Still Life With Crows p-4

by Douglas Preston

  “I’m afraid not.”

  “No problem, I brought a book.”

  She watched Pendergast push his way into the corn and disappear, feeling vaguely annoyed. Then she turned her attention to the back seat. She always had five or six books flung about willy-nilly back there—science fiction, horror, splatterpunk, occasionally a teen romance that she never, ever let anybody catch her reading. She glanced over the pile. Maybe, while she waited, she’d start that new techno-thriller,Beyond the Ice Limit. She picked it up, then paused again. Somehow, the idea of sitting in the car, reading, all alone, didn’t seem quite as appealing as it usually did. She couldn’t help but glance again at the column of vultures. They had soared higher now. Even against the gathering dusk, she could see they were agitated. Perhaps the sheriff had scared them off. She felt a twinge of curiosity: there might be something out there in the corn a whole lot more interesting than anything she’d find in one of her escapist novels.

  She tossed the book in the back seat with a snort of impatience. Pendergast wasn’t going to keep her away like that. She had as much a right as anyone to see what was going on.

  She flung open the car door and headed off into the corn. She could see where the sheriff had tramped through the dirt. There was another, narrower pair of tracks that ran back and forth over the sheriff’s clown shoes: probably his well-meaning but brain-dead deputy, Tad. And near them, Pendergast’s light step.

  It was very hot and claustrophobic in the corn. The husks rose high over Corrie’s head, and as she passed by they rattled, showering her with dust and pollen. There was still some light in the sky, but in the corn it seemed that night had already fallen. Corrie felt her breath coming faster as she walked. She began to wonder if this was such a good idea after all. She never went into the corn. All her life she had hated the cornfields. They started in the spring as so much endless dirt, the giant machines tearing up the earth, leaving behind plumes of dust that coated the town and filled her bed with grit. And then the corn came up and the only thing anyone talked about for four months was the weather. Slowly the roads got closed in by claustrophobic walls of corn until you felt like you were driving in a tunnel of green. Now the corn was yellowing and pretty soon the giant machines would be back, leaving the land as naked and ugly as a shaved poodle.

  It was awful: the dust filled her nose and stung her eyes and the moldy, papery smell made her sick. All this corn, probably growing not to feed people or even animals, but cars. Car corn. Sick, sick, sick.

  And then, quite suddenly, she broke through into a small trampled clearing. There were the sheriff and Tad, holding flashlights and bending over something. Pendergast stood to one side, and as she entered the clearing he turned toward her, his pale eyes almost luminous in the gathering twilight.

  Corrie’s heart gave an ugly lurch. There was something dead in the middle. But when she forced herself to look she realized it was only a dead dog. It was brown and so bloated with the gases of rot that its hair stood on end, making it look horribly strange, like a four-legged blowfish. An awful, sweetish smell hung in the still air and there was a steady roar of flies.

  The sheriff turned. “Well, Pendergast,” he said in a genial voice, “looks like we got all riled up for nothing.” Then his eyes flickered over Pendergast’s shoulder, and landed on her. He stared at her for a few uncomfortable seconds before looking back at Pendergast. The agent said nothing.

  Pendergast had slipped a small light out of his own pocket and was playing its bright beam over the bloated corpse. Corrie felt sick: she recognized the dog. It was a chocolate Lab mutt belonging to Swede Cahill’s son, a nice freckled kid of twelve.

  “Okay, Tad,” said the sheriff, slapping his hand on the gangly deputy’s shoulder, “we’ve seen all there is to see. Let’s call it a day.”

  Pendergast had now moved in and was kneeling, examining the dog more closely. The flies, disturbed, were swarming above the corpse in a wild cloud.

  The sheriff walked past Corrie without acknowledging her, then turned at the edge of the clearing. “Pendergast? You coming?”

  “I haven’t completed my examination.”

  “You finding anything interesting?”

  There was a silence, and then Pendergast said, “This is another killing.”

  “Another killing? It’s a dead dog in a cornfield and we’re two miles from the site of the Swegg homicide.”

