The Gilded Sanctum

by Keith Veverka

  “Yes,” the private investigator affirmed. “He’s our last chance to find Amanda.”

  “Okay,” said Castillo, seemingly resigned to the bad idea. “But I’d pack your bags first.”

  Chapter 45

  The United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General is the agency tasked with investigating misconduct in the FBI. The hearing with the Inspector General Review Board took place in a small conference room in their suite in downtown D.C., which did not seem fitting to the huge implications which would result from their decision. Walker sat with his attorney at one end of the conference table while the three panel members huddled at the other end. The two men and one woman — finely tailored in their dark suits — sifted through files and documents, the results of a month-long investigation into the FBI raid that cost the lives of three people, including a child.

  An internal FBI investigation was always conducted whenever a civilian had lost his or her life, but in this case, one death — that of twelve-year-old Erica Shelby — was being blamed on the FBI. A wrongful death suit was also being levied by the family against the Bureau because of the outcome of the raid. Specifically, the suit alleged — and the investigation confirmed — that the FBI agent who stormed the room after firing the fatal round that killed the hostile subject had acted recklessly by not properly clearing the room upon entry. Not realizing that another suspect was hidden in the corner, this federal agent was struck by gunfire and unable to return fire. The threat was neutralized by the second SWAT team member to enter the room, but only after the suspect had positioned himself in close proximity to a bystander, resulting in the death of a child.

  Although the breach had been successful and the threats had been eliminated, it was not before a civilian life had been taken. Investigators contended that if Walker had properly cleared the room, he could have easily taken out the second suspect before that assailant was able to cause harm. Proper tactical procedures for forced entry dictated that the first SWAT officer to enter a space should clear that space to eliminate any and all threats that existed, while his partner would approach the downed suspect. Ensuring all threats were properly accounted for would not unnecessarily risk the lives of fellow SWAT members or innocent bystanders in the vicinity. Although Walker had taken out the primary threat, he had not neutralized all threats, which caused the collateral damage. It was a terrible mistake with devastating consequences.

  The conclusions of the investigation were clear and the lawsuit was splashed all over the news, so the FBI’s hands were tied. They could have released Walker from culpability, but it would have appeared as favoritism, and so settling the lawsuit was simply one step in the healing process. The other was to fire him. The members of the review board spoke for several minutes about how they had reached their decision, and of course, gave Walker and his attorney the right to appeal that decision. That did not happen. Walker had taken an oath when he joined the FBI to protect and serve, and he did neither in that case. His career with the FBI was over.

  This hearing was followed shortly after by additional hearings at the Arlington County Domestic Relations section of the downtown courthouse, as his wife filed for divorce and they fought over custody of their daughter. Walker had been emotionally crushed by the raid, was suspended while the investigation ensued, and fell into an irreparable depression. His relationship with his wife crumbled rapidly as he became despondent, and because she had begged him not to join the SWAT team in the first place, she blamed him for destroying himself and their family. Walker was soon ordered by the court to vacate their home as the spousal relationship became untenable.

  His daughter tried desperately to maintain their relationship, but Walker was simply too swallowed up in self-pity and regret to be able to show love to anyone, and so that bond, too, became toxic and infrequent. As Walker’s self-flagellation continued to spiral downward, his wife convinced the judge to strip Walker of his custodial rights — including visitations — which only quickened his descent. As the outcome of the investigation became clear and the loss of his family was inevitable, Walker started drinking heavily and taking drugs — prescription at first then illegal as needed — to take away the pain.

  Soon, he required more to sustain the level of pain relief, so he desperately needed money to maintain his destructive habits. It only took a few visits to a dance club in a seedy area north of the U.S. Capitol to convince the clientele he was no longer with the FBI, but had learned some valuable skills that could easily be put to good use as a private investigator for hire. A few jobs later, and his reputation only grew.

  Eventually ceasing with the drugs because he needed more lucidity for his investigations, Walker still relied on the alcohol to provide a layer of comfort. It was an escape from the reality that a person who had always dreamed of being in law enforcement was breaking the law on a regular basis.

  It had been a long and treacherous plunge to the bottom, but in the cold and dark abyss of his current situation, Walker always knew there would be a way out. A way back from the depths of his self-imposed prison. Three years later in late September, Lorenzo Arcuri summoned him to his sprawling estate on the Potomac River.

  Chapter 46

  Walker now sat in front of Dr. Ellis’s desk in a different chair this time — Castillo’s chair — as if perhaps the change in position would tip the scales of fate in his favor. Or Ellis would think he was talking to Castillo and reveal more than he normally would. He didn’t care if it was a shift in the cosmos or mental laziness on the dean’s part, because either way, he needed answers.

  Ellis stood behind the wooden desk, his back to Walker, glaring out the large glass window at the beautiful campus below. Walker had entered the silent room moments earlier, as the other officials were scurrying out and making final plans for the upcoming press conference. Ellis had yet to speak. Nor had be budged from his fixed position behind the desk, nearly comatose in his movements, slowly surveying the grounds.

