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“It did.”
“How did Devin come to be in Fitzhugh’s home?”
“He was lured.”
“Did Devin tell you how he was lured?”
“It doesn’t matter how. He was molested. It was duly reported to the police. The man responsible was not punished.”
“The charges were dropped? Why?”
“Because the law protected the predator and not the prey. Your time is up.”
“How and when did Devin die?”
Ignoring the question, Dukes started out of the living room toward the front door.
“I can get that information through public records.”
“My son killed himself.” Dukes stood with his hands fisted at his sides. “Eight months ago. He pumped his body full of garbage until he died. The system failed to protect him. It failed to assist me in protecting him.”
“You have another son. How far would you go to protect him?”
“Joseph will not be corrupted by the cancer that eats away at our society.”
“Cancer’s a kind of virus, isn’t it? You can kill a virus with a virus. Infect the host until the bad cells are destroyed. You’re a computer scientist, Mr. Dukes. You know about viruses.”
She saw it then—the acknowledgment, even a kind of pride that leaped onto his face, then off again. “I said your time is up.”
“So’s yours, Mr. Dukes,” Eve said quietly. “You’re going to want to start making arrangements for your wife and son for when you go down with the rest of Purity.”
“Get out of my house. I intend to call my lawyer.”
“Good idea. You’re going to need one.”
When they were back in the car, Peabody frowned back at the house. “Why did you tip him?”
“If he wasn’t smart enough to figure out I’m looking at him, and he is, whoever he’s going to report this visit to would be. I was tipping the wife.”
“You don’t think she’s part of it?”
“He never touched her, barely looked at her. She’s standing there with tears running down her face and he doesn’t so much as acknowledge her presence. No, this is his deal. What did you see in that house, Peabody?”
“Well, he rules.”
“More than that. It’s a fucking barracks, and he’s the commander. She answers the door before nine in the morning, dolled up like a woman in a screen ad for AutoChefs. Kid’s about fourteen, but he bolts back upstairs at the snap of Dukes’s finger. I bet all the beds were already made and you could bounce a five-credit coin off every one of them.”
Considering, she headed downtown. “How’s a former marine who demands everything around him be squared away going to handle having a son who’s corrupting his mind and body with illegals? That was his term, right? Just like unnatural acts was his term. A chemi-head, homosexual son. Boy, that had to burn his white-bread, homophobic ass.”
“Poor kid.”
“Yeah, and now his father can use him as a symbol, as an excuse to kill. There are all kinds of cancers,” she mumbled. “Dallas,” she said when her dash ’link beeped.
“In your vehicle?” Nadine asked. “You may want to pull over somewhere. You’re going to want to hear this.”
“I can hear and drive at the same time. I’m talented that way.”
“I’ve got another statement from The Purity Seekers. Going to air in fifteen.”
