“Buddy, look, I told you this is confidential and I can’t -”
“Okay, okay, I know. I was just checking to make sure you didn’t keel over or something.”
“Okay, thanks, but I’m fine.”
“I’ll be up for a little while if you need something.”
“I won’t, but thanks.”
“You know, you’re using a lot of juice. You’re going to have to run the generator tomorrow after I split.”
“No problem. I’ll do it. I’ll see you later, Buddy.”
Buddy pointed at the now empty television screen.
“That’s a weird one.”
“Good-bye, Buddy,” McCaleb said impatiently.
He got up and closed the door while Lockridge was still standing there. This time he locked it. He returned to the seat and the notebook. He started writing and in a few moments he had constructed a list.
SCENE
Ligature Nude Head Wound Tape/Gag – “Cave”?
Bucket?
He studied the list for a few moments, waiting for an idea, but nothing came through. It was too early. Instinctively, he knew the wording on the tape was a key that he wouldn’t be able to turn until he had the complete message. He fought the urge to open the murder book and get to it. Instead, he turned the television back on and began running the tape from the spot he had left off. The camera was in and tight on the dead man’s mouth and the tape stretched tightly across it.
“We’ll leave this for the coroner,” Winston said. “You got what you can of this, Barn?”
“I got it,” said the unseen videographer.
“Okay, let’s pull back and look at these bindings.”
The camera traced the baling wire from the neck to the feet. The wire looped around the neck and passed through a slip knot. It then went down the spine to where it had been wrapped several times around the ankles, which had been pulled so far back that the victim’s heels now rested on his buttocks.
The wrists were bound with a separate length of wire that had been wrapped six times around and then pulled into a knot. The bindings had caused deep furrow marks in the skin of the wrists and ankles, indicating that the victim had struggled for a period before finally succumbing.