"Oh, please. Parole and Probation? You have got to be s.h.i.tting me."

Sammie Martens sat back in her chair and studied the ceiling without response, well used to her colleague's harangues, which, for him, pa.s.sed for humor.

"Those guys are such cowboys. Not even cops, for Chrissakes."

w.i.l.l.y Kunkle looked across the small office they all shared, to see what effect he might be having. "Run around like they own the place," he added for good measure.

She didn't move, refusing his bait despite the temptation he was clearly counting on.

"Not to mention there's not a rule they don't break."

He saw her face crinkle in pain, as she absorbed this last crack. She straightened, put her elbows on her desk, and studied him as if he'd just emerged from a test tube. "What did you just say?" she asked, caving in at last.

He smiled at her innocently. "Not that I have a problem with any of that. When do we leave?"

She groaned and got to her feet. "Now." She pointed at his withered left arm, an appendage he usually kept anch.o.r.ed to his side by shoving its hand into his pants pocket. "Why didn't you join them them after you lost that thing, instead of coming back to the cops?" after you lost that thing, instead of coming back to the cops?"

He rose, too, and joined her at the coatrack near the door. "You and I weren't an item back then," he explained. "I had to come back to irritate you."

"And that's changed now that we are?"

He patted her b.u.t.t on his way to grabbing his parka. "Yeah. 'Cause now you love it."

She headed out the door. "You are such a jerk."

He laughed and followed her into the overheated second-floor hallway of Brattleboro's munic.i.p.al building, where the VBI had a one-room office for its four regional agents. "So, what's the deal?"

"With P and P?" she asked. "We gotta interview Dave Snyder about one of their ex-parolees-someone named Andy Griffis."

"Griffis?" w.i.l.l.y commented, following her toward the stairs. "He's dead. What do we care?"

She half turned to respond, "How did you know that?"

He poked her in the small of the back. "You gotta keep up, girl. Plug into the gossip."

Say what you might about w.i.l.l.y Kunkle-that he was irascible, disrespectful, impolitic, and p.r.o.ne to cutting corners-he was still a cop's cop and made an art form of knowing everything about everybody who'd ever had a run-in with the law. He had an encyclopedia in his head about the people you'd never want to invite home.

As if to prove the point, he added, as they headed down the stairwell, "He was Gunther's case from when we all used to work downstairs. He hung himself."

Downstairs meant the Brattleboro Police Department, where w.i.l.l.y had also once been a detective. Of their squad, only Spinney had come from outside.

"Hanged himself," Sam corrected.

"Whatever, and you didn't answer the question."

"Joe asked me to look into Griffis because of the car crash that put Leo and his mom in the hospital."

w.i.l.l.y reached out and grabbed her arm to slow her down. "Whoa. I thought that was an accident."

"It is on paper," she answered, still walking toward the door to the parking lot.

"Meaning what?"

She shrugged. "Not sure. He didn't go into details. Just asked us to get what we could on Griffis."

Which vagueness, of course, only appealed to w.i.l.l.y's sense of balance. "Cool," he said as they stepped outside.

In the town of Brattleboro, Parole and Probation was housed in what used to be a bright pink chocolate factory, adjacent to both a popular restaurant and a stunning view of the confluence of the West and Connecticut Rivers. It was wrapped in greenery and appointed with enough small architectural details to make it look like an Italian villa designed by someone who had never traveled overseas.

To many observers-and many in law enforcement-the setting and history of this halfway house for the unfortunate was apt for both the town and the state in general, given Brattleboro's and Vermont's reputation for being less than draconian in their treatment of the legally wayward.

That said, the facility's interior was pretty standard office building, and nothing about its layout or the att.i.tude of its occupants implied any coddling of the clientele. This was immediately demonstrated by the receptionist behind the bullet-resistant window when Sam and w.i.l.l.y walked in-especially after she caught sight of the latter and leaped to a reasonable conclusion.

"Sign in and have a seat."

Sam smiled brightly and flashed her badge. "Understandable mistake. We're here to see Dave Snyder."

The receptionist reacted with a deadpan "Don't sign in and have a seat."

Snyder, when he appeared a couple of minutes later, was a small, intense man with a hard handshake and a ready smile, who ushered them down a tangle of narrow hallways, up a half flight of stairs, and finally into a truly minute office with not even an air vent for circulation, much less a window. So much for the Italian villa.

The three of them conducted a facsimile minuet getting seated without b.u.mping into each other, after which w.i.l.l.y, with his usual grace, opened up with a small conversational ice breaker.

"Christ. Either somebody really hates you or you need lessons on sucking up."

Snyder laughed. "I spend about an hour a day in here. It's actually kind of restful. And n.o.body ever bothers me."

Even the walls were blank, completely free of pictures, calendars, or a bulletin board.

"Go figure," w.i.l.l.y agreed.

Snyder fired up the computer monitor on his desk and addressed Sam. "You wanted to know about Andy Griffis?"

