advantages. We had a fixed pool of possible suspects. It was a
closed base, and the army is pretty good at recording who was
where, at all times. We could start with yards of print-out paper
and go through each name, on a simple binary basis, possible
or not possible. Then we could collate all the possibles and go
to work with the holy trinity of detectives everywhere: means,
motive, opportunity. Means and opportunity wouldn’t signify
much. By definition nobody would be on the possibles list
unless they had been proved to have opportunity. And everybody
in the army was physically capable of swinging a tyre iron
or a crowbar against the back of an unsuspecting victim’s head.
It was probably a rough equivalent of the most basic entry
requirement.
So it would end up with motive, which is where it had started
for me. What was the reason?
134
I sat for another hour. Didn’t go anywhere, didn’t do anything,
didn’t call anyone. My sergeant brought me more coffee. I
mentioned that she might call Lieutenant Summer for me and
suggest she stop by.
Summer showed up within five minutes. I had a whole raft of
things to tell her, but she had anticipated every one of them.
She had ordered a list of all base personnel, plus a copy of the
gate log so we could add and subtract names as appropriate.
She had arranged for Carbone’s quarters to be sealed, pending
a search. She had arranged an intelwiew with his CO to develop
a better picture of his personal and professional life.
‘Excellent,’ I said.
‘What’s this thing with Willard?’ she asked.
‘A pissing contest, probably,’ I said. ‘Important case like this,
he wants to come down and direct things personally. To remind
me I’m under a cloud.’
But I was wrong.
Willard finally showed after a total of exactly four hours. I heard
his voice in the outer office. I was pretty sure my sergeant
wasn’t offering him coffee. She had better instincts than that.
My door opened and he came in. He didn’t look at me. Just
closed the door behind him and turned around and sat down in
my visitor’s chair. Immediately started up with the shuffling
thing. He was going at it hard and plucking at the knees of his
pants like they were burning his skin.
‘Yesterday,’ he said. ‘I want a complete record of your move
ments. I want to hear it from your own lips.’
‘You’re down here to ask me questions?’
‘Yes,’ he said.
I shrugged.
‘I was on a plane until two,’ I said. ‘I was with you until five.’
‘And then?’
‘I got back here at eleven.’
‘Six hours? I did it in four.’
‘You drove, presumably. I took two buses and hitched a ride.’
‘After that?’
‘I spoke to my brother on the phone,’ I said.
‘I remember your brother,’ Willard said. ‘I worked with him.’
135
I nodded. ‘He mentioned that.’
‘And then what?’
‘I spoke to Lieutenant Summer,’ I said. ‘Socially.’
‘And then?’
‘Carbone’s body was discovered about midnight.’
He nodded and twitched and shuffled and looked uncomfortable.
‘Did you keep your bus tickets?’ he said.
‘I doubt it,’ I said.
He smiled. ‘Remember who gave you a ride to the post?’
‘I doubt it. Why?’
‘Because I might need to know. To prove I didn’t make a
mistake.’
I said nothing.
‘You made mistakes,’ he said.
‘Did I?’
He nodded. ‘I can’t decide whether you’re an idiot or whether
you’re doing this on purpose.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Are you trying to embarrass the army?’
‘What?’
‘What’s the big picture here, major?’ he said.
‘You tell me, colonel.’
‘The Cold War is ending. Therefore there are big changes
coming. The status quo will not be an option. Therefore we’ve
got every part of the military trying to stand tall and make the
cut. And you know what?’
‘What?’
‘The army is always at the bottom of the pile. The air force has
got all those glamorous airplanes. The haw has got submarines
and carriers. The Marines are always untouchable. And we’re
stuck down there in the mud, literally. The bottom of the pile.
The army is boring, Reacher. That’s the view in Washington.’