David Ellis - In the Company of Liars

“That would be great,” says Harrick. “But I wouldn’t expect it. You’ve made some people nervous, Mrs. Pagone. And we understand that they’re insistent that you be watched, just to be sure. No, I think Larry Evans will stick around until this thing is over.”

“When the topic of Mat or Jessica is raised,” McCoy adds, “be very defensive. Be protective. I suppose, Mrs. Pagone, that that will not be very difficult for you.”

Allison glares at McCoy.

“And you will swear,” Allison says, “that Larry Evans is the one who killed Sam.”

“Yes. We will swear to that. You saw our affidavits. Your daughter’s in the clear, Mrs. Pagone. And so are you.”

“My daughter didn’t kill Sam.”

“And our affidavits agree with you,” McCoy says, which is not the same thing as agreeing with Allison’s statement.

Allison looks at her lawyer, Paul Riley. Paul does not seem satisfied, and she can sympathize, from his perspective. He is representing Allison, not the rest of her family. Worrying about the fate of Mat or Jessica Pagone is not in his job description. But itis in the job description of a mother and ex-wife. The FBI clearly understands that. Allison is not getting much for herself in this deal. Yes, the affidavits from several agents of the FBI, identifying Larry Evans as the killer of Sam Dillon, will clear Allison as well as Jessica. But they also have figured, correctly so, that Allison could beat this charge if she were so inclined. There are two people at whom Allison could point to establish reasonable doubt. They just happen to be Mat and Jessica.

“My problem here,” Paul says, “is there’s little guarantee of safety for my client. You can’t predict what this man, Larry Evans, will do. You can tell us heprobably wouldn’t want to kill Allison. You can give us odds. Odds aren’t a guarantee. This guy Evans will never be sure about Allison.”

“What do you want us to say, Counselor?” McCoy asks. “I acknowledge that your client is taking a risk here. She’s doing it for her country. And,” she adds, “to keep her family out of jail.”

Paul shakes his head.

“Look,” McCoy says to Allison. “You studied to be an actress, right?”

“I was a theater major, yes,” Allison confirms with embarrassment.

“So-this is the role of a lifetime.”

It is, Allison realizes, a role that she has played before.Nora Helmer, she thinks to herself, a prisoner in her own home, underappreciated even after she saves her husband. A role that, in many ways, Allison has played her entire married life.

“Be protective of Mat and Jessica,” McCoy advises. “If anyone brings either of them up, mentions their potential involvement-whether it’s this guy Evans, or Mat, or Mr. Riley here-be defensive. Insist on their innocence. Say you’ll ‘never let anything happen to them.’ Stuff like that. Just be sure you say it in the parts of the home where Larry Evans can hear you.”

“And you’re sure he’ll be listening?” Allison asks.

“As sure as I’m sitting here,” McCoy says. “Your place is bugged, Mrs. Pagone. We’ll confirm that for you.”

“How are you going to confirm it? You can’t very well waltz in.”

McCoy looks at her partner. Allison senses that Harrick has a thing for McCoy.

“Did you clean up your house after they searched it?” McCoy asks.

“Of course I did. Right away.”

“Okay. Here’s what we’ll do. I’ve been talking to the county prosecutors. I’ll give them a reason to want to search your house again.”

“What reason?”

“I’ll mention the statuette,” McCoy says. “The murder weapon. I’ll tell them it was on Sam’s mantel, which is true, and now it’s missing, which is also true. They’ll want to do another search. They’ll take your place apart and you’ll need it cleaned up afterward. This time, you’ll call one of those companies that specializes in that sort of thing. I’ll give a name and number to Mr. Riley here, and a specific time for you to call, and it will be our guys who take that call and do the cleanup. FBI technicians. They know what they’re doing. They’ll confirm it. And they’ll tell you where, in the house, he can hear you best.”

“Sounds like you already know,” Paul Riley says.

McCoy shrugs. “I would imagine it’s the area around your telephones. Where are your phones?”

“One in my bedroom,” Allison says, “and one in my living room.”

“Okay. He’ll have your phones tapped and he’ll have the ability to hear around there as well. So if you want him to hear something, sit in the living room. Or the bedroom.”

“Will the FBI be eavesdropping, too?” Paul asks.

McCoy shakes her head. “We can’t bug Allison’s home. We can’t run the risk that Evans would detect it. He’s good, this guy. He has top-of-the-line industrial espionage equipment. We put something inside her house, we can’t be sure he won’t know about it. That would blow everything. So no, we just have to rely on our other surveillance.”

“And if they become the wiser?” Paul asks.

“They won’t.” McCoy deflects her eyes.

“You mean youhope they won’t.”

“That’s what I mean, yes.” McCoy opens her hands. “I’ll say it for the tenth time. She’s taking a risk. We’re grateful. You’ll probably know what this is about someday, and you’ll be a hero, Mrs. Pagone.”

“Until then,” she says, “I’m a black sheep.”

“Mrs. Pagone,” Owen Harrick chimes in, “you’re only a black sheep because you wanted to be. We’d be more than happy to put this bribery scandal front and center. We’d be more than happy to feed all kinds of information on Operation Public Trust to the county attorney. Roger Ogren would definitely take that bait, because it’s an obvious motive. He might even drop the charges against you, eventually.”

“No-”

“He charged you because you fell into his lap, Mrs. Pagone. And you fell into his lap because youwanted to.”

“We could tell him about your daughter, too,” McCoy adds, squeezing the pressure point. “We’re doing what you want us to do here.”

“No, you’re right, I understand that,” Allison says. “I don’t want you mentioning this to the county attorney. Nothing about Mat, nothing about Jessica. That’s”-she looks at Paul, then at McCoy-“that’s part of this deal, I thought.”

“It is,” McCoy assures her. “We won’t say a word about Jessica. I’ll handle those conversations personally with Roger Ogren. We’ll keep the AUSAs off of your ex-husband, too. That won’t be fun, but we’ll do it.”

That won’t be fun.What McCoy means, Allison assumes, is that this thing is so top-secret that even other federal prosecutors are being kept in the dark.

A chill creeps up her spine.

“Right. Okay.” Allison takes a deep breath. “That’s what I want. I’ll do what you ask. I’ll-I’ll work with this man. Larry Evans. I’ll put him at ease. But the federal government doesn’t go near Mat or Jess. And if something-happensto me, the deal still holds.”

“Of course,” says McCoy. “That’s in there, too.”

“We can’t guarantee that Roger Ogren won’t approach Mat on his own,” Harrick says to Paul. “There’s going to be a leak or two to the papers-we agreed on that. The bribery thing is going to come out, in small amounts. Just so we’re clear on all of that.”

Allison nods. It was a negotiation, over the last several days. Of paramount importance to the federal government, apparently, is that Larry Evans accomplish whatever his plan is. And that means Larry Evans has to feel comfortable about Allison. The feds wanted to splash the bribery scandal everywhere; Allison, for Mat’s sake, wanted just the opposite. They reached a middle ground. The story would leak, a little, to the papers. But there would be no hard evidence turned over to the county attorney prosecuting Allison’s case. No names of specific senators. No phone records. And Special Agent Jane McCoy gave her word that she would block Roger Ogren if he got too close.