  Corrie watched in vague horror as the FBI agent picked up the dog’s head, moved it back and forth gently, laid it down, shone his light in the mouth, the ears, down the flank. The angry drone of flies grew louder.

  “Well?” asked the sheriff, his voice harder.

  “This dog’s neck has been violently broken,” said Pendergast.

  “Hit by a car. Dragged himself out here to die. Happens all the time.”

  “A car wouldn’t have done that to the tail.”

  “What tail?”

  “Exactly my point.”

  Both the sheriff and Tad directed their lights to the dog’s rump. Where the tail had been there was nothing but a ragged pink stump with a white bone at the center.

  The sheriff said nothing.

  “And over there”—Pendergast shone his light into the corn—“I imagine you will find the footprints of the killer. Bare footprints, size eleven, heading back down toward the creek. Same as the footprints found at the site of the first homicide.”

  There was another silence. And then the sheriff spoke. “Well, Pendergast, all I can say is, it’s kind of a relief. Here you thought we were dealing with a serial killer. Now we know he’s just some sicko. Murdering a dog and cutting off the tail. Jesus Christ.”

  “But you will note the difference here. There was no ceremony to this killing, no feeling that the corpse has been arrangeden tableau. ”

  “So?”

  “It doesn’t fit the pattern. But of course, that simply means we’re dealing with anew pattern—in fact, a new type altogether.”

  “A new type of what?”

  “Of serial killer.”

  Hazen rolled his eyes theatrically. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re still dealing with a single murder. A dog doesn’t count.” He turned to Tad. “Call the M.E. and let’s scoop this dog up to Garden City for an autopsy. Get the SOC boys out here to work over the site and especially take a look at any prints they find. And get the Staties to post a guard. I want this site sealed. No unauthorized personnel. Got it?”

  “Yes, Sheriff.”

  “Good. And now, Pendergast, I’m hoping you will escort allunauthorized personnel from the site immediately.” Corrie jumped as he abruptly shined his light on her.

  “Sheriff, you’re not referring to my assistant, are you?”

  There was a thunderous silence. Corrie glanced at him, wondering what his game was now. Assistant? Her old suspicions began to return; next thing she knew, he’d be trying to assist himself into her pants.

  After a moment the sheriff spoke. “Assistant? Are you referring to that delinquent standing next to you who’s facing a charge of larceny in the second degree, which, by the way, happens to be a felony in the state of Kansas?”

  “I am.”

  The sheriff nodded. And when he spoke again, his voice was unnaturally mild. “I’m a patient man, Mr. Pendergast. I will say this to you, and this only: thereis a limit.”

  In the ensuing silence, Pendergast said, “Miss Swanson, would you kindly hold the flashlight while I examine the posterior of this dog?”

  Holding her nose against the rising stench, Corrie took the flashlight and aimed it at the desired spot, aware of Sheriff Hazen standing behind her, staring so hard at the back of her neck that she could feel the hairs curling.

  Pendergast turned, rose, and laid a hand on the sheriff’s shoulder. The man looked down at the hand, seemed about to brush it off. “Sheriff Hazen,” said Pendergast, his voice suddenly deferential, “it may seem that I have come here expressly to annoy you. But I assure you there ar
e good reasons behind everything I do. I do hope you will continue to exercise the patience you’ve so admirably demonstrated already, and bear with me and my unorthodox methods—and my unorthodox assistant—a little longer.”

  The sheriff seemed to digest this for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice sounded ever so slightly mollified. “I can’t say I honestly like the way you’re handling the case. You FBI boys always seem to forget that once we catch the perp we’ve got toconvict him. You know how it is these days: screw up the evidencein any way and the perp walks.” He glanced at Corrie. “She better have scene-of-crime authorization.”

  “She will.”

  “And keep in mind what kind of impression she’s going to make in front of a jury with that purple hair and the spiked dog collar. Not to mention a felony on her record.”

  “We will cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  The sheriff stared hard at him. “All right then. I’ll leave you to Fido here. Remember what I said. Come on, Tad, let’s go make those calls.”

