“I can’t tell you how sorry I am,” he said again.
“I just couldn’t believe it when I read the papers.”
“She is doing well,” I said.
“Her guardian angel was with her that night.”
“She’s a special young lady. You must be proud of her.” It occurred to me that I was no longer sure, and the thought made me feel terrible.
“Jon, I need to know several important details. Were you working when she came in that night and bought the Sig?”
“Sure. I’m the one who sold it to her.”
“Did she get anything else?”
“An extra magazine, several boxes of hollow points. Uhhhh. I think they were Federal Hydra-Shok. Yup, pretty sure of that. Let’s see. I also sold her an Uncle Mike’s paddle holster, and the same ankle holster I sold to you last spring. A top-of-the-line Bianchi in leather.”
“How did she pay?”
“Cash, and that surprised me a little, to be honest. Her bill was pretty high, as you might imagine.” Lucy had been good about saving money over the years, and I had given her a substantial check when she turned twenty-one. But she had charge cards, so I assumed she didn’t use them because she didn’t want a record of her purchase, and that didn’t necessarily surprise me. She was afraid and very paranoid, as are most people who have been intensely exposed to law enforcement. For people like us, everybody is a suspect. We tend to overreact, look over our shoulders, and cover our tracks when we feel the slightest bit threatened.
“Did Lucy have an appointment with you or did she just stop in?” I asked.
“She had called first and said exactly when she would be here. In fact, she even called again to confirm.”
“Did she talk to you both times?”
“No, just the first time. The second time Rick answered the phone.”
“Can you tell me exactly what she said to you when she called the first time?”
“Not much. She said she’d been talking to Captain Marino, who had recommended the Sig P230 and he had also recommended that she deal with me. As you may know, the captain and I fish together. Anyway, she asked if I would still be here around eight p.m. on Wednesday.”
“Do you remember what day she called?”
“Well, it was just a day or two before she wanted to come in. I think it was the Monday before. And by the way, I asked her early on if she was twenty-one.”
“Did she tell you she is my niece?”
“Yes, she did, and she sure reminded me a lot of you–even your voices sound alike. You both have sort of deep, quiet voices. But she really was very impressive on the phone. Extremely intelligent and polite. She seemed familiar with guns and clearly had done a fair amount of shooting. In fact, she told me that the captain’s given her lessons. ”
I was relieved Lucy had identified herself as my niece. It told me she wasn’t terribly concerned about my finding out she had purchased a gun. I supposed Marino eventually would have told me, too.
I was sad only because she had not talked to me first.
“Jon,” I went on, “you said she called a second time. Can you tell me about that? First of all, when was it?”
“That same Monday. Maybe a couple hours later.”
“And she talked to Rick?”
“Very briefly. I remember I was waiting on a customer and Rick had answered the phone. He said it was Scarpetta and she couldn’t remember when she told me we would meet. I said Wednesday at eight, which he relayed to her. And that was the end of it.”
“Excuse me,” I said.
“She said what?”
Jon hesitated.
“I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
“Lucy identified herself as Scarpetta when she called the second time?”
“That’s what Rick told me. He just said it was Scarpetta on the line.”
“Her last name is not Scarpetta.”
“Jeez,” he said after a startled pause.
“You’re kidding. I just assumed. Well, that’s kinda weird.”
I thought of Lucy paging Marino, who then returned her call, quite likely from the Steiner home. Denesa Steiner must have thought he was talking to me, and how simple it would have been for her to wait until Marino was out of the room and get directory assistance to give her the number for Green Top. Then all she had to do was call and ask the questions she did. It was an odd sense of relief mingled with fury I felt. Denesa Steiner had not attempted to kill Lucy, nor had Carrie Grethen or anyone else. The intended victim had been me.