Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html CYBER WAY By Alan Dean Foster If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. —Rene Descartes Principles of Philosophy, 1644 Chapter 1 THE POLARIZED BUBBLE glass in the window turned Greater Tampa into a fish bowl. It was a view which never failed to please Kettrick, and why not? He'd worked hard to earn it. By rights he shouldn't be where he was. For years engineers had insisted anything over thirty-five stories high built within a half mile of the beach would eventually begin to sink into the saline muck that was coastal Florida, The bubble glass that lined his office was on the fiftieth floor. So much for engineering. There was sufficient solid ground here, just as there were always solid business opportunities. That had been one of his father's many mottoes. Nobody was better than the old man when it came to digging up business. The actual construction work he left to his son. Whenever Kettrick thought of his father it was always with fondness. The old man had fought bravely against the weak heart which had killed him early, leaving the company to his son. Kettrick had built on that, just as he'd built this impossible structure on this inadequate land. From the fiftieth floor you could see far out into the Gulf. Like a sheet of pressed sky, the lazy blue water stretched westward until it melted into a pale white horizon. Inland lay the industrial corridor that crawled northeast to Orlando, framed and constrained by the greenbelts which offered sanctuary to wildlife, recreation to workers, and salve for the consciences of those who had built the plants. Southward somewhere lay the eternal Glades, still surviving in spite of the pollution. Nature could be a tough old bitch. Kettrick had seen pictures of early Florida. Flat two-dimensional images recorded on paper, old videotapes reconstructed for mollystorage. Cypress and pine, swamp and mud. Funny how the wildlife had adapted. Blue herons, snowy egrets, gators, and manatees thrived in the city parks as lustily as in the Glades themselves. The three gators who made their home in the indoor garden of this very building had Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html never expressed any desire to move on. Man adapts to the world, and the world adapts to man. The only thing man couldn't seem to adapt to was himself, which was why Kettrick had pushed the security switch the instant his unannounced visitor had appeared. He appraised, then relaxed, seeing no weapon, sensing no threat. Security personnel would arrive momentarily. Had he been truly concerned, he would have thumbed the red button instead of the orange one disguised as an inlay in his desk. Concealed nozzles would have buried the intruder in a shell of quick-drying immobilizing foam. Kettrick knew mere was no need to employ such measures. No need, because he recognized the intruder. Silently he vowed that this would be the last time he would indulge this particular individual. Even the traditional Kettrick courtesy had its limits, and these had now been exceeded. No need to be nervous. His visitor was not psychotic. Merely obsessed. The man gazed at the door through which he'd entered, as if aware his time was limited. Then, before speaking, he turned to nod at the sweeping panorama visible through the bubble glass behind the desk. "I can see that you are an admirer of the natural order. It causes me to wonder anew why you will not sell me the picture." "My love of beauty is what attracted me to the picture in the first place," Kettrick replied. "Why would I want to turn it over to you? We've been through this before. I thought I'd made it perfectly clear that I never sell anything from my collection. I told you that the last time." "I needed to hear it from you again. There is always a first time. I must have the painting." Since he had not invited him to come in, Kettrick did not invite him to sit down. He left him standing, convinced that the man posed no immediate threat- Kettrick chuckled to himself. Now, his son-in-law, the gargantuan white boy his daughter had married, that was a threatening personality. Cody had to be, since by profession he played backup nose-guard for the Bucs. This irritation who had burst into his office was only a little more than average height and of slim build. Hardly an imposing physicality. Kettrick thought that the man's straight black hair was exceptionally dark even for an Amerindian. The industrialist found himself wondering if Indians could tan. The intruder's clothing was simple and utilitarian. All you really noticed were the obsidian eyes. You noticed mem because they didn't notice you. They seemed to be focused on something behind Kettrick even though the man was gazing directly at him. Odd. Nor was his visitor out-grabed. He was much too coherent for that. There was no telltale clouding of the corneas, no nervous trembling in the fingers. Though come to think of it, this fellow did hold his hands in a strange fashion, with the fingers curved back and up like hooks. Or like paws. He could be wrong, and although he wasn't an expert, Kettrick knew an addict when he saw one. Friends of his son-in-law were always hinting that it would be nice if he could obtain the latest designer steroids for them. All be- cause a small chain of drugstores was included among his diverse holdings. Of course he refused all such requests, no matter how oblique. Should it come out in the media, a single such story could harm the business, not to mention his social standing in the community, in which be took considerable pride. He had