Part 13 (1/2)

'I volunteered this house, of course. I have plenty of s.p.a.ce here. But Chief Holland wouldn't hear of it. Not under the circ.u.mstances.'

'I think he was wise.'

'Because extra bodies in the house would have complicated his officers' operations?'

'No, because extra bodies in the house could have become collateral damage in the event of an attack.'

'Well, that's an honest answer, at least. But then, they tell me you're an expert. You were in the army. A commanding officer, I believe.'

'For a spell.'

'Of an elite unit.'

'So we told ourselves.'

'Do you think I am wise?' she asked. 'Or foolish?'

'Ma'am, in what respect?'

'In agreeing to testify at the trial.'

'It depends on what you saw.'

'In what way?'

'If you saw enough to nail the guy, then I think you're doing the right thing. But if what you saw was inconclusive, then I think it's an unnecessary risk.'

'I saw what I saw. I am a.s.sured by all concerned that it was sufficient to secure a conviction. Or to nail the guy, as you put it. I saw the conversation, I saw the inspection of the goods, I saw the counting and transfer of money.'

'At what distance?'

'Perhaps twenty yards.'

'Through a window?'

'From inside the restaurant, yes.'

'Was the gla.s.s clean? Steamed up?'

'Yes and no.'

'Direct line of sight?'

'Yes.'

'Weather?'

'Cool and clear.'

'Time?'

'It was the middle of the evening.'

'Was the lot lit up?'

'Brightly.'

'Is your eyesight OK?'

'I'm a little long-sighted. I sometimes wear spectacles to read. But never otherwise.'

'What were the goods?'

'A brick of white powder sealed tight in a wax paper wrap. The paper was slightly yellowed with age. There was a pictorial device stencilled on it, in the form of a crown, a headband with three points, and each point had a ball on it, presumably to represent a jewel.'

'You saw that from twenty yards?'

'It's a benefit of being long-sighted. And the device was large.'

'No doubts whatsoever? No interpretation, no gaps, no guesswork?'

'None.'

'I think you'll make a great witness.'

She brought lunch to the table. It was a salad in a wooden bowl. The bowl was dark with age and oil, and the salad was made of leaves and vegetables of various kinds, plus tuna from a can, and hard boiled eggs that were still faintly warm. Janet Salter's hands were small. Pale, papery skin. Trimmed nails, no jewellery at all.

Reacher asked her, 'How many other people were in the restaurant at the time?'

She said, 'Five, plus the waitress.'

'Did anyone else see what was happening?'

'I think they all did.'

'But?'

'Afterwards they pretended not to have. Those who dwell in the community to our west are well known here. They frighten people. Simply by being there, I think, and by being different. They are the other other. Which is inherently disturbing, apparently. In practice, they do us no overt harm. We exist together in an uneasy standoff. But I can't deny an undercurrent of menace.'

Reacher asked, 'Do you remember the army camp being built out there?'

Janet Salter shook her head. 'Chief Holland and Mr Peterson have asked me the same question endlessly. But I know no more than they do. I was away in school when it was built.'

'People say it took months to build. Longer than a semester, probably. Didn't you hear anything when you were back in town?'

'I went to school overseas. International travel was expensive. I didn't return during the vacations. In fact I didn't return for thirty years.'

'Where overseas?'

'Oxford University, in England.'