by Kirk Russell
Raveneau nodded.
‘We’re coming at this from a different direction and I’m going to give you more than Nate did. I can do that because we got there a different way. We were working a fraud case. I’ve got wiretap transcripts from that investigation I’d like to play for you. I can put them on audio or if you’d rather hear and read I can give you both.’
‘Give me both.’
Raveneau followed Coe into a conference room. There was a long oval table with an American flag in a stand, a big-screen TV to the side of it with a computer set-up. The screen came to life and Coe said, ‘These transcripts are from a wire worn by one of our agents out of Salt Lake.’
Raveneau pulled a chair over in front of the TV.
‘This conversation is between a former Utah banker named Jamison Garner and our agent who’s making a contribution using the alias Robert Jenner. Garner used to work for Zion Bank but now works for a very private and political group. Within that group we think may be people who belong to yet another more exclusive group. There’s twenty minutes of talking before they really get to it, and I could fast forward but I think it’s worth hearing all of it. Coffee?’
‘Sure, double espresso, refined sugar, not brown.’
‘You bet, and would you like some fresh pastry?’
‘I would. Bring the cart out and I’ll pick something.’
Coe left as the audio started and Raveneau leaned back and listened to Jamison Garner, deep voiced, easy going, sounding like a big guy who life had treated well. They were talking politics and Garner, like many on either side in these times, was confident he was right. He quietly trash-talked Obama and Congress before launching into the gold bugs’ rap about the Federal Reserve destroying the US dollar. It was talk you could hear a lot of places nowadays. You could turn on the TV and hear experts like Garner on any number of channels. Garner and the man he was talking with were brushing around the edges of ‘something needing doing’ when Coe walked back in.
‘I didn’t look for any milk. Hope you like your coffee black. Sorry it’s in a paper cup.’
Raveneau took a sip. He was watching the transcript and listening to Garner as he asked, ‘Does the Bureau have a file on Alan Krueger?’
‘I knew if I invited you here you’d start asking questions. To get hired on to the Homicide Detail do you have to prove you can ask two hundred questions in an hour? We do have a file. Yes, you can read it. No, it hasn’t been updated since he was killed.’
‘Was it started before or after he left the Secret Service?’
‘After.’
‘Good guy or bad guy?’
‘Good guy doing business with bad guys as near as I can tell.’
‘Who set him up with the bad guys?’
‘That’s a big open question.’
‘Was he an embarrassment to the Secret Service?’
‘No, but they were worried about it at the time and something happened there they’re fuzzy about.’
‘They shut out our inspectors.’
‘They had their own investigation going and they were working hard to figure out who Krueger was dealing with. They had supernotes starting to spread around the world.’
‘Did they begin to question Krueger?’
‘Maybe, probably, and it’s possible more than one party was making supernotes.’
‘Could that party have set-up the North Koreans?’
‘They may have, yes.’
‘What was the Bureau’s theory of who killed Krueger?’
‘We never concluded anything. You’ll read it.’
Raveneau quit talking as the conversation between Garner and Jenner changed abruptly, Jenner getting a little whiny when Garner asked, ‘Can I deposit this today?’
‘You can, but when is anyone going to talk to me? A hundred thousand dollars is still worth something. I just want some sign things are progressing.’
‘We’re doing fine and I’m talking to you, and you knew when you got in that your contributions would be directed to making the changes we know need to happen.’
‘Give me something concrete. You know damn well it’s not going any farther than me.’
‘I don’t know the things you want to know. My job is to gather and pass the money on to those overseeing the work.’
Raveneau heard exasperation creep into Garner’s voice. Exasperation as if he’d had this same conversation before.
‘Jamie, you’re treating me like an outsider.’
A chair shifted, probably Garner.
‘We can return your money.’
‘Don’t be so hardnosed. I’m not asking for much. Three contributions downstream I’m owed something, so just give me a time frame. Am I going to turn on the TV in three months, six months, and see things have started and there’s news?’
‘You’re making me think I misread you initially, and I don’t like making that kind of mistake. I rarely make a mistake about character but you’re starting to disappoint me. You’re asking something you have no business asking and I’m advising you to stop now. I strongly suggest you don’t make me question you any more than you already have today. I don’t want to think I’ve made a mistake that needs to be rectified.’
‘Are you threatening me?’
‘I’m being honest with you.’
Something got whispered that Raveneau couldn’t make out and no text appeared on the screen.
‘The agent didn’t hear it either,’ Coe said. ‘Whatever Garner said, he said under his breath.’
‘I’m as certain we need change as anybody,’ Jenner said. ‘I’m as solid as anybody and you shouldn’t talk to me the way you are. Three hundred thousand dollars is what I’m in so far.’
‘Three hundred thousand dollars is nothing compared to what others are contributing. All you need to know is it’s in motion now.’
‘Just tell me it begins with him.’
‘I’m tearing this check in half. The rest of your contributions will be returned to you. Good day, sir.’
Garner hung up.
‘How long did it take your agent to get that close?’
