True Blue (36 page)

“I’m trying, Jarvis, I’m trying. What’s up? Your call was… “

“Uninformative?” Burns said. “I don’t like communicating over the phone.”

“NSA isn’t supposed to spy on Americans’ phone calls, and certainly not on American intelligence agents.”

“But still, one can never be too safe.” He sat back, lifted his bad leg up, and crossed it over the other. “I won’t waste your time, but I believe I owed you a heads-up.” He paused and then added quietly, “Agents Reiger and Hope are dead.”

Beth sat forward, her stare piercing. “What the hell happened?”

“Ambush, apparently. They were beaten—looks like torture, actually—and then their throats were slashed.”

“Where did it happen?”

“We’re not sure. The preliminary indicates they were not killed where they were found. Lack of blood and such.” He tapped her desk with his index finger. “They were found in a Dumpster in South Alexandria.”

“A Dumpster? Same as Jamie Meldon.”

“Precisely, but not the same method of murder. Knife versus bullet.”

“You said torture?”

“Bones broken, sternum cracked. Yes, torture.”

“It could be Naylor’s cronies. His butt is sitting in jail waiting for trial on domestic terrorism charges.”

“I’m fully aware of Roman Naylor’s atrocities.”

“The point is, I told Reiger and Hope that we should have been in on this. We could have worked with them and maybe nailed those assholes.”

“It wasn’t my call, Beth. Hell, it’s not even my case. I was sent here because we’d previously arranged for Reiger and Hope to fill you in, at least in a limited way. In fact, Director Donnelly insisted on my coming to tell you. I guess he felt obligated in a way. I didn’t really know the two men, but they were still agents of this government. And we’re going to do everything in our power to get the bastards who did this.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“We’re working with the FBI, but I’m going to see if there’s a role you can play.”

“I’ll be ready and willing to do whatever I can, Jarvis.”

“I know, and believe me, I won’t forget it.”

He rose to leave. “Beth, a personal question?”

“Yes?”

“Is it true that your sister was arrested?”

She eyed him impassively. “How did you hear about that?”

“Beth, please. If we can’t keep track of what’s going on in our own backyard what chance do we have with the Iranians and North Koreans?”

“It was a misunderstanding. She was never charged. She said that some people in a car were, uh, shooting at her.”

“Shooting at her. Where was she?”

“In D.C. Trinidad.”

“Trinidad? When?”

“Middle of the night.”

“Okay,” Burns said slowly, shaking his head in amazement. “People shoot at each other with some frequency there, particularly at that time of night.”

“She should’ve known better.”

“But what in the world was she down there for?”

“She went back to the place where she was kidnapped. She said she just wanted to see it.”

“Why would she want to do that?”

Beth sighed. “I think she has it in her head that if she finds who set her up, she can have her record expunged and can rejoin the force. That’s all she wants, Jarvis. To be a cop again.”

“Well, I wish her every success with that of course, but it is, well, it is—”

“A long shot? Yeah, she knows.”

“And the Tolliver case?”

“What about it?”

“There was a false fire alarm there the other night. At the law firm.”

Beth looked puzzled. “I didn’t think you worried about things like that.”

“Normally, I wouldn’t. But we have data triggers, Beth. For example, a surge in hospital admissions with folks complaining of symptoms that resemble anthrax exposure coupled with suspicious air quality feed from our sensors in the Metro. So a murder in a Georgetown law firm followed by a false alarm at the same building soon thereafter that wasted a great deal of emergency resources gives me some concern. Flight lessons in Florida where beginner pilots didn’t want to learn how to take off and land? In hindsight perfectly clear, but before 9/11 it seemed trivial, insignificant. Thus I can’t afford to take anything, no matter how small, for granted. So the law firm activity could have been a diversion of some kind.”

“A diversion for what purpose?”

“We may not know until it’s too late. I get paid to worry about the entire jigsaw puzzle, Beth. That’s why my gut is full of holes and I’m losing my hair at a rapid pace. Any clue on who pulled the alarm?”

Beth’s face was unreadable. “Not yet. We’re working on it.”

“Well, let me know if you have anything.”

“Will do.”

“Oh, and tell your sister to just chill, Beth. You lost her for a couple of years already. You don’t want to lose her permanently.”

As Burns left the building he felt good about himself. He had just given Mace Perry an out. If Mace stood down on this, she got to live. It was her choice. And if she didn’t stand down, it became
his
choice.

“What in the hell are you doing?” he yelled.

Mona and the cops looked up while the Captain stuffed a whole Twinkie in his mouth.

“Hey, Roy,” he said between gooey bites.

“You just blew your whole case!” Roy said to Mona, who just sat there smiling.

“And you are?” she said smoothly.

“His lawyer, lady! That’s who I am.”

Mona’s smile faded. “The name is Mona Danforth, not ‘lady.’ I’m the United States attorney for the District of Columbia. So show some respect.”

Mace stepped in behind Roy. “
Interim
attorney, Mona,” she pointed out. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Mona exclaimed.

“She’s here with me, meaning she’s allowed. But you are not. And like I said, you just blew up your whole damn case.”

“Really? And how exactly did I do that, Mr….?”

“Kingman. My client has been charged. He has counsel of record. His Sixth Amendment rights have attached. You are not allowed to have any contact with him unless I am present.”

“Well, you must be a little rusty, Mr. Kingman.”

“Excuse me?”

“That
was
the law. But it’s not anymore. The Supreme Court overturned that requirement. Now if the defendant asks to meet with the police he can do so without his attorney present and no prejudice attaches unless you can prove coercion. I can get you a copy of the opinion if you’d like so you can come up to speed on
basic
criminal law.”

“And you’re trying to tell me that he just
asked
to talk with you?”

