The North Face of the Heart - Dolores Redondo Page 0,66

right arms to be considered the needle in the haystack. Lots of them pretend they are, every time they get the chance. But you really are the needle in the haystack. Brilliant, sharp, and piercing. You, Salazar, are condemned to stand out; you’ll never blend in.”

She had no idea what to say.

“Something doesn’t fit, Salazar, and I’ll bet my life it never has. It’s just not normal to take a twelve-year-old girl away from home and pack her off to a boarding school on the other side of the world. You want to try to convince me I’m wrong?”

Angered by his harsh insistence, she clamped her mouth shut and refused to look at him.

“It doesn’t fit, and there’s only one thing you can do: use it in your favor.”

She stood still as a statue for several seconds. At last she turned, looked him in the eye, and nodded.

He nodded back, pleased, and stepped forward so his face was only inches from hers. “Joseph Andrews was right. His father fought back, and the killer had to shoot him with the gun he brought to the house. With the same damn weapon and ammunition he used on his own family eighteen years earlier. Those are facts. You told us to look in the past; you said it wasn’t the first time he’d killed. That’s how we got Lenx. So tell me: Is Martin Lenx the Composer?”

“I can’t understand how he dropped completely out of sight for eighteen years. And I can’t see what would convert a family annihilator into an evangelical serial killer all these years later. But yes, I do think the Composer is Lenx.”

Dupree nodded, satisfied. “I saw you disagree when Tucker was speculating about his life in hiding.”

“I haven’t wrapped my mind around Martin Lenx yet. I have to understand him before I can try to guess what kind of life he’s living today.”

“But—”

“One thing at a time!” she cut him off. “I’m not going to speculate!”

Dupree’s approval turned to disdain. There it was again, that flash of imperial haughtiness. “Tell me, Salazar, you think you can get into the head of this son of a bitch?”

She nodded.

“Then get to work on him. Forget the Composer. Concentrate on Lenx.” He was issuing an order.

She looked relieved as she pushed open the heavy door of the stairwell on the way back to the third floor. Dupree stayed behind on the landing, deep in thought. Some minutes later, he appeared at the conference room door, signaled to Johnson, and stepped outside to await him.

Dupree heard the door open and shut. He turned on his heel and came face to face with his deputy. “You mentioned that Salazar got a phone call after she signed on for New Orleans.”

“Right. I told admin she was coming with us and any urgent calls should be patched through to the jet or routed to my mobile, because we didn’t have a phone for her yet.”

“Do you know who called?”

Johnson nodded. “I told them to advise Salazar and route the call to a booth, but first the operator passed the caller to me. Her aunt in Spain was trying to reach her. The aunt must’ve thought she had to justify the call, so she told me that Salazar’s father was seriously ill. The doctors said he had maybe forty-eight hours left to live.”

Dupree took this in, looked at him, but didn’t comment.

Johnson didn’t know what to make of his silence. “Guess I should’ve told you. Frankly, I was surprised she didn’t head back home.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Dupree said. “You did the right thing.”

24

OLD PHOTOGRAPHS

Superdome, New Orleans

Nana looked into the sky above the Superdome. The clouds that had spread across the noonday sky had a greenhouse effect, and the temperature had risen rapidly. Rain had started a few hours earlier, but it was gentle, like the spray of a sprinkler. Most of the people in the crowd outside the stadium didn’t bother to cover their heads.

Nana had thought the greatest challenge would be getting through the main entrance, but once inside, the crowd pushed forward into the concrete tunnels giving access to the stands. She nearly fell several times as people elbowed their way past her. Bobby grabbed her arm and pulled her in front of him between the handles of his mother’s wheelchair, so he could shield her with his body.

An announcement over the PA system welcomed them to the Superdome and urged them to find seats. The passages were jammed and there were lots