  Then he turned away, lit a cigarette, and disappeared into the wall of corn, followed by Tad. As the sound of crashing diminished, a silence descended on the site.

  Corrie took several steps back from the stench of decay. “Agent Pendergast?”

  “Miss Swanson?”

  “What’s this ‘assistant’ crap?”

  “I assumed you were willing to take the job by the fact that you disobeyed my orders and came here, thereby displaying an interest in the forensic aspects of crime.”

  Was he kidding again? “I just don’t like being left behind. Look, I don’t know jack about detective work. I can’t type, I can’t handle the phones, and I’m sure as hell not going to take dictation or do whatever it is that assistants do.”

  “That is not what I require. This may surprise you, but I’ve actually given this matter some thought and I’ve concluded that you’ll make an excellent assistant. I need someone who knows the town, knows the people, knows their secrets, but who is also an outsider, beholden to no one. Someone who will tell me the unvarnished truth as she sees it. Are you not exactly that person?”

  Corrie considered it. Outsider, beholden to no one . . . Depressingly, she seemed to fit the bill.

  “The promotion comes with a raise to a hundred and fifty dollars a day. I have all the paperwork in the car, including a limited scene-of-crime authorization. It means obeying my orders to the letter. No more jumping out of the car on a whim. We will discuss your new responsibilities in more detail later.”

  “Who’s paying me? The FBI?”

  “I shall be paying you out of my own pocket.”

  “Come on, you know I’m not worth it. You’re throwing your money away.”

  Pendergast turned and looked at her, and once again she was struck by the intensity that lay behind those gray eyes. “I already know one thing: we are dealing with an extremely dangerous killer and I do not have time to waste. I must have your help. If one life is saved, what is that worth?”

  “Yeah, but how can I possibly help? I mean, the sheriff’s right. I’m just a dumb delinquent.”

  “Miss Swanson, don’t be fatuous. Have we got a deal?”

  “All right. Butassistant is where it begins and ends. Like I said before, don’t get any ideas.”

  He looked at her. “I beg your pardon?”

  “You’re a man. You know what I’m talking about.”

  Pendergast waved his hand. “Miss Swanson, the inference you are making is quite unthinkable. We come from two different worlds. There is a vast difference between us in terms of age, temperament, upbringing, background, and relative positions of power—not to mention your pierced tongue. In my opinion such a relationship, while it might afford both of us considerable diversion, would be most unwise.”

  Corrie felt vaguely irritated by his explanation. “What’s wrong with my pierced tongue?”

  “Perhaps nothing. Females of the Wimbu tribe of the Andaman Islands pierce their labia and dangle strings of cowry shells from them. The shells jingle under their skirts when they walk. The men find it most attractive.”

  “That’s totally foul!”

  Pendergast smiled. “So you are not the cultural relativist I had assumed.”

  “You’re a seriously weird person, you know that?”

  “The alternative, Miss Swanson, does not appeal to me at all.” He took the light from her and shone it back on the dog. “And now, as my assistant, you can begin by telling me whose dog this is.”

  Her eyes flickered unwillingly back to the bloated corpse. “It’s Jiff. He belonged to Andy, Swede Cahill’s son.”

  “Did Jiff wear a collar?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did he normally run free?”

  “Most of the dogs in town run free, despite the leash laws.”

  Pendergast nodded. “I knew my confidence in you was not misplaced.”

  Corrie looked at him, feeling amused. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

  “Thank you. We seem to have something in common.” He took the light from her and shined it back on the dog.

  A silence descended on the rude clearing while Corrie wondered if she’d been insulted or complimented. But as she followed the beam with her eyes, she felt a sudden stab of pity: pity that transcended the awful stench, the drone of flies. Andy Cahill was going to be heartbroken. Somebody had to tell him, and it looked like that somebody would have to be her. She certainly couldn’t leave it to the sheriff or his assistant, who could be counted on to say the wrong thing. Nor did she think Pendergast, for all his courtesy, was the right person to break the news to the kid. She looked up and, to her surprise, found Pendergast looking at her.

