The Third Twin - Ken Follett [72]
He looked interested. “From living in groups?”
“Sure. A crime is a breach of an important social rule. Solitary animals don’t have rules. A bear will trash another bear’s cave, steal its food, and kill its young. Wolves don’t do those things; if they did, they couldn’t live in packs. Wolves are monogamous, they take care of one another’s young, and they respect each other’s personal space. If an individual breaks the rules they punish him; if he persists, they either expel him from the pack or kill him.”
“What about breaking unimportant social rules?”
“Like farting in an elevator? We call it bad manners. The only punishment is the disapproval of others. Amazing how effective that is.”
“Why are you so interested in people who break the rules?”
She thought of her father. She did not know whether she had his criminal genes or not. It might have helped Steve to know that she, too, was troubled by her genetic inheritance. But she had lied about Daddy for so long that she could not easily bring herself to talk about him now. “It’s a big problem,” she said evasively. “Everyone’s interested in crime.”
The door opened behind her and the young woman police officer looked in. “Time’s up, Dr. Ferrami.”
“Okay,” she said over her shoulder. “Steve, did you know that Lisa Hoxton is my best friend in Baltimore?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“We work together; she’s a technician.”
“What’s she like?”
“She’s not the kind of person who would make a wild accusation.”
He nodded.
“All the same, I want you to know that I don’t believe you did it.”
For a moment she thought he was going to cry. “Thank you,” he said gruffly. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”
“Call me when you get out.” She told him her home number. “Can you remember that?”
“No problem.”
Jeannie was reluctant to leave. She gave him what she hoped was an encouraging smile. “Good luck.”
“Thanks, I need it in here.”
She turned away and left.
The policewoman walked her to the lobby. Night was falling as she returned to the parking garage. She got onto the Jones Falls Expressway and flicked on the headlights of the old Mercedes. Heading north, she drove too fast, eager to get to the university. She always drove too fast. She was a skillful but somewhat reckless driver, she knew. But she did not have the patience to go at fifty-five.
Lisa’s white Honda Accord was already parked outside Nut House. Jeannie eased her car alongside it and went inside. Lisa was just turning on the lights in the lab. The cool box containing Dennis Pinker’s blood sample stood on the bench.
Jeannie’s office was right across the corridor. She unlocked her door by passing her plastic card through the card reader and went in. Sitting at her desk, she called the Pinker house in Richmond. “At last!” she said when she heard the ringing tone.
Charlotte answered. “How is my son?” she said.
“He’s in good health,” Jeannie replied. He hardly seemed like a psychopath, she thought, until he pulled a knife on me and stole my panties. She tried to think of something positive to say. “He was very cooperative.”
“He always had beautiful manners,” Charlotte said in the southern drawl she used for her most outrageous utterances.
“Mrs. Pinker, may I double-check his birthday with you?”
“He was born on the seventh of September.” Like it should be a national holiday.
It was not the answer Jeannie had been hoping for. “And what hospital was he born in?”
“We were at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, at the time.”
Jeannie suppressed a disappointed curse.
“The Major was training conscripts for Vietnam,” Charlotte said proudly. “The Army Medical Command has a big hospital at Bragg. That’s where Dennis came into the world.”
Jeannie could not think of anything more to say. The mystery was as deep as ever. “Mrs. Pinker, I want to thank you again for your kind cooperation.”
“You’re welcome.”
She returned to the lab and said to Lisa: “Apparently, Steven and Dennis were born thirteen days apart and in different states. I just don’t understand it.”
Lisa opened a fresh box of test tubes. “Well, there’s one incontrovertible