“The gators seem to know it okay,” Matt said, reaching for a dinner roll. “We saw several.”
“I don’t know how Boss Man knew, but he did, and Pierre confirmed it was the right place,” Diego said.
“We found the gravesite. It was pretty obvious where the dirt had been dug up. But not only was the body gone, the coffin was, too. So...no prints, no scraps of fabric or strands of hair that might have gotten caught on it,” Matt said.
“I want to get back out there and look around some more,” Brett said. “I think it might actually be a body dump for more of our forgotten citizens, and maybe for more of Boss Man’s experiments. We’ll bring dogs—maybe ground-penetrating radar—and see what we can find. But first, tomorrow we’re going to look for the body of Pierre’s brother where it was buried after his second—and final—death.” He turned to Lara. “You said you and Meg had an interesting day, too. What happened?”
“I had my first dolphin swim,” Meg said. “And when it was over, Cocoa behaved very strangely.”
Brett smiled at Lara. “She didn’t throw you over for Meg, did she?”
“No, nothing like that,” Lara said. “She went over the fence.”
“She wanted to escape?” Diego asked.
“No, I think she wanted Lara to follow her,” Meg said. She hesitated, glancing at Lara, then addressing Brett. “She went out with you guys and Lara and Diego, and she found what you were looking for. I think she knows there’s more out there—and she may even know where.”
“How could a dolphin know—” Diego began.
“You had her looking for human remains before,” Meg said. “Dolphins are smart. If you rewarded her for finding body parts once and she knows more are out there—if she can smell them or whatever—why wouldn’t she think you’d reward her again for finding them?”
“We could go out,” Brett said, and looked at Lara. “If you’re willing.”
Was she willing? She didn’t know. She would never forget the discovery of Miguel Gomez’s head.
Or the other pieces of him, for that matter.
But, she realized, she was never going to feel right until they found out what was going on. She frowned, thinking about lunch the other day, and seeing Dr. Amory with Ely Taggerly, Grant Blackwood and Mason Martinez. She’d been instantly suspicious.
And she would look at everyone, view any innocent meeting or association, with that same suspicion if this wasn’t solved.
“I’m fine with going out again,” she said. “You’ll need to speak with Grady and Rick first, though. Rick will know what to do if it turns out that’s not what Cocoa wants.”
“Great. I’ll do that. I have no idea if we’ll find a body at all, and even if we do, there’s no guarantee it will be Randy Nicholson’s.”
“If you find anyone who had the same drug in him, won’t that help tell you what you need to know, even if you never find Randy’s?” Lara asked.
“We need every piece of evidence we can find,” Brett said. “And then,” he added grimly, “we need to put all the pieces together and find out whose money is behind these murders.”
“Money?” Lara asked.
Brett nodded. “It takes money to pull off something like this. Despite Anthony Barillo making such an effort to tell me he’s not guilty, he’s got the bucks—and the muscle—to make things happen. Money to hire thugs. Money to create the drug they’re using. Money to hold funerals and steal bodies.”
“Why do any of it, though?” Lara asked. “Even if he creates a whole army of zombies, what does he think he’ll do with it? And the victims so far were no threat to anyone. So...why?”
“Knowing why would help a hell of a lot,” Diego said. “But knowing how will help, too. I keep hoping that Dr. Kinny will come up with something. That’s why it’s so important that we find the bodies.”
“Here’s something that may or may not mean anything,” Lara said. “Talking to Sonia Larson today, we found out that she sees Dr. Treme. The same Dr. Treme who signed Randy Nicholson’s death certificate.”
“He is one of the most highly regarded cardiologists in the area,” Diego said.
“So maybe it’s nothing,” Lara said. “Just a coincidence.”
“I’m not willing to accept anything as coincidence at this point. We have to check it out,” Brett said. “And we will.”
“Should we worry about Sonia, then? Suggest she see a different doctor?” Meg asked.
“Let’s not jump the gun,” Matt answered. “We’re pretty sure that puffer fish poison is being used, and chances are someone with medical knowledge is involved, but we don’t have any evidence that it’s Treme.” He looked thoughtful. “It’s almost unbelievable just how completely the poison mimics death.”
“I tend to think Randy Nicholson was dying anyway, and someone simply took advantage of that fact,” Brett said. “Treme may be guilty of nothing more than too easily accepting that a patient’s known condition was what killed him.”