Derby rose to his feet as if drawn by the unvoiced doubts around him. “I better clarify that. Ms. Zigman, unlike any other member of my staff, has close and personal connections to both this department and to most of the people who make this town tick. Since it now appears your investigation will be touching on aspects of how this new convention center came about-and on who helped it along-I’ve chosen her as the best suited for the job. Not only is she uniquely qualified, but since she’s physically in the office more regularly than I or the deputies, she’s much better placed to route your questions to me-unless, of course, she knows the answer herself. This latter case would only apply to situations involving personalities and procedures within town government-not legal questions. If any of you have any problems with this arrangement, I’d be happy to try to resolve them.”
Kunkle, not surprisingly, spoke first. “We don’t even know what our assignments are, and we’re already covering our asses. I don’t care if you got some wannabe as your contact. I want to know why the hell you’re so twitchy. We got so little to go on here, it seems nuts to start sweating what the media’s going to do.”
This time, it was Tony Brandt who spoke up. “The media’s not the problem, Willy-it’s the freedom to move we want. If there is a link between Davis, Wallis, and the convention center job, it’ll take a hell of a lot of work to prove it. It’ll also kick up a hell of a lot of opposition if some powerful people get wind of it too early.”
Willy looked disgusted. “You mean NeverTom Chambers. Jesus, I knew that asshole would pop up sooner or later.”
Despite his abrasive manner, Willy had put his finger on the heart of the matter. NeverTom Chambers, so nicknamed because he hated the sobriquet Tom, was Benjamin Chambers’s younger brother. Also rich and influential, he was as outspoken and vindictive as Benjamin was philanthropic and self-effacing. Worse-and most relevantly-NeverTom was a newly elected member of the board of selectmen, a position he was fully expected to abusively exploit. Considering that his brother owned the very project we were interested in, one he had vociferously supported even before he’d been elected, NeverTom’s habit of throwing his weight around was not a happy prospect.
“Think about it, Willy,” I cautioned him. “You really want him, his brother, their allies, the Bank of Brattleboro’s lawyers, and a few dozen other screamers all down your throat while you’re conducting an investigation that might lead to nothing? Who needs the aggravation?”
He waved his hand at me resignedly. “All right, all right. It just pisses me off. So what’re we supposed to be doing while we’re creeping around?”
“We’ve got three general points of focus,” I resumed. “First, keep beating the bushes for more on Shawna Davis. That we can do in the open, of course. The second is to focus on Mary Wallis, starting with a canvass of her neighbors-”
“That’ll be discreet,” Willy said with a smirk.
I stopped. “It can be. The mailman said he saw Shawna at her house. Mary confirmed it. It’s not too big a stretch to ask her neighbors if they saw Shawna in the area, and then engage them in a casual conversation about Wallis herself. She’s an unusual person and probably a hot topic on that street. It doesn’t have to tip our hand.”
“The third area of concentration,” I continued, “is to find out if any connection exists between Davis, Wallis, and the construction project. We need to examine how the project came about, and look at everyone involved. It also means we should study this recent white knight maneuver by Ben Chambers. This is where the most discretion will be necessary.”
I paused for a moment to let that sink in. “Okay. I’ve told Billy Manierre that we may be calling on his Patrol for help, but go easy on him. This is going to rack up the overtime, and I want to keep the town manager and the treasurer off our backs for as long as possible-”
“It’s not like we don’t have a shitload to do already, you know,” Willy reminded me.
“I realize that, so that might be a good way to use Billy. Patrol likes to do detective work. Get some of them to handle your lesser cases, and cut yourselves some slack. Shawna Davis is the priority case-bear down on anyone who admits knowing her, and keep after that inscription on the tooth. J.P., I want you to chase down the phenobarbital found in Shawna’s hair. Since it’s a prescription drug, it’ll have a paper trail. See if you can find out where it came from. Sammie, you start with the canvass of Mary’s neighborhood, then go wherever it leads you. And Ron, you take the construction project. That’ll involve a ton of paperwork. Find out if Justin Willette will help you out-he’s consulted for us before, he knows his stuff, and he’s told me several times he’s available whenever we need him.”
“I take it I can tell him what we’re up to?” Ron asked.
“Absolutely. Also, as each of you proceeds, you might end up with more or less to do. If that happens, Sammie and Harriet will act as coordinators and either get you more help, or reassign you as necessary. I’ll try to keep up on what everyone’s doing, and I’ll also be putting direct pressure on Mary Wallis."
“While I’ve got you all here,” I added, “I think I better mention something else I’m working on-something that may cause some commotion around town. As you know, Milo Douglas was found dead under the Whetstone bridge a few nights back. I had some doubts about the natural-causes ruling the Assistant ME came up with, so I sent his body to Burlington for an autopsy. I also questioned the two bums that were with him when he died. Now, I may be jumping the gun a little, since the ME hasn’t called back to confirm it, but I think Milo died of rabies.”
A small round of exclamations greeted that, which I quieted with a raised hand. “From what I’ve been told, only about two people a year die in this country from rabies, so if it turns out I’m right, there’re bound to be fireworks. I just wanted you all to know.”
“Was he bitten?” Tyler asked.
I hesitated answering, startled by the implications of the question. “I don’t know yet, but if he wasn’t, we’ll have to find out what happened.”
Unfortunately, the ominous undertone of Tyler’s question was almost immediately given credence. Following the staff meeting, I found a note stuck to my phone to call Beverly Hillstrom “ASAP.”
“You were right,” she said when I got her on the line. “We did a brain section and found rabies.”
“Were there any bite marks?”
“No. Of course, that’s not the only way to catch rabies. He might have acquired it via saliva exposure through an abrasion or a skin lesion. There’s also the unlikely possibility of a respiratory infection-two people caught rabies by merely breathing the air of a bat-infested cave a few years ago. But that’s highly unlikely.”
I rubbed my forehead, thinking of Phil and Danny in their trailer, ignorant that I’d asked them to stay put solely to keep them isolated. “If anyone touched the body without wearing gloves, they’ll need shots, right?”
“It would be foolish to do otherwise. Saliva is the primary vehicle of transmission.”
That very point still had me worried. “Doctor, I know you don’t like to hypothesize, but what are the chances of someone catching rabies without being bitten?”
“Statistically? Very slim. I called Fish and Game about this. As you know, there’s a rabies epidemic going on right now in Vermont, so the state currently has a rich and current database of disease transmission routes. Of all known cases where rabies was delivered from one source to another, including human victims, every one was through an animal bite.”
“What does that lead you to conclude?” I asked cautiously, having heard in her voice a true element of concern.