  “Yes,” he said, “I think it would be an act of kindness for you to break the news to Andy Cahill.”

  “How did—?”

  “At the same time, Miss Swanson, you might find out, in an offhand way, when Andy last saw Jiff, and where the dog might have been heading.”

  “You want me to play detective, in other words.”

  Pendergast nodded. “You are, after all, my new assistant.”

  Fifteen

  Margery Tealander sat behind the old wooden desk of her spartan office, industriously clipping coupons while keeping one eye onThe Price Is Right. The picture on the old black-and-white was so poor that she’d cranked the volume up so as not to miss any of the action. Not that there was all that much action today; rarely had she seen such a sorry group of contestants. Bidding high, bidding low, bidding every which way except within a mile of the real price of anything. She paused in her clipping to peer at the screen and listen. Everybody else had bid on the latest item except for the final contestant, a skinny Asian girl who couldn’t be more than twenty.

  “I’ll bid one thousand four hundred and one dollars, Bob,” the girl said with a shy smile and a duck of her head.

  “Man alive.” Marge clucked disapprovingly and returned to her clipping. Fourteen hundred dollars for an over-under Maytag? What planet could these people be living on? Couldn’t be more than nine hundred fifty, tops. And the audience wasn’t any help either, yelling encouragingly at every wrong guess. Now, ifshe was on the show, the audience would see someserious cleaning up. She always seemed to guess the right price, always seemed to pick the right door. And she wouldn’t settle for any of those cheesy prizes, either, the redwood utility sheds or the knickknack cabinets or the year’s supply of floor wax. She’d hold out for the fifteen-foot Chris-Craft; she had a cousin up near Lake Scott with a dock and mooring. The pity of it was that she’d finally talked Rocky into taking her out to Studio City, and then a week later he was diagnosed with emphysema. And now, she couldn’t very well go alone, God rest his soul, it would be much too much for . . . Nowthis was interesting: twenty percent off Woolite with a grocery purchase of $30 or more. That hardlyever went on sale, and with triple coupons on weekends that meant she could buy it for almost half price. She’d have to stock up. Yo
u just couldn’t beat the Shopper’s Palace in Ulysses for prices. The Red Owl in Garden City was closer, of course, but if you were serious about saving a little money you just couldn’t beat the Palace. And on Super Saturdays she’d get ten cents off a gallon on regular gas—that more than made up for the extra mileage right there. Of course, she felt a little bad about not patronizing Ernie, but these were lean times and a body just had to be practical . . . Now, if that didn’t beat all. Nine hundred twenty-five for the Maytag. Sure would have looked nice right next to her slop sink. Maybe she’d talk to Alice Franks about looking into a bus excursion that could—

  All of a sudden she realized that a strange man was standing before her desk.

  “Good gracious!” Marge quickly turned down the sound on the television. “Young man, you startled me.” It was that man in the black suit she’d seen out and about recently.

  “My apologies,” the man replied in a voice redolent of mint juleps, pralines, and cypress trees. He gave a formal little bow, then stood before her, hands at his sides. He had slender, tapered fingers with nails that—she noticed with some surprise—were subtly but very professionally manicured.

  “Don’t apologize,” she said. “Just don’t be sneaking up on a body like that. Now, what can I do you for?”

  The man nodded toward the coupons. “I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”

  Marge barked out a laugh. “Hah! A bad time! That’s a good one.” She pushed the coupons to one side. “Mr. Stranger, you have myun divided attention.”

  “I must apologize again,” the man said. “I’ve neglected to introduce myself. The name’s Pendergast.”

  Marge suddenly remembered the article in the paper. “Of course. You’re that fellow from down south who’s looking into the murder. I could tell you weren’t from around here, of course. Not talking like that, you aren’t.”

  She looked at him with fresh curiosity. He was rather tall, with hair so blond it was almost white, and he returned her look with pale eyes full of mild inquisitiveness. Although he was slender, he gave no sense of being frail; quite the opposite, really, although his suit was so unrelievedly black it was hard to tell. He was really very attractive, in a Southern Comfort kind of way.