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"I’ve got him on speed dial," Tolliver said

"Orour voices, "you found Chuck and decided to punch hi at Tolliver as she said this, as if I were accusto

"We were here all night," Tolliver said "We got a phone call at - what time did Manfred call us, Harper?"

"Oh, about three," I said

"What evidence is a phone call on a cell phone?" Rockwell asked "And did Manfred talk to you?" She was looking at Tolliver with no friendly face

"He talked to me, but Tolliver was here"

"He won’t say he talked to Tolliver, then"

"Well, he round But he didn’t talk to hi to seem like a possibility we should bear in mind Art Barfield had made aa littleboys," Tolliver said "But of course there’s so atto find out who took all the other boys? Isn’t it far ot Chuck Al out of time?"

I figured Sheriff Rockas grinding her teeth together in frustration, from the tensed look of her face

"Do you think we’re not looking?" she said, al the words out "Now that he doesn’t have the use of his usual killing ground, where would he have taken the boy? We’re searching every shed and barn in the county, but we have to check out all other possibilities You were one of them, and a pretty likely one at that"

I didn’t think ere so damn likely, but then, we’d had the run-in with Chuck and his dad There was so more I could tell the law

"He told me he was sorry," I said to the sheriff

"What?"

"The boy said he was sorry For hitting me He told me to find him later"

"Why? Why do you think that was? What sense does thatover Rockwell’s shoulder at

"At the tiht it was just soe when he said it"

"And what do you think now?"

"I thinkI don’t knohat I think"

"That’s not a hell of a lot of help"

"I’ist, or a profiler, or any kind of law enforcement person," I said "I just find dead people" I just find dead people Chuck knew that And he’d said, "Co, too," Sandra Rockas saying

I was sitting there in the grip of a horrible idea, wondering how I could have possibly thought only a day ago that the world ht now That was before I’d seen his secret face, the face he hen he told , stopped I looked at hiot paid for this work His instinct to hold in his words had been a good one No, I wasn’t reading his mind We just know each other very well

"Where do you wantfrom far away

That stumped her for a ht?" she said

"Yeah"

"Then we’ll just take you everywhere we can think of," she said

I thought of Manfred sitting at the hospital, or in his hotel rooht of the road out of town, out of this situation But weighing that against the life of a boy, what could I say? Which Rockwell knew, of course

"You’re ready to go, right? We’ll swing back later and pick up Mr Lang here," the sheriff said

"No, I think not," I said right back "I’h it would be better if Tolliver went to help Manfred, if we had to be separated But thenno It was better if we stayed together I was going to be selfish about this

Tolliver vanished into the little bathroo her to help me with my shoes Tidmarsh tried not to snort, but he didn’t quite succeed Sheriff Rockas ga boots were laced up and tied in a neat bow in no time I took my pills for the day and picked up the cabin a bit while aited I tried to bank the fire so it could be revived The electricity o off again The fireplace was still essential I had a glooht here

Manfred would be better than I at solving this problem Maybe if he went to the house, or to the barn where we’d last seen Chuck, he could trace the boy somehow On the other hand, it would be inhuht not be up to it He’d told rand, but that hat he believed

I called hi, anyway Manfred sounded sad but collected I explained the situation to hiain, that she wasup "We’ll see you later," I said "You hang in there, Manfred"

"I don’t trust anyone here," he said "I don’t trust the doctor, I don’t trust the nurses, I don’t think the hospital guy is on the level Even theparanoid? You think there’s really so here?"

"That’s hard to answer at this point," I said

"Oh, right, the sheriff’s there," Manfred said dis off, Harper So here"

"In Doraville? Or specifically at the hospital?"