her. She had read the written report a while earlier in her own office. At the moment she was at police headquarters in Rudy Spangle’s office.
“We’ve got the body, and this video of them hauling the corpse from the stairwell into their van. We also have the written report from two of your agents that they witnessed the victim go into the restroom at which time Charles Watson replaced him and these same two individuals exited the restroom where the body was discovered. That ties all three of them, as well as the other members of the dinner party to the murder.”
Agent Wang nodded, but a frown marked her features.
“What’s wrong?” Spangle asked.
“I talked to my boss, who wasn’t pleased with what happened this morning. A little checking shows that Agent Laney works with one of the Senior Agents in Washington D.C., but there is no record of an Agent Trask.”
“What?”
“It appears that Agent Laney wasn’t being truthful when he identified Mathews as an FBI agent. There is something we don’t understand going on here.”
“Does that mean this report might be false? Is it possible that Laney and Trask aren’t being truthful about what happened?”
“I don’t know what it all means,” Agent Wang said truthfully. “My boss is pursuing the matter with the Director.”
Detective Spangle was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He glanced at the caller ID and said, “It’s from the Bureau.”
Spangle answered the phone, and after a moment handed the receiver to Alisha.
“It’s Nick Morely,” he said.
Alisha accepted the receiver, and after a moment signaled Spangle for a pad and pencil. She listened and wrote down some information, then hung up.
“Nick had the results of the fingerprint search. The dead man is Henry Ray as Agent Laney claimed. The other two are freelance hoods, who are known to work for whoever can pay them. Both have long rap sheets, and this event will guarantee them a long stay in prison. Perhaps that will loosen their tongues. The man you have downstairs is Tom Erickson, and the one in the hospital is Glenn Marshal. Charles Watson is who he claimed to be, but here is a catch. He is the eldest son of one of the Mob’s more senior people in Chicago where Watson comes from.”
“Perhaps it is time to have a talk with the two individuals we have here,” Detective Spangle suggested. He’d made certain that each was aware the other had been arrested, so Watson and Erickson knew that their whole scheme had been unraveled. Spangle was especially anxious to talk with Watson. He wanted the names of those who had been at dinner with him at the time of the murder. Agent Laney’s report had indicated that another male and two females were present, but hadn’t provided any names.
Chapter 22
Jake and Agent Laney were back at the house in San Jose. They had just begun the second secure teleconference with Susan Carlson who was still in Washington D.C., a call that she had initiated. The two men had returned to the house earlier after they left Ghirardelli Square, a departure that had been necessary if they were to avoid having to answer questions they didn’t wish raised. They had contacted Carlson and brought her up to date with the morning events during the initial call. Afterwards they had gone to brunch with Karin, who was now off shopping with Janna.
“Are you certain that direct questioning wouldn’t have been more productive?” Carlson had asked during that initial conference. She knew that Jake used some unorthodox methods that often yielded useful results.
“I tried that,” Jake replied. “It didn’t work. These two aren’t going to talk. They are more afraid of whoever hired them than me. I suspect it would take someone trained in extracting information and the proper environment to learn anything by force.”
Carlson had accepted Jake’s assessment of the situation.
“I’m bothered by what Agent Nick Morely revealed,” Carlson had said. “He wasn’t on our list, but he clearly has heard of Bob Trask and has some idea that he has an unusual talent, even if he hasn’t made the leap as to what you can do.”
“That suggests there may be more than we feared who have an inkling what happened in D.C.,” Jake had agreed. “Did you learn anything about the others on the list?”
“Nothing useful. None of those in the Agency are useful candidates for what has been happening to you. The only way to know who they might have talked to about what