'I'm sure he is.'
'Did he ever take Italian in high school or college?'
'I don't know,' I said. 'But he didn't finish college.'
'Where did he go?'
'A private college in North Carolina called Davidson.'
'It's very expensive and difficult to get into,' she said.
'Yes. His family has money and Gault is extremely intelligent. From what I understand, he lasted about a year.'
'Kicked out?' I could tell she was fascinated by him.
'As I understand it.'
'Why?'
'I believe he violated the honor code.'
'I know it's hard to believe,' Marino said sarcastically.
'And then what? Another college?' Commander Penn inquired.
'I don't think so,' I said.
'Has anyone gone down to Davidson to ask about him?' She looked skeptical, as if those who had been working this case had not done enough.
'I don't know if anyone has, but I doubt it, to be frank.'
'He's only in his early thirties. We're not talking that long ago. People there should remember him.'
Marino had begun picking apart his Styrofoam coffee cup. He looked up at the commander. 'You checked out this Benelli guy to see if he really exists?'
'We're in the process. So far we have no confirmation,' she replied.
'These things can be slow, especially this time of year.'
'The Bureau has a legal attache at the American Embassy in Rome,' I said. 'That might expedite the matter.'
We talked a while longer, and then Commander Penn walked us to the door.
'Dr. Scarpetta,' she said, 'I wonder if I could have a quick word with you before you go.'
Marino glanced at both of us and said, as if the question had been posed to him, 'Sure. Go ahead, I'll be out here.'
Commander Penn shut her door.
'I'm wondering if we could get together later,' she said to me.
I hesitated. 'I suppose that would be possible. What did you have in mind?'
'Might you be free for dinner tonight, say around seven? I thought we could talk some more and relax.' She smiled.
I had hoped Wesley and I could have dinner together. I told her, 'That is very gracious of you. Of course I will come.'
She slipped a card from a pocket and handed it to me. 'My address,' she said. 'I'll see you then.'
Marino did not ask what Commander Penn had said to me, but it was clear he wondered and was bothered that he had been excluded from the communication.
'Everything all right?' he asked as we were shown to the elevator.
'No,' I said. 'Everything is not all right. If it were, we would not be in New York right now.'
'Hell,' he said sourly, 'I quit having holidays when I became a cop. Holidays aren't for people like us.'
'Well, they should be,' I said, waving at a cab that was already engaged.
'That's bullshit. How many times have you been called out on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving, Labor Day weekend?'
Another cab flew by.
'Holidays is when squirrels like Gault got no place to go and no one to see, so they entertain themselves the way he did the other night. And half the rest of the world gets depressed and leaves their husband, wife, blows their brains out or gets drunk and dies in a car wreck.'
'Darn,' I muttered, searching up and down the busy street. 'If you'd like to assist in this endeavor, it would be appreciated. Unless you'd like to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.'
He stepped out into the street and waved his arms. Instantly, a cab veered toward us and halted. We got in. The driver was Iranian and Marino was not nice to him. When I returned to my room, I took a long hot bath and tried to call Lucy again. Dorothy, unfortunately, answered the phone.
'How is Mother?' I said right off.
'Lucy and I spent the morning with her at the hospital. She's very depressed and looks horrible. I think of all those years I told her not to smoke, and look at her. A machine breathes for her. She has a hole cut in her neck. And yesterday I caught Lucy smoking a cigarette in the backyard.'
'When did she start smoking?' I said, dismayed.
'I have no idea. You see her more than I do.'
'Is she there?'
'Hold on.'
The receiver bumped loudly against whatever Dorothy set it on.
'Merry Christmas, Aunt Kay,' Lucy's voice came over the line, and she did not sound merry.
'It hasn't been a very merry one for me, either,' I said. 'How was your visit with Grans?'
'She started crying and we couldn't understand what she was trying to tell us. Then Mother was in a hurry to leave because she had a tennis match.'
'Tennis?' I said. 'Since when?'
'She's on another one of her fitness kicks.'
'She says you're smoking.'
'I don't do it much.' Lucy dismissed my remark as if it were nothing.