The Big Thaw - Donald Harstad [80]
“That the purpose of your surveillance team, then?”
“One of them, yes. So we can reveal them at the proper time, with their data, and show that they were the ones who tracked Gabriel. Saving the life of the informant is a high priority.” He made a tight little smile. “The irony is, now we can use you to confirm the presence of the team, now that you’ve … uhmmm … apprehended them, as it were.”
I knew Volont just well enough to think that he would tell his superiors that he’d planned for the surveillance team to get busted by us. He was adept at that sort of thing.
“Our Mr. Nieuhauser, or Gabriel, has much unfinished business in this county. He’ll undoubtedly be back, and we think fairly soon.”
Volont said that he’d known Gabriel had been in Nation County since around Christmastime. He hadn’t been precisely sure where, but he was now certain it had been the Borglan residence, at least part of the time.
No shit.
“I want that son of a bitch busted as soon as he sets foot in my county,” said Lamar. “None of this pussy-footin’ around like last time.”
“Ah.” Volont actually chuckled. “Understood. This time, we won’t let him blow up Maitland.”
“That’s right.” Lamar glared at Volont. “This time we just got two people killed … so far.”
“So,” said Volont, “please tell me more about the murders…”
I did. I even repeated some detail. Drive it home. When I got to the part about the Colson brothers very likely attempting to convince their killer that they were undercover cops, he nodded. “Really not the man to use that story on,” he said.
I explained about the 5.45 mm PSM shell casing. He nodded again. No surprise to him. Well, now that I knew who the perp was, it wasn’t a surprise to me, either. During the last incident with Gabriel, we’d found that he had been assigned to Europe a lot of the time he was in the Army.
I went through the autopsy findings, and the best guess as to the manner of the death. He spoke.
“What he likely did was to shoot the first one as soon as the undercover cop story was brought up,” he said, slowly. “The other one was probably on his knees, pleading his case by denying he was a cop. He was either shot because Gabriel had to conceal the death of the first, or because Gabriel was still convinced both were officers. From what you say, it seems he still thinks they were officers of some sort.”
I continued with the part about Davies and me interviewing the hired man, our helicopter flight over the area, and ended with the snowmobile chase.
“So, to keep the ball bouncing,” I said, “let me ask you a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Just what is Gabriel’s ‘business’ in Nation County?”
“Money,” he said. “My sources tell me he needs financial support for his activities.”
“He’s here on a fund-raiser?” I asked.
“Of a sort. Not the fifty dollars for a plate of chicken type, though. He apparently intends to rob several banks in the area. Simultaneously.”
Suddenly, it was one of those conversations where two threads spring up at once. While I said, “Several?” George said, “Simultaneously.” And Lamar said, “Take him out now.”
Lamar won for two reasons. He was proposing a course of action, and it just took him longer to get it out, so we all heard his last two words.
“You mean on the murder charges?” I said.
“You’re goddamn right.”
“Are they good enough?” asked George.
“You’re goddamn right they are,” said Lamar. “You know where he is, we go now!”
“Oh, I agree,” said Volont. “We only have one problem.”
We three just looked at him.
He looked at me. “Could I have some coffee, now?”
Before I could answer, he continued. “The problem is, I’m not, well, precisely sure where he is. Are you?”
It all boiled down to the fact that, after the murders, Gabriel had split. Fast and clean, to parts unknown. Which was beginning to look like why the surveillance team stayed on location. To pick him up when he came back.
“This sounds a lot like ‘The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime,’” I said. “Surely you have more than that