فصل 60

CHAPTER 60

Ardelia Mapp was a great tutor—she could spot a test question in a lecture farther than a leopard can see a limp—but she was not much of a runner. She told Starling it was because she was so weighted with facts.

She had fallen behind Starling on the jogging trail and caught up at the old DC-6 the FBI uses for hijack simulations. It was Sunday morning. They had been on the books for two days, and the pale sun felt good.

“So what did Pilcher say on the phone?” Mapp said, leaning against the landing gear.

“He and his sister have this place on the Chesapeake.” “Yeah, and?”

“His sister’s there with her kids and dogs and maybe her husband.” “So?”

“They’re in one end of the house—it’s a big old dump on the water they inherited from his grandmother.” “Cut to the chase.”

“Pilch has the other end of the house. Next weekend, he wants us to go. Lots of rooms, he says. ‘As many rooms as anybody might need,’ I believe is the way he put it. His sister would call and invite me, he said.” “No kidding. I didn’t know people did that anymore.” “He did this nice scenario—no hassles, bundle up and walk on the beach, come in and there’s a fire going, dogs jump all over you with their big sandy paws.” “Idyllic, umm-humm, big sandy paws, go on.” “It’s kind of much, considering we’ve never had a date, even. He claims it’s best to sleep with two or three big dogs when it gets really cold. He says they’ve got enough dogs for everybody to have a couple.” “Pilcher’s setting you up for the old dog-suit trick, you snapped to that didn’t you?” “He claims to be a good cook. His sister says he is.” “Oh, she called already.”

“Yep.”

“How’d she sound?”

“Okay. Sounded like she was in the other end of the house.” “What did you tell her?”

“I said, ‘Yes, thank you very much,’ is what I said.” “Good,” Mapp said. “That’s very good. Eat some crabs. Grab Pilcher and smooch him on his face, go wild.”