“Good,” Marvin Brammer said, hugged her tightly, then turned her over to Dillon, who gave her a distracted hug and kiss on the cheek. “I’ve found them, Sally,” he said. “I’ve found that damned jerk who isn’t your father.”
Marvin Brammer said, “Eureka?”
“That’s it. I’ve got to get to the FBI office in Seattle. They’re at Sea Tac Airport. Yeah, the stupid bugger bought two tickets to Budapest, via New York. He used a phony credit card and a phony passport.”
“Then how the hell did you get him?” Thomas Shredder said, walking over. His arm was in a sling. He had good color in his cheeks again. He was no longer in shock. “He doesn’t look like Amory St. John anymore.”
“Not hard,” Dillon said, patting his laptop. “Me and MAX here and our modem can do anything. Sally’s aunt used her own passport. Ain’t that a kick? She had to, I guess. I suppose they just prayed that she’d get through. They should have laid low until they’d gotten a phony one for her too. Corey, you and Thomas must have scared the shit out of them. They couldn’t wait to get out of the country.”
“So,” Sally said slowly, as Dillon phoned the Seattle FBI office. “It’s nearly over. What’s going to happen to the town, Mr. Brammer?”
“Agents are all over the cemetery. Like the old folk said, they buried all the people they murdered with their identification, so there’s been no problem determining who anybody is.
“Mass murder, nothing else to call it, all by a bunch of senior citizens.” He shook his head. “I thought I’d seen just about everything, but this takes the cake.
“Evil,” he added, stroking his chin. “Evil can sprout up just about anyplace. None of the seniors is saying a word. They’re loyal to each other, I’ll say that for them, even though it doesn’t matter. That Martha Crittlan, she’ll pull through, although I’ll bet she’ll wish she hadn’t. Just imagine, that seemingly sweet old lady was the brains and resolution behind the town.”
“She’s the most wonderful cook,” Corey Harper said and sighed. “That last dinner was the most delicious meal I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
“Yeah,” Thomas Shredder said, “and it could have been our last meal, since she drugged us.”
“You’ll survive,” Marvin Brammer said. “Oh, yes, one of the agents found a diary that old Thelma Nettro kept throughout all her time in The Cove.”
“Oh, yes,” Sally said. “She always had it with her. Do you know that she had a black circle on her tongue from licking the end of the fountain pen before she wrote?”
“Knowing our people, they’ll probably check for that. Old Thelma was very specific about how everything came about. It’s probably the best proof and history anyone could have of the entire episode. I mean, she wrote everything, beginning back in the 1940s when she and her husband came to The Cove.
“It’s all the attorney general’s problem now. I’ll wager they’re hating every minute of it. You can’t begin to imagine what the media are doing with all this. Well, maybe you can. It’s nuts. At least Sheriff Mountebank came out of the coma this morning, that’s one good thing. His three deputies are pulling through as well. They were drugged and tied up in that shed where you guys were.”
“Amory St. John and my aunt Amabel,” Sally said. “Mr. Brammer, what will happen to them when you nab them?”
“He’ll be in jail three lifetimes. As for your aunt, Sally, I don’t know if they’ll toss her in with the other seniors or if they’ll add kidnapping charges and conspiracy charges. We’ll just have to see.”
“Eureka again!”
Everyone turned to Dillon. He looked up, grinning a bit sheepishly. “Well, I just wanted all of you to know that Sally’s divorce will be final in six months. Let’s make it the middle of October. I’ve booked Elm Street Presbyterian in D.C. for the fourteenth. Everything’s set.”
“Will you marry me, Corey?” Thomas Shredder said.
She gave him a sharp look. “You have to prove to me that you’re no longer a sexist. That could take a good year, even if you try really hard. Don’t forget, a condition is that I become the SAC of the Portland office.”
“You could always shoot him in the other arm if he backslides,” Brammer said. “As to special agent in charge, why, Ms. Harper, I’ll do a great deal of thinking about that.”