The Racketeer Page 0,38

and Quinn slowly picked it up. It was a mug shot, clearly one of himself.

"Not much doubt about it, Quinn, right?"

Quinn laid down the sheet of paper and said, "Okay, okay. So I had an alias. What was I supposed to do? Play hide-and-seek with my real name?"

"Of course not, Quinn," Pankovits said. "But you lied to us, didn't you?"

"You're not the first cops I've lied to."

"Lying to the FBI can get you five years."

"Okay, I fibbed a little."

"No surprise there, but now we can't believe anything. I guess we'll have to start over."

Delocke said, "On February 9, one Jackie Todd walked into a used-car lot in Roanoke and paid $24,000 cash for a 2008 Hummer H3. This ring a bell, Quinn?"

"No. Wasn't me."

"Didn't think so." Delocke slid across a copy of the bill of sale. "And you've never seen this before, have you?"

Quinn looked at it and said, "No."

Pankovits snapped, "Come on, Quinn. We're not half as stupid as you think we are. You were in Roanoke on February 8, went to the bar, got in a fight, went to jail, bonded out the next morning, went back to your motel room at the Safe Lodge, back to the room you paid cash for, got some more cash and bought yourself a Hummer."

"Where's the crime in paying cash for a vehicle?"

"None whatsoever," Pankovits said. "But you weren't supposed to have that much cash at that point."

"Maybe I was wrong with some of the dates and some of the cash payments. I can't remember everything."

"Do you remember where you bought the guns?" Delocke asked.

"What guns?"

"The Smith & Wesson .38 we found in your trailer and the Glock 9-millimeter we found in your storage unit, about two hours ago."

"Stolen guns," Pankovits added helpfully. "More federal offenses."

Quinn slowly locked his hands behind his head and stared at his knees. A minute passed, then another. Without blinking and without moving a muscle, the two agents stared at Quinn. The room was silent, still, tense. Finally, Pankovits shuffled some papers and raised one. He said, "The preliminary inventory shows a wallet with $512 cash, a fake driver's license from North Carolina, two prepaid Visa cards, a prepaid cell phone, the aforementioned Smith & Wesson .38, a bill of sale and a title for the Hummer, a lease agreement for the mini - storage unit, an insurance certificate for the vehicle, a box of bullets for the .38, and a few other items, all taken from the mobile home you were renting for $400 a month. From the mini - storage unit, we have inventoried some clothing, the Glock 9-millimeter, a pair of combat boots, some other items, and, most important, a metal box with $41,000 in it, cash, all in $100 bills."

Quinn slowly folded his arms across his chest and stared at Delocke, who said, "We have all night, Quinn. How about an explanation?"

"I guess the mule was busier than I remember. There were a lot of trips to Miami and back."

"Why didn't you tell us about all the trips?"

"Like I said, I can't remember everything. When you're on the run like that, you tend to forget things."

"Do you remember using either of the guns for anything, Quinn?" Delocke asked.

"No."

"Did you use the guns, or do you just not remember using the guns?"

"I did not use the guns."

Pankovits found another sheet of paper and studied it gravely. "You sure about that, Quinn? This is a preliminary ballistics report."

Quinn slowly pushed his chair back and got to his feet. He stretched and walked a few steps to a corner. "Maybe I need a lawyer."
Chapter 14
There was no ballistics report. The Smith & Wesson .38 was at the FBI crime laboratory at Quantico and would be analyzed as soon as the technicians arrived for work in about five hours. The sheet of paper Pankovits held like a weapon was a copy of some useless memo.

He and Delocke had an entire repertoire of dirty tricks, all approved by the U.S. Supreme Court. Using them would depend on how far Quinn allowed things to go. The immediate problem was the "lawyer" comment. If Quinn had said, clearly and unequivocally, "I want a lawyer!" or "I'm not answering any more questions until I have a lawyer!" or something along those lines, the interrogation would have ended immediately. But he hedged and used the word "maybe."

Timing was crucial here. To divert attention away from the issue of a lawyer, the agents quickly changed the scenery. Delocke stood and said, "I