Cooper was on his way to see an old friend who worked off the Whitehurst Freeway, near Georgetown Waterfront Park, DC.
It was past six by the time he arrived and although most people looked like they’d gone home, he could see Eddie’s yellow-and-black 1970 Buick.
About to park up, Cooper shouted out of the driver’s window. ‘Hey Eddie!’
A South-Asian man dressed in a raccoon outfit turned round. He grinned, waving back.
‘Hey Coop! Good to see you. This is a surprise, I was just heading off.’
‘Wasn’t sure if it was you there, you Raccoons all look the same.’
‘If you want, you can join me. I’ve got an identical costume upstairs in my office. Jennifer was supposed to be coming along to the party with me, but she’s got a bad bout of morning sickness.’
Cooper said, ‘Never understood the desire to dress up.’
‘You’re no fun, Coop, you need to get out more.’
‘Not in that I don’t. How’s the children’s party business going, anyway?’
‘It’s good, we’re getting a lot of bookings.’
‘So when are you going to give up the day job?’
‘Well each time I think I will, Jenny gets pregnant again.’
‘Just like that,’ said Cooper.
Eddie laughed. ‘Yeah, just like that… Hold on a minute, let me put this bag in the car.’
And as he watched Eddie jog across to the Buick, dressed in his Raccoon outfit complete with a three-foot-long stripy tail trailing behind him, Cooper laughed, which turned into a belly roar. Loud and raucous. Something it felt like he hadn’t done in a while. And it was a feeling that Cooper wished he could’ve bottled.
Cooper had a lot of time for Eddie. Like Levi, he was one of the good guys. He ran the Forensic Laboratory of Entomology and Archaeology, which not only did the run-of-the-mill police forensic procedures, but also specialized in performing species identification, both at the morphological and molecular level, as well as insect work associated with archaeological human remains and post-mortems.
‘So what can I do for you, buddy? Which reminds me, your god-daughters keep asking when they’re going to see their Uncle Coop again. Apparently, nobody gives a piggy back like you. I can’t live up to it, you’ve set the standards too high. The girls are always disappointed when I walk up the hill, rather than charging at full speed. I’ve sunk to a new low in their eyes. You’ve got a lot to answer for. Listen, why don’t you spin by at the weekend? It’ll be crazy busy as always, but it’d be great to catch up, and Jennifer would love to see you.’
Cooper had to push away the sense he was being forced into something. It was stupid, and it wasn’t as if he wouldn’t have loved to have gone. He would. But he had an overwhelming urge to run from anything which smelt like commitment. Or anything which would have people asking him if he was okay. ‘Yeah, sure… soon. But I just have to sort some stuff out, that’s why I’m here.’
‘I’d like you to tell me what these are.’
Cooper gave Eddie the cigar tin Rosedale had given him to scoop up the dead insects near the crash site.
Eddie opened the tin, smiling. ‘What happened to your collecting bags?’
Cooper shrugged, slightly embarrassed by the idea of how synonymous he was with them.
‘Thought it’d make a nice change.’
‘Well, that’s a good old collection you got there, Coop, where did they come from?’
‘Eastern part of the DRC.’
‘Any story I need to know behind it?’
‘I’m just trying to put the pieces together. Only thing which really leaps to mind is that I saw these insects, or what looked like them, in various places. But each time they were dead. Hundreds of them just lying there, clustered together. I just thought it odd.’
Eddie nodded, causing the large nose of his Raccoon outfit to bob about. ‘Okay, no problem. You need to know quickly?’
‘Yeah, if you don’t mind.’
‘Sure, I’ll work on it first thing tomorrow. Shall I call Onyx when I’ve got the results?’
‘No, I’m not Granger’s favorite person right now. Best if you just call me directly.’
Eddie raised his eyebrows, knowing the history between Cooper and Granger.
‘Oh. Like that at the moment is it?’
‘When isn’t it?’