Bombshell (AN FBI THRILLER) (9 page)

Breaker’s Hill

Maestro, Virginia

Sunday morning

Billy Boynton, third baseman on Maestro’s high school team and a good friend of Dix Noble’s older son, Rob, was on his knees, clutching his belly, still dry-heaving, since his stomach was empty. “He barfed his guts out,” his friend Jonah said. Jonah was green, his voice thin as a thread.

For once the weatherman was right. The snow had stopped in the middle of the night, and now the sun shone brightly, warming both land and people. If it weren’t for the dead man at his feet, Dix might have admired the postcard beauty all around him, the trees and rolling hills covered with pristine white as far as the eye could see. He’d already examined the body and stepped back for Griffin and Ruth.

Dix went down on his knee in front of Billy. “Tell me,” he said.

“I-I touched him,” Billy said, raising tear-filled eyes to Dix. He was still shuddering, his face pale against the white of the snow. “I didn’t know what it was; I mean, it looked like a dark patch covered mostly with snow. I saw lots of animal prints and figured something had tried to uncover him, and so I leaned down, and I touched him. When I realized, I yelled for Jonah to stay back. I knew it was the guy everyone’s looking for. I saw the sketch of him Miss Mavis did. And I knew I’d found him.”

Jonah said, “We were snowboarding down the hill, and Billy tried a backward flip and lost control, headed off-trail into the woods. I saw him bounce off a tree, and his snowboard whacked against a rock. Billy was lucky he landed in a pile of snow.”

Well, not so lucky,
Dix thought. He helped Billy to his feet, hugged him against his side. There was no need for Old Bertie now. “You did good, Billy. Listen to me now. It will take you a while to forget this and put it behind you, but I promise you, it’ll fade over time. Remember, you found him for us, and that makes you a hero. Now, the two of you get your snowboards and head on home. I’ll call your folks, tell them you were a big help to us.”

Griffin saw Billy was torn. He’d been terrified, but he was getting hold of himself now, not sure he wanted to leave. The dead guy was his find, and the dead guy’s gross arm lying on top of the snow wasn’t making him sick anymore. He wanted to keep talking about it.

Having two sons the same age, Dix held to his patience. Limelight like this didn’t come along every day for a teenage boy. “Billy, Deputy Claus is down on the road. You hook up with him and he’ll take you home. If I have more questions, I’ll come see you, all right? We’ve got to take care of him now. Go home.” Billy knew when an adult meant it, and so he hung it up. He and Jonah carried their snowboards down the hill, Billy talking a mile a minute about how the dead guy’s fingers curled around his hand when he fell on him—
I heard the finger bones snap
—Dix knew it was a story that would glitter with epic detail by nightfall.

The bright yellow crime scene tape his deputies had placed marked off the man’s body. At least there was no more snow in the forecast. Processing the scene with snow pelting down on them would have been a nightmare.

When the Loudoun County forensic team was finally through, the ME’s van slogging through the hard-packed snow to the road at the base of Breaker’s Hill, Ruth turned to her husband. “If animals hadn’t disturbed the site, if Billy hadn’t fallen in the woods, maybe not even Bertie would have found him.”

True enough,
Dix thought. He’d brought the portable fingerprinter and wondered what the chances were the man’s prints would be in AFIS. He replied, “It’s still too cold. Let’s get ourselves out of this weather.

“Now that we have his body, we’ll find out who he was. Maybe then we’ll know why he was here in Maestro, and what he was doing in Delsey’s bathtub.”

Ruth looked up into the brilliant sun. It was odd, still feeling so cold with the sun so bright overhead. She counted the steps to Dix’s Range Rover.

Dr. Hayman’s House

Deer Ridge Lane

Maestro, Virginia

Sunday morning

Griffin pulled his Camry into Dr. Hayman’s driveway, the first tire tracks of the day. He’d read that Stanislaus had provided Dr. Hayman with a director’s residence for the duration of his contract, an old shingled bungalow set in the middle of an expansive tree-filled lawn. He saw the information wasn’t exactly accurate. Calling it a bungalow was a misnomer. The original house had been enlarged and modernized. After his initial take on Dr. Hayman, Griffin thought the new version of the house suited Hayman pretty well. Two more perks he’d read about—a gardener and a housekeeper.
No cook?
Griffin grinned as he walked up the six front steps to press the doorbell.

