Chapter 43 Chapter Forty-Three

At six o'clock in the morning, Pooler got up.Shower, shave, get dressed. He sat on the small porch of the office, drinking the coffee he ground.No one trespassed in the area he had cordoned off with yellow tape after Wally left yesterday. At the Bullpen at eight o'clock, he ordered eggs, ham, cereal, and coffee.Cole changed into a police uniform today, burying her femininity in polyester fabric, police equipment and black service shoes. "Louisa died yesterday," Pooler said. "I haven't heard of it," Cole replied, stopping the fork on its way to his mouth.

Puller told her about Wally Cousins' visit to the hotel.Cole confirms that Wally's grandma and Louisa are longtime friends. "I called the hospital this morning and I said I was her grandson," Puller said. "They told me she died in her sleep." "It's not a bad way to die, I think." Much better than a boulder falling on a car with people in it.Puller couldn't help thinking so. "She has no family here. What about her body? What about the funeral? And her hotel?" Puller asked. "I've got to make a few calls. We'll take care of it, Puller. While Drake isn't what he used to be, we still have a lot of good people here. They care about people, and people here still take care of each other."

"Okay." Puller took a sip of his coffee, "but are people here really so quick to move people's stuff after someone dies?" Cole shrugged. "I'm not going to tell you that Wally's words are false. People tend to do strange things when they have nothing." "The place you pointed out to me, the people living next to the concrete fortress, is that what it looks like?" "I have to admit that some of them pick up trash for a living in this area, and sometimes they go and take things from people before they die. We see this behavior as theft or robbery, and sometimes even It's grand larceny. These people have to pay for it."

"Prisoner?" "Sometimes it does." Puller took a bite of the egg.He had already called the head of Quantico with an update on the investigation."Obviously, you've got some people freaked out," Don White said, referring to the bombing apparently aimed at himself. "Yes, sir," was Puller's only reply at the time.He did not ask for manpower reinforcements.If the Boss wanted to send more, they would, and Puller didn't want to beg for it. Puller had scheduled a commercial flight from Charleston later that day.He must go to the Pentagon to find out what happened to Colonel Matthews Reynolds before his death, and he also needs to check out Reynolds' residence in Fairfax City.Puller had hinted to his superiors that CID agents in the Washington area could complete the above-mentioned investigation tasks as successfully as he had.But White made it clear that Puller was the only candidate for the job, and at least so far the U.S. Army has not changed its mind.

"How long are you going to be in Washington?" Kerr asked. "It's too early to tell, depending on what I'll find out. But certainly not more than two days." "Have you come to any conclusions from that wonderful laboratory in Atlanta?" "There's nothing in the briefcase or computer. They've got some other stuff to check. They're great, but it'll take some time. I'll check back with them today and let you know if they find anything." "What about the company in Ohio that does soil testing?" "They go to work at nine o'clock. I call them as soon as nine o'clock comes."

"Without a court order, they probably wouldn't have told you more." "Perhaps so. But we can get a court order." Cole stopped talking, just sipped his coffee and looked around at the other customers in the Cowpen restaurant. Pooler watched her. "You haven't answered my questions about Randy and the death threats." "You don't have to be a great international detective to guess the answer." "From Randy's point of view, the parents were killed by Trent. He hated the bastard so much that he made the original death threat to Trent. You investigated then and found out that your brother did it .You put it down and don't want to bring it up again."

"Your analysis is quite accurate." "Okay, my current question is, is Randy responsible for the current death threats?" "I don't think so." "But you can't be absolutely sure he didn't do it?" "I've been a police officer long enough to know that the urge to resort to violence can occur in anyone given the right inducement." "Do you want me to talk to him?" She shook her head. "Puller, this has nothing to do with the case you're investigating. You're here for a single reason." "How do you know it has nothing to do with the Reynolds case? I'm here to investigate the Reynolds case."

"How could it matter?" "I can't tell. That's why we're investigating. Do you want me to talk to him?" "I'll think about it. But I don't even know where he is at the moment." "What does he support himself? Except the money the family left him?" "He does odd jobs." "Does Roger think the new death threats are still from Randy? So he called you right away?" "Probably so," she admitted. "When will Trent come back to town?" "I don't know, I'm not in charge of this person's schedule."

"I thought this morning would be a good time to go to dead Molly Pittner's office, and we could go there and learn something." "Do you really think there's any connection between them and the Reynolds family? Other than they might have witnessed something?" "That's what we need to know. I do want to tell you, though, that it's hard for me to believe in so-called coincidences." A pale silver Mercedes SL600 pulls up in front of the Bullpen, and Puller and Cole can't help but look at it from the window.The hood is open, and they have an unobstructed view of the passengers in the car.

"Say Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here." Puller said, "Your sister is driving, and your brother is also sitting in the car."