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“Alan, what’s going on? You almost deafened me.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“It’s Je
“I know. I recognized your voice. How are you?”
“Well, don’t sound so excited to hear from me.”
“I’m sorry, Je
“Your girlfriend?”
“The case I’m working on.”
“That one you told me about? The war thing?”
“It’s the only one I’ve got. Jimmy Riddle’s made sure my cases have been thin on the ground lately.”
“Well, I won’t take up much of your time. It just struck me that I was rather… well, emotional… on our last meeting. I want to apologize for dumping all over you, as they say in California.”
“What are friends for?”
“Anyway,” Je
“It’s bound to be better than mine.”
She laughed a little too quickly and a little too nervously. “Don’t count on it. I thought we could, you know, just talk about things over a meal and a bottle of wine. A lot’s happened to both of us this past year.”
“When?”
“How about tomorrow, sevenish?”
“Sounds fine.”
“Are you sure it won’t cause any problems?”
“Why should it?”
“I don’t know… I just…” Then her voice brightened. “That’s great. I’ll see you tomorrow about seven, then?”
“You’re on. I’ll pick up some wine.”
After he hung up, Banks sat back and thought about the invitation. Di
But he was anxious to hear from A
“I’m sorry for the delay,” she said. “What with time differences and faulty fax machines, well, I’m sure you know…”
“That’s all right. Just tell me what you’ve discovered.” Banks had already come to one or two conclusions of his own since his last talk with A
“First off,” A
“What were they doing there?”
“Well, the US armed forces cleared out of England after the war, but a lot of them stayed on in Europe, especially Berlin and Vie
“Any familiar names?”
“Just one. Guess who ran the PX?”
“Edgar Konig.”
“The very same. You don’t sound so surprised.”
“Not really. What did you find out about him?”
“He left Rowan Woods in May 1945, with the rest of the Four Hundred Forty-Eighth and spent some time in Europe, then he returned to America. He was assigned to the base near Hadleigh in summer 1952.”
“He stayed in the air force all that time?”
“Seems that way. I suppose he had a pretty good job. Lots of perks. Tell me, why doesn’t it surprise you? Why not one of the other Americans?”
“The whiskey and the Luckies.”
“What?”
“In Vivian Elmsley’s manuscript. She said there was a bottle of whiskey smashed on the floor and an unopened carton of Lucky Strikes on the kitchen counter. It’s hardly concrete evidence of anything, but I don’t think a carton of Luckies would have stayed unopened for very long in wartime, do you?”
“Brad could have brought them.”
“Possible. But it was PX who had easiest access to the stores, PX who always supplied the goodies. The manuscript also mentioned a farewell party at Rowan Woods that night. PX must have got drunk and finally plucked up courage. He’d sneaked out of the base and brought the presents that night. One last-ditch attempt to buy what he yearned for. Gloria resisted and… Matthew only came in afterward, the poor sod. Any idea where PX was between 1945 and 1952?”
“No. I can ask Mattie to check if it’s important. You’re thinking there might have been others?”
“Possibly. Do we know anything more about him?”
“No. Mattie said she’d try to find out what she can – such as when and why he was discharged and if he’s still alive, but she doesn’t hold out a lot of hope. It’s not their official position to give out such information, but Mattie’s a mystery fan and it seems I’ve piqued her curiosity. She’s become quite an ally.”
“Good. See what you can do. Let’s see if we can link him to any other murders. How old will he be now if he’s still alive?”
“According to Mattie’s information, he’d be about seventy-five.”
“A possibility, then.”
“Could be. I’ll talk to you later.”
When A
“Alan,” she said. “Don’t tell me you want to cancel?”
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. Actually, I need you to do a little favor for me.”
“Of course. If I can.”
“Didn’t you say at lunch the other day that you trained with the FBI profilers?”
“At Quantico. Yes. And you said you thought profiling was a load of bollocks.”
“Forget that for now. Do you have any contacts there? Anyone close enough to ask a personal favor?”
Je
Banks filled her in on the new developments, then said, “This Edgar Konig, I’d like you to ask your friend to check his record. If he’s the sort of man I think he is, the odds are that he’ll have one. DS Cabbot’s working with the military authorities, but any information they can supply us with is limited.”
“I’m sure Bill will be happy to oblige, if he can,” said Je
When Banks had finished giving Je