by Kathy Reichs
I was scribbling notes on my case form when Slidell reappeared.
“Asked Rinaldi about a query I popped through to LAPD before heading over here. About Donna Scott and her daddy, Birch.”
“I thought Rinaldi was canvassing in NoDa.”
“Chicken hawks went to ground. He’s at headquarters, plans to head back out when they resurface after dark.”
I resumed my analysis by removing and inspecting the right pelvic half. The shape was typically female. The pubic symphysis had deep horizontal ridges and furrows, and a slender crest of bone was in the process of fusing to the upper edge of the hip blade.
I made notes on my form, then picked up the left pelvic half. Adipocere, a crumbly, soaplike substance, clung to its borders and symphyseal face. Ten minutes of cleaning revealed characteristics identical to those on the right.
More notes.
I was examining the rib ends when Slidell’s phone shattered the silence. Yanking the device from his hip, he shot outside. As before, his words were lost, but his tone carried in through the open door.
Slidell’s second conversation was longer than his first. I was repositioning a vertebra when he reentered the tomb.
“LAPD got back to Rinaldi.”
“That was quick,” I said.
“Ain’t computers grand?”
Burkhead had gone motionless. I could tell he was listening.
“Birch Alexander Scott purchased a home in Long Beach in February of 2001, moved in that summer with his wife, Annabelle, and two daughters, Donna and Tracy.”
“That squares with Finney’s story,” I said.
“Things didn’t go exactly as the old man intended. Two years after relocating, the guy was taken out by a massive coronary. Wife’s still enjoying the house.”
“What about Donna?”
“Sounds flaky as ever. Enrolled in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California in 2002.” Slidell put a sneer into the program title. “Dropped out in 2004 to marry Herb Rosenberg, age forty-seven. Ever hear of him?”
I shook my head.
“Guy’s some bigwig freelance producer. Marriage lasted two years. Donna Scott-Rosenberg now lives in Santa Monica. Since July she’s been working as a researcher for a TV series.”
“Did Rinaldi get a phone number?”
“Oh, yeah.” Slidell waggled his cell and disappeared again.
“Who is Donna Scott?” Burkhead asked.
“She may have been involved in the vandalism.”
One by one, I assessed the maturity of the long bones.
Neck and shoulders screaming, I finally sat back on my heels.
Clavicles. Pelves. Ribs. Long bones. Every indicator suggested death between the ages of fifteen and eighteen.
Age. Gender. Height. Robusticity. Preservation. Staining.
Cuervo’s cauldron contained the partial remains of a black female who’d died in her mid to late teens. A black female now missing her head, jaw, and thigh bones.
Susan Redmon was a perfect match for the girl in the cauldron.
It was full night when Slidell and I left Elmwood. Thick clouds blanketed the moon and stars, turning trees and tombstones into dense cutouts against a background only slightly less dense. A cold rain was still falling, and legions of tree frogs matched vocal offerings with armies of locusts. Or maybe they were crickets. Whatever. The sound was impressive.
Burkhead assumed responsibility for securing the remains and locking the crypt. I promised to return Finney’s jaw and the cauldron skull and femora as soon as I’d satisfied my boss that they were, indeed, Susan Redmon’s missing parts. He promised to do his best to persuade cousin Thomas to cough up for a new casket.
Slidell was restless and grumpy. Though he’d left messages, Donna Scott-Rosenberg had not phoned him back
Slidell called Rinaldi again as I was buckling my seat belt.
I looked at my watch. Nine fifteen. It had been a very long day. I’d eaten nothing since the turkey and Cheddar sub at headquarters.
Leaning back, I closed my eyes and began rubbing circles on my temples.
“Broad isn’t burning up the line getting back to me. I’ll give her till morning, then bring down some heat. Let’s focus on Klapec. Anything new up there?”
Rinaldi said something. From Slidell’s end of the conversation I gathered he’d returned to NoDa.
“Oh, yeah? This guy’s really credible?”
Rinaldi spoke again.
“And he’s willing to share?”
More listening on Slidell’s end.
