'Is Julia going to print all this?'
'She's going to write the story and raise some questions, but she'll hold back the stuff about rigor being in the early stages. Randolph might be too stupid to figure out where that information came from, but Rennie would know.'
'It could still be dangerous,' Rusty said. 'If they muzzle her, she can't exactly go to the ACLU.'
'I don't think she cares. She's mad as hell. She even thinks the supermarket riot might have been a setup.'
Probably was, Rusty thought. What he said was, 'Damn, f wish I'd seen those bodies.'
'Maybe you still can.'
'I know what you're thinking, hon, but you and Jackie could lose your jobs. Or worse, if this is Big Jim's way of getting rid of an annoying problem.'
'We can't just leave it like this - '
'Also, it might not do any good. Probably wouldn't. If Brenda Perkins commenced rigor between four and eight, she's probably in full rigor by now and there isn't much I can tell from the body. The Castle County ME might be able to, but he's as out of reach as the ACLU'
'Maybe there's something else. Something about her corpse or one of the others. You know that sign they have in some post-mortem theaters? "This is where the dead speak to the living"?'
'Long shot. You know what would be better? If someone saw Brenda alive after Barbie reported to work at five fifty this morning. That would put a hole in their boat too big to plug.'
Judy and Janelle, dressed in their pajamas, came flying up for hugs. Rusty did his duty in this regard. Jackie Wettington, following along behind them, heard Rusty's last comment and said, 'I'll ask around.'
'But quietly,' he said.
'You bet. And for the record, I'm still not entirely convinced. His dog tags were in Angie's hand.'
'And he never noticed they were gone during the time between losing them and the bodies being found?'
'What bodies, Dad?' Jannie asked.
He sighed. 'It's complex, honey. And not for little girls.'
Her eyes said that was good. Her younger sister, meanwhile, had gone off to pick a few late flowers but came back empty-handed. 'They're dying,' she reported. 'All brown and yucky at the edges.'
'It's probably too warm for them,' Linda said, and for a moment Rusty thought she was going to cry. He stepped into the breach.
'You girls go in and brush your teeth. Get a little water from the jug on the counter. Jannie, you're the designated water-pourer. Now go.' He turned back to the women. To Linda in particular. 'You okay?'
'Yes. It's just that... it keeps hitting me in different ways. I think, "Those flowers have no business dying," and then I think, "None of this has any business happening in the first place."'
They were silent for a moment, thinking about this.Then Rusty spoke up.
'We should wait and see if Randolph asks me to examine the bodies. If he does, I'll get my look without any risk of hot water for you two. If he doesn't, it tells us something.'
'Meanwhile, Barbie's, in jail,' Linda said. 'They could be trying to get a confession out of him right now.'
'Siuppose you flashed your badges and got me into the funeral parlor?' Rusty asked. 'Further suppose I found something that exonerates Barbie. Do you think they'd just say "Oh shit, our bad" and let him out? And then let him take over? Because that's what the government wants; it's all over town. Do you think Rennie would allow - '
His cell phone went off. 'These things are the worst invention ever,' he said, but at least it wasn't the hospital.
'Mr Everett?'A woman. He knew the voice but couldn't put a name to it.
'Yes, but unless this is an emergency, I'm a little busy right n - '
'I don't know if it's an emergency, but it's very, very important. And since Mr Barbara - or Colonel Barbara, I guess - has been arrested, you're the one who has to deal with it.'
'Mrs McClatchey?'
'Yes, but joe's the one you need to talk to. Here he is.'
'Dr Rusty?' The voice was urgent, almost breathless,
'Hi, Joe. What is it?'
'I think we found the generator. Now what are we supposed to do?'
The evening went dark so suddenly that all three of them gasped and Linda seized Rusty s arm. But it was only the big smoke-smudge on the western side of the Dome. The sun had gone behind it.
'Where?'
'Black Ridge.'
'Was there radiation, son?' Knowing there must have been; how else had they found it?
'The last reading was plus two hundred,'Joe said.'Not quite into the danger zone. What do we do?'
Poisty ran his free hand through his hair. Too much happening. Too much, too fast. Especially for a smalltown fixer-upper who had never considered himself much of a decision-maker, let alone a leader.
'Nothing tonight. It's almost dark. We'll deal with this tomorrow. In the meantime, Joe, you have to make a promise. Keep quiet about this.You know, Benny and Norrie know, and your mom knows. Keep it that way.'
'Okay.' Joe sounded subdued. 'We have a lot to tell you, but I guess it can wait until tomorrow.' He took a breath. 'It's a little scary, isn't it?'
'Yes, son,' Rusty agreed. 'It's a little scary.'