manner my own talent allows.’
‘You didn’t strike me as a reader,’ Bannon said.
‘I get by,’ Reacher said.
‘And I would caution you against vigilantism.!
I’hat’s a big word for a special agent.’
‘whatever, I don’t want independent action.’
Reacher nodded. ‘Noted,’ he said.
309
retired carpenter, retired volunteer firefighter. He’s got grand
daughters. That’s where the pressure came from.’
‘Is he talking?’ Neagley asked.
‘Some,’ Bannon said. ‘Sounds like he’s made of slightly
sterner stuff than Nendick.’
‘So how did it go down?’
‘He frequents a cop bar outside of Sacramento, from his
firefighting days. He met two guys in there.’
‘Were they cops?’ Reacher asked.
‘Cop-like,’ Bannon said. that was his description. They got to
talking, they got to showing each other pictures of the family.
They got to talking about what a rotten world it is, and what
they would do to protect their families from it. It was gradual,
he said.’
‘And?’
‘He clammed up on us for a spell, but then our doctor took a
look at his hand. The left thumb has been surgically removed.
Well, not really su’gically. Somewhere between severed and
hacked off, our guy said. But there was an attempt at neatness.
Andretti stuck to his carpentry story. Our doctor said, no way
was that a saw. Like, no way. Andretti seemed pleased to be
contradicted, and he talked some more.’
‘And?’
‘He lives alone. Widower. The two cop-like guys had wormed
an invitation home with him. They were asking him, what would
you do to protect your family? Like, what would you do? How far
would you go? It was all rhetorical at first, and then it got
practical fast. They told him he would have to give up his thumb
or his granddaughters. His choice. They held him down and did
it. They took his photographs and his address book. Told him
now they knew what his granddaughters looked like and where
they lived. Told him they’d take out their ovaries the same
way they’d taken off his thumb. And he was ready to believe
them, obviously. He would be, right? They’d just done it to him.
They stole a cooler from the kitchen and some ice from the
refi’igerator to transport the thumb. They left and he made it to
the hospital.’
Silence in the room.
‘Descriptions?’ Stuyvesant asked.
308
Bannon shook his head. Foo scared,’ he said. ‘My guys
talked about Witness Protection for the whole family, but he’s
not going to bite. My guess is we’ve got all we’re going to get.’
‘Forensics in the house?’
‘Andretti cleaned it thoroughly. They made him. They
watched him do it.’
‘What about the bar? Anybody see them talking?’
‘We’ll ask. But this was nearly six weeks ago. Don’t hold your
breath.’
Nobody spoke for a long time.
‘Reacher?’ Neagley said.
‘What?’
‘What are you thinking?’
He shrugged.
‘I’m thinking about Dostoevsky,’ he said. ‘I just found a copy
of Crime and Punishment that I sent Joe for a birthday present. I
remember I almost sent him The Brothers Karamazov instead,
but I decided against it. You ever read that book?’
Neagley shook her head.
‘Part of it is about what the Turks did in Bulgaria,’ he said.
‘There was all kinds of rape and pillage going on. They hanged
prisoners in the mornings after making them spend their last
night nailed to a fence by their ears. They threw babies in the
air and caught them on bayonets. They said the best part was
doing it in front of the mothers. Ivan Karamazov was seriously
disillusioned by it all. He said no animal could ever be so cruel as
a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel. Then I was thinking
about these guys making Andretti clean his house while they
watched. I guess he had to do it one-handed. He probably
struggled with it. Dostoevsky put his feelings in a book. I don’t
have his talent. So now I’m thinking I’m going to find these
guys and impress on them the error of their ways in whatever
manner my own talent allows.’
‘You didn’t strike me as a reader,’ Bannon said.
‘I get by,’ Reacher said.
‘And I would caution you against vigilantism.!