Page 26 of At Midnight Comes the Cry
Knox frowned over her glass of water. “What else threatening could you do with acetylene torches? It doesn’t seem like it’d be very effective to run up to someone and blowtorch them.”
Clare touched a finger to the corners of her mouth, picking up a few crumbs. “You could weld plates on a vehicle to harden it. Make it more bulletproof. You could attach a cow catcher or a spreader bar on the front.”
“And drive it full speed through a crowd.” Russ’s coffee suddenly lost its sweetness. “Low tech, a huge number of casualties.”
“Did Flynn report any, you know, metal stuff lying around?” Knox sketched a rectangle in the air.
“No, but if they’re also building on site, he might not have thought to mention it.” Russ tapped the papers in front of him. “A pile for armoring and a pile for a heavy-duty storage shed would look pretty much the same.”
Zhào picked up her tea. “I’m just going to point out these master race types don’t usually put their own asses on the line, which you pretty much have to do if you’re driving into a crowd. Historically, they’re a lot more likely to stash a car bomb and be several counties away when it goes off.”
“That’s true.” Russ took a cookie. “They get caught because they’re bad at covering their tracks, not because they’re found sitting at the wheel.”
Clare sat back. “I don’t want to disparage anyone’s investigative work here, but are you sure this group is actually planning something nefarious? I mean, Russ and I had lunch yesterday with a couple who put on a white supremacy float during the Greenwich Tractor Parade. Their beliefs are abhorrent, but they’re much more like back-to-the-land cranks than part of a terrorist cell.”
The attorney stared at Clare. Knox, more used to his wife, looked to Russ for confirmation. “She’s right. They reminded me of granola crunchy types, except for believing ‘The Jews’”—he finger quoted—“control everything. I spent some time shooting with the husband. He struck me as a hanger-on. I don’t know why the hell these guys don’t just join the Elks or the VFW or the Masons.”
“What are the Elks?” Knox asked.
“A fraternal organization whose members are mostly retirement age. Which is why thirty-somethings aren’t joining.” Clare gestured toward Zhào’s folders. “May I?” The lawyer slid them toward her.
“Clare has a point.” Russ picked up the marker and wroteRIFLES & ACETYLENE TORCHESon the pad. “Investigations have a tendency toward the sunk cost fallacy. I’ve seen it happen before.”
“You mean, because Flynn’s spent so much time looking for evidence, he thinks there’s got to be something there?” Knox frowned. “I don’t know. He’s a good cop. Solid.”
“Wait. Wait a minute.” Clare looked up. “Yíxin, these persons of interest came up in the wider investigation?”
“Yeah. They’re known quantities—most of them have done time, and all of them were suspects in hate crimes.”
Clare spun an eight-by-eleven photo around for the rest of them to see. “I met this man yesterday. He was looking to borrow construction equipment from Rick Smith.”
2.
“What?” Russ took the photo. “I didn’t see him.”
“He stopped by while you and Rick were off shooting. He was a real piece of work. Didn’t like me, didn’t like Meghan, and he didn’t seem to much like his poor, self-effacing wife.”
Yíxin stood and leaned over the table for a better view. “Calvin March. He did two years in South Carolina for assault, unlawful restraint, and threatening.”
Clare sighed. “He didn’t sound Southern.”
“He’s not.” Yíxin reclaimed the folder and pulled out a couplepages. “He’s from Ohio. Went south for a job, although as far as we can tell, he’s never been able to keep one for long.”
“Sounds like my ex.” Hadley’s voice was wry.
“He was busted for a few low-level property crimes and drunk and disorderlies. Then he joined a branch of the National Alliance. For a lot of these guys, finding a neo-Nazi group is like, I don’t know, joining the army was back in the old days? You get fit, develop self-discipline, and you’re part of something bigger than yourselves.”
“What’s he doing up here? Is he starting up another cell of the National Alliance?” Russ didn’t look happy. As much as he protested he wasn’t a cop anymore, he still couldn’t help wanting to protect his corner of the world.
“No, they’ve been falling apart since their Big Bad died a few years ago.” Yíxin scooped up her papers. “He’s in the North Country because some of the younger alt-right guys are trying a new tactic; moving to areas that are already mostly white.”
Hadley looked bemused. “Why try creating your own white paradise when there’s already Vermont?”
“Or the Adirondacks,” Clare pointed out. “All the counties around here hover at ninety-five percent white.”
“Okay, okay, so Calvin March is in this area and showed up at the Smiths’ house.” Russ tapped the picture. “Do we have any evidence he’s connected with the group Kevin’s been embedded with?”
Yíxin stared at him. “How many neo-Nazi groups could there be running around in the woods?”
