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“Thank you, Mrs. Coulter. Is there anyone on the list to whom your husband was particularly close?”
“Well, sure, there was Teddy Fay.”
“Is he on the list?”
She handed it to him. “Yes, and it’s in alphabetical order. Teddy and Ed worked in the same department, Technical Services, they call it. Ed called it the Devil’s Workshop.”
“And is Mr. Fay retired?” Ki
“I don’t know. He stopped coming around after Ed had his stroke. I’m not sure why. Ed wouldn’t talk about it.”
“And this address, Riverview Circle, where is that?”
“Just around the corner.” She pointed. “You take two lefts, and it’s the second-no, the third-house on the right.”
Ki
“Teddy? He was a jack of all trades, Teddy could do anything, fix anything, Ed always said.”
Ki
“Oh, Teddy’s as left-wing as they come,” she replied. “He and Ed used to argue about it all the time. Ed was a rock-ribbed conservative.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Coulter, and thank you for the coffee, too,” Ki
The two agents were ru
38
KERRY REACHED FOR THE RADIO. “I’ll call for backup.”
“Not yet,” Ki
“There’s our man,” Kerry said.
“We’re going to talk to him now,” Ki
“Without backup?”
“He’s armed with a lawn mower. I think we can handle that. You be ready, if he does anything fu
The man shut down the engine and walked over to the car. “Morning, can I help you?”
“Yes, we’re looking for Riverview Drive,” Ki
“Yeah, sure. Turn around and make two rights. That’s Riverview Drive.”
“Got it. Say, this is a real nice place you’ve got here, looks real well kept.”
“Oh, I don’t live here. I work for the real estate company.”
“Real estate company?”
The man walked over to the mailbox and picked up the sign he had uprooted in order to cut the grass, for sale, the sign read. “River Realty, Janice Hooks.” And a phone number. “The house is empty,” the man said. “I just cut the grass for the real estate company.”
The two agents got out of the car, and Ki
“Sure.” The man dug in a pocket and came out with a wallet and a driver’s license.
Ki
“No, he was already gone when I started cutting the grass.”
“How long ago was that?”
“About a month. This is the fourth time I’ve been.”
Kerry pulled his boss aside. “I’ll get a search warrant and a team out here.”
“No, wait,” Ki
“Let’s take a look,” Ki
Kerry got on the phone.
“And get my secretary to dig into those perso
“Agent Ki
“That’s right, Ms. Hooks,” he replied, shaking her hand. “This is Agent Kerry Smith.”
“What can I do for you?” she asked.
“I’d like for my people to go into the house and collect some evidence.”
“Has a crime been committed here?” she asked, looking puzzled.
“I don’t know yet. That’s what I want to find out.”
“Don’t you need a search warrant for that?”
“I can get a search warrant, but it will take several hours, and another crime might be committed while I’m doing it. On the other hand, you have the authority to let us into the house.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Mr. Fay might sue me.”
“That’s very unlikely, Ms. Hooks. It would be a great help to us if you could let us in now. This is extremely important.”
She put a hand to her mouth. “Oh, God, it’s that sniper guy who’s killing all those people, isn’t it?”
“I can’t comment on our investigation, Ms. Hooks, and please don’t tell anyone that, particularly anyone from the media. It could greatly impede our investigation.”
The woman dug into her handbag and came up with a key. “Here,” she said, “go to it. I want you to get the bastard. I listened to Van Vandervelt every single day.”
“Thank you, Ms. Hooks. Again, please don’t mention this to anyone.”
“Is there anything else I can do to help?”
“Did you ever meet Mr. Fay?”
“Just once, when I came to look at the house.”
“Can you describe him for me?”
“Just average-looking, I guess. Gray hair, fairly slim, not as tall as you, maybe five ten or so?”
“Do you know where Mr. Fay is?”
“No, he said he was going to see the world. He had a big auction here, sold all his household goods, his car, and his RV. Said he was burning his bridges. His wife died a couple of years ago, I think.”
“What were your instructions if you found a buyer?”
“I have a power of attorney to accept a suitable offer and close the sale.”
“And what are you to do with the proceeds of the sale?”
“Well, that was kind of strange. I’m to run an ad in the International Herald Tribune, saying, T.F.- Sale complete, instructions, please.” And then I would get a phone call or a fax with instructions for wiring the money.“
“And you haven’t sold the house, yet?”
“I’ve had one lowball offer that I turned down, since it didn’t meet Mr. Fay’s minimum price.”
“Ms. Hooks, I’d like you to run the ad, please, and I’d like you to phone me the moment you get the wiring instructions.” He handed her a card.
“And what do I tell him when the money doesn’t arrive?”
“If we get that far, tell him the seller failed to close, and you’re back to square one. See if you can get him to tell you where he is. If he won’t, then tell him the power of attorney he signed-how long ago did he sign it?”
“A few weeks.”
“Tell him it expires in sixty days from signing by law, and you’ll have to send him a new one, if you’re going to continue to market the house. Get an address or a fax number for that purpose.”
“All right. I’ll go back to the office and place the ad.”
They shook hands, and she got into her car and left.
“That was very good,” Kerry said.
“Let’s hope it works. And when the team arrives, put their vehicle in the garage. Let’s keep the place looking as normal as possible. Go tell the lawn guy to do his job and keep his mouth shut.”
“Okay.” Kerry walked down the lawn toward the curb.
Ki