Parking lots were well lit and full of cars, and I could not help but notice people slowly driving past, looking for a place that wasn’t miles from the terminal. I wondered what else deadoc knew about me, and wished I had worn more than a trench coat. I was cold and had forgotten my gloves.
‘Besides,’ Marino added, ‘I’ve never been to Graceland.’
At first, I thought he was joking.
‘It’s on my list,’ he went on.
‘What list?’
‘The one I’ve had since I was a kid. Alaska, Las Vegas and the Grand Ole Opry,’ he said as if the thought filled him with joy. ‘Don’t you have some place you would go if you could do anything you want?’
We were at the terminal now, and he held the door.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘My own bed in my own home.’
I headed for the Delta desk, picked up our tickets and went upstairs. Typical for this hour, nothing was open except security. When I placed my hard case on the X-ray belt, I knew what was going to happen.
‘Ma’am, you’re going to have to open that,’ said the female guard.
I unlocked it and unsnapped the clasps. Inside, nestled in foam rubber, were labeled plastic bags containing the bones. The guard’s eyes widened.
‘I’ve been through here before with this,’ I patiently explained.
She started to reach for one of the plastic bags.
‘Please don’t touch anything,’ I warned. ‘This is evidence in a homicide.’
There were several other travelers behind me, now, and they were listening to every word I said.
‘Well, I have to look at it.’
‘You can’t.’ I got out my brass medical examiner’s shield and showed it to her. ‘You touch anything here, and I’ll have to include you in the chain of evidence when this eventually goes to court. You’ll be subpoenaed.’
That was as much of an explanation as she needed, and she let me go.
‘Dumb as a bag of hammers,’ Marino mumbled as we walked.
‘She’s just doing her job,’ I replied.
‘Look,’ he said. ‘We don’t fly back until tomorrow morning, meaning unless you spend the whole damn day looking at bones, we should have some time.’
‘You can go to Graceland by yourself. I’ve got plenty of work to do in my room. I’m also sitting in nonsmoking.’ I chose a seat at our gate. ‘So if you want to smoke, you’ll have to go over there.’ I pointed.
He scanned other passengers waiting, like us, to board. Then he looked at me.
‘You know what, Doc?’ he said. ‘The problem is you hate to have fun.’
I got the morning paper out of my briefcase, shook it open.
He sat next to me. ‘I’ll bet you’ve never even listened to Elvis.’
‘How could I not listen to Elvis? He’s on the radio, on TV, in elevators.’
‘He’s the king.’
I eyed Marino over the top of the paper.
‘His voice, everything about him. There’s never been anyone like him,’ Marino went on as if he had a crush. ‘I mean, it’s like classical music and those painters you like so much. I think people like that only come along every couple hundred years.’
‘So now you’re comparing him with Mozart and Monet.’ I turned a page, bored with local politics and business.
‘Sometimes you’re a friggin’ snob.’ He got up, grumpy. ‘And maybe just once in your life you might think of going some place I want to go. You ever seen me bowl?’ He glared down at me, getting out his cigarettes. ‘You ever said anything nice about my truck? You ever gone fishing with me? You ever eat at my house? No, I gotta go to yours because you live in the right part of town.’
‘You cook for me, I’ll come over,’ I said as I read.
He angrily stalked off, and I could feel the eyes of strangers on us. I supposed they assumed that Marino and I were an item, and had not gotten along in years. Smiling to myself, I turned a page. Not only would I go to Graceland with him, I planned to buy him barbecue tonight.