no intention of risking any of that simply to do a favor for some of his Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html son-in-law's buddies or even to improve the team, on whose behalf he annually expended far too much money for season tickets. Of course the company paid for those, but still... Strange face it was, and not only because of those eyes. It was sharp of side, like a piece of dark marble whose rough edges had been hacked off but not yet polished smooth. High cheekbones, nothing anywhere soft or rounded, the result a perpetually questioning expression. Lines ran from the base of his nose up into his forehead, which was itself unlined. The crow's-feet at the corners of the eyes seemed transplanted from someone far older. What might appear to some as arrogance was in truth only preoccupation. It was as if this stranger were too busy with his thoughts to pay much attention even to the conversation he had begun. A single earring of silver and blue, as pure as the Gulf outside the window, called attention to one ear. He bad yet to smile. Kettrick studied the strange visage and decided it was an expression foreign to this face. In contrast to the dark hair, his eyebrows were astonishingly light—almost not there. The few wispy hairs seemed to grow flush with the skin. He stood with a slight slouch, as though suffering from curvature of the spine. After a while Kettrick realized there was nothing physically wrong with his visitor. It was simply his natural stance. And all the while, he kept the fingers of both hands curved up and backward. At any moment Kettrick half expected him to drop to all fours and approach on his knuckles. Distant he was, yet intense. Well, if he was wrong about him, there was always the red button in case the visitor made a sudden move toward his host. Kettrick's fingers tapped on the desk close to the false inlay. What might he be besides a truly odd duck? A collector like himself? Collectors could be fanatics. Where the hell was Security, anyway? "You've gone to a lot of trouble to force your way in here just to hear the same thing I've been telling you over the phone. So one more time: the picture is not for sale." "You won't even discuss price with me?" Kettrick gestured expansively at his surroundings. "I presume that by now you have some idea of who I am. Whatever you might offer me, I've no need of it, and I must add you don't look like you could offer much. If it's any consolation to you, the amount wouldn't matter. I don't sell anything out of my collection." For a long moment the visitor did not reply, just stood mere staring at Kettrick with those obsidian eyes. It made the industrialist uneasy, though he was careful not to show it. "Suppose that I was the richest man in the world," the visitor said suddenly. "Suppose that I could offer you anything and everything you ever dreamed of." Kettrick smiled condescendingly. "But I already have everything I ever wanted. A fine family, grandchildren, even a moderately famous son-in-law. I live out in the Gulf in a grand house that's half above and half below crystal clear waters. Business is good, the economic climate for the next year even better. I head one of the few corporations in Florida that has no tariff war with the EEC and we're free reciprocals with the West African Economic Union. I even like my work. So why should I part with Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html something I love just for money?" Kettrick saw the fingers of his visitor's right hand flexing. So, he could move more than his mouth and legs. "I understand. I will bother you no longer about buying the picture. It is clear I cannot persuade you. I will manage without the painting itself if you will let me have one copy of it. Holo, vid, still flat color anything wUl do." Kettrick's patience was running out. He had work to do. "If you're anything of a collector yourself, you must know I can't allow that. If it was just up to me, I'd say sure, go ahead. But it would cost me my insurance. Regulations forbid reproductions. Nothing to do with you personally, but once you let reproductions of items you own out in public, potential thieves have a way of finding out what you own that's worth stealing. It lets mem steal to order. It's an annual problem at museums. My collection stays private and out of the public eye." He leaned forward curiously. "In fact, I'd give a lot to know how you found out about mis particular piece. "ft does not matter," said the visitor quietly. "It matters to me." "If I tell you, will you let me make a copy of the painting?" Kettrick shook his head. Pity. The fellow seemed intelligent enough. He just had one big blind spot where the painting was concerned. He wasn't through. "It belongs with me. It is a part of my heritage, not yours. You don't know what you have." "Yes, I do. I have a beautiful, special, and according to you yourself, a most unique piece of primitive art. It fits in very nicely with the rest of my collection. As for it not being a part of my particular ethnic heritage, my collection contains primitive art from all over the world. I have my share of African and early Black American art, yes, but also work from China, Tibet, and most of the South Pacific. I'm sure there must be hundreds, thousands of reproductions of this particular type of art widely available in public coir CYBER UJRY 7 lections for your perusal. Why not content yourself with some of them?" "There is no other like this one." "So you say. I've only your word for that. Again, it doesn't matter. The painting stays in my collection, and my collection stays private until I decide to donate it or tour it some day. At that time, and only at that time, you can take all the pictures you want—along with everyone else." "That is no help to me. I need the image now." "I can't help what you need." "I have told you mat it has to do with my religion." Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html "Again, I've only your word for that. Even so, you're not part of some official delegation seeking its recovery. You're an individual acting on his own with motives of his own. For all I know, you're just another collector who wants a copy of my painting for your own personal use. Who do you think you're dealing with here, friend? This isn't downtown. We're not dealers swapping formula on the street." The visitor shifted his weight but not his stare. "This is the fourth time I have made this request of you. You cannot refuse me a fourth time." Kettrick couldn't keep from chuckling aloud. "That's one of your customs, not one of mine. I'm not bound by it. You can make all the requests you want. It won't do you any good. Is four a special number for you?" It was not necessary for the visitor to reply. "Well, in this case it's a special number for me too, because this is the last time I'm going to talk to you." The three men from Security had entered so silently that Kettrick hardly noticed their arrival. If the visitor had, he did not acknowledge their presence. "Now I happen to be a very busy man," Kettrick explained, "and you'll excuse the cliche', because in my case it happens to be true. So I'll only say this once more. I've given you rather more of my time man I intended to. You've used k all up, bom on the phone and in person. It's clear you've come a long way and so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you're a collector or lover of primitive art like myself, and not a thief. "If you bust in here again like you did a little white ago, I'll have you arrested. The jails here in the Bay are as modern as you'll find anywhere—but sometimes the air treatment systems do break down, and even though it's almost spring, I still think you'd rind mat kind of environment unpleasant. Also, Florida is kind of a seine for the East coast, a net that stretches from St. Pete to Miami, and we catch all kinds of Caribbean sludge in it. A lot of crazyboys high on abbreviations that represent chemical combinations you don't want anything to do with. Pupapapas peddling Brazilian and Peruvian babies. Snuff-film importers. Great guys to share a holding cell with. "You take my advice and go back where you came from. Concentrate your energies on a different piece of art." "I cannot do that," the visitor said softly. "The enterprise I am engaged in requires precision and timing. I need mis particular piece, or a copy, and I cannot wait any longer." "That's too bad." Kettrick gestured slightly and two of the security guards moved forward until they were flanking the visitor. One of them put a big hand on the man's shoulder. He ignored it. "Then I suppose I will have to find some way to work around your intransigence." "That sounds like the sensible thing to do," agreed the industrialist, nodding and smiling. The security team escorted the stranger out of Kettrick's office. From the rear the visitor looked like a splinter of black oak embedded in a mass of white flesh. Kettrick felt sorry for the guy. Under different circumstances the two of them might have spent an enjoyable evening together discussing early American art. Not that he'd been especially friendly. Distant without actually being impolite. No, his attitude would have ruled out dinner. Sarah wouldn't have liked him. She preferred people Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html whose eyes met your own. Kettrick knew she wouldn't cotton to someone who daydreamed while you were trying to hold a conversation with them. That business about not being able to refuse a fourth request would probably mean something to an anthropologist. It meant nothing to Kettrick. That was one of the pleasures of being a wealthy collector. You could affect an attitude of great knowledge without having to go to the trouble of actually acquiring it, because all of your friends knew infinitely less about the subject than you did. Chapter 2 MOODY DIDNT LIKE leaving his car. In the patrol cruiser be felt safe and protected from an uncompromisingly hostile world, encased in armored flexan and carbonate, coddled by air conditioning, lunch, the drink dispenser, and as many other creature comforts as the department could pry out of the taxpayers by claiming they were vital to ongoing police operations. It was unfortunate, but every now and then he had to leave his office and get in the car, and less frequently, abandon the car to work in the real world. There were two real worlds as far as Moody was concerned: the one he worked in and the one he fled to as often as possible. All they had in common was that both were located on the same planet. You had to leave the car to net outgrabed crazyboys, or interview witnesses, or check the backbays for waterstriders trying to run pharmecuties up from Koobah or Whackara-gua. At least the waterstriders made life exciting, though things had quieted down some since Haiti had become a U.S. Territory, providing the DBA with an ideal base from which to monitor flights out of SudAm. There was a rumor the striders were using trained porpoises to bring the stuff right into the bay. The bastards never gave up. You could almost admire then- persistence and ingenuity, until the first time you saw some eleven-year-old outgrabed on sizzle, standing