Chapter 34 Chapter Thirty-Four

Puller drove directly to the post office.It's just minutes away from Annie's Motel.He came just in time, and the post office was about to close.He sent the little boxes by express mail to the lab in Atlanta.Then his attention turned to the young woman behind the sales counter.She was looking at Puller expectantly. Puller showed her his badge and credentials. "I'm with the Army Criminal Investigations Division." "I know who you are," she replied. "how come?" "It's a small town. And you're tall and big and stand out." "I need to check a receipt for the mail."

"What mail?" He explained that it was a registered mail delivered by Howard Reed on Monday, asking the Halvorsons to forward it to Reynolds. She nodded. "Howard mentioned it to me this morning when he came to pick up today's mail." "It's really important to us to find the sender of the email." The young woman glanced back. "I should ask my boss to take care of this." "OK." "But he's not here today." Puller put his large hands on the counter. "What is your name?" "Sandy. Sandy Dreidel."

"Okay, Sandy, let me be clear to you. This email may be crucial to finding out who killed these people. The longer we delay, the more likely those killers will get away. All I need is to find out who killed these people. Just the address and name of the sender, but that's it." "I understand. But we have regulations and procedures for dealing with problems." Puller couldn't help laughing. "I understand that too. I'm in the military. For every rule the post office makes, the army makes ten. I'm sure that's the case." Sandy smiled too. "It sure is, I bet you're right."

"But is there really a way to find the information I need?" "Oh yes. We have records." "It might just take a few mouse clicks and the computer will tell you everything." Sandy looked ashamed. "Well, it's just that we haven't entered everything into the computer yet. But there's the register in the back room." Puller produced his pen and notebook. "If you'd spare a couple of minutes to look at it and copy your name and address down here, you'd be doing me a great favor. It'll be very useful in catching the villain who killed so many people."

Sandy hesitated, looking over Puller's shoulder to the street through the window.Finally, she took what Puller was holding. She stayed there for five minutes, then came back and handed Pooler the pen and the book. "You were so helpful, Sandy. I really appreciate you." "But you can't tell anyone I did it," she said uneasily. "I would never tell anyone." Back in his hotel room, Pooler continued to study the name and address that Sandy had written down for him. The name of the company was unknown and the address was in Ohio.He searched on his laptop and found the company's website homepage.When he found out what the company's main business was, he couldn't help but wonder if he finally had the key to solving the case.Even if this is the case, it is far from certain at this point.He dialed the company phone number provided by the website, and all he heard was a voice response from the other party.The company has closed get off work and will reopen at nine o'clock tomorrow morning.

Puller, who had no choice but to accept this fact, called the hospital where Louisa, the owner of the hotel, was staying.He couldn't find anyone who could explain her condition, but he used his credit card to order a vase of flowers at the hospital gift shop.He asked the gift shop to write on the card: "The kitten is doing well, and I hope you are too. Your good boy, Pooler." He put down the phone, took off his clothes, and stood under the shower head.The troops had taught him to rinse quickly and change more quickly, so five minutes later he was dry and in clean clothes. He saw it as he slid the M11 into the front holster.

Someone slipped a note into the room through the crack of the door. Puller immediately went to the window by the door to look out, but saw no one.There were no people and no cars in the small courtyard of the hotel.He took off the pillowcase from a pillow at the head of the bed, squatted down on the floor, and picked up the note through the pillowcase. On the paper is a line of words typed out by a laser printer. The content is simple and clear: I know what you want to know. Below is an address.Then it was printed: Immediately. Puller looked up the address on his phone's map software.His current location is a fifteen-minute drive there.This probably meant that he needed to move from his already remote abode to another, more desolate place, an ideal place to set up an ambush.

Long range sniper rifle.Or a shotgun at close range. Or ten guys come up against one of you.Perhaps Dickie and his bulky friend with the broken nose, desperate for revenge, called in the necessary reinforcements. Puller looked down at his phone.He could call Cole and explain the situation to her.This is probably very necessary.He pressed the number.After a few rings it went to voicemail.Maybe she is still washing the breath of death on her body. He left a voice message explaining what had just happened.After explaining the address on the slip of paper, he hung up the phone. He called his CIL friend Christine Craig again, told her about the box he had just sent, and explained what he wanted the lab to do for him.

"How about the laptop and briefcase?" he asked her. "Did DIA give you permission to inspect those?" "We're empowered," she replied, "but I have to tell you, I'm disappointed by the results so far." "why?" "In his briefcase there was a dry sandwich, some business cards for private companies, and two magazines. Only one document, but it didn't carry any classification." "Where's that computer?" "There's a little bit of sex, nothing else. I mean, there's some work stuff in the computer, but nothing that if it got into the wrong hands would cause our Western civilization to completely collapse."

"Does the DIA know about this?" "Of course, or the Defense Intelligence Agency? They sent someone to the lab." "Porn movie?" "We used to find stuff like that on the army computers, you know. And he's not that big of a deal, it's just something you get on pay TV in a hotel room and never on the next day's bill. The stuff that says exactly what was seen. From my perspective, the production quality is poor, and it's not that sensational. But who knows, I'm not a man." "Women do have much higher taste. If that's the case, why does the Secretary of War and other big men take this case so seriously?"

"Hey, I'm just doing technical investigation, and you are the agent in charge of the investigation." Puller hung up the phone, lost in thought.He glanced at the piece of paper and continued to think. He waited for Cole to call back, but she didn't. He came out and locked the hotel door. He started the Malibu, entered the address into the GPS, and hit the road.