Paradox (FBI Thriller 22)

“It was nothing, really. Gunny said she was worried about Mr. Henry’s belt buckle, the one the FBI showed on the television. I told her Mr. Henry didn’t have a belt buckle like the one you showed on TV, and I should know—”

Sala saw a slight flush on her cheeks but let it go for the moment. He could accept Mr. Henry hadn’t worn the belt buckle. But that his own lover hadn’t ever seen it? He said, “Let’s say Mr. Henry did have a gold Star of David belt buckle, and Gunny saw it. Did she tell you why that worried her?”

“I honestly don’t think Gunny ever saw such a thing. She gets things wrong sometimes, fantasizes. She’s a dear girl, but her brain doesn’t always—well, work smoothly. She tunes out suddenly, then she comes back, I guess you could say. Fact is, she’s slow, Agent Porto, but I suppose you already know that.”

Ty asked, “Why was he called Mr. Henry?”

“It was a sign of respect, an endearment. He was a caring, generous man, and you’ll not find anyone who disagrees. Mr. Henry handled the mortgages, business loans, financial assistance of all kinds for most of the people in town.

“Now, I told Gunny I was sure Mr. Henry didn’t own such a belt, that she was mistaken. She didn’t say anything more, only frowned and looked confused. I knew I had to be patient, knew there was more, so I asked her, why all this concern about a belt buckle she saw on TV? She said it had to do with a promise she’d made Mr. Henry, and she didn’t know whether she should tell anyone.”

Mrs. Chamberlain gave a deep sigh and shook her head. “But before I could ask her anything else, we had an emergency. One of the mail sorters went on the fritz, and I had to make some calls, schedule repairs, reassure Mr. Murcheson, calm down Mr. Judd and set him and his people to sorting the overflow mail by hand. When I finally came up for air, I asked where Gunny was. Mr. Judd told me he’d seen her leave. It wasn’t her break time or lunchtime, either, but he said he didn’t stop her. He said she was clutching her cell phone in her hand, seemed to be repeating something to herself, which she does sometimes, but he couldn’t hear what she was saying. I forgot about it, to be honest, something I very much regret now, after what happened to her. Of course you know Chief Masters found her in an alley, badly hurt. But still, Agent Porto, Chief Christie, why someone would hurt her doesn’t make any sense to me. I know Mr. Henry did not own that belt buckle shown on TV, I would have seen it.” She sighed. “I know, I know, the fact that someone tried to kill Gunny means there had to be something to what she was saying, but I don’t know what it could possibly be.”

Ty said, “Mrs. Chamberlain, this is very important. Where were you when Gunny asked to see you about Mr. Henry’s belt buckle? Who was around you?”

Both Ty and Sala saw kindling outrage. “Oh, I see. You want to blame one of my employees for striking down that poor girl? That is outrageous, and I won’t have you suggesting it!” She curled her heavy white fist on her desktop. “My people are always underfoot, even where they shouldn’t be, and I’m telling you, none of them would do something like this. Everyone likes Gunny. She doesn’t have an enemy in the world.” She shrugged. “So maybe Mr. Henry did have a Star of David belt buckle. I never saw it, and no one else ever saw it, to the best of my knowledge.” She met their eyes. “I will be honest here. After Mr. Henry’s poor wife died some fifteen years ago—cancer, you know—he and I became close. Not many people knew at the time, and we both preferred it that way. I am a very private person with certain standards to maintain, Mr. Henry as well. As I said, I never saw him with this belt buckle. He always wore red suspenders. Ask anyone.

“And to answer your question, I don’t remember seeing anyone in particular. When Gunny came up to me in the lobby, there were customers around—I don’t remember who specifically—checking their boxes, chatting, the usual, but to be honest, I didn’t pay any attention.” She paused, frowned. “I remember Gunny got really close when she spoke to me, like she was worried someone might overhear her. I don’t know really, maybe I’m remembering it that way now because of what happened to her. I don’t suppose your hotline got a lot of calls about this belt buckle?”

Sala said, “The hotline got only one call about the Star of David belt buckle, and that was Gunny’s.”

Ty said, “Which leaves us with quite a mystery.”

Mrs. Chamberlain fiddled with a pencil, threading it between her heavy fingers. “Chief Masters should have ideas about this. He was the one who investigated Mr. Henry’s murder five years ago. He’s Gunny’s godfather.” She lowered her voice. “You probably already know Lulie’s never said who Gunny’s father is. Of course, some people believe Chief Masters is her father. His poor wife, Molly, has always been clueless, so I suppose it’s possible.”

Sala wasn’t about to touch that. He said, “You spoke of Henry LaRoque’s murder five years ago. Is there anything you’d like to tell us about it?”

She lowered her head, the memory of it still strong.

Ty said, “Given the manner of death, it’s obvious someone hated him. Do you think somehow Gunny could have connected his belt buckle to his murderer?”

“Mr. Henry’s death, what was done to him, it was despicable. But as for Gunny connecting anything to his killer, it simply isn’t possible. Listen, Gunny performs simple tasks here at the post office. I hired her because Chief Masters asked me to.” She paused. “But I have to say, in the five years she’s been here, she’s done her various jobs well enough.”

Ty said, “Where did Gunny work before she came to the post office?”

“Once she graduated high school, she worked full-time with her mom for a while. Before she came to the post office, Susan Sparrow hired her to work at the Sparrow Crematorium. This was right after Susan married Landry Sparrow. Then she came here to the post office.”

“What did she do at the crematorium?” Sala asked.

“Some reception work and she passed out cookies after memorial services, things like that. You’d have to ask Susan Sparrow what her other tasks were. Why do you ask?”

Ty smiled. “Collecting information. Do you know why she left?”

“I never asked her directly, but I got the impression it was too depressing for her.” Mrs. Chamberlain fell silent. She looked to be studying a large citrine cocktail ring on her pinkie finger. “Mr. Henry gave me this ring on my birthday seven years ago.” She met their eyes. “It all comes back to why someone tried to kill Gunny. I don’t see how Gunny could know who murdered Mr. Henry. Because of the stupid belt buckle?” She huffed out a deep sigh. “You know they couldn’t have dredged up Mr. Henry’s bones from the bottom of that lake in Willicott along with that buckle. His family had him cremated.”

41

* * *

PRINCE WILLIAM FOREST PARK

VIRGINIA

EARLY TUESDAY AFTERNOON

The air-conditioning in Sherlock’s stalwart Volvo was on the fritz. According to the temperature on the dash it was ninety-one degrees. Inside or out? Sherlock wondered. And not a single cloud in the sky.

Savich was driving the familiar route to Quantico, with the Prince William Forest Park adjacent to it. He and Sherlock had visited the park a couple of times when Sean was younger, spending the day hiking the trails, showing Sean the eastern box turtle, picnicking on the edge o