Chapter 41 Chapter Forty-One

Cole pulled over to the side of the road eight kilometers away.She stepped out of the car door, turned around and took out two construction helmets from behind the seat, and handed one to Puller. "Where are we going, still wearing something like this?" Puller asked. "Go see my parents." Puller put on his hat and followed her.Cole turned on a bright flashlight he had brought from the car.They followed a gravel path through the woodland.Soon the gravel was gone and they were on the dirt road. "Normally, you'd have to get permission first and be guided to get where we're going. But, fuck it. You know, this is my mum and dad."

They left the trail, crossed a clearing, and came to a chain-link fence.Puller tried to climb over, but Cole pointed to a gap in the interlocking barbed wire. "What did you do?" "I opened it," she replied. They passed the fence and continued on.When he walked to the edge of the cemetery, Cole slowed down. "Obviously, we're going to visit their graves," Puller said.She nodded. "Why is it so troublesome to go to the cemetery?" "Trent bought the area, which included the cemetery. Now, in theory, if you want to come to the final resting place of a dead relative, you should make an appointment with them. But to be honest with you, Puller, although I'm a sworn officer to the law, this kind of rule makes me angry."

"I can understand. It would be the same for me." Cole led him around some graves, stopping at two graves side by side, illuminating the writing on the tombstones with his flashlight. "Mary and Samuel?" Cole nodded. "You were named after your father?" She smiled achingly. "They thought I was going to be a boy. When I was born a girl, they changed my name to Samantha, but kept calling me Sam. Mom and Dad thought they'd never have another baby, but lo and behold, A few years later Randy was unexpectedly born again." Puller read the dates of birth and death carved in marble.

"A big rock? Wrong place, wrong time. It's incredible." Cole said nothing.When she opened her mouth to speak, her voice became deep and hoarse, as if her throat was slowly closing. "Leave me alone for a minute, please?" "certainly." He walked ten meters away to check some of the other tombs.The entire cemetery is in a state of complete loss of maintenance, some tombstones are skewed, weeds that grow indiscriminately almost reach people's thighs, and thick dust is everywhere.However, he noticed that the tombstones of Mary and Samuel stood upright on the ground, with flowers placed in front of them, and the green grass around the tomb was also very neatly trimmed.He guessed it was all from Cole.

"Hey!" Cole yelled, causing Pooler to turn quickly and run to her a few seconds later. "Someone's over there," Cole said, pointing to the left. Puller squinted into the darkness.Cole's flashlight shone back and forth in that direction. "There!" Cole pointed to the figure of a man fleeing east.The aperture of the flashlight covered him firmly. Cole opened his mouth in surprise. "Randy? Randy?" she called out. The man quickly disappeared from the light of the flashlight. "Is that your brother?" Puller asked. "It's him. I wonder what he's doing here."

"Maybe it's the same as you. At dinner, he said he was going to a place and met some people. Maybe he meant to come here." He paused and asked, "Do you want to chase him?" "No, let him go." She drove the car back to her home.Puller's Malibu is still parked in the driveway.They stepped out the door. "Wouldn't you like to go in and have a coffee? You said it helps you sleep. There's no coffee for this feast of Jane's. She prefers a liqueur after dinner or one of those teas I can't name. I'd rather Drink my Mackerel's black coffee."

Puller was tempted to go back to the hotel now, because he had some work to do, and he almost said so.What he actually said, however, was: "Thanks, that sounds like coffee would be great." Cole made coffee and poured it into two cups.They came to the backyard with the cups and sat on the swing chair again.Cole kicks off his high heels and rubs his feet. "I was surprised that there were no mosquitoes," Puller said. "I've been sprayed," she said, "and one of the nice things about living in the mines is that the mosquitos seem to hate the coal dust and other by-products of the coal mines more than we do. Plus, they're pouring so much messy pollutants into the water, Mosquito breeding is probably also having trouble."

They drank coffee. "Thank you for listening to my family story tonight." "It's good to vent our emotions, it clears our minds." "But we've got seven homicides and a bombing. Come to think of it, the biggest problems I've had to deal with last week have been alcoholism, public disorder, a couple of illegal stills. Oh, and a burglary, Steal a microwave, plus a set of false teeth." "It's been going on in my head since dinner time until now." "What did your head say to you?" "Our investigation has progressed."

"how do you know?" "Because someone wanted to kill us." "So what's next?" "Continue to investigate. But I have to go to Washington tomorrow." Cole's face fell. "what why?" "Reynolds is with the Defense Intelligence Agency. I arranged to meet with people there. It's an angle that cannot be ignored in the investigation." "Can't someone else go? There should be a lot of special agents in the army." "It's quite a lot. But they've decided not to have another man on the case." "I really don't understand."

"No way, that's the way it is, Cole. But I'll be right back." Cole's cell phone rang.She picked up the phone, listened quietly, asked two more questions, and hung up on it. "It's Justice Lindemann calling." "What did he say?" "He was furious that his quiet little village had suddenly become a slaughterhouse and a place of bombs." "Understandable." "They completely extinguished the fire. The house you went to has been abandoned for years. There were no fingerprints on the note that was slipped into your house under the door. The explosives were Dana explosives. Experts from the Bureau of Explosives were brought in. Said the installation of both detonators was professional."

"That's fine, I hate dealing with amateurs, they behave unpredictably." "I'm glad you found some good news out of it." "So you still have no clue? No clue?" "Not yet." "It's hard to believe that someone could have found the right material to build two bombs and plant them there without anyone noticing what they were doing." "There's a lot of explosives around here, Puller, and a lot of people know how to use them." Puller drank his coffee, put the cup on the arm of the swing chair, and stood up. "I have to go now." "Yeah, I guess you should go." "Thank you for the primer on coal mines." "You're welcome. Still blaming yourself for that bomb tripwire?" Puller was silent. "You are a strange person." "Someone has said a lot worse about me than that." "To be precise, this is a compliment." She glanced at the door, then looked at him and said, "It's getting late. You can stay here, if you want." She kept her eyes on him. He understood what she meant. "You know, some things should wait until the time is right to do them." She smiled weakly and said, "You're right, it's true." She stood up and picked up his glass. "Let's go, it's late. What time do you want to meet tomorrow? I'll buy you breakfast." "Sleep well first. Zero eight zero, at the Bullpen restaurant." She smiled, "Juliet." "Well, it's not time to play Romeo yet." Cole tiptoes to kiss Pooler on the cheek.Her hand rested lightly on Pooler's chest. "A profound farewell." Puller drove away.Cole waved to him from the front porch and went inside. He watched her in the rearview mirror until he could no longer see her. He turned the car onto the road leading to Annie's Motel.