Noah Boyd - The Bricklayer

‘That’s it. That’s the extent of the good news?’ Lasker said. ‘I know I’m not as up on this stuff as you are, but why would you pick up the casing when the slug in the body can identify the gun?’ the director asked.

‘Maybe they were hoping that the slug would be damaged enough that it couldn’t be identified. They used hollow points, which tend to deform a great deal more as they pass through the human body,’ Kaulcrick offered.

‘I suppose,’ Lasker said. ‘What else?’

Kate said, ‘I’m not sure this is good news.’ She hesitated. Lasker gave her an unenthusiastic wave of the hand to continue. ‘So far, the people I sent to Las Vegas haven’t been able to find any sign of Bertok having taken a flight out of there.’

Lasker looked at the woman that he had heard male agents refer to as ‘too good-looking to be a female agent.’ She was tall with a figure that was both athletic and feminine. Her face would have had a blond, girl-next-door innocence to it if it weren’t for the soft two-inch scar across her left cheekbone, a broken line that suggested a willingness for combat. In the past, he had noticed a nonchalance to the way she handled herself in a room in which she was the only woman. Lasker took a moment to lose himself in her confidence and then said, ‘I don’t have to remind you how sensitive this is, Kate. I assume you’ve explained to everyone working this just how quiet it has to be kept.’

‘Yes, sir, I chose the agents carefully.’

‘All good investigators?’

‘Not particularly. I went purely for obedience. As far as the investigation, I know what needs to be done, and I’m reading all reports to make sure it’s getting done. I just wanted agents who above all else could keep their mouths closed.’

‘In today’s Bureau? Please tell me how to accomplish that.’

A corner of Kate’s mouth lifted sardonically. ‘I picked only the most serious climbers.’ ‘Climbers’ was a term street agents used to stereotype the most serious promotion seekers. ‘I told them if they did a good job, their name would be put on a priority list, but if this leaked out in any fashion, whether it was their doing or not, they’d seen their last promotion.’

Lasker smiled. ‘Sounds foolproof.’ The director looked at Kaulcrick. ‘What else?’

He slid a report across Lasker’s desk. ‘This is the latest analysis of the recording from Dan West’s murder. The transcription is pretty much the same. That whispering voice the killer used makes it hard to distinguish. Like you suggested, the recording was played for Bertok’s supervisor in L.A. to see if he could identify the voice. All he would say was it might be him.’

The director turned to the transcription portion of the report. ‘And what about the language?’

Kate pulled out a different document. ‘Psycholinguistics said that a couple of phrases have definite overtones of someone familiar with FBI jargon, particularly “BU” for Bureau and “surveillance” instead of the more commonly used “backup.” And due to the killer saying things like “you are young” and “the old BU was tougher,” the conversation has the subtlety of an older agent lecturing a younger one. But there’s not enough to draw any definitive conclusions about the identity of the killer.’

‘So there’s nothing to say it isn’t Bertok.’

‘Unfortunately, no,’ Kaulcrick said.

‘They seemed to know everything we tried to do at the New Hampshire drop. Does that take an insider’s knowledge?’ the director asked.

Kate said, ‘Not necessarily. Dummy packages have been used in the past, and it has been made public in court testimony. From the outset, they probably planned to commit two murders because they knew it would be a dummy drop. That way they could demand two million. As a side benefit, they can now argue that our ineptness caused not only murder number two, but the death of an FBI agent. I don’t know, maybe Bertok was afraid that if he had tried to deliver the money, he would have wound up like Dan West, or worse. Maybe that helped him decide to take off. If he did,’ she said.

‘If it is him, it’s going to kill us when it comes out,’ Lasker said. ‘But for right now, the longer we can delay it, the more operating room we’ll have.’

‘We still have to find him. What makes it so difficult is that we’re looking for one of our own, and we can’t even tell our own,’ Kaulcrick said. ‘Plus he knows all our procedures and has two million dollars to be creative with.’

Lasker took a moment to consider what Kaulcrick had said and then asked, ‘Are we getting any closer to identifying this group? Is this really a group?’

Kate said, ‘It’s been my experience that almost invariably extortionists who work alone will use plural pronouns like “we,” “us,” “our.” It’s part of their intimidation process to make the victim believe that the extortionist has more manpower than he does.’

‘So what you’re saying is that this could be just one man.’

‘I’m saying it’s a possibility.’

‘Is there any record of “pentad” anywhere in our files?’

‘Since the first murder, we have been running “Rubaco” and “pentad” every way possible,’ Kaulcrick said. ‘So far, nothing.’

Kate said, ‘We’ve got a half dozen agents going through all the Waco and Ruby Ridge nut files. There’s a few leads being generated, but nothing with much promise.’

‘For the moment, let’s assume Bertok is not involved in the killings. Anyone have any theories why they picked him?’

Kate said, ‘He was a street agent who worked extortion cases. Maybe they ran into him somewhere or read his name in the paper. It might be another one of their ploys to make us think they know more about what we’re doing than we do.’

The director snorted a laugh. ‘So far it’s working.’

Kaulcrick said, ‘This could have been Bertok’s operation from the beginning. With him and the money disappearing together, it would be shortsighted not to consider the possibility.’

‘If it is Bertok, why would he use a gun that is so recognizable as FBI issue?’ Kate asked her boss.

‘Nothing would cover his tracks better if he’s caught and has to go to trial. He could then say, “With a plan this well thought out, would I be stupid enough to use an FBI-type service weapon? Somebody wants you to think it’s an agent who has done this.” If we’re having these doubts, a jury certainly would. And then, at just the right moment, he would stand up and surrender his service weapon. “Here’s my issued handgun – check the serial number and test-fire it.” It would destroy the prosecution’s case. Then he would only be looking at prison time for the embezzlement of two million dollars, which, with any reimbursement, carries a slap on the wrist compared to four murders.’

‘Assuming that’s true, then what did he shoot the victims with?’ the director said.

‘A second, unregistered Glock 22,’ Kaulcrick answered quickly, as if he had expected the question.

‘Do we know if he owns more than one gun?’ the director asked.

‘I checked his property card, and no, he doesn’t,’ Kate said. ‘Not that he’s told the Bureau about.’

‘I don’t know, Don. If he has the money, then why this last murder?’ the director asked.

‘Sir, if all this was part of a planned defense, another killing would be proof positive that he had nothing to do with the murders. He just boogied with the cash, so the real killers had no choice but to find another victim and make a new demand.’

The director collapsed back into his chair. ‘Anyone want my job?’

After a few seconds, Kaulcrick said, ‘I got something from the Chicago office this morning that might take your mind off this for a few minutes. May I?’