Free The Unbidden Truth by Kate Wilhelm

right?” he asked Carrie.
    â€œI don’t know,” she said. “I didn’t know there was a name for that kind of practice.”
    â€œPractice before theory,” Darren said approvingly. “That’s the best way to learn anything. It’s how we learn language. I’d bet that you started by three or four, and practiced several hours a day. Also, I’d bet that your rostromedial prefrontal cortex is ten to fifteen percent bigger than the average person’s. That’s the part that recognizes harmonic relationships and can pick out a sour note in a flash.”
    Carrie was watching him intently. “I don’t have any memory of learning and practicing. It just seemed like what I should do now. I hear my mistakes, all right.”
    Barbara was watching him also, and he caught her gaze and spread his hands. “No, I’m not an expert in music. Can’t play a note. But neural bridges and synapses fall into my domain, after all.”
    He had made the connection, she realized; he knew she had been talking about Carrie when they took the bicycleride. She suspected that he had done some research in the meantime.
    â€œNo matter what the subject is,” she said, “you seem to have some basic information at hand.”
    â€œJack-of-all-trades. I know a smidgen about a lot of things, nothing except my own field in depth. I suspect it’s very much like that with the law.”
    Frank nodded. “Very much so. You learn what you need to know in each individual case, and too often forget it again when the case is concluded. Ongoing process.”
    Later, when Barbara drove Frank home, he said, “Mad at me?”
    â€œConflicted, Dad. Isn’t that a good word? Conflicted. Good night.”

7
    â€œW hat do you have?” she asked Bailey on Monday morning.
    â€œA lot, but you won’t like it,” he said. “Just starting, you understand, but still, it doesn’t look great for your client.”
    He slouched into a chair as she left her desk to sit on the sofa. Shelley was in the other chair with her notebook out.
    â€œOkeydokey,” Bailey said. “First, all those Wenzel alibis check out so far. Can’t find a crack. The cops looked there first and did a good job.”
    Barbara was scowling at him. He shrugged. “Just reporting. The bartender, Mickey Truelove, took Carrie’s glass and tips to the office just as she was coming from the dressing room about ten after twelve. When she left, he took the glass to the kitchen. Mickey said the younger Wenzel boy, Gregory, has a key to one of the rooms, one he keeps, and now and then he takes a girl there, but not that night. Confirmed by themaid. Gregory still lives at home, and he’s still playing the field. Older son Luther is married, stable, starting a family, churchgoer, the whole virtuous works. He’s never been known to have used that room.”
    He consulted his notes, then continued. “The couple who saw her walking toward the rear of the parking lot, nothing there. He’s a computer geek out at Symantec. She’s a medical technician at Sacred Heart Hospital. They saw her walking, Wenzel following, got in their car and left. The other couple, married five years, with a two-year-old son. He’s a sound engineer at a radio station, she’s a stay-at-home mom. They saw her at Wenzel’s door, talking to him, then saw her go in and close the door.”
    He glanced at Barbara and said, “If your face freezes like that, you’ll be sorry.”
    â€œI don’t worry about eyewitnesses,” she muttered.
    â€œShe’s pretty distinctive. Black skirt, white blouse, that long black hair. They seem pretty positive.”
    â€œWhat about the company? Another blank?”
    â€œJust about. Larry and Joe Wenzel started from scratch down in California, saved, worked hard and made good. Joe took a leave of absence to go to business school in