“We appreciate that,” I said. “Thanks for the coffee.”

“You need directions to The Point?”

“That would be good.”

He gave us directions and asked, “How long will you be there?”

“Until we’re fired.”

“That won’t be long at a thousand bucks a night.” He offered, “If there’s any local stuff I can help you with, let me know.”

“As a matter of fact… do you have any problems with bears around here?”

Kate rolled her eyes.

Major Schaeffer informed me, “The Adirondack region is home to the largest black bear population in the East. You are very likely to encounter a bear in the woods.”

“Yeah? Then what?”

“Black bears aren’t overly aggressive. They’re curious, though, and intelligent, and they may approach.” He added, “The problem is that the bears equate people with food.”

“I’m sure they do, when they’re eating you.”

“I mean that people-campers and hikers-carry food with them, and the bears know that. But they’d rather eat your lunch than eat you. And don’t go near their cubs. The females are very protective of their cubs.”

“How do I know if I’m near their cubs?”

“You’ll know. Also, bears become very active after five P.M.”

“How do they know what time it is?”

“I don’t know. Just take extra precautions after five P.M. That’s when they’re foraging.”

“Right. The question is, Will my 9mm Glock stop a bear?”

“Don’t shoot the bears, Detective.” Major Schaeffer noted, “You have intruded into their territory. Be nice to the bears. Enjoy the bears.”

Kate said, “Excellent advice.”

I didn’t think so.

Schaeffer concluded his bear talk with, “I haven’t had to deal with a fatal bear attack in years-just a few maulings.”

“That’s reassuring.”

Schaeffer told us, “There is a pamphlet about bears on that table over there. You should read it.”

If the fucking bears were so intelligent and curious, they should read it, too.

Kate found the pamphlet, then handed Major Schaeffer her card. “That’s my cell number.”

We all shook hands, and Kate and I left the building and walked through the lit parking lot.

Kate said to me, “I don’t want to hear anything more about bears. Ever.”

“Just read me the pamphlet.”

“You read the pamphlet.” She shoved it in my coat pocket. “Did Schaeffer say anything interesting?”

“Yeah… the Custer Hill Club is a secret naval submarine facility.”

“Submarine? Is that what Schaeffer said?”

“No. That’s what Fred said.”

“Who’s Fred?”

“I don’t know. But Fred knows more than we do.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

We got to the car, and I slid behind the wheel, started the engine, and pulled out to the road.

As I drove through Ray Brook, Kate asked, “Tell me what Major Schaeffer said.”

“I will. But now I’m thinking.”

“About what?”

“About something that Schaeffer said.”

“What?”

“That’s what I’m trying to remember… it was something that made me think of something else-”

“What?”

“I can’t remember. Here’s an intersection.”

“Bear-turn left. Do you want me to drive while you think?”

“No, stop bugging me. I shouldn’t have said anything. You always do this.”

“No, I don’t. If you tell me everything that you and Schaeffer discussed, it will come to you.”

“All right.” I turned onto Route 86, which was dark and empty, and as I drove, I related my conversation with Schaeffer. Kate is a good listener, and I’m a good reporter of the facts when I want to be. But facts and logic are not the same thing, and I couldn’t recall the word associations that had illuminated something in my brain.

When I finished, Kate asked me, “Did it come to you?”

“No. Change the subject.”

“Okay. Maybe that will help. Do you think the Custer Hill Club is or ever was a government facility?”

“No. This is Bain Madox’s show from beginning to end. Think Dr. No.”

“Okay, Mr. Bond, so you think this is more than a hunting lodge, and even more than a place where possible conspirators meet?”

“Yeah… there seems to be a whole… like, technological level there that is not consistent with the stated purpose of the place. Unless maybe, as Madox said to us, his wife meant it to be a refuge in case of an atomic war.”

“I think that was just part of his smoke screen-a logical explanation for what he knew we would eventually hear about the construction of that place twenty years ago.” She added, “He’s very sharp.”

“And you seem especially sharp and bright this evening.”

“Thank you, John. And you seem unusually dull and dim.”

“This mountain air is clouding my brain.”

“Apparently. You should have pressed Major Schaeffer more on some of these points.”

I responded with a little edge in my voice, “I was doing the best I could to get his voluntary cooperation. But it’s not easy questioning another cop.”

“Well, when you sent me out of the room, I just assumed you guys would bond and spill your guts to each other.”

The words “fuck you” popped into my mind, but that’s how fights start. I said, “You and I will press him a little more tomorrow, darling.”

“Maybe you should have told him what we found written in Harry’s pocket.”

“Why?”

“Well, first, it’s the right thing to do, and second, he may know what elf means.”

“I doubt it.”

“When are we going to share this information?”

“We don’t need to. Your FBI colleagues are so fucking brilliant, they’ll find it themselves. If they don’t, the state police will. If they don’t, well then, we’ll just ask Bain Madox what mad, nuk, and elf mean.”

“Maybe we should. He knows.”

“Indeed, he does… Wait! I got it!”

She turned in her seat. “What? You know what it means?”

“Yes. Yes, I do. The other words-mad and nuk-were obviously abbreviations for Madox and nuclear. But elf is an acronym.”

“For what?”

“For what Harry thought about Bain Madox-Evil Little Fuck.”

She settled back in her seat and said, “Asshole.”

We drove on in silence, each of us deep in our own thoughts.

Finally, Kate said, “There is that group called Earth Liberation Front. ELF.”

“Yeah?”

“Our domestic section deals with them.”

“Yeah?”

“ELF has been responsible for what we call eco-terrorism. They’ve burned construction projects to save the land, they’ve put steel spikes in trees to destroy chain saws, and they’ve even planted bombs on the hulls of oil tankers.”

“Right. So, you think Madox is going to plant a nuclear device at the next ELF meeting?”

“I don’t know… but there may be some connection there… ELF… oil… Madox…”

“You forgot nuke.”

“I know… I’m just trying to make a connection, John. Help me with this.”

“I don’t think Mr. Bain Madox, who claims he helped defeat the Soviet Empire, is now reduced to battling a handful of tree huggers and women with hairy legs.”

She didn’t reply for a few seconds, then said, “Well, that’s better than Evil Little Fuck.”

“Not much.”

Scattered clouds scudded past a bright orange half-moon, and leaves swirled in the headlight beams.

We were still within the boundaries of the state park preserve, but this area seemed to be a mixture of public and private land, and there were houses scattered along the highway. I noticed a lot of seasonal displays on the front lawns-cornstalks, pumpkins, and so forth. There were also some Halloween displays-witches, skeletons, vampires, and other assorted creepy stuff. Autumn was starkly beautiful and deliciously grim.

I asked Kate, “Do you like autumn?”

“No. Autumn is darkness and death. I like spring.”

“I like autumn. Do I need help?”

“Yes, but you know that.”

“Right. Hey, I learned a poem in high school. Want to hear it?”

“Sure.”

“Okay…” I cleared my throat and recited from memory, “‘Now it is autumn and the falling fruit/and the long journey towards oblivion… Have you built your ship of death, O have you?’”