“That remains to be seen,” Shredder said. Corey Harper looked embarrassed.

Martha appeared in the doorway, a huge tray resting on her arms.

Quinlan got up and took it from her. “He’s such a nice boy,” she said to Sally.

“Right there, Mr. Quinlan. Yes, that’s right. Now, I know you don’t want me listening to all this important talk, so I’ll just leave you with everything. You’ll manage?”

“Yes, thank you, Martha,” Quinlan said. “How’s Ed?”

“Oh, that poor man. Thelma just won’t leave him alone. Now she’s accusing him of compromising me on the kitchen table, and she’s going to buy a shotgun. He’s in the hospital right now having tests for that prostate of his. Poor man.”

Thomas Shredder looked at Corey Harper, then at the tray. She bit her lip and began to place cups on saucers. Quinlan grinned at her and began to do the same. Sally poured a cup and said, “Cream, David?”

Thomas Shredder sat there while everyone served each other. Quinlan gave him a big grin and pointed to the last cup on the tray. “Help yourself, Thomas. Ah, best hurry—I bet these New Jersey cheesecakes are going to be inhaled.”

“My, this is beyond delicious,” Corey Harper said and took the last bite of her slice of cheesecake.

“James and I want to ask Martha to come back to Washington with us,” said Sally. “She’s the best cook I know. Her pasta makes you weep.”

Quinlan knew that Shredder was going to blow up any minute. Well, he’d pushed the ass far enough. He said easily, “Forget the interviews, Thomas. We need to come at this from another angle. I know it sounds weird that the missing persons would have anything to do with the two murders, but the thing is that up until about the time Marge and Harve Jensen disappeared, The Cove was a run-down old shanty of a town. No paint on anything, potholes in the road, fences falling over, even the trees sagging, all the kids gone, just old people left, living on Social Security. My question is, why is The Cove so different now from what it was three years ago? Why did everything here begin to wake up about the same time that Harve and Marge disappeared?”

“My God,” Corey said. “I didn’t realize the timing.”

“I did,” David said, “but I never questioned it, Quinlan, for the simple reason that it was common knowledge that Doc Spiver had come into a lot of money right around then. Since he didn’t have any heirs, he invested the money and used all the proceeds to improve the town. But you don’t think so, Quinlan?”

“I think it’s worth checking into, closely. I remember you telling me that in Doc Spiver’s will he left his estate to the town and it amounted to about twenty thousand dollars. If he was that low, then the town would start sliding again, really soon, don’t you think? Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

“I’ll call Dillon—he’s a computer nerd at the bureau—and get him going on it. Tell me which bank and the account number, David. Sally and I will be staying here. Just give me a call, and I’ll get to Dillon.”

“Is that Dillon Savich?” Corey Harper asked, looking up.

“Yeah, he’s a genius with a computer, but don’t tell him that because he’ll just think you’re sucking up.”

“I know. I did tell him that when I was in training at Quantico. He gave a couple of great lectures, and yeah, he probably did think I was sucking up.”

“I’ve never heard of Dillon,” Thomas Shredder said. “Who cares about a computer nerd? They’re fine in their place, but this is the real world. What we do here is what really counts. Let’s get back to why we’re here in this godforsaken place.”

David said slowly, “Regardless of whether or not the missing persons are somehow involved in these murders, what you’re implying in a very subtle way is a tough pill to swallow, Quinlan. I’ve known these people most all my life. They’re a bunch of tough old birds, they’ve had to be to survive all the economic disasters we’ve had. Jesus, just realizing that one of them is a murderer curdles my breakfast. More than one of them murderers? No way.”

“It’s more than a tough pill,” Thomas Shredder said with a goodly dose of sarcasm. “You’re paranoid, Quinlan. That’s nuts.”

Quinlan just shrugged. “This town looks like a Hollywood set. I remember that was my first thought when I came here. I want to know why and how that happened.”

“All right, we’ve got a lead,” David said, leaning forward, “I’m going to check more closely into Doc Spiver’s bank account. Now, I’ve gotten together all the accounts for all the missing persons reported in this area for the past three years.” David drew a deep breath. “There’s about sixty.”