The Vanished Man (Lincoln Rhyme 5)

"Wouldn't she? What do you know about her? Do you even know her real name?"

"I . . ." Sachs's troubled eyes turned toward the young woman. "No," she whispered. "She never told me."

Tearfully the young woman shook her head. Finally she said, "Amelia, I'm so sorry. . . . But you don't understand. . . . Mr. Balzac and Weir were friends. They performed together for years and he was devastated when Weir died in the fire. Loesser told Mr. Balzac what he was going to do and they forced me to help him. But, you have to believe me, I didn't know they were going to hurt anybody. Mr. Balzac said it was just an extortion thing--to get even with Mr. Kadesky. By the time I realized Loesser was killing people it was too late. They said if I didn't keep helping him he was going to give my name to the police. I'd go to jail forever. Mr. Balzac would too. . . ." She wiped her face. "I couldn't do that to him."

"To your revered mentor," Rhyme said bitterly.

With a look of panic in her brilliant blue eyes the young woman shoved her way through Sachs and Kadesky and leaped for the door.

"Stop her, Roland!" Rhyme shouted.

Bell sprinted forward and tackled her. They tumbled into the corner of the room. She was strong but Bell managed to cuff her. He rose, panting from the effort, and pulled his Motorola off his belt, calling in for a prisoner transfer down to detention.

Looking disgusted, he put the radio away and read Kara her rights.

Rhyme sighed. "I tried to tell you earlier, Sachs. I couldn't get through on the phone. I wish it weren't true. But there you have it. She and Balzac were with Loesser all along. They gulled us like we were their audience."

Chapter Fifty-one Whispering, the policewoman said, "I just . . . I don't see how she did it."

Rhyme said to Bell, "She manipulated the evidence, lied to us, planted fake clues. . . . Roland, go over to the whiteboards. I'll show you."

"Kara planted evidence?" Sachs asked, astonished.

"Oh, you bet she did. And she did a damn good job too. From the first scene, even before you found her. You told me that she gave you that sign to meet her in the coffee shop. They set it up from the beginning."

Bell was at the whiteboards and as he pointed out items of evidence Rhyme explained how Kara had tricked them.

A moment later Thom called, "There's an officer here."

"Show 'em in," Rhyme said.

A policewoman walked through the doorway and joined Sachs, Bell and Kadesky, surveying them through stylish glasses with a look of curiosity on her face. She nodded to Rhyme and, in a Hispanic accent, asked Bell, "You called for prisoner transport, Detective?"

Bell nodded to the corner of the room. "She's over there. I Mirandized her."

The woman glanced toward the corner of the room at Kara's prone form and said, "Okay, I'll take her downtown." She hesitated. "But I got a question first."

"Question?" Rhyme asked, frowning.

"What're you talking about, Officer?" Bell asked.

Ignoring the detective, the officer sized up Kadesky. "Could I see some identification, sir?"

"Me?" the producer asked.

"Yessir. I'll need to see your driver's license."

"You want my ID again? I did that the other day."

"Sir, please."

Huffily the man reached into his hip pocket and withdrew his wallet.

Except that it wasn't his.

He stared at a battered zebra-skin billfold. "Wait, I . . . I don't know what this is."

"It's not yours?" the cop asked.