Dr. Hayman answered the door himself. He looked the part of a Euro-aristocrat even on Sunday, Griffin thought, all duded up in
GQ
-casual running-suit elegance, down to expensive sneakers that, Griffin thought, hadn’t ever slammed their soles on a roadtop. Was he trying to emulate Professor Salazar after all?

“You are late, Agent Hammersmith.”

Griffin said, “I was held up unexpectedly at Breaker’s Hill. A couple of kids with their snowboards strapped to the roof of their car skidded into a snowdrift, and I helped get them out.”

“You should have called me.”

Maybe so, but more fun to see you go all haughty and pissed off.
Griffin nodded and stepped forward, forcing Dr. Hayman to take a quick step back.

There was no bungalow coziness on the inside, either. Inside was all aggressive and ultramodern. It struck Griffin between the eyes. All high style and dash, but no particular charm. He said, “Did you redecorate?”

“Yes, I had to. Though they kept the house nicely on the outside, the inside was a disgrace. I’m told an eighty-year-old spinster with a dozen cats originally lived here. When she died, she donated the house to Stanislaus.

“What I have done suits me now. I must admit to being pleasantly surprised by the workmanship here in Maestro. Come into the living room, Agent Hammersmith.”

Hayman waved him into a large square room with wide windows that gave onto the front yard. He pointed to a deep burgundy sofa and moved to stand beside the fireplace. He crossed his arms over his chest, then crossed his feet. Too bad Griffin wasn’t a photographer; this was a pose for posterity, and again, it reminded him of Professor Salazar, only Dr. Hayman did it better, with more natural grace.

“How is Delsey?”

“She is better.”

“I will look forward to seeing her back with us. Now, what can I do for you, Agent Hammersmith? I’m afraid I’ve already told you everything I know that might be helpful. As I think we all told you, Delsey left the party without telling anyone.” He looked down at his watch. Who was he expecting?

“Tell me what special ingredients you put in the margaritas Delsey drank Friday night.”

If Hayman thought that an odd question, he didn’t show it, and answered readily, “It was a very fine tequila—Patrón Silver—that should not have made her ill. Naturally, I used an excellent Cointreau, lime juice, and a bit of additional triple sec.”

“What was your special ingredient?”

“Nothing more than a dash of Tabasco sauce.”

Not very original at all.
“She was sick enough to leave. How many drinks did she have?”

“I did not count. Three, I believe. Although the Patrón Silver is an excellent tequila, it is potent.”

Probably enough alcohol to flatten an elephant.
“Do you think someone could have added something to her drinks, Dr. Hayman? Something to make her ill?”

“There is no reason for anyone to do that, Agent.”

“And what about your brother, Dr. Salazar? Whatever your own intentions toward Delsey, I got the impression the man is far more a hedonist than an ascetic. He uses his students, particularly the women, treats them like his own personal servants.”

“A hedonist? Because he enjoys life and takes advantage of what life offers to him? Well, yes, he does take advantage and that isn’t something I admire, but still, Rafael is a fine musician, no matter his small character flaws. He is both admired and respected. Have you ever seen him perform onstage?”

“I didn’t ask you about his musical abilities, Dr. Hayman,” Griffin said. “You don’t seem to care for him much, and since he is your brother, you certainly know him. You are the director here, responsible for the behavior of faculty at an academic institution. Why would you bring someone with such flaws in his personal life, someone who is something of a predator, to Stanislaus? Why would you take that risk?”

“Perhaps he has not behaved quite as I expected. At any rate, whatever his habits, his questionable behavior, this will be his last semester here.”

“Why do both of you appear to want to get close to my sister? Is there some sort of competition between you?”

“I am not at all like Rafael, and I do not compete with him.”

“Did he pressure you into inviting him to Stanislaus for the year? Or did someone else?”

“He is my brother, Agent Hammersmith. I was not pressured, but perhaps it is true that I listened too kindly to our mother. She is never reticent about what she feels and wants. But Maria Rosa is a lovely lady who perhaps cares too much for Rafael. Perhaps she has indulged him too much over the years. After my parents divorced when we were boys, she took Rafael with her to Spain, her homeland, where she married a rich Spanish industrialist, Carlo Salazar, now happily passed on.”

“Why did she leave you behind?”

“It was my father’s condition for a divorce, and so I grew up in New Jersey. If you wish to know more about Rafael or Maria Rosa’s family, you can ask my brother. I expect him shortly.”

He called his mother by her first name? Well, Griffin supposed it could be natural, given he didn’t grow up with her.

“And why is Professor Salazar coming here this fine morning?”