"Yeah," she told him. "He was arrested by the Brattleboro PD, but then we let him drop off the radar-until we heard he'd committed suicide, of course," she added quickly, addressing Snyder's look of surprise.

He nodded. "I was going to ask if you knew." He waved a hand at the screen. "Well, I don't know. To be honest, the guy who actually handled this case is gone, so I'm pretty much the tour guide here. I never met Griffis. What're you after?"

Sam took pity on the man, since she was in much the same boat, given Joe's vagueness. "Tell us the overall first, then maybe we can get more specific."

Snyder slowly began scrolling down and reading, highlighting his findings in a descriptive monologue. "Okay. Let's see. Wow. Talk about no luck-first-time offender and he goes straight to jail. Oh, okay. I get it, kind of. Proprietor gets hurt during a burglary, and she's an old lady to boot. Media must've been all over that. Still, tough for him. Got five to ten with all but three suspended. Bet he wasn't expecting that."

He hit a few more commands and moved elsewhere within his database. "Started out jail in Springfield," he resumed, "then got moved to St. Albans. Indicators are he was generally compliant and cooperative. In her notes, the prison case worker mentions a depressive period toward the end, basically lasting till he was released. Don't know what that was about. Probably just b.u.mmed. Our interactions with him afterward were routine. He got a job working up north first, around Thetford. His family has a bunch of businesses there. Says here he was a mechanic. Wasn't long before he headed back to Brattleboro, though, which is how we wound up with him. According to this, he said things weren't working out in Thetford. That happens often enough, where the family shakes out after one of them comes back from inside. Maybe that's what happened here."

He started reading more carefully, his own interest growing. "We picked up his check-ins," he resumed, "which he seems to have met. His conditions weren't too onerous-pretty much the usual. Oh, I was wrong; he did miss a check-in, right at the end. After that, nothing. He was found hanging from the crossbar in his apartment closet after he failed to show up at work two days in a row."

"He leave a note?" w.i.l.l.y asked.

"Doesn't say here, but that's no surprise. We get notification of a parolee's death, but the local PD and the ME's office have the actual details. You'll have to ask them."

"Any mention of close friends?" Sam asked.

"There's a Beth Ann Agostini," Snyder read. "Her name pops up in the last few months. Lives on Ca.n.a.l." He quickly scribbled her address down on a pad, adding, "Or used to. These folks move around a lot."

"That's it?" w.i.l.l.y asked incredulously.

Snyder was almost apologetic. "Yeah. Griffis wasn't adjusting all that well after he got out, but he kept within our guidelines." He sat back and studied them. "He was a probationer, not a parolee. That would've put him on a tighter leash. But on probation, as long as you check in and don't get caught doing anything foolish, you're part of a big pool of people. It's easy to fall through the cracks."

He pa.s.sed his hand through his hair abruptly, his frustration showing, and added, "We get a lot of flack for trying to keep people out of prison, or letting them out on conditions too soon and too easily. But, believe me, it ain't high school, and some of these younger guys get really screwed up. Always drives me nuts when people go on and on about more jail cells and tougher sentences when they have no clue what they're talking about."

Sam and w.i.l.l.y didn't respond, both of them just staring back at him.

Snyder smiled awkwardly. "Sorry. Guess that was a little overboard. No offense, I hope."

w.i.l.l.y dragged out his response, making a mockery of it. "Naaaah."

Sam pulled out a subpoena she'd secured just to be on the safe side. "Any chance we could have a printout of the case notes?"

As if defeated by some inner debate, Dave Snyder merely placed the subpoena on his desk and set to work at the keyboard.

Leo remained in the ICU, looking increasingly reduced by his standing retinue of monitors and IV hangers cl.u.s.tered around like skeletal mourners. And now he spent all his time asleep.

"I thought he was getting better," his mother said softly, sitting in the waiting room, her shoulders slumped.

Leo's primary physician crouched down before her wheelchair to better make eye contact, a gesture Joe appreciated. His name was Karl Weisenbeck, and so far, he'd been attentive, honest, and compa.s.sionate, seeking them out more often than they'd asked for him over the previous few days.

For Joe, the man's soothing presence was doubly welcome. Not only had Leo's downturn come as a surprise, but so had Gail's unannounced return. In fact, Dr. Weisenbeck had been talking to her alone upon their entrance, creating in Joe's mind an awkward jarring, as if he'd accidentally walked in on something inappropriate. Given the multiple emotions he was then balancing, the addition of this unusually loaded one had been a shock.

Not that her being here was a bad idea. The greeting between the two women had made that clear, reminding him of a loving daughter and mother after a long separation. Now, especially given Weisenbeck's announcement of Leo's reversal, Joe had to concede that his mother's coping ability was strengthened by Gail's presence. Over the years, these women had become close friends, driving home Joe's occasional sensation of being the odd man out.

None of which mattered at the moment, he forced himself to remember as he leaned forward to hear the doctor's explanation.

