Free Santa Fe Rules by Stuart Woods Page B

think you can see, Bob, that Wolf really has no information relevant to your investigation, since he has no memory of the night of the killings. It’s my belief that he may have been drugged.”
    “Of course, it’s too late to learn that for sure,” Martinez said accusingly. “Too much time has passed.”
    “Too much time had already passed when Wolf learned of the killings, what—forty-eight or more hours later? And that doesn’t include the time it would have taken him to return to Santa Fe from the Grand Canyon. My sourcestell me that a drug test would have been negative at that time.”
    “Mmm,” Martinez muttered. “Maybe so. Well, it’s a remarkable story your client tells, Ed.”
    “I don’t believe there’s any evidence whatever to contradict his account,” Eagle said blandly.
    Fishing expedition , Wolf thought.
    “Not so far,” Martinez said, biting. “The shotgun had been wiped clean.”
    Eagle nodded as if he had known this all along. “Of course, Wolf will be very willing to assist in any way he can at any time, with a view toward developing further evidence.” He leaned back in his chair. “In the meantime, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to detain Wolf further, and he hopes it will be possible for you to release his house from evidence now.”
    “Already been done,” Martinez said. “The cleaning lady barged in and cleaned up everything anyway, but we had already finished with it, so no harm done.”
    Bless Maria , Wolf thought. Her entry would account for the broken seal on the door.
    “Do you have any plans to leave Santa Fe, Mr. Willett?” Martinez asked.
    “None,” Eagle replied before Wolf could speak. “Wolf will be available to you at all times until your investigation is complete.” He stood up and stuck out his hand to Martinez. “Will you let me know when that is, Bob?”
    “All right,” Martinez said. “I’ll want Mr. Willett to formally identify the bodies, of course. The Santa Fe Police Department will be in touch about that.”
    “Of course.” Eagle herded Wolf toward the door. “Of course, I’d like the courtesy of being present if you should have more questions,” he said over his shoulder.

    “Sure, Ed,” Martinez said. “I’ll be in touch.”
    Eagle took Wolf by the elbow and steered him out of the building.
    “That’s it?” Wolf asked, a little dazed.
    “Not on your life,” Eagle said “When Martinez has recovered from the shock of finding out you’re alive, he’ll be all over you, and so will the Santa Fe cops and the state police. But at least we’ve bluffed him into not arresting you.”
    “Thank God for that,” Wolf said. “I wasn’t looking forward to the prospect of jail.”
    “Of course, if they come up with anything even remotely incriminating, they’ll lock you up in a hurry, but we might be able to make bail even then.”
    Wolf produced his checkbook and wrote Eagle a check for a hundred thousand dollars, grateful that he had the money. “My bank still thinks I’m dead,” he said, handing over the check. “Give me a couple of days to get my account working again before you deposit that.”
    “Sure,” Eagle replied, pocketing the check.
    “What do I do now?” he asked.
    “Go home, live your life as normally as possible. Go grocery shopping, go out to dinner, be seen around. But wait until tomorrow; it won’t hit the New Mexican until then, and we don’t want acquaintances screaming at the sight of you. The TV stations will get it from the wire services, if not sooner, and they’ll be on your doorstep quick. Say you can’t talk about it until the investigation has been completed, and refer them to the district attorney’s office. Be regretful; don’t appear to be ducking them. Do you have an unlisted phone?”
    “One of my two lines is unlisted.”
    “Good. Don’t answer the other one for a while; that’llslow them down.” Eagle stuck out his hand. “Call me, night or day, if you need anything, and