St. Mary's City, Maryland, Wednesday…

"Let's get started," suggested Jay, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, it will be just Agent O'Brien and me. I may tell you what we find later." He gave her a wink. "Or maybe not." He guided Asako by the arm towards the stairwell that led down to the coroner's office and morgue.

"So what did you learn from Asako?" Bouncer asked her after the sheriff and the FBI agent had left.

Jay flopped down in a chair. She smiled at Sandra Chapman. The black woman was pretty, although she had a few extra pounds. She was nearly as tall as Bouncer. She dressed much better than Bouncer, though, and had a degree of sophistication that he would never have. Nevertheless, they seemed well matched, for two giants, anyway.

"Asako knows very little. She didn't know about the Hank Johnson connection. We had just decided that my next course of action should be to approach him when Sandra called. Did you tell the sheriff about the car?"

"I didn't want him to shit another brick. By the way, did you mention Bob Martin to GeeBee?".

"Yes, I guess I did. You don't think -"

"Yes, I think they eliminated him. They're cleaning up. We may be next."

"Absurd. You're not really a conspiracy theorist, are you?"

"Not in the way most people think. But stuff is going on here that I don't like. I've lost four of my friends. In a very short time." He took Sandra's hand. "And I would like to keep the count limited to that. You included, by the way."