over his dead six-year-old sister with a bloody kitchen knife in his hand, the familiar feral glaze in his eyes and that horrid unknowing grin on his face. A couple of encounters like that would kill any admiration for the stri-ders. Moody had suffered through more than a couple. Nobody, including the Interdiction Corps, had actually found a porp running drugs. That didn't mean they didn't exist. Only that they hadn't been caught. The detective wondered if you could hook a porp on pharmacuties. He wouldn't put anything past a damn strider. It was so very different from Mississippi. In many ways the Sip was much nicer than Flo-ree-dah: quieter, friendlier, laid-back and relaxed. Less need to flinch when someone approaching you on the street reached into his coat. It was also a helluva lot duller, he reminded himself. Which was why after graduating from the Academy he'd moved to the Greater Tampa area with his first wife. His appraisal of his prospects in West Florida had been borne out by quick advancement. He'd also lost his wife, married a second time, and lost her as well, along with the physical conditioning he'd acquired at the Academy. Every year when the regular examinations came round he always managed to shed just enough poundage to scrape by, subsequent to which profuse ingestion of beer rapidly returned him to the rotund form to which his colleagues had become accustomed. Another reason for his early move to Florida had been a misplaced desire for excitement and sophistication. What a letdown to discover that in a highly charged urban environment those were only Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html euphemisms for more degenerate forms of crime. He stayed anyway. He could have joined a Mississippi department but without ever enjoying the prospect of rapid and regular pro- motion, simply because there weren't as many people to police. Nevertheless, he was surprised when he'd made detective. His background and lack of personality worked against him, not to mention the fact mat he was no ass-kisser like half the kids in the department. What he did have was a dogged, pit-bull persistence that insisted no case was unsolvable, no mystery too convoluted to crack. When others gave up, he persevered. Turn out to be right a few times in such matters and even disinterested higher-ups take notice. Apparently one or two had done just that. His was an attitude that would have been a hindrance on a SWAT team but which in a detective was a positive attribute. Even after his unexpected promotion they rarely threw any of the glamour jobs his way. That suited Moody just fine. He didn't like seeing his picture on the vid, because he took a lousy picture. If someone stuck a vocup in his face he became helplessly inarticulate. When not assigned to the street he actually enjoyed being stuck at a desk, accessing the mollys with his desk spinner, doing the tedious, boring, dirty bits of police work that never made the evening news. He abhorred publicity. If a vid wit showed up at the station asking questions about a case he happened to be involved with, Moody always managed to find a colleague willing to usurp his place in the spotlight. No wonder his fellow officers loved him. An officer who actually enjoyed mollywork was an invaluable component of whatever police department happened to be fortunate enough to have the use of his services. Moody knew he could have hooked on with any department in the country. Maybe that was why he'd received the unexpected promotion. No matter. He was comfortable enough in Greater Tampa, just a good of Southern boy with maybe ''•} a few more brains than his buddies back home and a few | less man some of the men and women he worked with daily. Whatever they thought of him privately, none of them ever called him out in public. Because if you were caught making fun of Vernon Moody, why then when you needed his services he might decline to sit down and do the weeks of tedious research vital to your case. Moody's work had probably been responsible for more promotions than any other single factor in the department. So if any of his fellow cops laughed at his background or his girth, they did so well behind his back. Only the insecure were guilty of that. The majority respected Moody and his abilities. He socialized readily if quietly, and had made a few casual friends—easygoing types like himself. He wasn't the only one in the department content to parlay his off-time into a few beers, a ball game, fishing trips to the Glades, or the company of women not too much younger than himself. In a department aswarm with ambitious hares, the presence of a happy tortoise or two was more than welcome. It helped too that Moody's appearance was not threatening. He looked fat, slow, and stupid. Striders and ninlocos had discovered to their dismay that in the detective's case, appearances were more than slightly deceiving. Despite his usefulness on the street, he much preferred spending his time at his desk, sieving the departmental molly spheres, researching and preparing reports. You didn't have to be smart to use a spinner. Just persistent and good at following directions. The ability to follow directions had extracted him from a din-poor existence in Mississippi, had made him a detective on the largest police force in Florida. He enjoyed the respect of his peers, the admiration of the folks back home, a decent income, and the Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html prospect of a comfortable retirement if some nameless crazyboy didn't someday expunge his guts on a filthy downtown back street. None of