Part 26 (1/2)
”Practice, apparently.” Diane shrugged. ”Fear's just an emotion. You deal with it.”
”I did pretty well in my police training. I do pretty well confronting suspects. It's authority figures I can't handle. Garnett terrifies me.”
”I know.”
”I know you know, and I appreciate your helping me out with him.”
”You can help yourself out by dealing with him in a straightforward way.”
”How?”
”Just pretend you aren't afraid of him. What can he do to you anyway?”
”He can fire me, for one thing.”
”So. Is that the worst?”
”Well, yes.”
”You could walk out of here today and find another job. Perhaps a better one.”
Neva shook her head as though she didn't believe her. ”It isn't that easy-to pretend you aren't afraid.”
”Yes, it is. You haven't tried it. It's harder to think about than it is to do. It starts by building confidence in yourself.”
Neva smiled. ”Some of the guys at the station say you're arrogant.”
”Perhaps they're right, or perhaps I'm just pre tending.”
”I don't see how you do it.”
”Do what?”
”I mean, you have two really big jobs-two major careers going at once.”
”I couldn't if that was the American Museum of Natural History out there,” Diane said as she gestured in the direction west of her office, toward the museum, ”and if this was a New York City crime lab. But RiverTrail is a small museum-large building, but small as holdings go. And Rosewood doesn't have a high crime rate. As it is, I'm pretty much at the limit of what I can do.”
”Still . . .” Neva was interrupted by a knock on Diane's office door.
Chief Garnett entered the room with a man who looked like a college professor. He wore a brown tweed sports coat and slacks, had a respectable head of brown hair and a short well-trimmed beard to match. He was slightly built and moved with an air of confidence.
”This is Ross Kingsley,” Chief Garnett said. ”He's going to be doing some profiling for us.”
”I'd like to interview you, if you don't mind.” He held out a hand to Diane, and she shook it.
”Certainly. Before we start, Chief, Neva has finished her drawings of the Cobber's Wood victims.”
She handed a set to him and watched as he and Kingsley studied them.
”This looks good,” Garnett said, casting an approv ing glance at Neva.
”They are,” agreed Diane. ”The sheriff ought to be able to find someone who knew them.”
Neva stood and eased herself out the door, clearly not picking this day to confront her fear of Garnett.
”We found what we think was the Crown Vic. Sto len, of course. That Asian guy-Jin-I've asked him to process it too.”
”I figured it was stolen,” said Diane. ”Maybe Jin will be able to find something.”
”I'll leave you two here,” said Garnett. ”I'll be in the lab if you need me.”
Diane motioned for Kingsley to sit down. She felt oddly uneasy about being interviewed by him. So much for the myth of her fearlessness.
Chapter 30.
Ross Kingsley let his gaze wander around her office before bringing his attention back to Diane. Diane's eyes never left Kingsley.
”Your office is very Spartan,” he said.
Interesting choice of words, she thought. she thought. Spa.r.s.e, bare, cold, Spa.r.s.e, bare, cold, perhaps, but not perhaps, but not Spartan Spartan-the places to sit were far too comfortable.
”It's relatively new,” she said.
”Garnett told me you suffered a great tragedy doing human rights investigations in South America.”
”Yes.”
”And you don't want to revisit it. I can understand. What do you do for fun?”
”Why are you profiling me?”
Kingsley s.h.i.+fted in his chair. ”Because this man who may be the killer has focused his attention on you. I want to know why, so I can understand him.”
”I enjoy caving.”
”Exploring caves?”
”Yes.”
”You like dark places, then.”
”I always carry at least three sources of light.”
He laughed. ”But caving is dangerous.”
”It can be.”