President's assassin

Je

"Okay." He considered that a moment, then asked, "Accomplices?"

"Three we know of, possibly more. Barnes appears to be the mastermind. At least one woman is involved."

Eric raised an eyebrow but did not comment on that news.

I asked, "Why are you so sure these thefts didn't involve foreign terrorists?"

"Start with the first case at Fort Hood, the bunker theft. Here's what happened. The munitions bunker has a double lock system. It's electronically monitored whenever it's opened." He looked at me and said, "You get it, right?"

"The thefts occurred during an authorized entry."

From the corner of my eye I saw Tingle nod and Ta

"I thought the case remained open."

"It is." Tingle again nodded, and Ta

I thought about that a moment. "Isn't that… a little passive?"

He gave me a sneaky smile. "Each of the four will soon be approached by a fat-cat arms merchant from the Middle East-one of our guys. He's already in Killeen, the town outside the base, casing his targets."

"I see."

"We know how to cover our asses, Mr. Drummond."

General Tingle coughed into his hand.

Eric Ta

"As it should."

"So after we reported it to the Bureau, we also notified your people at the Agency, Mr. Drummond."

Colonel Johnson got into the act, informing me, "About three weeks later, your people got word to us that a government military platoon in Colombia walked into a minefield and two soldiers were killed. The descriptions of the incident indicated the killing devices were Bouncing Bettys. They also reported a sharp step-up in vehicular ambushes by FARC rebel units using short-range rockets."

Eric surmised, "So we know where the weapons ended up."

"But not," General Tingle concluded, looking sharply at Ta

"No. Rule it out." So now we were down to the third and final case, the second theft at Fort Hood. These were all crafty men, and I doubted this was serendipity.

Colonel Johnson, who appeared to be Tingle's executive assistant, asked, "Anybody need a refill?"

While we refreshed our cups, Chief Ta

Je

"But I'd like to precede that discussion with a little background. Around Fort Hood-around all our bases-are crime rings that feed off our troops, our families, and our equipment. Insurance fraud rings, phony mortgage and car loan setups, prostitution, and even burglary rings. Some of these parasites are strictly amateur hour. Others are incredibly shrewd. In those cases where the crimes cross boundaries between our bases and the surrounding communities, we work closely with local police forces, and often, with the FBI."

He paused to see if we had any questions. We didn't, and he continued, "At Fort Hood, we have a ring specializing in munitions and weapons thefts. Once or twice a year they pull off something. This has been going on for… about five years. A file cabinet in my office is crammed with various investigations we believe are all interrelated."

Je

"I'm sure of it." Becoming more animated, he bent forward and explained, "Here's what's interesting. This group never repeats the same thing twice. For a long time, nobody even realized we were dealing with a ring. The thefts were so different, and occurred so infrequently, you couldn't detect a common MO."

Colonel Johnson grabbed my left arm and confided, "Ignore his modesty. It was Eric who uncovered the common thread."

This compliment brought a happy beam to Ta

"The very fact that no two thefts are alike. I'm sure that's by design. These are smart people with a certain flair for stagecraft, and a characteristic boldness I've come to regard as their calling card."

Je

"Okay, take this February 9 incident. They probably came on post wearing uniforms, using forged military ID cards. Range control perso

I tried to picture this in my mind. In truth, it was a diabolically clever way to steal from the Army. Range control people tend to be mostly senior sergeants who, despite their lower rank, are feared by the young officers who run firing ranges, because, as Ta

Ta

I sized up Eric Ta

As I said, Mr. Ta

Still, as a prosecutor, I had a strong preference for older CID agents on the stand. Age implies wisdom and seasoning, whereas youth suggests gree