  “I’ve always loved this campus,” Ellis said finally, still gazing out the window. “From the first moment I saw it, I knew this was the place I wanted to be.” He paused for several beats. “It’s been almost twenty years now. Twenty years,” he whispered. “It’s amazing where the time goes.”

  Walker stayed silent while the dean reminisced about his time at Washington Academy. He figured Ellis was only a couple of years away from retirement, and as all people do when they near the end of their careers, he was mentally reflecting on the legacy he was going to leave behind. It was a legacy that had been steeped in prestige. Until now.

  It must have been a crushing weight on Ellis to have worked for so many years building something only to witness it all come crashing down around you. Castillo was coping with the end by smoking a cigarette in the woods, but he was young and would be employed again soon. Whereas Ellis’s life’s work was almost over, and he could no longer control how he would walk away. Regardless of what happened now, the lasting impression of Dr. Robert Ellis would be one of disgrace and shame. Walker was sure the Board of Trustees were already secretly meeting to discuss the terms of Ellis’s removal and whatever other sanctions they deemed appropriate.

  The silence lingered for several moments until Walker spoke. “You have to tell me the truth, Dr. Ellis. It’s over. All the lies and cover-ups are exposed. The secret’s out, and whatever protection you think you had is gone. It’s only a matter of time before the FBI comes knocking on your door.” Sooner than you think.

  Ellis turned his head from the window, his face sculpted into a solemn expression. “I know,” he whispered, then turned his gaze back to the window and was silent again.

  Walker shifted in his seat, frustrated by the delaying of the inevitable. “What did Amanda discover, Ellis? What secret dealings are you trying to hide?”

  Ellis scoffed, still looking out the window. “The dealings aren’t important, Mr. Walker. They have absolutely nothing to do with this. There was no grand conspiracy
to abduct a young girl because she discovered some secret file, I assure you.”

  “So why all the lies?”

  Ellis exhaled, turned slowly, and sat in the large chair behind the desk. He leaned back and crossed his hands over his chest. “Because...there was a moment of weakness. A sexual advance. An awkward moment in which I broke a sacred trust. It was through no fault of her own, she was completely innocent, and it was all my doing. I’m an old man, Mr. Walker, who has been happily married for thirty-two years, but we all still have needs, don’t we? They just can’t manifest themselves in that way. I deeply regret what I did, apologized more times than you could possibly imagine, but alas, it was terrible mistake.”

  “What exactly happened between you and Amanda?”

  Relief soothed Ellis’s expression. “Oh no, you misunderstand. The sexual advance wasn’t with Amanda. It was with Meredith. Meredith Thomas.”

  Walker was dumbfounded. And speechless.

  Seeing the look of shock and awe on Walker’s face, Ellis explained. “Meredith came to visit me at my office a few months back, shortly after she moved onto the campus into one of our faculty residences. She was obviously upset about her husband, and so she was very needy in that moment. I had a few too many scotches that day and as the evening rolled around, I was a little less reserved than usual. She sat in the very chair you’re sitting in now, and I was in the seat opposite her. One thing led to another and in her weakened state, simply needing someone to comfort her, I started to come onto her. She was receptive at first, but I mistook her helplessness for affection, and as I became more aggressive, she resisted. I regret to say that I did not stop immediately. Nothing happened, I promise you. I did not rape Ms. Thomas. But she did yell out at one point, which brought my student assistant, who was working late in the outer office, bursting into the room. And of course, what she saw was me accosting Meredith. Unfortunately, my student assistant was…”

  “Amanda Bryson,” Walker interrupted.

  Ellis sighed. “Yes.”

  Walker exhaled loudly, lowered his head, and massaged his forehead with his fingers. “Why did you not tell me this before?”

  “Because when you get to be an old man like me, Mr. Walker, you don’t have many career options left to you. The one thing you can hope for at this late stage in the game is to be able to determine how your career will end. Walk away on your own terms and leave behind a lasting legacy. I’ve worked for many years creating that legacy, and to see it all destroyed in one moment of weakness, I just couldn’t do that.”

  Walker’s eyes widened. “What are you telling me?”

  “I’m telling you that’s why I couldn’t share this information. Why I was never going to share this information. My entire career, my legacy, was at stake.”

  “So Meredith and Amanda were now liabilities to you?”

  “Of course not. I would never do anything to harm either one of them. I simply apologized profusely to both of them and begged them not to disclose what had happened between us.”

  “And they agreed?”

  “They did. Meredith was incredibly understanding about the whole thing, and she certainly didn’t have to be. I even offered for her to speak with our school’s psychologist, but she refused. Amanda, on the other hand and for obvious reasons, was quite rattled by the entire episode, but Meredith was actually the one who convinced her to stay quiet. We even decided to put Amanda into Meredith’s English class for the fall semester, so she could keep an eye on her. Meredith was extremely strong.”

  “So why did you transfer Amanda?” Walker asked.

