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‘‘An observer?’’

‘‘Yep.’’ I paused, and said, deliberately, ‘‘Courtesy of his leader.’’

‘‘A leader?’’ said Volont. ‘‘That would be . . . ?’’

I just couldn’t resist, of course. George had turned his back, so I didn’t get the guilt vibes from him anymore.

‘‘They call him Gabriel, but I don’t think that’s his real name.’’

Silence. George coughed after a few seconds.

‘‘Where,’’ said Volont evenly, ‘‘did you come up with that name?’’

I looked him right in the eye. ‘‘I’m not at liberty to tell you that right now. It’s a highly confidential source.’’ And then chickened out, at least partway. ‘‘Should be able to tell you in a couple of days, though.’’

‘‘Hmmm,’’ said Volont. ‘‘So, exactly what do you want from this?’’

Exasperating.

‘‘What I want,’’ I said slowly, ‘‘is this: The person who shot Lamar, Bud, and Rumsford; and I realize there may be at least two shooters here. Then I want the persons who shot Turd and Kellerman in the woods.’’ I leaned back away from the table, tilting my chair onto its back legs. ‘‘That’s what I want. That’s what I’ve always wanted.’’

‘‘Yes,’’ said Volont. He stood. ‘‘We’ll do everything we can to see you get that,’’ he said. ‘‘And now, I have to be getting along . . .’’ He turned to George. ‘‘May I see you for a moment?’’

As soon as they’d left the room, I looked at Hester. ‘‘He’s gonna be a lotta help.’’

‘‘Right.’’

‘‘Now,’’ I said, ‘‘how we approach Gabriel could be very, very important.’’ I said that I thought Hester should compose the messages from that point on, as she would bring what I hoped would be a convincing female touch to the correspondence.

‘‘What do you want, smiley faces, for Christ’s sake?’’ She glared at me. ‘‘You’re doin’ really good. Just get in touch with your feminine side, Buster, and you’ll be just fine.’’

Like they say, if you tend to rest your elbows on a keyboard, you’re bound to hit the wrong button some of the time.

‘‘Gee,’’ I said contritely, ‘‘I’m sorry, ma’am . . .’’

‘‘Houseman,’’ she said slowly, ‘‘you shouldn’t do this when we’re both armed.’’

Point well taken.

The reply to Gabriel, although critical, wasn’t too much of a pressure deal, since we had plenty of time to compose it. After all, it would take Nola some time to get back to her attorney’s laptop. Or some other computer.

‘‘We might think about coming up with another computer for her,’’ I said. ‘‘If we need fast communications.’’

‘‘I don’t expect more than three or four,’’ said Hester. ‘‘But while you’re at it, think about this . . . Nola is our target, not Billy or Herman.’’

I considered that. ‘‘You’re right. She’s smart, and, like Sally said, may have a little resentment over her position.’’

‘‘Think we can see her?’’ asked Hester. ‘‘Or you think Volont will stop that?’’

‘‘If we go fast,’’ I said, ‘‘before he realizes she’s probably the key, I think we can talk with her. If she’ll talk with us . . .’’

‘‘I wonder,’’ said Hester, ‘‘what’s become of George?’’

She and I drafted our response, after carefully considering what it would be that Nola would want, and how she could think that Gabriel could possibly help her. At the same time, we wanted to flush Gabriel out, if we could.

TELL HERMAN TO KEEP QUIET.

MY LIAR TALKS ABOUT DEALS.

I DON’T HAVE MY ADDRESS BOOK.

N

Personally, I thought the ‘‘N’’ was a nice touch. As I said to Hester, I was sure it had come from my feminine side. The ‘‘liar,’’ of course, was extreme-right talk for attorneys. They have a tendency to latch on to an old, and not particularly witty, joke and evolve it into jargon. The lack of an address book was Hester’s idea. That way, we just might be able to ask for an address in the future.

Anyway, we figured that implying that Herman wanted to talk would get Gabriel to make some sort of contact, both to reassure him and to tell him to shut up.

After that, I made a phone call to Melissa Stritch. I told her we really needed to talk with her, about Herman and the dope, and if he was involved with it in