Wild fire

“Around 26 Fed, I’m just one of the boys.”

He smiled at her, and responded, “I think they need eyeglasses at 26 Fed.”

Good old Bain. A man’s man, and a ladies’ man. A real sociopathic charmer.

Anyway, Madox figured we were finished with business and continued to charm Ms. Mayfield. “So, how was your yodeling class?”

Kate seemed a little confused by the question, so I said helpfully, “Yoga class.”

“Oh…” said Mr. Madox. “I thought you said yodeling class.” He chuckled and admitted to Kate, “My hearing is not what it used to be.”

Kate glanced at me. “It was a good class.”

Madox asked her, “How are you enjoying The Point?”

“It’s very nice.”

“I hope you’re staying for di

Kate replied, “We’d pla

“Good. In fact, since there’s no one here, and no one would know, you’re welcome to stay overnight.”

I didn’t know if that included me, but I replied, “We may take you up on that.”

“Good. It’s a long trip back to The Point-especially if you’ve been drinking, which you’re not doing enough of.” He smiled at me and expanded on the subject by saying, “Also, you’re not driving a vehicle that you’re familiar with.”

I didn’t reply.

He continued, “Let’s see-yesterday, you had a Taurus; this morning, you had a Hyundai; and tonight, you have Rudy’s van. Have you found something you like?”

I hate wiseasses, unless they’re me. I said to him, “I was just about to ask you to loan me a Jeep.”

He didn’t respond to that but inquired, “Why are you changing vehicles so often?”

To confuse him with the truth, I replied, “We’re on the run from the law.”

He gri

Kate said, “We’ve had problems with our two rental vehicles.”

“Ah. Well, I’m sure they would have given you another one-but that was good of Rudy to loan you his van.” He returned to the investigation. “I’ve made some inquiries, and this suspected homicide hasn’t even come to the attention of the sheriff’s office.” He informed us, “They’re still ruling it an accident.”

I noted, “This investigation is Federal and state, not local. What’s your point?”

“No point. Just an observation.”

“I think you should leave the jurisdictional aspects of this case to the law.”

He didn’t answer, and neither did he seem a

I didn’t know if Bain Madox knew that for sure, but he definitely knew that we hadn’t made a cell-phone call within ten or fifteen miles of here.

So we sat in neutral for a minute-logs blazing, scotch and crystal glistening in the fire-then Madox said to Kate, “I expressed my condolences to Mr. Corey, and I’d like to do the same to you. Was Mr. Muller a friend of yours, also?”

Kate replied, “He was a close colleague.”

“Well, I’m truly sorry. And I’m very upset that Mr. Corey believes that one of my security staff may have been involved in Mr. Muller’s death.”

“I also believe that. And on the subject of upset, you can imagine how upset Detective Muller’s children are to learn that their father is not only dead but was probably murdered.” She stared at our host.

Madox returned the stare but did not respond.

Kate continued, “And the rest of his family, and his friends and colleagues. When it’s murder, the grief turns to anger very quickly.” She informed our host, “I’m damned angry.”

Madox nodded slowly. “I can understand that. And I sincerely hope that none of my security people were involved, but if they were, I also want to see this person brought to justice.”

Kate said, “He will be.”

I opened a new possibility and said, “It could even have been one of your house staff… or your houseguests.”

He reminded me, “You thought it was one of my security guards. Now, it sounds as though you’re on a fishing expedition.”

“A hunting expedition.”

“Whatever.” He asked me, “Can you be more specific about why you think one of my staff-or houseguests-was involved in what you believe is a homicide?”

I think we all knew that we really meant Bain Madox-and somehow, I didn’t think he really gave a shit.

Nevertheless, I thought that some inside information about the case might shake him up, so I said to him, “Okay, one, I have solid evidence that Detective Muller was actually on your property.”

I looked at Madox, but he had no reaction.

I continued, “Two, we believe through forensic evidence that Detective Muller was actually in this house.”

Again, no reaction.

Okay, asshole. “Three, we have to assume that Detective Muller was detained by your security people. We also have evidence that his camper was originally close to your property, then moved.” I explained all of that in detail.

Still no reaction, except a nod, as though this were interesting.

I outlined some of the case to Mr. Bain Madox, describing how the murder was done by at least two persons-one driving the victim’s camper, the other in a separate vehicle that I said could have been a Jeep, or an all-terrain vehicle, based on two separate sets of tire marks, which we actually didn’t find, but he wouldn’t know that for sure.

I lied that the initial toxicology report showed strong sedatives in the victim’s blood, then I described how I thought the actual murder took place with the victim drugged, and held in a kneeling position with the binocular strap, and so forth.

Madox again nodded as though this were still interesting but somehow abstract.

If I expected some reaction-like shock, disbelief, discomfort, or amazement-then I was going to be disappointed.

I took a sip of scotch and stared at him.

The room was silent, except for the crackling fire, then Madox said, “I’m impressed that you could gather so much evidence in so short a time.”

I informed him, “The first forty-eight hours is the critical period.”

“Yes. I’ve heard that.” He asked me, “How did forensic evidence point back to this lodge?”

“If you really want to know, I collected rug fibers, plus human and dog hairs when I was here, and they matched what was found on Detective Muller’s clothes and body.”

“Did they?” He looked at me and said, “I don’t recall giving you permission to do that.”

“But you would have.”

He let that alone, and said to me, “That was very quick lab work.”

“This is a homicide investigation. The victim was a Federal agent.”

“All right… so, from these fibers…?”

I gave him a quick course in fiber analysis. “The fibers on the victim match the ones I found here. The dog hairs will probably match the hairs on your dog, what’s-his-name-”

“Kaiser Wilhelm.”

“Whatever. And the human hairs found on Detective Muller’s body, plus whatever other DNA turns up on the victim’s clothes or body, will lead us to the killer or killers.”

We made eye contact, and he still wasn’t blinking, so I said, “With your help, we can make a list of everyone who was here over the weekend, then get hair and DNA samples from them, and some fibers from clothing, such as those camouflage uniforms your security people wear. Understand?”

He nodded.

“Speaking of your army, where and how did you recruit these guys?”

“They’re all former military.”

“I see. So, we have to assume they’re all well trained in the use of weapons, and other types of force.”

He informed me, “More important, they’re all well disciplined. And as any military man will tell you, I’d rather have ten disciplined and well-trained men than ten thousand untrained and undisciplined troops.”

“Don’t forget loyal, and motivated by a noble cause.”