The website flashed me through the PXs, which looked like giant shopping malls: electronics warehouses, clothes, fast-food restaurants, banks, even car dealerships. You might be twelve thousand miles from home, but you couldn't escape McDonald's or multiplexes. I was astonished. Somehow, when people talked about base PXs, I'd thought of small general stores, the kind they show in old Westerns. But if the U.S. needs to get everyone on board our far-flung military operations, of course ordinary vendors need a piece of the pie, too: it can't all go to Lockheed Martin.

The news reports were more tempered and more mixed. As one of some hundred thirty private security contractors working in tandem with U.S. military bases, Tintrey had made their share of missteps: billing the Department of Defense for phantom supplies, building a bridge that collapsed the first time a tank rolled across it.

Everyone agreed, though, that Tintrey owner Jarvis MacLean had a cla.s.sic rags-to-riches story. Or, at least, jeans-to-riches. The most enthusiastic report came from Wired Into: The North Sh.o.r.e, Wired Into: The North Sh.o.r.e, a webzine that covered news in the metro area. a webzine that covered news in the metro area.

GLENBROOK GRAD HITS THE JACKPOT.

Jarvis MacLean was flipping burgers while he went to Glenbrook High School, but those days are long behind him. He's traded his deep-fat fryer for a Ferrari and has a home chef who's more likely to serve him Burgundy than burgers.

MacLean, home from his eighth trip to Baghdad, talked to us about life in a war zone and the dangerous but rewarding work his nine thousand Iraq-based employees do.

While he was in high school flipping those burgers, MacLean started a firm that provided security at suburban functions. The company grew and branched out, and he made some smart acquisitions, including the purchase of Tri-State Health, which had turned into Tintrey's medical division, and Achilles, which made protective gear.

"Will Jarvis MacLean's golden touch change Achilles' fortunes?" asked an article in Fortune. Fortune.

Making a fresh start from the ground up and the top down, MacLean has also replaced Achilles' advertising firm with the high-flying Dashiell-Parker company. Perhaps Dashiell-Parker can improve morale in a firm plagued by cost overruns as it ramps up production of its patented nanoparticles for shielding both Tintrey employees and U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Another story, in the Financial Times, Financial Times, gave a thumbnail sketch of Tintrey's rise. The company was still relatively small when MacLean tied his fortunes to W's coattails in 1999. After the invasion of Iraq, MacLean was rewarded with one of the many lucrative security and rebuilding contracts the U.S. handed out to private companies. Between 2001 and 2005, Jarvis MacLean's annual revenues bloomed from under a hundred million to over a billion. gave a thumbnail sketch of Tintrey's rise. The company was still relatively small when MacLean tied his fortunes to W's coattails in 1999. After the invasion of Iraq, MacLean was rewarded with one of the many lucrative security and rebuilding contracts the U.S. handed out to private companies. Between 2001 and 2005, Jarvis MacLean's annual revenues bloomed from under a hundred million to over a billion.

Mazel tov, I snarled under my breath I snarled under my breath. You got rich while Alexandra Guaman got dead and barely merited a line of type.

My phone dinged to let me know I needed to leave to meet Murray. I'd been so wrapped up in my reading I hadn't even noticed my feet getting cold. I was just logging off when I did a double take on Jarvis MacLean's name. Mac. The happy boys at Rainier Cowles's table last night had called one of their party Mac.

I went back to Tintrey's corporate site and looked for photos of MacLean. Sure enough, he was the guy who'd said he wanted to look at Karen's b.r.e.a.s.t.s-t.i.ts, he'd called them-from time to time. The report showed him accepting an award from President Bush in one picture; solemn-faced in battle fatigues in another and flanked by Rainier Cowles. What was Cowles to them? Their outside counsel?

Another person in the photo had also been with Cowles at Club Gouge last night. According to the caption, this was Gilbert Scalia, head of Tintrey's Enduring Freedom Division, which oversaw their Iraqi operations. How cute to call the division after the official name for the invasion. I logged off in disgust.

While I laced up my work boots, I looked up the phone number for Tim Radke, the only one of Chad's friends whose name John and Mona Vishneski remembered. Radke responded to the news I was investigating Chad's death unenthusiastically, but he did agree to see me.

"I haven't known Chad all that long," Radke warned me. "But he's not a bad guy. I'd like to help him out."