“See you at ten.”
Slidell’s mobile snapped shut.
We rode in silence. Then, “Ready to call it a day, doc?”
“What’s Rinaldi got?” I mumbled.
“His hawk is willing to dish on this Rick Nelson john.” Slidell stopped. “Know what I liked about Nelson? His hair. Guy had hair like a Shetland pony.”
“What’s the kid’s story?” I brought Slidell back on track.
“Describes the guy as average height and build, white, a conservative dresser, not a talker. Says he used to do Ricky-boy until he got the crap beat out of him.”
I opened my eyes. “The man was violent?”
“Kid claims the asshole tuned him up good.”
“When was this?”
“June. When he refused to do him anymore, Klapec took over.”
“Anything else?”
“Says he’s got info, but it won’t be free. There’s a novel approach. Rinaldi’s meeting him at ten.”
“Where?”
“Some Mexican joint on North Davidson. I’m gonna stop by, provide a little sales incentive of my own. You want I should run you back to your wheels?”
My stomach chose that moment to growl.
“No,” I said. “I want you should buy me an enchilada.”
Located at Thirty-fifth and North Davidson, Cabo Fish Taco is a bit upmarket to qualify as a joint. The place is more Baja surfer meets Albuquerque artiste.
Slidell parked outside the old Landmark Building, now home to the Center of the Earth Gallery. Hanging in the window was a still life of a glass tumbler containing an egg yolk and two halves of a plastic Easter egg balanced on the rim.
Seeing the painting as we exited the Taurus, Slidell snorted and shook his head. He was about to comment when he spotted Rinaldi walking toward us, from the point where Thirty-fifth dead-ends at the tracks.
Slidell gave a sharp whistle.
Rinaldi’s head came up. He smiled. I think. I’m not sure. At that moment, reality went sideways.
Rinaldi’s hand started to rise.
A gunshot rang out.
Rinaldi’s arm froze, half crooked. His body straightened. Too much.
A second shot exploded.
Rinaldi spun sideways, as though yanked by a chain.
“Down!” Slidell shoved me hard toward the pavement.
My knees cracked cement. My belly. My chest.
Another shot rang out.
A vehicle screamed south on Davidson.
Heart hammering, I looked up, barely raising my head.
Gun drawn, Slidell was thundering up the block.
Rinaldi lay still, long spider limbs arrayed terribly wrong.
22
SCRABBLING TO MY FEET, I RAN UP THIRTY-FIFTH.
Sirens wailed in the distance. The previously deserted sidewalks were filling with the curious. Ahead, a circle was forming around Rinaldi. Between pairs of legs I could see his motionless form, a dark tendril oozing toward the curb from below his chest.
Shoving aside gawkers, I made my way up the street. Slidell was kneeling, face splotchy, both hands pressed to his partner’s chest.
My heart leaped into my throat.
Rinaldi’s eyelids were blue, his face morgue white. Rain soaked his hair and shirt. Blood crawled the pavement and oozed over the lip of the curb. Too much blood.
“Get back!” Slidell screamed, voice tremulo
us with rage. “Give the man some goddamn air!”
The circle expanded, immediately began to contract. Cell phones clicked, capturing images of the gore.
The distant wails grew louder. Increased in number. I knew Slidell had called in the code for officer down. Units were responding from all over the city.
“Let me do that,” I said, dropping beside Slidell. “You deal with the crowd.”
Slidell’s eyes whipped to mine. He was breathing hard. “Yeah.”
I slid my hands onto Rinaldi’s chest below Slidell’s palms. I could feel trembling in his arm.
“Hard! You gotta press hard!” A vein pounded up the center of Slidell’s forehead. Wetness haloed his hair.
I nodded, unable to speak.
Shooting upright, Slidell lurched toward the gawkers, feet slipping in the rain and the slick of Rinaldi’s blood.
“Get the hell back!” Slidell’s upraised palms were a horrifying crimson.
I dropped my gaze, thoughts pointed at only one goal.
Stop the blood!
“Give me some fucking room! Now!” Slidell bellowed.
