'And you're certain they left the club together?' I asked.
'As far as I could tell. I never saw either one of them again that night, and me and Tommy stayed till two.'
I said to her, 'I want you to call Captain Marino and tell him what you just told me.'
Jennifer got out of the chair and felt important. 'I'll get started right this minute.'
I returned to my office as Rose was walking through the door.
'You need to call Dr. Gruber,' she said.
I dialed the number for the Quartermaster Museum, and he had stepped out. He called me back two hours later.
'Is the snow bad in Petersburg?' I asked him.
'Oh, it's just wet and messy.'
'How are things?'
'I've got something for you,' Dr. Gruber said. 'I feel real bad about it.'
I waited. When he offered nothing more, I said, 'What do you feel bad about, exactly?'
'I went into the computer and ran the name you wanted. I shouldn't have.' He got quiet again.
'Dr. Gruber, I'm dealing with a serial killer.'
'He was never in the army.'
'You mean his father wasn't,' I said, disappointed.
'Neither of them was,' Dr. Gruber said. 'Not Temple or Peyton Gault.'
'Oh,' I said. 'So the boots probably came from a surplus store.'
'Might have, but he may have an uncle.'
'Who has an uncle?'
'Temple Gault. That's what I'm wondering.
That's what I'm wondering. There's a Gault in the computer, only his name is Luther. Luther Gault. He served in the Quartermaster Corps during World War Two.' He paused. 'In fact, he was right here at Ft. Lee a lot of the time.'
I had never heard of Luther Gault.
'Is he still alive?' I asked.
'He died in Seattle about five years ago,'
'What makes you suspicious this man might be Temple Gault's uncle?' I asked. 'Seattle's on the other side of the country from Georgia, which is where the Gaults are from.'
'The only real connection I can make is the last name and Ft. Lee.'
I then asked, 'Do you think it's possible the jungle boots once belonged to him?'
'Well, they're World War Two, and were tested here at Ft. Lee, which is where Luther Gault was stationed for most of his career. What would typically happen is soldiers, even some officers, would be asked to try out boots and other gear before any of it was sent to the boys in the trenches,'
'What did Luther Gault do after the army?'
'I don't have any information on him after the army except that he died at the age of seventy-eight,' He paused. 'But it might interest you to know he was a career man. He retired with the rank of major general,'
'And you had never heard of him before this?'
'I didn't say I've never heard of him,' He paused. 'I'm sure the army has quite a file on him if you could get your hands on it,'
'Would it be possible for me to get a photograph?'
'I have one on the computer — just your run-of-the-mill file photo,'
'Can you fax it?'
He hesitated again. 'Sure,'
I hung up as Rose walked in with yesterday's autopsy protocols. I reviewed them and made corrections while I waited for the fax machine to ring. Momentarily, it did, and the black-and-white image of Luther Gault materialized in my office. He stood proudly in dark mess jacket and pants with gold piping and buttons, and satin lapels. The resemblance was there. Temple Gault had his eyes.
I called Wesley.
'Temple Gault may have had an uncle in Seattle,' I said. 'He was a major general in the army,'
'How did you find that out?' he asked.
I did not like his coolness. 'It doesn't matter. What does is that I think we need to find out all we can about it,'
Wesley maintained his reserve. 'How is it germane?'
I lost my temper. 'How is anything germane when you're trying to stop somebody like this? When you've got nothing, you look at everything,'
'Sure, sure,' he said. 'It's no problem, but we can't schedule it just now. You too,' He hung up.
I sat there stunned, my heart gripped by pain. Someone must have been in his office. Wesley had never hung up on me before. My paranoia got more inflamed as I went to find Lucy.
'Hi,' she said before I spoke from the doorway.
She could see my reflection in the monitor.
'We've got to go,' I said.
'Why? Is it snowing again?'
'No. The sun's out.'
'I'm almost finished here,' she said, typing as she talked.
'I need to get you and Janet back to Quantico.'
'You need to call Grans,' she said. 'She's feeling neglected.'
'She is neglected and I feel guilty,' I said.
Lucy turned around and looked at me as my pager went off.
'Where is Janet?' I asked.
'I think she went downstairs.'
I pressed the display button and recognized Marino's home number. 'Well, you round her up and I'll meet you downstairs in a minute.'