That was not exactly a ringing character endors.e.m.e.nt, but we set a date at a Division Street bar for the next evening. Radke repaired computer setups for a local cable company; he'd be finishing around six and reckoned he could meet me by seven.

Before finally packing up for the night, I called Terry Finchley over at CPD headquarters. A detective at his level, being groomed for a major promotion, didn't keep regular hours any more than I did. He was still at his desk.

"Warshawski. You were next on my list to call."

I'd known Finchley long enough to hear the tightly reined fury in his thickened voice. I could picture the pulses throbbing at his temples, turning his ebony skin a deeper black.

"I take it you got the message I left last night?"

"Just what were you doing moving a murder suspect out of county custody? I just got the report. You had this guy lawyered up so fast, we didn't have a chance-"

"'Lawyered up'?" I repeated coldly. "That is a disgusting phrase. By which you mean, I saw Chad Vishneski had access to some basic, const.i.tutionally protected rights. Aside from the fact that he's in a coma, so it's hard to believe he's a flight risk. And aside from the fact that you arrested him based on no more than a phone tip, which came from where exactly?"

"I do not have to reveal anything to you, Warshawski, crime hotlines least of all. But I will remind you that the gun used to murder Nadia Guaman was found in bed next to Vishneski-"

"Who was unconscious and unable to answer any questions. When your crew picked up the murder weapon, what did they do with Vishneski's cell phone and his laptop? A Lenovo ThinkPad, it was."

"That, again, is none of your d.a.m.ned business unless you are representing the perp, in which case you can present the usual subpoenas for evidence."

"His parents hired me, John and Mona Vishneski. When I saw that Chad's computer and his cell phone were missing, I a.s.sumed you had booked them in. But, if not, it supports our hypothesis that someone was in the apartment with Chad the night Guaman was murdered. And that whoever was there thought it prudent not to leave his electronics lying around where someone like you, or even me, could read his files."

Finchley was silent for a minute. I heard the clicking of his fingers on his keyboard, and then a swearword, under his breath but unmistakable.

"If the electronics are missing-and I'm not relying on your word for that or anything in this case, Warshawski-it doesn't prove squat about Vishneski's innocence." the electronics are missing-and I'm not relying on your word for that or anything in this case, Warshawski-it doesn't prove squat about Vishneski's innocence."

"Not in and of itself," I said. "But I went over to Nadia Guaman's apartment this morning, which the CPD didn't seem to think was worth searching. Here's something strange: Her place had been tossed. Her computer was gone. Some of her artwork."

He tapped more keys. "She lived in Humboldt Park. Plenty of drug-happy housebreakers there."

"If it was just Guaman, or just Vishneski, whose computer was gone, I'd agree. But both? Come on, Terry."

He let out a sigh, deliberately loud to signal that I was annoying him. "We have a solid case against Vishneski. He a.s.saulted the dead woman twice in the weeks before he shot her. He's a textbook stalker. And the murder weapon was in bed with him."

"You've tested the weapon?"

"I know you think we're too inept to tie our shoes without you holding the laces for us, but, yes, it did occur to me to get the weapon tested. The Glock on the pillow next to Chad Vishneski fired the bullet that killed Nadia Guaman."

"And residue? You did an atomic absorption test on Chad's hands?" I persisted despite his annoyance.

"Of co-" He broke off mid-word. "I'll get back to you on that as well."

I was aching to know what Finchley was reading on the computer. Had someone screwed up and forgotten to test Chad? Or was there some anomaly in the result itself that gave him pause?

"By the way," I said, "it would help Chad's treatment if the doctors knew what drugs they found in his system. Did they test him over at Cermak?"

"Freeman Carter can get a court order, if you need to know."

That raised my hackles. I hadn't planned on riding him about sloppy work at the crime scene, but I added, "You might like to know that Chad vomited on his pillowcase. I sent that, and the empty beer cans by the bed, out to a private forensic lab for a.n.a.lysis."

"d.a.m.n you, Warshawski, couldn't you have called me first?"

"It was four days after Guaman's murder. I figured if your team had wanted to collect evidence, they had plenty of time."

I thought I could hear Finchley gnash his teeth, but all he said was, "If someone jumps you tonight, or breaks into your place, don't call 911, Vic. Even if we caught the perp red-handed, you wouldn't think we knew what we were doing."