"It's a delicate time for your son," Weisenbeck was saying. "As you know, he suffered initially from a collapsed lung and flail chest, which is a breaking away of an independent part of the rib cage. The lung issue we resolved pretty easily, but the combination is what made it so difficult for him to breathe, and why we were helping him out with the nasal cannula at first. Unfortunately, the extent of his injuries has now led to what we call shock lung, or more technically, post-traumatic respiratory distress."

There was a small, almost indistinguishable intake of breath by his elderly listener, which prompted the doctor to take her hand in his own before continuing.

"Leo was no longer able to oxygenate his blood on his own, Mrs. Gunther," Weisenbeck said. "Which meant that we had to put him on a respirator."

She nodded slightly. "I understand."

But he wasn't done. "I wish that were the extent of it, but I'm afraid there's more. As a result of the multiple bone fragmentation, Leo's also suffering from fat embolization. This has affected his brain function, among other things, which is why he's asleep for the moment."

She began to ask a question, but he gently held up a finger in order to keep going. "I know-for how long? Right?"

She nodded silently.

"I'm not sure," he answered. "We are treating him with blood thinners and steroids and time, and we are monitoring him every second of every day. I came to work at this hospital because of its level of patient care, Mrs. Gunther, and I've never been disappointed with my decision. I will do everything in my power to make sure that will be true for your son as well. Leo is a strong, resilient, middle-aged man. That is a huge plus in his favor."

There was a long, painful lull in the conversation before her voice rose quietly into the silence. "Will he be okay?"

Weisenbeck leaned forward and squeezed her fingers again. "He's resting. You will hear the word coma. That's true, also, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Our bodies are much more intuitive than we doctors in knowing what to do and when. You went through much the same thing when you came to us, remember? Your body needed rest, and so it went to sleep for a while. Better than what any of us could have ordered."

Joe's mother took it in like the psychological medicine it was meant to be, but then asked pointedly, "What dangers is he facing?"

He hesitated, gauging his best approach while looking her straight in the eyes. There seemed to be no breathing in the room.

"He is walking right at the edge. He is susceptible to stroke, pneumonia, and pulmonary embolus, as well as catheter-induced sepsis and several other threats. I will not pretend that it's not a long list." Here he added emphasis to his voice and intensified his gaze. "But I must stress with the same honesty that my optimism outweighs my fears.

"In the end, though," he added, slowly standing back up, "we all just have to wait and keep our hopes up." He smiled as he concluded, "While we watch him like the proverbial hawk. Okay? When he begins to come around-and I stress when, when, not not if- if-the initial first signs will be neurological. He will most likely first respond to pain stimuli. His breathing will also improve as the ribs begin to knit, increasing his body's oxygen saturation, and that, in turn, will help clear out the fat emboli and allow him to emerge from the coma."

By now he was looking at them all, as if addressing a cla.s.s. They all instinctively nodded.

"Great," he said. "Now. Would you like to come in and spend a little time with him? I'll have one of the nurses help you out." He glanced regretfully at Gail and Joe. "I'm afraid we're only letting one person in at a time for the moment, mostly just because it gets so crowded otherwise."

Joe was already holding his hand up. "Not a problem. We knew about that. We'll be right here, Mom," he added, patting her on her narrow shoulder.

She looked around and up at him, her smile belying her concern. "I won't be long."

"Take your time."

They watched her through the window overlooking the ICU as a nurse helped drape her in a gown and fit a sterile mask over her face in preparation for the visit. In the distance, Leo remained as still as a mummy, white-clad and corralled.

"G.o.d. What a nightmare," Gail murmured.

"Could be better," Joe agreed.

She glanced at him. "You believe him?"

He kept staring through the window. "What's not to believe? He said Leo's walking on the edge of a cliff."

After a momentary silence, Gail said, "I've been trading e-mails with your mom. She says you're looking into the crash."

He pressed his lips together, considering how to respond. There was a time when his reaction would have been immediate and open.

Gail instantly interpreted the hesitation. She'd always read people well. "That probably wasn't something she should have told me," she said quickly.

"No, no," he then said. "It's not like it's a secret. Sure as h.e.l.l the people we're asking know about it. I just wondered why a relatively new car would fall apart like that. That's really all it is for now. The sheriff's department is helping me out. I'm not even officially involved."

She nodded. "I thought maybe he'd just hit some ice."

It was a leading question, but this time Joe played along. "A tie rod nut worked loose. Without it, the wheel pretty much does what it wants. It happens. I just want to make sure that it happened by accident."

"How do you do that?" she asked.

That felt like pressing, and he resisted her, his reasons at once professional and very personal. "Well, like I said, I'm trying to keep my nose clean. The deputy handling it owes me a call on that very subject. He's pretty good around cars, it turns out."

He still hadn't made eye contact with her, instead studying his mother being wheeled up to his brother's bed. But he was also consciously aware of Gail staring at him from the side, in search of some reaction.

"How're you doing?" she finally asked softly.