He went back to that segment, and though we could not specifically see Gault remove the letter from a pocket, he did tamper with Carrie’s clothing. He certainly could have gotten her letter at that time. He could have placed it in Brown’s pocket later, in the back of the van or perhaps in the morgue.
‘So you’re really thinking she’s the one who’s been sending the notes to you?’ Marino asked skeptically.
‘I think it’s probable.’
‘But why?’ Tucker was confounded. ‘Why would she do this to you, Dr. Scarpetta? Do you know her?’
‘I do not,’ I said. ‘I’ve only met her, but our last encounter was quite confrontational. And the notes don’t seem like something Gault would do. They never have.’
‘She would like to destroy you,’ Wesley calmly said. ‘She would like to destroy both Lucy and you.’
‘Why?’ Janet asked.
‘Because Carrie Grethen is a psychopath,’ Wesley said. ‘She and Gault are twins. It’s interesting that they are now dressing alike. They look alike.’
‘I don’t understand what he did with the letter,’ Tucker said. ‘Why not just ask Carrie for it instead of taking it without telling her?’
‘You’re asking me to tell you how Gault’s mind works,’ Wesley said.
‘Indeed I am.’
‘I don’t know why.’
‘But it must mean something.’
‘It does,’ Wesley said.
‘What?’ Tucker asked.
‘It means she thinks she has a relationship with him. She thinks she can trust him, and she’s wrong. It means he will eventually kill her, if he can,’ Wesley said as Marino turned on lights.
Everybody squinted. I looked at Lucy, who had nothing to say, and sensed her anguish in one small way. She had put her glasses on when she did not need them to see unless she was sitting at a computer.
‘Obviously, they’re working tag team,’ Marino said.
Janet spoke again. ‘Who’s in charge?’
‘Gault is,’ Marino said. ‘That’s why he’s the one with the gun and she’s the one giving the blow job.’
Tucker pushed back his chair. ‘They somehow met Brown. They didn’t just show up at his house.’
‘Would he have recognized Gault?’ Lucy asked.
‘Maybe not,’ Wesley said.
‘I’m thinking they got in touch with him – or she did, anyway – to get drugs.’
‘His phone number is unpublished but not unlisted,’ I said.
‘There weren’t any significant messages on his answering machine,’ Marino added.
‘Well, I want to know the link,’ Tucker said. ‘How did these two know him?’
‘Drugs would be my guess,’ Wesley said. ‘It may also be that Gault got interested in the sheriff because of Dr. Scarpetta. Brown shot someone Christmas Eve, and the media covered it ad infinitum. It was no secret that Dr. Scarpetta was there and would end up testifying. In fact, she might have ended up in the jury pool since, ironically, Brown summoned her for jury duty.’
I thought of what Anna Zenner said about Gault bringing gifts to me.
‘And Gault would have been aware of all this,’ Tucker said.
Wesley said, ‘Possibly. If we ever find where he lives, we may discover that he gets the Richmond newspaper by mail.’
Tucker thought for a while and looked at me. ‘Then who killed the officer in New York? Was it this woman with white hair?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘She could not have kicked him like that. Unless she is a black belt in karate.’
‘And were they working together that night in the tunnel?’ Tucker asked.
‘I don’t know that she was there,’ I said.
‘Well, you were there.’
‘I was,’ I said. ‘I saw one person.’
‘A person with white hair or red hair?’
I thought of the figure illuminated in the arch. I remembered the long dark coat and pale face. I had not been able to see the hair.
‘I suspect it was Gault down there that night,’ I said. ‘I can’t prove it. But there is nothing to suggest that he had an accomplice when Jane was killed.’
‘Jane?’ Tucker asked.
Marino said, ‘That’s what we call the lady he killed in Central Park.’
Then the implication is he did not form a violent partnership with this Carrie Grethen until he returned to Virginia, after New York.’ Tucker continued trying to fit the pieces together.