I opened my mouth to apologize, then stopped. I would not apologize for letting Terry Finchley know his team had missed evidence. And I would not apologize for getting Chad Vishneski good medical care-a.s.suming it wasn't too late.

19.

The Grumpy Cousin.

The client called moments after Finchley had slammed the phone in my ear to ask if I'd found anything.

"It's more what I haven't found, Mr. Vishneski." I explained what my search at Nadia Guaman's had turned up-or actually, hadn't turned up.

"So you're saying you can't prove anything," he cried, frustrated. "And I still have to come up with money for your bill. If I promised someone a building would go up and he came around and found an empty hole in the ground, he'd be within his rights to sue me. Especially if I'd taken his money."

"Detecting isn't like putting up a building. It's like hide-and-seek. They're hiding, I'm seeking, and right now the hiders are ahead of me. They're very good. If you think you can find a better seeker, I can understand that. I will say that I have not failed a client yet, but I'm sure that's how you feel about your buildings, too."

He wasn't ready to fire me, we both knew that. He just needed to vent his fears about his son. His son, who Iraq had changed from happy boy to angry man. His son, who was lying in a coma. His son, who might have killed a young woman.

Outside, I dusted the residue of the snow from my car. My cousin had been texting me when I'd been on the phone with Terry, her messages increasing in urgency. While the engine warmed up, I phoned her, wondering what new crisis had occurred at Club Gouge.

"Vic, I got fired," she blurted as soon as she heard my voice.

"I'm not sure that's such a bad thing," I said. "Club Gouge is looking more and more unstable-"

"You don't understand! From my day job. That's why I'm calling. I desperately need the club job now. And when I called in this afternoon, to see if they could add to my hours, Olympia told me she'd only do it if you stopped hanging around the club. She says you're bad for her business and she can't keep me on if you keep showing up."

I ma.s.saged my forehead with my gloved hand-a mistake, because I rubbed melted snow into my face. How typical of Olympia to blackmail one of her waitstaff like this.

"You need to look for a real job, p.r.o.nto. Olympia is way too erratic for you to count on her for your rent money. Besides which, I need to be at the club as I work on Nadia Guaman's murder. If I have to come back, I'll figure out a disguise, but-"

"You can't!" Petra cried. "I just told you-"

"Petra, turn off the temper tantrum and listen to me. I just said that I'll do my best not to jeopardize your job. I need to talk to Karen Buckley, and I don't know where she lives. Tell me the next time she'll be at the club, and I'll wait for her outside."

"Vic, no, don't." Not even the bad connection could mask the panic in her voice. "You don't understand. I need this job."

"Petra, we seem to keep having a version of this conversation. Surely, under the circ.u.mstances, you could take some money from your mother while you find work."

"She's totally wound up with my dad's trial right now. I'm not going to bother her about stuff I can handle on my own."

I wondered if Petra was unconsciously hoping to get into enough trouble at Club Gouge to force her mother to start paying more attention to her. I started to say something, then decided my armchair psychology would further raise my cousin's hackles.

"Petra, even in this economy money isn't everything. It isn't worth a jail term, or worse. This guy Rodney, Olympia both fears him and protects him. And he and Olympia are involved in something rotten. You came to me last week because she was essentially demanding that you let him feel you up. Now it's-"

"You got that to stop, everything's been okay lately."

"'Okay'?" I squawked. "A murder is okay? Your boss threatened your job if I show up, which means she's got something going on she's afraid I'll uncover. That is not okay. That's a recipe for disaster. If Olympia is providing cover for a money-laundering scheme, you could end up in front of the grand jury. You could even be implicated!"

"Then my big grumpy cousin will come to my rescue, won't she?"

I could picture Petra's face, the self-mocking pout she puts on when she knows she's being a brat. The trouble was, of course, I would come to her rescue. And she was banking on that. Growing up the way I did, my mother dying when I was in high school, my father forced to turn the house and meals over to me, I felt as though I'd been born old. I was tired of my own knee-jerk reaction. You're in trouble? Say no more. V.I., the grumpy cousin, will bail you out! You're in trouble? Say no more. V.I., the grumpy cousin, will bail you out! I wished I knew how to turn off that particular switch. I wished I knew how to turn off that particular switch.