“Why don’t you
ask
him yourself?” Mona turned to the Captain and patted his hand gently. “Go on, Lou, you can talk to them.”

“Lou? He’s my client!” shouted Roy. “Not yours!”

Mace noticed that the poor Captain’s gaze was locked on the lovely prosecutor’s body. Mona’s skirt was short and her blouse open just enough to show some cleavage.

“Now don’t be mean to hon, Roy,” said the Captain. He gave Mona’s hand a squeeze before she quickly removed it from his reach.

“She’s not
hon
,” explained Roy. “She’s the lady who’s trying to put you in prison for the rest of your life, Lou.”

“She brought me Twinkies.”

“He asked for them,” Mona said quickly. “And then told my people that he wanted to talk to us.”

“Did you, Captain?” Mace asked him.

“I think so, yeah. Twinkie’s damn good. These ain’t stale, Roy, not like them others.”

Mona stood, as did the two detectives. She said, “Well, I think that wraps it up for now. I’ll give you some alone time with him.”

“I’m entitled to it by the law, so don’t pretend you’re doing me any favors.” He eyed her full legal pad. “And I’m still filing a motion to suppress anything he might’ve told you. And I’m going to demand a full investigation on this whole damn thing ’cause it stinks, Supreme Court decision or not.”

“I am curious about one thing,” Mona said imperturbably.

“What’s that?”

“Since I’m listing you as a material witness in this case—you did find the body after all and may still be considered a person of interest—how is it that you’re going to represent Mr. Dockery in this matter with such a blatant conflict?”

Roy looked like someone had just gutted him with a hatchet.

Mona’s smile deepened. “I can see from your
poker face
that you really hadn’t thought about that. I tell you what,
Roy
, I’ll waive any objection I might have to this little point of legal ethics, and if the judge agrees, you can be Mr. Dockery’s lawyer.”

“And why would you do that?” said Roy cautiously.

“Oh, you mean the quid pro quo? Well, let’s put it this way, I hate defense counsel’s motions to suppress. And I also hate demands for investigations. I think what we need here is a blank slate.” She stared up at him expectantly, her look about as condescending and triumphant as one face could achieve.

“So in other words I forget the stunt you just pulled and you’ll let me represent my client?”

“I didn’t pull any stunt. I’m perfectly within my rights.”

“I can seek a waiver from the court.”

“Not over my objections you can’t.”

“So let me try to understand this. If you’re maintaining you did nothing wrong here, why offer me a deal that lets me rep my client?”

“Because I want you to stay on as Lou’s attorney.”

“Why?”

Mona leaned forward and spoke in a low voice so that only Roy and Mace could hear her. “Because if you get disqualified, then they might appoint a
real
attorney, and that just makes my job harder. There’re a ton of highly qualified public defenders just salivating to take this case, and they all know what they’re doing. Why play against the varsity when the j.v. is available?” She picked up her briefcase and stuffed her legal pad in it. “See you in court tomorrow.” She turned to the Captain. “Oh, Lou, before I forget.” She pulled another Twinkie out of her jacket pocket and tossed it to him, like throwing a bone to a dog. The next moment she and the detectives were gone, leaving the Captain to eagerly devour the fresh offering of creamy cake.

Mace punched him in the arm. “Let’s get one rule down, Mona is never right.”

“The Captain deserves the best representation, Mace. I didn’t even focus on the material witness issue. And it was big enough to drive a truck through. I would’ve gone in tomorrow and gotten my head handed to me. By Mona
and
the judge.”

“The Captain wants
you
.”

“Come on, he doesn’t know what he wants. Other than Twinkies.”

“You can do this, Roy. You might be a little rusty on some of the case law, and you didn’t focus on the material witness angle because you knew you were innocent and you wanted to help the Captain.”

“You can’t rep a defendant charged with murder in the first with any rust, Mace. There’s no room for error. Especially against Mona. I know you hate the woman and I do too, but she’s sharp.”

“And she’s totally unethical. She basically bribed the Captain with junk food and cleavage.”

“But that makes her even more dangerous.”

“The point is, Roy, you made the decision to rep him. Your firm canned your ass over it. So do you want to go crawling to them begging for your big-dollar job back? And let a homeless vet be assigned some Perry Mason wannabe who could give a shit if the guy spends the rest of his life in the can? Is that what you want?”

“Of course not,” Roy said hotly.

“Then what’s the problem? Mona just laid down the challenge. She’s gonna kick your ass. Okay, fine. But I don’t see a guy who’s so competitive that he has as his computer password the last score of his college basketball career just turning the other cheek on this. But this time it’s not just a game. And the Captain needs you. He needs
you,
Roy.”

Roy looked at Mace, then at the Captain, then back at Mace. “Okay, but I’ll need help to dig up some useful stuff.”

“Consider it done.”

“You? But you’re going to Newark tomorrow to run down this Meldon lead.”

“This Meldon lead may point us to whoever killed Diane.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“I don’t know what to believe right now. But I can’t afford to cut corners on this.”

“Fair enough.”

“So you’re good to go on this?”

“I am.”

“Then I guess I can tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“Beth had Lowell Cassell call me on my way over here.”

“And?”

“And there was no yolk buffer in the sperm found in Diane. It didn’t come from Potomac Cryobank.”

He glanced over at the Captain, who was picking something out of his teeth.

“Okay, gut check time. Do you think he did it?”

Mace looked over at the old soldier too. “I talked to Beth about that. She said she agreed there was some strange stuff going on with Diane and your law firm. But she also said her murder could be entirely unrelated to all of it. That it could have just been a crime of opportunity.”

“So you think he did it?”

“No, Roy, I don’t.”

“Then how the hell does all this make sense?”

“It makes perfect sense. We just have to figure out how.”