`And it’s a hell of a blind alley,’ Roscoe said. `We’ve got to trawl through twenty years of old files and cross-check every name in every file against parole records from across the entire country. It could take us months. He’s pulled Stevenson in off the road for it. Until this is over, he drives a desk. So do I.’
`It’s worse than a blind alley,’ Finlay said. `It’s a coded warning. Nobody in our files looks good for violent revenge. Never had that sort of crime here. We know that. And Teale knows we know that. -But we can’t call his bluff, right?’
`Can’t you just ignore him?’ I said. `Just do what needs doing?’
He leaned back in his chair. Blew a sigh at the ceiling and shook his head.
`No,’ he said. `We’re working right under the enemy’s nose. Right now, Teale’s got no reason to think we know anything about any of this. And we’ve got to keep it that way. We’ve got to play dumb and act innocent, right? That’s going to limit our scope. But the big problem is authorization. If I need a warrant or something, I’m going to need his signature. And I’m not going to get it, am I?’
I shrugged at him.
`I’m not planning on using warrants,’ I said. `Did you call Washington?’
`They’re getting back to me,’ he said. `Just hope Teale doesn’t grab the phone before I can.’ I nodded.
`What you need is somewhere else to work,’ I said. `What about that buddy of yours up in Atlanta FBI? The one you told me about? Could you use his office as a kind of private facility?’
Finlay thought about it. Nodded.
`Not a bad idea,’ he said. `I’ll have to go off the record. I can’t ask Teale to make a formal request, right? I’ll call from home, tonight. Guy called Picard. Nice guy, you’ll like him. He’s from the Quarter, down in New Orleans. He did a spell in Boston about a million years ago. Great big guy, very smart, very tough.’
`Tell him we need it kept very quiet,’ I said. `We don’t want his agents down here until we’re ready.’
`What are you going to do about Teale?’ Roscoe asked me. `He works for the guys who killed your brother.’
I shrugged again.
`Depends how involved he was,’ I said. `He wasn’t the shooter.’
`He wasn’t?’ Roscoe said. `How do you know that?’
`Not fast enough,’ I said. `Limps around with a cane in his hand. Too slow to pull a gun. Too slow to get Joe, anyway. He wasn’t the kicker, either. Too old, not vigorous enough. And he wasn’t the gofer. That was Morrison. But if he starts messing with me, then he’s in deep shit. Otherwise, to hell with him.’
`So what now?’ she said.
I shrugged at her. Didn’t reply.
`I think Sunday is the thing,’ Finlay said. `Sunday is going to solve some kind of a problem for them. Teale being put in here feels so temporary, you know? The guy’s seventy-five years old. He’s got no police experience. It’s a temporary fix, to get them through until Sunday.’
The buzzer on the desk went off. Stevenson’s voice came over the intercom asking for Roscoe. They had files to check. I opened the door for her. But she stopped. She’d just thought of something.
`What about Spivey?’ she said. `Over at Warburton? He was ordered to arrange the attack on Hubble, right? So he must know who gave him the order. You should go ask him. Might lead somewhere.’
`Maybe,’ I said. Closed the door behind her.
`Waste of time,’ Finlay said to me. `You think Spivey’s just going to tell you a thing like that?’
I smiled at him.
`If he knows, he’ll tell me,’ I said to him. `A question like that, it’s how you ask it, right?’
`Take care, Reacher,’ he said. `They see you getting close to what Hubble knew, they’ll waste you like they wasted him.’
Charlie and her kids flashed into my mind and I shivered. They would figure Charlie was close to what Hubble had known. That was inevitable. Maybe even his kids as well. A cautious person would assume kids could have overheard something. It was four o’clock. The kids would be out of school. There were people out there who had loaded up with rubber overshoes, nylon bodysuits and surgical gloves. And sharp knives. And a bag of nails. And a hammer.