I wondered for a moment if my whole detective practice was built on my private history of being an adolescent caretaker. The thought upset me so much that I couldn't keep an edge of fury out of my voice when I spoke.

"Petra, call me the next time the Body Artist is going to appear. It's not a lot to ask considering how much hot water you're willing to get me in."

"Uh, well, actually, it's tomorrow night." Petra spoke in a kind of mumble that made it hard to understand her. "She's doing a special show because Olympia got so p.i.s.sed off about her erasing Rodney's stuff last night."

Petra cut the connection. I put the car into gear and started down Milwaukee Avenue. The bitter winter was acting like a wrecking ball on the city streets, as if a band of hyper-energetic gnomes were hacking their way to the surface, choosing new spots every night. I was almost half an hour late to the Golden Glow, but I did find an open s.p.a.ce across the street. Parking had also become a source of bitterness in the city-the mayor suddenly sold street parking to a private firm, which had quadrupled the rates overnight. We all had to carry bags of quarters everywhere we went, as if we were heading for slot machines, which I guess the pay stations had become. Slot machines completely and permanently skewed in the house's favor.

Murray was already in the Glow when I got there, drinking a Holstein. The nasty weather had kept all but a handful of hard-core drinkers at home, so Sal had pulled up a stool next to his. Murray lifted the bottle in a token greeting but didn't get to his feet.

"Beer in this weather!" I said. "It makes me feel colder just watching you drink it."

"Warms me up." He grinned. "I imagine the seat behind third base, the July sun as hot as your temper, the Cubs-"

"Trailing hopelessly, Lou Pinella's iron jaw shooting sparks. I get the picture."

Sal reached across the mahogany countertop for the Black Label bottle. "How much does Murray know?"

"Try me," Murray said. "Who had the worst ERA for the 1987 Cubs? Who died first, Leopold or Loeb?"

"I don't think we can trust Murray," I said to Sal. "He's too desperate for a story."

Murray s.n.a.t.c.hed the Black Label bottle from Sal before she could pour me a drink. "Deliver, you two femin.a.z.is, or you'll never see this bottle alive again."

"Do we go quietly or break his arms?" Sal said.

A lifted gla.s.s sent her to a corner table with a bottle of wine. When she came back, she said to me, "You know, I told you the other night that your friend was a good manager, but that was old news, dating back to the Aurora Borealis."

"Olympia, Club Gouge." Murray's smile was smug. "I can still do research even if no one wants to print my stories."

"She got in over her head. And then a benefactor pulled her to sh.o.r.e," I said.

I told Murray and Sal about Rodney, and asked Murray if he'd tracked the license plate from the sedan Rodney had been driving the night before. "Did you get his last name or an address?"

"The sedan belongs to a guy named Owen Widermayer, who's a CPA with an office in Deerfield and a home in Winnetka," Murray said. "Owen does not have a criminal record, and no one named Rodney works for him."

"They're lovers, then." I copied Widermayer's address into my handheld. "I don't understand what Rodney is trying to communicate through Karen Buckley's body. But maybe Widermayer will talk to me and it will suddenly make sense."

While Sal went over to check on her other customers, I showed Murray the numbers I'd found on the Body Artist's site. He puzzled over them with me but couldn't offer any suggestions. And he had the same objection I did: If it was a code of some kind, why rely on such crude transmission. Why not use a cell phone or the Net, where you knew you'd reach your target. Or if you were afraid of eavesdroppers and hackers, why not write a letter?

Sal came back and offered me another drink, but it was getting close to ten; despite my nap earlier, I was beat. Once again, I took the side streets home. A few lazy snowflakes were falling, just enough to cover my windshield from time to time. The blurry view just about matched what was going on in my head.

Before getting ready for bed, I went to the safe I'd built into my bedroom closet. It's where I keep my mother's few valuable bits of jewelry and my handgun. I pulled out the Smith & Wesson and looked it over to make sure it was clean. I put in the clip, double-checked the safety, and laid it on the nightstand next to my bed. It was starting to feel like that kind of case.

20.

An Egghead Enters the Scene.

In the morning, I drove to the northwest suburbs under a sun that dazzled and blinded. I brought along Mitch and Peppy; before going to Owen Widermayer's offices near the Tollway, I stopped at the Forest Preserve in Winnetka. We ran down to the lagoons, which were frozen solid enough to hold my weight, and covered with a dusting of snow that provided traction.