that could help him now. No vehicles were allowed on Steel Key, not even those representing municipal authorities. The call which had come in demanded that he leave his office. Now he was forced to abandon his beloved cruiser as well. Was a time when there 'd been no barrier islands between Honeymoon Key and the Anclote Refuge. Then the gulf waters had been forced to make way for Steel, Steadman, Briarwood, and Cypress Keys. Artificial islets all, built of fill dredged from the gulf bottom and fortified with vitamins and minerals. Not to mention polycrete and titanium. Rich imported soil from the mainland provided regular employment for a small army of gardeners, and Bahamanian sand fringed each island like vanilla cream on a wedding cake. There were no bridges to die artificial keys. Instead they were connected to the mainland and to one another by a tube which ran from Steel to just south of Tarpon Springs. Though fragile in appearance, die tube was in fact far more stable and secure than any roadway. Come a hurricane, Moody would much rather be trapped on artificial Briarwood than organic Caladesi. The latter was composed solely of natural materials, and no matter what the ecoengineers said, he'd take titanium over pulverized coral any day. It was unusually hot and humid for March and Moody was sweating as soon as he stepped out of the cruiser. One of the pleasures of being a detective was that he was allowed to wear plainclothes on the job, but the special light fabrics he wore could evaporate only so much of a body's moisture. Bad enough to be doomed to a physique like the Graf Zeppelin's but why did the Good Lord have to add to the tribulations of die plump by making them sweat three times as much as everyone else? He knew he was luckier than some. Beer gut aside, he didn't look obese, just big. He'd been told that if he gave up beer he could lose the gut. But giving up beer would've meant giving up a large chunk of whatever it was that comprised Vernon Moody. Shoot, he'd even miss being the butt of familiar jokes around the station. Besides which, it would mean an end to his fishing. A man could sooner fish without tackle than without beer. He controlled his irritation while he waited for the tube system's web to process his police ID. From a security standpoint it was far from perfect—anyone could still land a boat on one of the perfect, groomed key beaches. But it kept the small-time thieves 'from having easy access to the respected, wealthy ones. He stepped up into the air-conditioned tube car gratefully, punched in the address, and settled back in the padded seat as the maglide accelerated over the intracoastal waterway. As it neared Steel Key it began to slow, shunting onto an alley lane, to finally deposit him outside one of the contemporary mansions that faced the sea. Since none of the artificial keys was more than two lots wide, builders had the choice of facing the Gulf or the mainland. Of course "lot" was a relative term when speaking of property on the artificial islets. The rube shunt and a quaint, meandering walkway ran down the cento" of the key. There was also a paved, lightly banked road for the use of those who might want to bicycle or powerskate. No motorized vehicles allowed, lest they disturb the tranquillity of those who had paid immense sums to leave such noises behind on the mainland. Gonna be a hot summer, he thought to himself as he stepped clear of the maglide car and headed for the gate opposite, resenting even brief exposure to the climate of Central Florida. Though cars were absent, there was no dearth of activity. Scavengers from the Coroner's office were Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html working the vine-scribed walls and flower beds. One was intently scrutinizing the trunk of a transplanted coconut palm which grew hard by the opaque blue-green glass barrier that surrounded the Kettrick compound. They were looking for heel marks, or indications of forced entry. Likely was a forced entry, he mused. Usually was, when murder was involved, though you could never be certain. Perhaps the killer had arrived by parachute or hanglider, or had scubaed onto the beach. Or burrowed through the soil like a gopher. They must be pretty sure it was homicide, though, or they wouldn't have called him in. The patrolman on duty at the gate recognized him and let him through. He found himself walking through an immaculately maintained tropical garden, following a crushed coral path toward the house. An airborne mist-maker drifted past on its appointed rounds, moistening a dense clump of bright purple orchids and pungent bougainvillea. Moody was unimpressed. Downtown Tampa stank of the tropics. The unique, self-propelled aerial spray was present only because of the existence of expensive, private desalinization facilities. As he walked he studied the scroll-up on his pocket spinner. It was standard department issue, gunmetal-gray with a four-inch-square screen, the controls well-worn and slick with skin oil. There was plenty of background on Kettrick, and Moody hadn't been given enough time to peruse all of it back at the office. So far, the most interesting piece of information to come up on the screen was the fact that Kettrick's son-in-law played for the Bucs. The team was cool and dry in the Northwest this week, getting ready to play the Portland Axe. The instrument informed him that Kettrick's daughter was with her husband. No doubt she'd already been notified of her father's demise. There was nothing in the hastily compiled domestic dossier to suggest that this might be a family affair, something