  “I needed to. She certainly didn’t want to go, but I had to do it. We simply couldn’t work that closely together anymore because my guilt was too overwhelming. I couldn’t bare to see her every day and be reminded of what she had witnessed, the look of disdain in her eyes, the complete loss of respect. It was too much for me, so I transferred her.”

  “Did she ever report you?”

  “No, but that was much more than I expected, I assure you. I thought my tenure as dean of this school was effectively over, that I should tender my resignation before anyone found out, before the Board of Trustees decided to fire me.” Ellis paused pensively. “Or before Mr. Arcuri decided to send one of his assassins after me.”

  “But nothing happened?”

  “No. I was too much of a coward to resign, so I anxiously waited for whatever fate was to befall me. I was convinced my career — and maybe my life — was over. So I simply made my peace with it.”

  “And then Amanda disappeared?”

  “Indeed.”

  “Did you speak with Meredith?”

  “Yes. The next day. But she was different. More combative. Accusing me of doing something to Amanda because of what had happened. I tried to convince her that I was not involved in Amanda’s disappearance in any way whatsoever, but she wouldn’t believe me. She kept talking about the loss of her husband and how I took advantage of her while she was struggling with her grief.”

  “From the divorce?” Walker clarified.

  Ellis twitched at the question.

  “Divorce? Meredith’s not divorced, Mr. Walker. Her husband is dead.”

  Chapter 47

  “Dead?” Walker audibly gasped.

  “Yes, heart attack. Quite sudden. Far too young.”

  Walker lost his balance. Meredith’s story about the divorce had been a lie. Why? What else about her background was also untrue? “Do you know where she is?” Walker asked.

  Ellis looked surprised. “Why? Is she missing?”

  “For several hours now, yes. Do you have any idea where she might be?”

  “I have no idea, Mr. Walker, but how is it that you know her so well?”

  “It’s a long story, but more importantly, how is it that the two women who can threaten your career have disappeared?” Walker asked sternly.

  “Pardon me?”

  “You heard me. Why is it that Amanda and Meredith are both missing, and they’re the only two people who can attest to what happened in this office? Have you done something with Meredith to keep her quiet, too?”

  Ellis was flabbergasted. “God no! I have no idea where she might be. I had no idea she was missing.”

  “You’ve told me a lot of lies, Dr. Ellis, why should I believe you now?” Walker said with a fury in his voice.

  “Mr. Walker, please look at this from my perspective. I know I made a horrible mistake, and I regret it terribly. I truly do. And I know now that I must admit to that mistake and take responsibility for my actions, along with all the shame that I will bring to this school and my family. But do you really believe I would abduct two women to cover up for my indiscretions?”

  “Dr. Ellis, with all due respect, from my perspective, the two people with the power to ruin your career are now missing.”

  Ellis chuckled grimly. “My career is already ruined, and nothing can change that at this point. But I do see how this probably looks to you. Do you really think I’d be telling you all of this if I took either of those women? That I would be incriminating myself like this?”

  Walker exhaled and stared at Ellis. “Why are you telling me all of this?”

  “Because I want to help you understand what happened here. Provide you with some much—needed context. I think it’s about time, yes?”

  “Why did you wait so long? I could have used this information two days ago.”

  “Forgive me, Mr. Walker. I was simply still trying to protect my reputation, solidify my legacy as dean of this prestigious school. At the time, I thought that was still possible, that Amanda would simply turn up and everything would go back to normal. But as we now know, that happy ending just wasn’t meant to be. I think I probably knew it the moment you walked through that door, but I couldn’t quite admit it to myself. I actually thought there was still hope for a positive outcome. But now my career has ended. My marriage could very well be over. And the reputation of this school will be tarnished for years to
come. But I still want you to find Amanda. I still want you to solve this case. Amanda Bryson does not deserve for anything to happen to her because of my transgressions with her teacher.”

  “Are you suggesting Meredith is somehow involved in Amanda’s disappearance because of what happened the other day — her negative demeanor toward you?”

  Ellis shook his head. “I regret to say it, but I do. There was just something about her that wasn’t right. Something that frightened me.”

  Walker tried to absorb everything he had just heard. The incongruities were astounding to him. Meredith had been his closest ally the entire time he had been here. She had genuinely shown warmth and compassion for him, especially after the fire. Her conversations led him to uncover clues that otherwise would have stayed hidden. Yet she had lied about her husband, lied about her background, and who knows what else. And now the dean of the school was talking about her abnormal behavior and accusing her of being involved in Amanda’s disappearance. If Walker’s grip on reality hadn’t been completely loosened, it was hanging on by a very thin thread.

  Trying to seek other possibilities and knowing full well that hidden cameras were probably lurking in this office as well, Walker asked, “Do you think anyone else could have seen what happened between you and Meredith?”

  “I don’t think so. No. Who else could have seen?”

  “Could they have told anyone? No one is trying to blackmail you or force your hand with the knowledge of what happened?”

  “Of course not.”