“His lifestyle does not relieve him of his responsibilities here at Stanislaus. He is a colleague, Agent. We are to discuss the scheduling of his students’ recitals for the coming semester.”

Griffin pulled out his smartphone, scrolled to a photo of the dead man on Breaker’s Hill, and held it up. “Have you ever seen this man before, Dr. Hayman?”

Hayman studied the photo. “No, I can’t say that I have. Is this man involved with what happened to Delsey?”

“Perhaps,” Griffin said. “We also know the man who struck Delsey was a young Hispanic. Were there any Hispanic men at the party?”

Hayman blinked. “There are perhaps a dozen Hispanic musicians at Stanislaus, though I don’t recall seeing any of them at the party. Surely it was not one of them. They are all accomplished musicians, here to study and improve themselves, not rob houses. And perhaps that is what it was—a simple robbery, after all.”

“Dr. Hayman, there is nothing at all simple about what happened to Delsey.”

They heard the front doorbell ring.

“It is my brother, I believe.”

Griffin said, “Do you have a music room, sir? Could you take me there, then send Professor Salazar in to see me?”

Hayman shrugged and walked out of the living room, Griffin on his heels. He opened a door on his right, motioned to Griffin. Griffin stepped into a small room filled with books, a huge grand piano, and a wall of shoulder-high mirrors set against it, all with ornate antique frames.

“I will ask Rafael if he wishes to speak to you,” Hayman said and walked out. Griffin heard his footfalls toward the front door. Would Salazar agree to speak to him?

The music room was good-sized, with nothing out of place. Sheet music sat atop a small desk, neat and tidy. The concert-size Steinway was bare. And what about all those mirrors, some so old the glass was distorted and shadowed? Did Hayman stare at himself while he played the piano? Why? To perfect some special demeanor for his audiences?

He moved to the door, opened it a crack and listened. He heard voices, but they were speaking too quietly for him to make out what they were saying.
Too bad.

Professor Rafael Salazar strolled into the small study, walked to the piano, and leaned against it—no, he lounged against it. He was wearing gray cashmere today, and looked very sharp indeed.

He said, “Agent Hammersmith, I understand you are concerned for your sister, but I have been more than generous with my time with you already. I have learned nothing more since we last spoke. I have a great deal to accomplish today, even on Sunday, and I ask that if you or the sheriff wish to speak with me again, you make an appointment through my office. From what my brother tells me, you have already formed an opinion of me. A hedonist, sir?”

Griffin smiled at him. “Tell me, Professor Salazar, do you dislike your brother as much as he appears to dislike you?”

Salazar blinked at him, then smiled with genuine amusement. It changed him, made him seem real, but only for an instant. “Dislike my brother? He is a brilliant pianist, naturally, but he carries the burden of being a bourgeois—after all, he was raised here in the United States—who could expect him to simply appreciate some of the splendid diversions life offers? Ah, like a certain measure of hedonism.”

“Unlike in Spain?”

“Very possibly. In Europe, the artist and his needs are better appreciated and valued, his needs for diversions understood and accepted.”

“Is that what your mother, Maria Rosa, does? Understand you? She taught you to enjoy life’s diversions?”

Salazar’s mouth seamed. “My mother is a woman of infinite good taste and judgment. She certainly understands me. I will say, too, she has the good judgment to never interfere in my personal life, Agent. My brother should never have spoken of her to you. I do not understand why you wish to discuss such things.”

“I ask because you appear to have no shortage of perceived self-worth, and I wondered how it was nurtured in you.”

“You mock me, Agent? The truth is I have been blessed, but I also work incredibly hard. My life is not all pleasurable amusement, you know.” Salazar shrugged. “So why pretend I am like everyone else when I am clearly not? As much as I’ve enjoyed this chat, Agent Hammersmith, if there is nothing truly pressing, I will ask you to excuse me.”

Griffin showed Salazar the photo of the dead man, and after the expected demur, asked him, “Do you know any Hispanic males who might have hurt Delsey?”

Of all things, Salazar hummed. “Hurt her? Why? No, I’m afraid no name springs to mind.”

“Why do you think Delsey was attacked in her apartment?”

“I do not know. It maddens and taunts me.”

When Griffin left Dr. Hayman’s lovely bungalow he looked back to see Professor Salazar and Dr. Hayman standing together in the open doorway; they appeared to be arguing. His interviews with the two men had been informative, but not particularly helpful. He found them strangely alien; he’d met many kinds of people, but none as self-absorbed as these two. Could he believe what either of them had said? And why this fascination with his sister?