for which Moody was grateful. He was a big Bucs fan and they were short of good defensive linemen as it was. Though the web was full of info on Kettrick, it had little to say about the killing beyond an estimated time of death. The coroner team was still plaiting. Moody knew that in the not too distant past cops had been forced to wait hours, even days for updated information. That was back before police weavers had learned how to build good webs, before the advent of pocket spinners able to access them. Wonderful devices. Not only could they keep your information up to the minute, but if you got bored with the daily grind you could surreptitiously switch over to a network or ESPN. The house was full of professionals, a few of whom recognized Moody and paused in their endeavors long enough to acknowledge his presence with a glance or grunt. Their number was a reflection of the dead man's importance, not the department's desire for thoroughness. Off to his right several were orbiting a crying woman. Moody angled in their direction. There was something about very rich people which enabled them to bawl like the Flood without disrupting their poise. Mrs. Leona Kettrick was having a composed breakdown, mopping regularly at her eyes with an absorbent yet exquisitely crafted handkerchief. She was in her mid to late forties, well-dressed, handsome rather man pretty. No doubt she was more attractive when she wasn't crying. She had the look of someone who'd been teetering on the verge of collapse for too many hours and was keeping herself going on dignity and pills. Moody stood quietly, able to see over everyone's head, letting Berkowitz ask the questions. The other detective was much better at interviews of mis type than his colleague. Asking no questions of his own while sorting substance from sobs, Moody determined that Mrs. Kettrick had been participating in some social function at Jekyll Island up on the south Georgia coast and had returned only this morning to Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html discover her husband's body, whereupon she had immediately called the police. From the tone of Berkowitz's questions Moody surmised that at this point she was no more than a secondary suspect as far as the department was concerned. If that supposition turned out upon farther investigation to be wrong and she was in some way responsible for what had happened, then she was doing a superb job of feigning grief. She was having a difficult time controlling herself long enough to supply coherent answers to the detective's queries. In his nearly twenty years of police work Moody had actually run across a few marrieds who'd stayed in love with their original partners. Hers might be no more man a good performance. He hoped not. The two techs from the Coroner's office didn't have to make room for Moody. He made his own room. Big as he was, it was easy for him to nudge his way into the circle surrounding the distraught widow. It allowed him to study her close up, take note of the details. Moody was very good with details. It was a hallmark of his work. He noted them mentally for later inclusion in a formal file: expensive faux jewelry, designer travel-wear, no overt evidence of pharmacutie use, telltale signs of collagen injections at the neck and forehead. She must have been a very attractive young woman and she was fighting middle age with all the tenacity of a last-place team making a goal-line stand against the Superbowl bound. Why was it, he wondered not for the first time, that it was the genetically blessed who chose to employ cosmetic surgery so extensively? Having been recognized as beautiful in their youth, perhaps they felt its loss more keenly than those who had never been subject to the admiring stares of the herd. Moody now, having never been much for looks, didn't particularly care how he aged. He observed the good-looking guys on the force, the handsome ones with the sculpted faces and athletic bodies, as they fought losing battles with receding hairlines and sagging waists, and he found he didn't envy them. It was not a bad thing to be content within oneself, he'd decided. He adopted his most compassionate expression, a half-moon smile that gave him the look of a tranquil Buddha, or a beardless Santa Claus. It made him resemble a big, sloppy, overgrown hound dog and took away from his bulk, which he knew some people found intimidating. Mrs. Kettrick took notice of him but did not cease her crying. The coroner techs melted away. Berkowitz gave him a standard cop "Hope-you-have-better-luck-than-I-did" grimace and went off to put the make on a pretty worker from forensics. "I'm sorry about your husband, Mrs. Kettrick." She didn't try to reply. "I'm Detective Moody. I know y'all have been through hell this rooming, but I have to ask you some questions. It ain't quite the way I'm supposed to work it, but if y'all don't feel you can manage any more right now we can do this later. I'm sure you understand, though, that the more information we have and the sooner we can stick it into the web for analysis, the faster we can start following up potential leads." Still not looking up at him, she nodded, blew her nose softly. Moody watched in fascination. It was the first time he'd ever seen anyone blow their nose in sixty-dollar-a-foot linen. "You've been away from home for how long?" "Two weeks. Some family friends—their daughter was getting married At the Jekyll Island Club. I was helping with the arrangements. I'm supposed—I was supposed to go back next week for the ceremony." As she spoke she waved die handkerchief around indifferently.