Free Firebird by Jack McDevitt Page B

green shutters, a sloping roof and a chimney. Until then, it was the only chimney I'd seen on the island. The property was shaded by tolivar trees, and protected on three sides by a hedge that needed cutting.
    I strolled around the perimeter of the property, went out onto the top of the bluff, and spent several minutes looking down at the sea. It was a three-story drop into the water, where an incoming tide washed over a few rocks.
    I'd done my research. No weapon had been found. And there'd been no mention of the adultery theory.
    No evidence connecting Elizabeth, or anyone else, to his disappearance had ever been brought forward. She had not been charged though the media had reported she drew the attention of investigators. But the only reason seemed to be that she was his spouse, and the spouse, in a case like this, was automatically the prime suspect.
    The owner of the Windraven, Ilena Kataiya, told me that Elizabeth had been a longtime friend. Ilena was short, solid, still energetic despite being advanced in years. She was always rearranging things, wiping down the counter, entering data into the system, adjusting the curtains. She was routinely amiable, but her voice grew intense when I asked about the disappearance. “It broke her heart,” she said, “that anyone would think she could have done it. That she could have killed her husband.”
    “Were they close?” I asked.
    “They were like most married couples, I guess.” She winked. “They got along okay. I mean, he couldn't have been the easiest guy to be married to. He was all physics all the time. I don't recall that he ever talked about anything other than the stuff he was involved in. I remember when Kevin won a prize at the school. For swimming. Kevin was a great swimmer. Still is.”
    “Kevin's your son?”
    “Yes.” She nodded. “He took first place in the Oceanside Tournament. I wanted to show them the trophy, but Chris couldn't have been less interested. He was a guy who, if he was with you, was either talking about black holes or looking at the time. But you know how it is—a lot of guys are like that.”
    I hadn't known many who spent their time talking about black holes, but I let it go. “Ilena, could Elizabeth have been behind it?”
    “No,” she said. “Not in a million years.” She thought about it. Shook her head. “No way.”
    “She says she slept through the night and never heard Cermak's skimmer arrive. How could that have happened?”
    “I think the media got that part of the story wrong. She told me she heard them touch down. She was in bed. It woke her, and she just turned over and went back to sleep. Look, Chase, it wouldn't have been the first time it had happened. That she'd slept through it when Chris came home. In fact, she'd done it just a couple of weeks earlier.”
    “He'd been out two weeks prior to the final flight?”
    “Yes. Two weeks, three weeks, something like that. I remember her telling me about it when she complained that he was going out again. She wasn't all that happy about the flights.” She bit her lip. “I'm probably talking too much.”
    “She didn't like his being gone so much?”
    “It wasn't only that. She was afraid something would happen to him.”
    “Why would she think that?”
    “Well, they lost Bill Winter.”
    “Bill Winter? Who was he?”
    “An academic type. I think he was a historian. He went out with them one time, and they apparently set down somewhere, and he was attacked by a predator.”
    I hadn't heard about that, but she had no details to add. “Do you know how long he was gone?” I asked. “On that last flight?”
    “Three or four days, I think.”
    “That's all?”
    “Well, something like that.”
    We were in the lobby of the Windraven, and a family with three little kids were coming in. “Hang on a second.” She got up and assumed her place behind the counter. When they'd been taken care of, she came back. “Everybody liked Elizabeth,” she said. “We all