"Of course. I understand that."

She glanced at me to see if I was being sarcastic. She could have saved herself the analysis. She said, "You were a little rough with him. Again."

"He pisses me off."

"Don't take it personally, and don't fight my battles. I can do that myself at a time and place of my choosing."

"Yes, ma'am."

She took my hand again. "But thank you." She added, "You forgot to tell him to go fuck himself."

"That was implied."

"John, I think he's frightened."

I thought about that and replied, "I think you're right. And you forgot to tell him what we found at the morgue."

She said, "I was just about to when he hung up on me. Fuck him."

We drove in silence awhile, south on Route 56.

My mind kept flashing back to Harry lying dead and naked in the morgue, and I felt sick to my stomach. A good life snuffed out, just like that, because he saw or heard something he wasn't supposed to see or hear.

I was beyond angry-I was filled with homicidal rage against whoever did this to Harry. But I had to keep my cool and work the case until I was sure I had the killer. Then, payback.

We passed through Colton, then South Colton. Rudy's gas station was closed, and I hoped he was on his way to his master's mansion, peeing his pants en route.

I saw the sign welcoming us to Adirondack State Park, and very quickly the trees got bigger and thicker, and the road got darker.

After a few minutes, I said to Kate, "Murder is what we see. But there's something else going on that we don't see."

She didn't reply for a while, then asked, "Such as?"

"The only thing Madox accomplished by staging a hunting accident away from his property was to buy time."

"Time to hide evidence."

"No. Eventually, everything points back to Madox anyway. If buying a little time is what he accomplished, then that's all he wanted."

"Okay, but why?"

I explained, "Bain Madox does not engage in stupid or reckless acts. The only way it makes sense for him to kill a Federal agent whom the FBI knows was on or near his property is if the murder and the subsequent investigation did not concern him. And the only way that makes sense is if something else is going to happen soon which is a lot more important to Bain Madox than being a murder suspect." I glanced at her. "So what could that be?"

"All right ... I get it ..."

"I know you do. Say it."

"Nuke."

"Yeah. I think this guy has a nuclear weapon. That's what Harry was saying. That's what I believe."

"But ... why? What ... ?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's going to nuke Baghdad. Damascus. Tehran."

"I think that's a stretch, John. We need more information. More evidence."

"Right. We might get that sooner than we think."

She didn't reply.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

It was dark when we reached the hamlet of Ray Brook, which was close to the airport where we'd landed that morning.

Close as it was, we'd taken the long way to get there and discovered things on our journey that were not even on our radar screen at 9:00 A.M. when we entered 26 Federal Plaza.

And that was the way some days went in this business. Most days were uneventful; some days, like September 11, 2001, turned on a dime.

Today, Columbus Day, I lost a friend, got into a pissing match with the boss, and met a nut job who might be planning a nuclear surprise.

Next Columbus Day, if there is one, I'll go to a Yankee play-off game.

We found the regional state police headquarters and troop barracks at the edge of town, and I pulled into the parking lot. I asked Kate, "Are we official, visitor, or morally handicapped?"

"Look for persona non grata."

I couldn't find such a space, so I parked in official parking. We got out and walked toward the large, modern brick-and-cedar building. A sign over the front doors said TROOP "B" NEW YORK STATE TROOPERS.

We entered the lobby and identified ourselves to the duty sergeant, who seemed to be expecting us; in fact, he'd probably been expecting us all day.

He called Major Schaeffer on the intercom and asked us to wait.

There were a few troopers coming and going, dressed in their gray military-style jackets, belted at the waist with a cross strap and holster, and wearing their Smokey the Bear hats. These outfits looked like they hadn't changed since Teddy Roosevelt was governor of New York.

I also noticed that all these guys, and even the women, were tall, and I asked Kate, "Do you think they breed them?"

The place had all the spit and polish of the paramilitary organization that it was, and the only thing it had in common with an NYPD precinct house was a NO SMOKING sign.

There was a stack of brochures on a side table, and Kate, who can't resist informative brochures, took one and read aloud to me, "Troop B is the northernmost troop, and they patrol the largest geographic area of all the troops-eight thousand, ninety-one square miles-which includes the most sparsely populated counties in the state, marked by great distances and long winters."

"Are they bragging, or complaining?"