“We’ll remember that.” Wesley smiled at her.
I knew I was going to leave her at least five dollars, if only she would forgive me for not touching my food. Wesley was trying to think what to say to Marino, and I had never before been witness to anything between them quite like this.
“I guess I’m wondering if you’ve completely abandoned your original theory,” Wesley said.
“Which theory?” Marino tried to cut into his fried steak with a fork, and when that didn’t work, he reached for the pepper and AI. sauce.
“Temple Gault,” Wesley said.
“It would appear that you aren’t looking for him anymore.”
“I didn’t say nothing like that.”
“Marino,” I said, “what about this hit-and-run business?” He raised his hand and motioned for the waitress.
“Dot, I guess I’m going to need a sharp knife. The hit-and-run is important because this guy’s got a history of violence. The local people are real antsy about him because of that and also because he paid a lot of attention to Emily Steiner. So I’m just letting you know that’s what’s going down.”
“How would that theory explain the human skin in Ferguson’s freezer?” I asked.
“And by the way, the blood type is the same as Emily’s. We’re still waiting on DNA.”
“Wouldn’t explain it worth a damn.” Dot returned with a serrated knife, and Marino thanked her. He sawed into his fried steak. Wesley nibbled broiled flounder, staring down at his plate for long intervals while his VI CAP partner talked.
“Listen, for all we know, Ferguson did the kid. And sure, we can’t rule out the possibility Gault’s in town, and I’m not saying we should.”
“What more do we know about Ferguson?” Wesley asked.
“And are you aware that the print lifted from the panties he was wearing comes back to Denesa Steiner?”
“That’s because the panties was stolen from her house the night the squirrel busted in and snatched her kid. Remember? She said while she was in the closet she thought she heard him going through her drawers, and later was suspicious he took some of her clothing. ”
“That and the skin in his freezer certainly cause me to want to look very hard at this guy,” Wesley said.
“Is there any possibility he’d had contact with Emily in the past?”
I interjected, “Because of his profession, he certainly would have had reason to know about the cases in Virginia, about Eddie Heath. He could have tried to make the Steiner murder mimic something else. Or maybe he got the idea from what happened in Virginia.”
“Ferguson was squirrelly,” Marino said, sawing off another piece of meat.
“That much I can tell you, but nobody around here seemed to know a whole hell of a lot.”
“How long did he work for the SBI?” I asked.
“Going on ten years. Before that he was a state trooper, and before that he was in the army.”
“He was divorced?” Wesley asked.
“You mean there’s somebody who ain’t?” Wesley was quiet.
“Divorced twice. Got an ex-wife in Tennessee and one in Enka. Four kids all grown and living the hell all over the place.”
“What does his family have to say about him?” I asked.
“You know, it’s not like I’ve been here for six months.” Marino reached for the AI. sauce again. “} can only talk to so many people in one day, and that’s only if I’m lucky enough to get them the first or second time I call.
And seeing’s how you two haven’t been here and all of this has been dumped in my lap, I hope you won’t take it personal if I say that there’s only so much goddam time in a day.”
“Pete, we understand that,” Wesley said in his most reasonable tone.
“And that’s why we’re here. We are well aware there is a lot of investigating to do. Maybe even more than I originally thought, because nothing’s fitting together right. It seems this case is going in at least three different directions and I’m not seeing many connections, except that I really want to look hard at Ferguson. We do have forensic evidence that points at him. The skin in his freezer. Denesa Steiner’s lingerie. “