The Burial Hour (Lincoln Rhyme 13)

She handed him some empty bags. But he had already produced some of his own from his uniform pocket.

She squinted back toward the restaurant. "And something else?"

"What, Detective? Amelia."

She said, "You're a Forestry officer. Do you by any chance have a saw in the trunk of your car?"

"As a matter of fact, I have three."

Chapter 25

Cos'e quello?"

Rhyme could translate that one for himself. In fact, he was wondering the same thing.

Ercole, who was carting in the--presumably--item of evidence, answered, "It's St. John's bread. You might know it as a carob tree. Ceratonia siliqua." The object was foliage, about five feet tall, four branches joined to a single trunk. It had been sawn off at the base.

In gloved hands Ercole also carried a large plastic bag containing smaller bags, filled with dirt and grass.

They were in the situation room once more. Sachs accompanied Ercole. Massimo Rossi and earnest, unsmiling forensic officer Beatrice Renza were present too. Though it was an odd piece of evidence, the woman regarded the large foliage with the same clinical detachment as she might a bullet casing or latent friction ridge lift.

Rhyme noted that Sachs's hands were glove-free--in keeping with her limited role as translator. Or the appearance of her limited role.

Ercole continued enthusiastically, "It is quite an interesting plant. Of course, the beans are used to make carob powder, like chocolate. The name 'carob,' I find most interesting, is the source for the word 'carat,' as per the measuring unit for diamonds."

"Forestry Officer, I do not care about its esteemed place in the pantheon of plants," Spiro growled. "Could you be more responsive to my question?" He slipped into his pocket the slim book he'd been jotting notes in, the book he was never without.

Ercole regarded the book with concern once again, it seemed, and answered quickly, "I found a place where the Composer was spying on Ali Maziq and the man he had dinner with."

"You found him, this Arabic speaker?" Spiro asked.

"No. But I learned he's Italian, though most likely not Campanian," Ercole continued, with a glance toward Beatrice. "The pictures I uploaded?"

The forensic officer answered, "I will say that the shoe prints were not dissimilar to those left by the kidnapper in New York and at the bus stop where Maziq was kidnapped. Converse Cons, most likely. And the tire treads too are indicative of the same model as at the bus stop. The Michelins."

Spoken like a true criminalist, though under these circumstances Rhyme would not have objected to a bolder conclusion, like: Si, it was his shoes and his car.

Rossi asked the location of the restaurant exactly and Ercole answered. Rossi walked to a map and marked it. He said, "There are not bus routes there. So, following dinner, the colleague, or someone else, would have driven Maziq to the bus stop. The Composer followed."

Ercole explained that the vehicle had driven past the restaurant and slowed, probably as he saw Maziq and his colleague dining outside. He then drove around the corner, parked and spied on them. "I took samples of the dirt and grass from where he stood and sat." He nodded down at the bags and handed them to Beatrice, who took them in her gloved hands.

They had a brief conversation in Italian, a small argument clearly, which ended with Beatrice shaking her head and Ercole grimacing. She stepped into the lab.

Speaking through the branches, his face only partly visible, Ercole continued, "And from the footprints, it seems that he walked to the bushes to get a good look at the restaurant. I am hoping he pushed them aside to see Maziq."

Rossi pulled out his phone. "I will call an officer guarding Ali Maziq. We perhaps can find if what you learned helps out his memory." He placed the call and, head down, had a conversation.

Gesturing to the large, bushy branch Ercole held in front of him, Spiro said, "Do something with that, Forestry Officer. It is as if I am speaking to a tree."

"Of course, Procuratore." He took it into the lab and returned with some notes that, he explained, Beatrice had given him. Apparently concerned that his handwriting was not in vogue, here in the Questura, Ercole dictated; Sachs wrote.

Vantage Point Across Road from Ristorante San Giancarlo, 13km from D'Abruzzo

--Ali Maziq, Composer kidnap victim, met with colleague, 1 hour prior to kid

napping.

--Companion: --ID unknown.