog shit and wiped it on my pant leg. “We are not taking
my car, are we?”

“
Don’t worry,” I said.
“You and Dominic go. I have to go home to shower and
change.”

“
You want us to bring him
in?”

“
No. Keep back a ways. Sit
on him and observe awhile until I catch up with you. Maybe we will
get lucky and find there is someone else involved in
this.”

“
Okay. You got
it.”

The two of them started
away when I called back to Spinelli. He turned reluctantly, and
from the look on his face, I knew he knew what I wanted. I put my
hand out and gestured a
give it
here
thing with my fingers.

“
What?” he said. He
knew.

“
You know.”

“
Tony, please. I just had
the inside detailed.”

“
Come on, Dominic. I’m
only dirty on the front.” He knew he had no choice.

“
Do I have a
choice?”

I smiled. He tossed me the keys.

It stopped raining about the time I got home.
Not that it mattered. I could not have gotten any wetter. I knew
Lilith and Ursula had gone out shopping, but as soon as I stepped
through the door, I hollered out to be sure.

“
Lilith? I’m home.
Ursula?”

No answer. I took that as an omen that my
luck was changing. I stripped out of my wet clothes right at the
door, grabbed a towel from the hall closet and headed for the
bathroom. I have no idea why I did not find it strange that the
bathroom door was shut. I suppose my mind was on the case and not
entirely on my surroundings. And it certainly didn’t help matters
that I pitched the towel over my head before walking in, covering
my eyes as I rubbed my hair dry.

She saw me first. I know this because she
screamed. Then I screamed, took the towel off my head and screamed
again. Naturally, she screamed again. I covered myself quickly with
the towel, at least where it mattered, effectively putting a lid on
all the screaming.

“
Ursula. What are you
doing here?”

She unplugged her earphones from the iPod.
“Master Tony, why art thou here?”

“
I just asked you the same
thing.”

“
Is it not obvious?” She
looked down at the bed of soap bubbles floating on the water and
gathered them around her. “I am in the bath.”

“
I see that, but why are
you here?”

“
Why?” Her eyes meandered
in silent drift, as if the answer might lie in the candles and
incense burning all around her. They came back with a curious
blink. “Where else would thou have me bathe?”

“
No, Ursula, what I mean
is, I thought you and Lilith went shopping.”

“
Aye, so we
were.”

“
And?”

“
My mind
changed.”

“
I see. Well, forgive me
for barging in. I’m sorry if I startled you.”

“
Indeed,” she said. “Thou
hast startled me wicked.” She pointed at the towel. “But I
recognized thee in time.”

“
What, you
mean….”

“
Aye.” She nodded lightly,
and a guilty smirk dimpled her cheeks. “Art thou not happy to see
me?”

“
Sorry?”

“
Lilith explained it to me
you know.”

“
Explained
what?”

“
Men. How thee can tell
when men are happy to see you. She said you were most happy to see
me last night, but not so much now I see.”

“
Ursula. Lilith did not…
It does not exactly work that way. Did she really say
that?”

“
Aye. `Tis still a wonder
to my thoughts what doth birds and bees to do with it.”

I took a deep breath and let it out feeling
increasingly uncomfortable about the whole situation. “Okay then,”
I said. “I’ll get out of your hair now.”

“
My hair?”

“
It’s an expression. Don’t
over-analyze it.”

I backed out of the bathroom with the towel
firmly in place and my dignity firmly displaced. Ursula kept her
eyes on me the entire time, either to make sure I shut the door
behind me or to catch a glimpse of my retreating ass. Naturally, I
assumed the latter, as I still had an ounce of shame to
surrender.

I showered in the other bathroom, dressed
and returned to the living room to collect my wet clothes. Ursula
was there. She had finished her bath, dressed in jeans, a pullover
blouse and sneakers. Although I was happier to see her like that,
she likely would have been disappointed to find that my barometer
for measuring such things remained unchanged.