Nick and Novack quickly negotiated the terms and details of his meeting with Tim. Present would be Tim, Novack, and Nick, and all promised in advance that they would not reveal that the meeting ever took place.

The place was to be Tim’s motel room, chosen for its out-of-the-way location and the near certainty that Novack and Nick would not be recognized arriving or departing.

The motel was structured so that patrons could park in front of their own rooms, therefore there was no necessity to enter any kind of lobby. Nick and Novack pulled up in Nick’s car, and after determining that there was no one around, they parked and quickly went into Tim’s dingy room.

Tim was standing ten feet from the door when they walked in, which meant he was almost clear across the tiny room. Nick closed the door behind them, and Novack and Tim just stared at each other for almost fifteen seconds. Both were so used to hating the other that it seemed to take them time to digest that they were there for a common purpose.

“Nice place you’ve got here,” said Novack.

Tim nodded. “Yeah. I appreciate your coming. I’ve had a lot of time to think about what’s happened, and I don’t think we have much time.”

“Before what?” Novack asked.

“First of all, I’m innocent; I haven’t done any of the things you thought I did.”

Novack started to react, but Tim cut him off. “Just hear me out. You can believe me or not; I don’t really care what you think anymore. But I suspect you know that what I’m saying is true, or you wouldn’t be here.”

“Keep going …”

“Nobody would go to all this trouble just to hurt me, just to ruin my life. That doesn’t make any sense. Plus I don’t have those kinds of enemies. I didn’t even know Richie Patrick until the day I shot him. I only wish I was a better shot.”

“So why you?” Novack asked.

“Because it’s about something much bigger; it has to be. Look, I was supposed to be the one killed on that boat that day. There was no way anyone could have known Maggie would be out there. I was supposed to be blown up, and they were out there on the Oceanfast watching, probably ready to finish the job if I somehow survived. The sun was behind us; they would have been looking into it, and it would have been hard to see. I doubt that they realized I was in the water, still alive.”

Nick spoke for the first time. “So why haven’t they killed you since?”

“Because they figured out another way, a better way for them. I was going to be killed to get me out of the way so they could do something criminal; I must have somehow been in their way without my knowing it.”

Novack had already figured out where he was going. “So instead of getting rid of you so they could do it, they decided to do it and blame you for it.”

Tim nodded. “Right. And in some way they dissected my life, manipulated me like I was a goddamn puppet, and set me up as public enemy number one.”

“Who knows you that well?”

“That’s why you’re here,” Tim said. “You’re going to tell me that answer.”

“Good luck,” Novack said, obviously skeptical.

“You told me that it was Maggie’s finger at the club that day.”

Novack nodded. “Right.”

“How did you know that?”

Novack looked at Nick as if he could not believe Nick hadn’t told his client such a basic fact. Then he turned back to Tim. “We ran a DNA test. It came back conclusive.”

“Matched against Maggie’s DNA?”

Novack nodded. “Of course.”

“Where did you get it?”

“Her DNA? We’ve had it since we opened the investigation into her death.”

“But where did you get it? Maggie’s body was lost at sea. And it’s not like she was a convicted felon, somebody whose DNA would be on file. Where could you have gotten it?”

Novack slowly nodded his head; the significance of what Tim was asking was clear. “Shit. I don’t know.”

He took out his cell phone and dialed a number, and when it was answered, he spoke. “Sam, I’ve got to ask you about the Wallace case. Right … I need you to get the file out now. I want to know who collected the DNA, and how we got it. I’ll wait.”

Novack put his hand over the mouth and said to Tim and Nick, “Sam’s our forensics guy. He probably handled it himself; if not, he can tell me who did.”

Novack held the phone to his ear for almost ten minutes. Everyone in the room was silent, waiting for the answer that they hoped could be the key to everything.

“I’m here,” Novack said, as Sam came back on the line. “What did you come up with?” Another pause, and then he said, “You’re sure? Okay, thanks.”

Novack hung up the phone. “Sam collected the DNA himself. He checked the file to make sure, but he remembered it anyway. He said it was because she was hot.”

“Who?”

“Your assistant, Meredith Tunney. You were in the hospital, and she took Sam to your house. He got the DNA off your wife’s toothbrush. She gave it to him.”

“Of course; God, why haven’t I seen it? She ran my life. She scheduled our racquetball games, she knew when I’d be on the boat … she knew absolutely everything there was to know.”

“How long has she worked for you?” Nick asked.

“Since a few months before Maggie died.” He sat down, trying to digest it all. His dominant feeling at the moment was incredible relief that Maggie had in fact not suffered or been tortured; she really had died instantly and painlessly on the boat.

“I just realized something,” Tim said. “I’m not sure, but I think Meredith may have been the one who told me about the stone quarry near Carson. That’s what brought me there in the first place.”

“Where they were waiting for you.”

“Right. Once Maggie died, and you told the world how guilty I was, they probably figured I’d have more value to them as someone to set up for what they were going to do in the future.”

“They were right.”

“Yes. But if it wasn’t Maggie’s DNA, and Maggie’s finger, whose was it?”

Novack shook his head. “We’ll probably never know. They could have killed a woman just for that purpose. Maybe someone who lived on the street and wouldn’t be missed. Killing doesn’t seem to be something they’re particularly hesitant to do.” He was immediately sorry he said that, since Eden was still missing. So he added, “Now that we know how they got to you, we need to figure out why.”

Tim nodded. “It has to be about the business, and about Collinsworth.”

Novack shook his head. “This is not some white-collar crime we’re talking about. We’re looking at a bunch of murders, an exploding car on the turnpike, a kidnapping … whoever has employed Richie Patrick is not manipulating stock prices. And that would be pretty dirty, even for a U.S. senator.”

“It’s the Federal Center,” Tim said. “Something must be planned for that, and I’d bet it’s tomorrow night.”

“But everything that’s happened has called attention to it. Security will be maxed out.”

“Meredith was in a position to give out our passes to get on the site during the construction. She could have gotten her people in there.”

“But even so, why plan something and do all this to alert their opposition?”

“Because they’re not worried about their opposition. They don’t think they can be stopped.”