“Really.”
There was a long pause.Kowalski flashed her a grin; it was sheepish and a little bit flirty as well.
“One thing I learned in here, ma’am, in fact I learned it a long time before I ended up as a guest of the government, and that’s don’t trust anybody.Bureau included.Sorry.You can do it over the phone or go online, but it’s no monay, no parlay.”
Kate did his bidding, while he cracked each of his knuckles.When she showed him the screen of her phone, confirming the payment, Kowalski inclined his head graciously.And then he began.
“Cox wanted to know how we got into places we weren't supposed to, how we stayed invisible.We used to sneak into old hospitals, factories, churches — make videos, get views.He was obsessed with that.Wanted to know how we did it without getting caught.Also the technical kinda ins and outs.”
“Like what?”
“Like how to stay there long-term.How you borrow the utilities from your neighbors.Electricity, running water, internet signal.”
“Borrow?”
He flashed her another smile; she could picture Kowalski in the classroom, the naughty kid who always got away with it.Until he didn’t anymore.
“Why did he want to know all this stuff?”
“Said he was working on something.A kind of… pilgrimage circuit, he called it.He wanted to visit abandoned places of worship, hospitals, asylums.Said they were ‘thin places’ — spots where the boundary between life and death was fragile.”
Kate felt a chill creep up her spine.“Did he have a list?”
“I helped him draw one up.Mostly old churches and hospitals in New York and Jersey.He said he’d pay me for the research, but then he disappeared, and I guess that check’s lost in the mail.”
“Do you still have that list?”
He shook his head.“No, he took it.I don’t know what they did with all the stuff in his cell, though.You could ask.”
“I will.Do you remember any of the names?”
Kowalski frowned and, not for the first time, Kate was struck by how pretty he was.She imagined that plenty of his fellow prisoners felt the same way, and could only hope that he was able to charm his way out of trouble.
“Some,” he said, after a long, thoughtful silence.“Place called St.Dymphna’s in Yonkers, an old mental hospital.A church in Newark — St.Cecilia’s, I think.And some fisherman’s chapel out on Long Island.Why?You think he’s hiding in one of them?”
Kate didn’t answer.
Kowalski gave a weary shrug.“If you catch him, tell the Bureau I cooperated.Maybe they’ll shave something off my time.”
“I’ll note it,” she said, though she knew she couldn’t.She wasn’t even supposed to be here.
He smiled, half-hopeful.“You’re alright, Agent Valentine.Not like most of them.”
She gathered her things, feeling like a heel.
Outside, the corridor felt colder.Day was waiting by the door, hands clasped behind his back.
“Well?”
“They talked,” Kate said.“Mostly nonsense.But one of them might have given me a lead.”
“Then it was worth it.”
She nodded.“Maybe.What happened to his belongings?”
“Cox’s?The guy travelled extra-light.Bible.Crucifix.Coupla very graphic marriage proposals.That was it.Why?”
Kate made a gesture: halfway between shaking her head and shrugging.Her hopes hadn’t been running high.If that list had been important to Cox, he’d have memorized it, or kept it with him.She still had a lead, of sorts.
