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“So you’re telling me we don’t have a clue as to who killed him?”
“Sir, we’ve known about the murder for less than half an hour. It’s a bit early in the investigation to begin drawing conclusions.”
“Well, let me give you my take on this, Bob,” the director said.
"I’d very much like to hear that, sir,“ the DDCI replied without apparent irony.
"I think what we’ve got here is a vast left-wing conspiracy to eliminate a senator who has driven the left nuts for decades.”
“Sir, with respect, I don’t think we’ve had a vast left-wing conspiracy in this country since the forties, maybe as far back as when Stalin and Hitler signed a nonaggression pact, which caused a lot of American communists to leave the party.”
“Are you suggesting a communist conspiracy, Bob?”
“No, sir, I am not,” the DDCI said, rather desperately.
“So, you think it’s a vast right-wing conspiracy?”
“I have not formed that opinion or any other opinion, sir. I think we have to wait until we have some evidence upon which to base a judgment, and that may take days or weeks, assuming there is any evidence.”
“There’s always evidence, Bob,” the director said.
“Usually, sir.”
“We won’t have any trouble tracking down this sniper, I’m sure of that”
“Sir, may I point out how long it took to catch Eric Rudolph? And we got him only because a cop got lucky. A lone perpetrator, especially one with a support network, is a very difficult man to catch.”
“Yes. yes, Bob, I understand that, of course. But I hope you understand that we’re going to be under enormous pressure to come up with a suspect and make an arrest.”
“We’re always under pressure in a high-profile crime, sir. My people are accustomed to it.”
“Well, that’s good, Bob. Now, I’m calling a press conference this afternoon timed to make the national TV news shows this evening, a
“Sir, I think it would be a mistake to schedule a press conference when we don’t yet have anything to a
“Well, you just get yourself down to Chester and call me when you’re on the ground there, and we’ll figure out something for the press conference.”
“Yes, sir,” the DDCI said.
“Don’t sound so morose, Bob,” the director said. “We’re going to crack this one, you and I.”
“Yes, sir,” the DDCI said, even more morosely.
6
ROBERT KINNEY, the FBI’s deputy director for Criminal Investigations, looked out the window at the piney woods below him and searched for the airport. The airplane was an elderly Lear, and since Ki
The airplane suddenly banked left, and Ki
THE AIRPLANE taxied up to the ramp, and the copilot opened the door for Ki
“Afternoon, Ralph,” Ki
Emerson took Ki
Stribling, a wiry man in his fifties, pushed off the car where he had been leaning and stuck out his hand. “How you doin'?“ he said.
Ki
“And I appreciate yours,” Stribling said, glancing at Emerson. He didn’t sound as if he appreciated it. “You want to go out to the cabin or would you rather go to your hotel?”
“Let’s go out to the cabin,” Ki
“How was your flight?” Emerson asked as they drove away.
“Awful,” Ki
Stribling said nothing, just drove. After twenty minutes he turned left on a smaller paved road, then ten minutes later turned right on a dirt road. They came to a steel gate, which was open but guarded by a deputy. Stribling didn’t even slow down, just waved. The road led into the woods, and a couple of minutes later they were driving down the shore of a lake of about a hundred acres.
“The senator owned about four hundred acres here,” Stribling said, “including the whole lake and the cabin. It’s the only house on the lake.”
“He liked his privacy, I guess,” Ki
“I guess he did,” Stribling replied.
They drove around to the opposite side of the lake and through another steel gate, this one without a guard. Shortly, they pulled up in front of the cabin, which had yellow crime-scene tape strung from tree to tree, encircling the structure.
Ki
“I reckon the shooter stood over yonder, just in the woods,” Stribling said.
“You find any shell casings or footprints or other traces of him?” Ki
“No, sir,” Stribling said. “I got a couple of old bloodhounds we keep for when somebody busts out of the county camp, and we took 'em out there a couple of hours ago. According to the dogs, our man zigzagged through the woods and came out in a little rest area on the main highway, about three-quarters of a mile away.“
“Any car tracks?”
“Nope, the rest area is paved. I talked to the State Patrol and got hold of the man who patrolled that stretch of road this morning. He had a look in the rest area about six-forty-five this morning, and there were no cars in it.”
Ki
“Sure,” the sheriff said, leading the way to the back door of the cabin.
Ki
Ki
“Ralph,” Ki
“Sure,” Emerson replied and walked out the front door. “Tom, did Mrs. Wallace spend a lot of time here?”
“Nope,” the sheriff replied. “She never came down here at all that I know of. The senator liked to be alone out here.
“We both know that’s not true,” Ki
“Do we?” Stribling asked.
“It’s pretty obvious that a woman spent a lot of time here,” Ki