a weak and scratchy “Yes.”
“Did you kill Nelson Kerr?”
“No.”
“Did your partner, Karen Sharbonnet?”
“Yes.”
“And this was in the middle of a major hurricane, right?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Kerr died from multiple blunt-force wounds to the head, is that right?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what weapon was used?”
“Yes.” A long pause, then his lawyer leaned down to within inches of the man’s mouth. Patterson groaned and mumbled something. The lawyer whispered to the U.S. Attorney, who then asked, “The murder weapon was a golf club?”
“Yes.”
Bob Cobb couldn’t help but chuckle. “That son of a bitch,” he said.
“Beg your pardon,” Baskin said.
“That kid figured it out the day after the murder. A long story. I’ll explain later, or not. Doesn’t matter.”
Back to the interrogation. The U.S. Attorney asked the witness, “How much were you and Karen Sharbonnet paid to murder Nelson Kerr?”
Another painful pause, then a soft “Four.”
“Four million?”
“Yes.”
“And you split the money equally?”
“Yes.”
“Who paid the money?”
A pause. His lawyer leaned down again and strained to listen. Patterson grunted and the lawyer stood and whispered to the U.S. Attorney, who then asked, “You were paid by a broker?”
“Yes.”
“And who is this broker?”
The lawyer whispered again, and the U.S. Attorney asked, “Is the name of the broker a Mr. Matthew Dunn?”
“Yes.”
At that point the witness shut down and his interrogators backed off. A doctor stepped forward and whispered to him, then waved them all away. The screen went blank.
Agent Baskin said, “That was it for the day. He’s good for about twenty minutes. We found Matthew Dunn and have him under surveillance. A real character. Background in arms trafficking, drugs, even worked as a mercenary in Syria. A bad dude, but we’ll catch him soon enough. You want to see your girl?”
“I do.”
“A caution. She has no idea that Patterson is even alive. We assume she thinks she finished him off in the woods and she’s playing a real tough-girl game right now.”
“Let’s go.”
They walked down one flight to the second floor and stopped at a door that two agents were guarding. Baskin opened the door and motioned for Bob to step inside. Have a go.
Karen Sharbonnet was seated in a metal chair on one side of a wire mesh partition that did not rise to the ceiling. Her left hand was cuffed to a chain bound to the chair. Bob sat across from her and gave her a smile, one she did not return.
He said, “So, how you doing, babe? Looks like they finally caught you.”
She shrugged as if she could not have cared less.
“We had some fun, didn’t we. One long weekend. Or do you remember?”
“I don’t remember.”
“What a crusher. We spent the weekend in bed, at my place, had a ball, and you don’t remember?”
“I don’t remember.”
“I guess you’re such a whore you can’t remember all your boys, right?”
She shrugged again, smiled, nothing would faze her.
“The last time I saw you, you were running away, running down the sidewalk in a Category 4 hurricane, barely able to stand up, like a crazy woman. I yelled and yelled and finally said to hell with you. Woman must be crazy. I didn’t know you were headed to Nelson’s. You know he called me, said you were at his place, said you were acting crazy, and I said no surprise there. Bitch is crazy.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“That’s because you’re a professional with ice in your veins. And you know, even