goal but then brightened. âOr he wants to sell the head for money.â A selfish reason was okay to deride.
âTo who?â
She lifted a shoulder. âTalmockâs headâs gotta be worth something to a university or a collector. These kind of people pay big money for a baseball card with Ted Williams picking his nose on it so there must be a market for something like this artifact.â
Magrady wondered if his head would ever become an artifact ⦠when he croaked homeless crack zombies would use a rusty hacksaw to remove it from his body and place it in a clear plastic box with a light inside of his hollowed out skull. Theyâd use his noggin as a nightlight to find discarded crack pipes containing minute residues of the enslaving rock. âHis sisterâs office is over at USC, that policy project of SubbaKhanâs.â He stopped himself before admitting to her it was from that office heâd swiped the cassette tape. He didnât think she would object but if she didnât ask, he didnât have to tell.
Bonilla said, âShe takes this gig to snatch the head back?â
âHell if I know.â
âOkay, so whereâs the head now?â She then added before he could respond, âSavoirfaire gets killed âcause he had it?â
âWhat the hell would he have been doing with it, Janis? He wouldnât know it was valuable.â
âWhat if he was holding it for ransom?â
Magrady considered this. âBut Floyd came to me to get that clown to back off.â
âBecause Floyd had borrowed money from him. At least thatâs what he made it seem to us.â
âYeah â¦â
âBut what if it wasnât?â Bonilla countered. âHe put you against Savoirfaire to put him on you. Maybe he was going to slip it to him where to find you after you locked horns as he came after you, Floyd would burglarize his house to get the head back.â
âIâm pretty sure being a paraplegic cuts down on your breaking and entering opportunities, Janis.â
âHe had help, butthead.â She playfully socked him. âHis sis.â
âCome on, sheâs got this square job.â
âBut she could be working on the inside.â She snapped her fingers, getting animated. âWhat if SubbaKhan has the head?â She stood up, pacing about. âNakano has a private art gallery up in Malibu. Invitation only. We should go up there and see if the head is on display.â
Magrady chuckled. âThey ainât hardly going to let you in there, Mother Jones.â
âHow about your sorry self? Shit.â
âHereâs what I think,â not deigning to acknowledge her dig, âFloyd needed me to get Savoirfaire off his ass âcause he was going after the head and knew if homeboy was on him he might mess that up or take it from him once he stole it back.â
She held up an index finger. âYouâre saying Floyd is after someone else who has the head?â
âYeah, the guy who found it. Assuming it was a construction worker or laborer on the Emerald Shoals site. When did it break ground?â
âTwo and a half years ago,â she answered. âBut you donât know who that is. And if he had it once, then say he turned it in to SubbaKhan, howâd he get it back?â
âWhat if he didnât turn it in? Could be he kept it and showed it to Floyd.â Then it occurred to him. âHe could be the sisterâs boyfriend. Only heâd said âtheyâ didnât know what they had.â
âIt could still mean he was referring to the sister and the boyfriend or maybe the boyfriend and a buddy.â
A charge surged through Magrady. He felt as if the door was finally creaking open, if only a sliver. âI need to find the sister. Let me use the phone, will you?â
Bonilla checked her watch. âGo ahead, McGarrett. I need to get going anyway.â