Stop the blood!
Too much! Dear God, no one could survive such a loss.
Stop the blood!
Seconds passed. The rain fell in a slow, steady drizzle.
A siren screamed to a stop close by. A second. A third. Lights pulsated, turning the street into a flashing whirlpool of red and blue.
Stop the blood!
Doors opened. Slammed. Footsteps pounded. Voices shouted.
Stop the blood!
Sensing movement and space, I glanced up, palms still pressed to Rinaldi’s chest.
Uniformed cops were now muscling the onlookers back.
My eyes returned to my hands, now glossy and dark.
Stop the blood!
Feet appeared at my side, one pair in boots, one in New Balance running shoes. Muddy. Wet.
Boots squatted and spoke to me. I barely heard through the mantra controlling my mind.
Stop the blood!
Boots placed his hands over mine on the blood-soaked shirt. I looked into his eyes. The irises were blue, the whites latticed by a network of tiny red veins.
Boots nodded.
I rose and stepped back on rubber legs.
I knew the drill. ABC. Airway. Breathing. Circulation. I watched numbly as the paramedics went through it, checking Rinaldi’s trachea, bagging him with oxygen, evaluating his carotid pulse.
Then they strapped Rinaldi to a gurney, lifted him, and slammed the doors. I watched the ambulance race into the Charlotte night.
Leaving the scene to others, Slidell and I drove straight to CMC. On the way we passed dozens of squad cars speeding toward NoDa. Dozens more clogged the streets. The city throbbed with sirens and pulsating lights.
The ER waiting room already held a half dozen cops. Barely acknowledging their presence, Slidell barked his name and demanded Rinaldi’s doctor.
A receptionist ushered us to restrooms so we could wash the blood from our hands and arms. Or maybe it was a nurse. Or an orderly. Who knew? Upon our return, she asked us to take seats and wait.
Slidell started to bluster. I led him by one arm to a row of interlocking metal seats. His muscles felt tense as tree roots.
Sensitive to Slidell’s mood, everyone left us alone. Those in law enforcement understood. Their presence was enough.
Slidell and I dropped into chairs and began our vigil, each lost in thoughts of our own.
I kept hearing the shots, picturing Rinaldi’s ghostly face. The blood. Too much blood.
Every few minutes Slidell would lurch to his feet and disappear outside. Each time he returned, cigarette smoke rode him like rain on a dog. I almost envied him the diversion.
Slowly, the number of cops increased. Plainclothes detectives stood in groups with uniformed patrolmen, faces tense, voices hushed.
Finally, a grim-faced doctor approached wearing blood-spattered scrubs. A stain on one sleeve mimicked the shape of New Zealand. Why would I think of that?
Slidell and I rose, terrified, hopeful. The doctor’s badge said Meloy.
Meloy told us that Rinaldi had taken two rounds to the chest and one to the abdomen. One wound was through and through. Two bullets remained in his body.
“He conscious?” Slidell asked, face fixed in grim resolution.
“He’s still in surgery,” Meloy said.
“He gonna make it?”
“Mr. Rinaldi has lost a lot of blood. Tissue damage is extensive.”
Slidell forced his voice even. “That ain’t an answer.”
“The prognosis is not good.”
Meloy led us to a staff lounge and told us to stay as long as we wanted.
“When’s he come off the table?” Slidell asked.
“That’s impossible to say.”
Promising to find us if there were developments, Meloy left.
Rinaldi died at 11:42 P.M.
Slidell listened stone-faced as Meloy delivered the news. Then he turned and strode from the room.
A cop drove me home. I should have said thanks, but didn’t. Like Slidell, I was too battered for niceties. Later I learned her name and sent a note. I think she understood.
Once in bed, I cried until I could cry no more. Then I fell into a dreamless sleep.
I awoke Sunday morning feeling something was wrong, but unsure what. When I remembered, I cried all over again.
The Observer’s headlines were huge, the kind reserved for the outbreak of war or peace. Bold, two-inch letters screamed POLICE DETECTIVE SLAIN!
