Eleven Days by Donald Harstad

Author:Donald Harstad [Harstad, Donald]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Random House Agency
Published: 2011-12-07T05:00:00+00:00

21

Saturday, April 27

21:58 hours

“I wonder,” I said, “if we have the other diary volume.”

“Pardon?” said Hal.

“The other volume. This one says ‘The Second Book.’ ”

Saperstein flipped back to the frontispiece. “It does, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t know,” said Hester.

“Let’s check the inventory,” said Art. “From the search warrant at Herkaman’s.”

“McGuire too,” I said. “There was a lot of stuff in his little basement grotto.”

The inventory from the search warrant at Herkaman’s place was sixteen pages long. The one from McGuire was eight. Hester’s handwriting, small, precise.

On the Herkaman sheet was the entry: “Exhibit AQ 1–7, seven assorted notebooks, four spiral, three loose-leaf, from bedroom closet.”

On the McGuire sheet: “Exhibit AB, one notebook, from basement, small room.”

One problem. The evidence had been taken by the lab team for processing. All the evidence was at the DCI lab in Des Moines. A mere two hundred miles.

“I’ll get them to look first thing in the morning,” said Hester, “and if there’s anything there they’ll copy it and relay it up.”

A relay would be from cop car to cop car. It would require a lot of gas, but it was a hell of a lot quicker than the post office.

Saperstein spoke up, from the depths of the notebook. “These people have a goal here, but I don’t know what it is.”

“What do you mean, a goal?”

“They’re planning something, or, at least, they were. She refers to their ‘ultimate objective’ at least twice, once before the sacrifice, once after.”

“I wonder what the ultimate objective would be for a Satanist?” I was just thinking out loud.

“I don’t think I want to know,” said Art. “We have enough trouble here without that.”

The intercom buzzed, and I picked it up. It was Sally.

“We don’t have any missing persons at all, Carl.”

“Good.”

“Johnson County had fifty-three from November 15th to now, forty-two of which have been located.”

“Leaving eleven …”

“You must have majored in math …”

“Yeah … Look, are they sending you the info on them?”

“They say they’ll mail it, unless we need it in a hurry.”

“Just a minute … Hal, we have eleven missing persons unaccounted for in Johnson County from the 15th of November to date. They say they’ll mail the info, unless we need it right away.”

“Have ’em teletype it now.”

“Okay … Sally, tell ’em we need it now.”

“Wonderful,” she said. “They’re gonna hate me.”

“Tell ’em it’s for a homicide investigation, and that the request is from SA Greeley, DCI.”

“Will do. I hope they’re not busy tonight.”

“Now that we got some dates here,” said Hal, “I really want to talk to those nurses tonight.” He made a fist, put it up by his ear, and moved it in an arc toward the desk, snapping his fingers. “We’re on a roll.”

“We can get ’em if you need ’em,” I said. “Material witnesses.”

In Iowa, we can arrest and hold a material witness for forty-eight hours. Not done often. In fifteen years, I’d only done it once before. Really aggravated the witness, and he’d started a civil damage suit against the department and me.

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