Дэвид Балдаччи - The Fix

She ripped her arm free and said, “Are you arresting me? If not, I’m leaving and calling my lawyer and he’s going to sue all of you!”

“We’re detaining you, which we have every right to do,” said Bogart firmly.

She glared at him and then folded her arms over her chest and gazed off into the distance.

Decker said, “After the dolls became useless because the kids grew up, I guess you could have gotten rid of them, but you were perhaps afraid that someone might find the hidden compartments. Better just to keep them.”

“Just because you say something does not make it true.”

“When did you realize that the anabolic steroids were responsible for the stillbirth and the miscarriages? And your health problems? And your daughters’ health issues and birth defects? I understand that Jules and Samantha have had trouble in that department.”

“I had no control over that. It was... it was genetics. It was natural.”

“There was nothing natural about it. It was chemical-based. I wondered how such fit-looking people could all have such bad health. So I decided to trace the source back. And I did. To you.”

She slowly turned to look at him.

“It must have been a shock when all the stories came out about Stasi, about Oral Turinabol. It causes both liver and kidney disease, bone density loss, high cholesterol and asthma, all conditions which you have and for which you’re currently taking medications.”

Ellie pursed her lips but still said nothing.

“And it also causes miscarriages, and birth defects, like the ones your daughters have. And you’re also on Zoloft, for depression. I can see how you might be depressed.”

“How did you know about the stillbirth and my miscarriages?” she said quietly.

“I think you know the answer to that,” replied Decker. When she didn’t reply, he said, “Cissy Randall. She told me. She told me about the girls’ issues too. And then you found out she had. And she had to be taken care of because you had no way of knowing what else she might say.”

“You think I killed Cissy! I was in bed asleep.”

“Your daughter checked on you at one. Randall was killed between two and three. At that late hour it gave you plenty of time to go there, kill her, and get back. There were no signs of forced entry. Randall had a key to your house. What are the odds that you had a key to hers? If we search your house thoroughly I think we’ll find it.”

Ellie turned and looked at her husband’s grave.

Decker rose and stood beside her. “You knew Anne Berkshire when her name was Anna Seryyzamok. She was your handler, until you did something, I think, that no one expected you to do.” He paused as she glanced over at him. “You stopped spying.”

“I am not a damn spy!”

Decker ignored her. “You quit. But Berkshire still was working with other spies in the area. This is D.C. after all. If you’re going to spy, this is the place. We found out about her recent use of Dominion Hospice and her work with the Gorskis and Alvin Jenkins. But you quit on her. And she wasn’t happy about it. But she couldn’t expose you without you exposing her. She made a comment to a teacher at the school where she volunteered. ‘You think you know someone, when you really don’t.’ I think she was talking about you.”

Ellie simply shook her head but remained silent.

Decker said, “And everything was fine for a very long time, and then along comes Natalie and her gambling problems. And that cratered everything.”

“I knew nothing about that.”

“You knew everything about that. Your husband would have never kept that from you. You were too close. I don’t believe then that he had any idea you had been a spy. He loved you, unconditionally. Everyone said he was a great guy, which ordinarily makes me suspicious. But as it turned out, he was a great guy. What you didn’t know was that Berkshire had never forgiven you for what you did, abandoning the cause, and was on the lookout for any way to get back at you, or better yet, get you back in the fold. And Natalie was her opportunity. Ten million bucks or your child and her family get slaughtered by the Russians. And you knew how cruel the Russians could be. Natalie told him and he told you. You were well-off, but where could your husband get ten million dollars in a matter of days? He must have been frantic. But you knew there was a way. And that meant you had to tell the man you loved that you had been stealing his secrets all that time and sending them to the Soviets.” He stopped and stared at her. “How did he take that, Mrs. Dabney? How did he take that betrayal by his wife of decades, by the mother of his children? How devastated was he? I can tell you that he also told Natalie that he thought he knew someone, but he really didn’t. Like Berkshire, he was talking about you , his own wife, the love of his life.”

Tears now were spilling down Ellie’s cheeks. She shook her head but said nothing as a cold wind whipped through the cemetery. She started gasping for breath, pulled an inhaler from her pocket, and took three quick puffs on it.

They all stood there watching her as the chill wind pummeled them.

Jamison finally drew closer to Ellie, handed the woman a tissue she had pulled from her jacket pocket, and then stepped back. Ellie used it to dab at her eyes.

Decker said, “So I’m thinking you contacted Berkshire through an old communication channel. You told her of your dilemma and she told you what it would take to get ten million dollars from her organization. You told your husband and he made it happen. And Natalie was saved.

“But then something happened, didn’t it? Natalie spilled the beans that the debt had not been ten million. She had been forced to say that by Berkshire’s people to make you panic and resort to espionage. Berkshire was probably monitoring your family for any weakness to use against you. And she found the mother lode in Natalie. And she was just waiting for you to contact her. But now you realized Berkshire had deceived you. And you told your husband. And, reeling at the guilt of having betrayed his country, and knowing that he would never have to stand trial for it, he decided to murder Berkshire. With your help.”

Ellie put her inhaler back in her pocket and walked over and sat back down on the bench.

“Mrs. Dabney, I’m not here to judge you. My job is to find out the truth. That’s it.”

Bogart added, “If you cooperate, it will definitely be better for you.”

Brown said, “We’re convinced that something is in the works, Mrs. Dabney. Some attack. If you help us out on that, your future will look a lot brighter than if you don’t cooperate.”

“And telling us the truth would be a good start,” said Decker.

A long minute passed.

When she spoke, Ellie’s voice was husky but firm. And her tone was resigned.

“God, I’m just tired. So tired of all of it.” She paused. “Walt told me about his cancer. He would never have kept that from me. Even after he found out about... what I had done. Although he had Natalie go with him to Houston to confirm the diagnosis instead of me.” She paused and looked over at the grave. “It wasn’t Walt’s idea to kill Anna. It was mine. I wanted to do it.” She slowly shook her head, her eyes closed for a moment. “But Walt, gallant to the last, insisted that he would do it. Like you said, he would never stand trial for the crime.”

“You were the one dressed as the clown,” said Decker. “You were the signal to your husband.”

Ellie wiped her eyes with the tissue. “I had parked my car in a garage near the FBI building. I went in there, changed out of the costume, got in my car, and drove home. I knew what Walt was going to do. I cried all the way. It was like I was in some sort of nightmare. My mind was numb.”