Jonathan Kellerman Alex 12 Survival of the Fittest

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.He got in the car and started the engine.'Lest I blanket you in totalpessimism, Zev Carmeli called me just before I left for Newton, said I couldtalk to his wife tomorrow, at the family home.I told him I might be bringingyou along, wondered if he'd give me some grief over that - psychoanalyzing thewife.But he didn't.In general, he seemed more cooperative.As if he finallybelieved I was on his side.Have you the time and inclination?''When?''Five o'clock.''Should I meet you there?''Probably best 'cause I don't know where I'll be.They live on Bolton Drive.'He gave me the address, shifted the unmarked into drive, coasted ten feet,then stopped.'When you talk to Wes Baker, bear in mind that knowing me willnot earn you gold stars.''I can live with that risk.''What a pal.'The next morning I reviewed Irit's file again, learning nothing.The theoriesI'd spun for Milo last night seemed nothing more than random shots.I wasn't any along on Nolan's suicide, either.Some elements of the 'typical'problem cop were there - alienation, isolation, family history of depression,possible job stress, the dark secrets Lehmann had intimated.But trying toexplain self-destruction on the basis of a collection of symptoms is likesaying people get poor by losing money.Lehmann's caginess had accomplished just the opposite of what he'd hoped,piquing my interest.What Milo'd told me about Baker was intriguing, but before I talked with him Iwanted Helena's go-ahead and she still hadn't returned my messages.I triedthe hospital again and was told she'd called in sick last night.No oneanswered at her home.Huddled under the covers, sleeping off a nasty virus?Should I call Baker anyway? If I asked questions and told him nothing ofsubstance, there'd be no breach of confidentiality.But grief was a psychic tide, ebbing and flowing in response to the magnet ofmemory, and Helena's 'sickness' could be something of quite a differentnature.Emotional withdrawal? Nothing healed but time, and sometimes that didn't workeither.Page 90ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThe last time I'd seen her she'd taken home the family snapshot albums.Memory overload?I decided to try Baker.He'd probably refuse to talk to me, anyway.A Parker Center desk officer told me Sergeant Baker had a day off and I leftmy name and number, expecting nothing.But barely an hour later, as I sattyping a child-custody report, my service called and said he was on the line.'Dr Delaware? Wesley Baker, returning your call.What kind of doctor are you?'Clipped, businesslike.He was older than Milo but sounded in his thirties, anaggressive young lawyer.'Thanks for calling back, Sergeant.I'm a psychologist looking into the deathof Nolan Dahl.''Looking into it at whose request?''Officer Dahl's sister.''A psychological autopsy?''Nothing that formal.''Just trying to get some closure?' he said.'I'm not surprised.She called mea few weeks ago, trying to get some answers.Poor woman.I was extremely upsetby Nolan's suicide, myself, disappointed that I couldn't tell her much.Because Nolan and I hadn't worked together for some time and I didn't want togive her information that mightbe irrelevant.She sounded depressed.It's good she got professional help.''Irrelevant in what way?'Pause.'Not being a professional, I wasn't sure what would be therapeutic andwhat would be harmful.''You're saying Nolan had some problems mat could upset her.''Nolan was.an interesting kid.Complex.'The same term Lehmann had used.'In what way?''Hmm.listen, I don't feel right getting into this without thinking itthrough.I'm off today, planned to get a little sailing in, but if you'll giveme a little time to collect my thoughts, you can come by my boat, we'll seewhat turns up.''I appreciate that, Sergeant.When's a good time for you?''How say noon? If we're both hungry, we can grab some lunch.You can evenpay.''Fair enough.Where's your boat?''Marina del Rey.She's called Satori.I'm docked right near the Marina ShoresHotel.' He gave me the slip number.'If I'm not there, it means the winds diedPage 91ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmland I had to tie up and use the engine.One way or the other, I'll be there.'The boat was thirty feet of sleek white fiberglass with gray trim.Tall masts,the sails tied.Satori painted on the hull in black script edged with gold.The sky over the marina was baby blue rubbed with chalk dust.Not much wind atall.The craft and its neighbors barely bobbed and I wondered if Baker hadeven gotten out of the harbor.Just a moment's walk away, the rear balcony ofthe Marina Shores Hotel extended over the footpath that ribboned the edge ofthe dock.Early lunchers sat nursing iced drinks and forking seafood.A wall of chain-link sectioned the hotel property from the rental slips but itwas unlocked and I walked through.Satori.I knew it had something to do with Zen and had looked it up beforeleaving.A state of intuitive illumination.Maybe Sergeant Wesley Baker could illuminate Nolan's death.He came out from below before I reached the boat, drying his hands with awhite towel.Five nine, stocky, but without visible body fat, he wore a whiteLacoste polo shirt, pressed black jeans, and white deck shoes.Looking everyyear of his age - around fifty, but a well-put-together fifty - he had adurable tan, short dark brown hair silvering at the temples, square, broadshoulders, and well-muscled, hairless arms.His head was slightly small forthe blocky torso, the face round, vaguely childlike, despite sun seams andassertive features.Large, gold-framed eyeglasses were turned to ray guns bythe midday sun.A successful businessman on his day off.He waved, I climbed aboard, and we shook hands.'Doctor? Wes Baker.Up for lunch? How about the hotel?''Sure.''Let me lock up and I'll be right up.'He was gone for a moment, came back carrying a large black calfskin billfold.More like a purse, really, and he carried it in one hand.We got off the boatand headed for the hotel.He walked very slowly - as if every movement counted.Like a dancer.Or amime.Swinging his arms, looking from side to side, a faint smile on thin,wide lips.Behind the glasses, his eyes were brown and curious.If he was planning tohide facts, it wasn't making him tense.'Glorious day, isn't it?' he said.'Beautiful.''Living up here, you give up space - I make do with four hundred square feet -and the marina's as congested as the city.But at night, when things quietdown and there's a clear view out to the ocean, the illusion of infinity morethan makes up for all that.'Page 92ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html'Satori?' I said.He chuckled.'Satori is an ideal, but you've got to keep trying.Do you sail?''Infrequently.''I'm comparatively new to it, myself.Did some work on boats when I was a kidbut nothing that taught me how to operate a serious craft.I got into it a fewyears ago.Trial by ordeal.A few knocks on the noggin and you learn to watchout for the boom.''Nolan did some work on boats, too.'He nodded.'Santa Barbara fishing boats.He did some abalone diving, too.Didn't care for any of it.''Oh?''He didn't have a taste for manual labor.'We climbed the stairs to the dining patio [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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