TV and radio coverage was equally frenzied, the rhetoric wildly speculative. Gang murder. Assassination. Drive-by shooting. Execution-style killing.
Asa Finney did not escape notice. Finney was described as a self-proclaimed witch arrested for possession of the Greenleaf cauldron skull, and as a person of interest in the Satanic killing of Jimmy Klapec.
Allison Stallings’s photo of Finney appeared on the front page of the Observer, on the Internet, and behind somber reporters at TV anchor desks. Everywhere, reports emphasized the fact that Rinaldi had been investigating both the Greenleaf and the Klapec cases.
My early morning sampling of media coverage left me despondent. And the day went downhill from there.
Katy called around ten to say she was sorry about Rinaldi. I thanked her, and asked about the picnic. She said it was about as much fun as a boil on the butt. And now they were sending her to some backass place in Buncombe County to help sort and tag documents. I said that her recent negativity was a real downer. Or something equally imprudent. She said I was the negative one, that I criticized everything about her. Like what? Her taste in music. I denied it. She challenged me to name a single group she liked. I couldn’t. And so on. We hung up, hostile and angry.
Boyce Lingo was on the air by noon, railing against decadence and corruption and insisting the world remake itself in his narrow image. As before, he encouraged his constituents to take a proactive stance against evil and to insist that their elected officials do likewise.
Boyce pointed to Asa Finney as an example of all that was wrong in today’s society. To my dismay, he referred to Finney as a minion of Satan, and implied a link to Rinaldi’s murder.
A Google of Allison Stallings eventually revealed that she was a writer of true crime with one publication under her belt, a low-budget mass market exposé of a domestic homicide in Columbus, Georgia. The book wasn’t even listed on Amazon.
Stallings had also earned photography credits in the Columbus Ledger-Inquirer, and one big score with the Associated Press.
Dear God. The woman was snooping for book ideas.
Around three, I checked my e-mail. There was a message from the OCME in Chapel Hill. It made three points. The chief was deeply troubled by my rant Friday morning. I was to abstain from all contact with the press. I’d be hearing from him first thing on Tuesday.
Ryan didn’t call.
Charli
e didn’t call.
Birdie threw up on the bathroom rug.
In between e-mails and phone calls and vomit and tears, I cleaned. Not the run-the-vacuum-swipe-a-dust-cloth type slicking-up. I attacked the Annex with fury, toothbrush-scrubbing the bathroom grout, scouring the oven, changing the AC filters, defrosting the freezer, discarding just about everything in the medicine cabinet.
The intense physical activity worked. Until I stopped.
At six, I stood in my gleaming kitchen, grief once again threatening to overwhelm my composure. Birdie was in bunker mode atop the refrigerator.
“This won’t do, Bird,” I said.
The cat studied me, still wary of the vacuum.
“I should do something to lift my spirits.”
No response from the lofty height of the Sub-Zero.
“Chinese,” I said. “I’ll order Chinese.”
Bird repositioned his two front paws, centering them under his upraised chin.
“I know what you’re thinking,” I said. “You can’t constantly sit home eating out of little white cartons.”
Bird neither agreed nor disagreed.
“Good point. I’ll go to Baoding and order all my favorites.”
And that’s what I did.
And the day really hit the mung heap.
Though restaurant dining is among my favorite activities, I’ve always felt the need of a social component. When alone, I eat with Birdie, in front of the TV.
But Baoding is a southeast Charlotte end-of-the-weekend tradition. On Sunday evenings I always see faces I know.
That night was no exception.
Unhappily, these were not faces I wanted to, well, face.
Martinis are a Baoding specialty, particularly for those awaiting takeout. Not very Chinese, but there it is.
When I entered, Pete was at the bar, talking to a woman seated on his right. Both were drinking what I guessed were apple martinis.
Quick reversal of course.
Too late.
“Tempe. Yo! Over here.”
Springing from his stool, Pete caught me before I could escape out the door.
“You have to meet Summer.”
“It’s not a good—”
Beaming, Pete tugged me across the restaurant. Summer had turned and was now gazing in our direction.