‘Over a year and a half and it wasn’t easy. We were asked by the Secret Service to push harder, so we did and as you heard it was a mistake. There are other pieces. There are two former Army snipers we’re also watching. We believe there are military links but that’s not confirmed. This next clip is an individual talking about a military supply depot in Kentucky. In this passage the individual working with us is X4. He’s not an FBI agent. He came to us and the man he’s talking to he’s never met or seen. X4 is trying to sell him black market current grade US military hardware.’
X4: ‘I’m calling about the parts order. I can get what you need in time.’
Unsub: ‘Then we’re probably doing business.’
X4: ‘There is a glitch though. My supplier won’t disassemble and ship.’
Unsub: ‘Disassembly and separate shipping is the only way we’ll do this.’
X4: ‘I know. He’s not set-up to disassemble.’
Unsub: ‘That’s a problem.’
X-4: ‘It’s my problem.’
Unsub: ‘You’re right about that and you’ve got a week before I go somewhere else.’
X4: ‘Understood.’
Coe changed the screen now. ‘Here’s another Garner and sorry to do this with scraps, but I’ll sketch it together for you. This is an older Garner tape from last July. We don’t know who he was talking to. The party on the other end had a throwaway phone.’
Raveneau listened and read the text as it passed by. It was all Garner, a monologue, a diatribe on social values that morphed into protecting the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic as if somehow there was a natural connection. He segued into corruption in Washington and said they were using someone in Washington to gain access, but that those getting paid for that would not ‘make the long trip with us.’ ‘Their purpose will have been fulfilled,’ he said. He spoke about sacrifice and necessary shock
to the country, corruption trials, and public executions ‘after the mobilization.’
‘What do you think the mobilization is?’ Raveneau asked. ‘And what are you calling this guy?’
‘We call him Jericho.’ He paused. ‘You’ll think we’ve gone nuts in here.’
‘I already think that.’
‘Let me say first we have no real theory yet, but there is a link to weapon purchases and this counterfeit series you’re caught up in. We’ve recorded references to a first event. The Secret Service believes that’s an assassination plan and we gather that’s just the initial step. These are planners. The mobilization, and this is where you’re going to shake your head and laugh, is later and involves some aspect of our military and a temporary occupation of Washington. It’s possible the planning began a decade or more ago.’
‘Oh, come on-’
‘Ben, I’m with you, it’s another wacko conspiracy hunt, but something is going on. Garner is well-connected and the group he’s with is well-funded. A year ago you could never have convinced me that anything like they’re talking was even remotely possible. But now I’m not as sure. Maybe I’ve been drinking the Kool-Aid. Maybe I’ve listened and read too much into these conversations.’
‘They’re living a fantasy.’
‘I know and I agree with you, but I think they’re going to try.’
TEN
Snow was alongside the road in the foothills but the road was dry as Raveneau drove over Donner Pass. The high mountain rock caught early sunlight though the snow-covered slopes lower were still shaded, the snow smooth and hard looking. He lowered his window and let the cold air reach him as he exited in Truckee and found a gas station, then called Barbara Haney from there, his breath clouding in front as he told her he was close.
‘Do you need directions?’
‘It’s been awhile but I can still find my way around.’
The big Cottonwood sign was still up there on the hill and it was easy to remember sitting out on the deck. He drove toward the Tahoe Basin and turned off into the shadowed snowy Martis Valley. He found her house among the big new houses built in the last decade.
When she opened the door he saw a tall woman nearing fifty, big-boned but not heavy. She had a fluid walk, an athletic ease to her. Her cheekbones were sharp, eyes dark, iron-colored streaks running in her black hair. She led him to a large, high-ceilinged, open room that could have been the lobby of a boutique mountain hotel. Heavy fir beams held up the roof. The stone fireplace was big enough to set up a card table inside. Tall windows looked up toward the backside of the Northstar ski resort up above in the near distance. Skiers were on the slopes, not too many but some, dark and small as they skied the runs. He watched a fast skier and asked her, ‘Do you get out there?’
‘I usually ski once or twice a week, but not lately. We need a storm. It’s hardly snowed in January. The snow is hard and I’ve become softer, and I don’t really like to ski alone. But when I’m here I’m usually alone.’
‘Where’s your husband?’
‘Working. We have a house in Colorado and the corporate headquarters my husband works out of are there. He’s there most of the time.’
Raveneau could ask why they didn’t move from house to house together, but instead said, ‘I used to ski but I haven’t in awhile. It’s one of those things I don’t seem to do any more.’
‘That’s how it works, one day you just don’t do what you used to and you wonder why not.’
She smiled and Raveneau saw sadness. He looked from the mountain slopes and the skiers to her. ‘Some new evidence came in on the Alan Krueger murder and I’m actively working the case.’
‘Well, where do you want to start?’
‘With your ex-husband, how do I get in touch with him? Your daughter, Cheryl, gave me an email address. Do you have a phone number?’
‘Not any more. I email him. He always responds. Just don’t tell him you’re a San Francisco homicide inspector. Did my daughter tell you I’m fragile?’
‘She said you suffer from depression.’
‘I suffer from her theories but there’s nothing unusual about me and I’m certainly not fragile. I won’t burst into tears after you leave, but I would like to think I can put what happened in 1989 behind me at some point. We were tourists on our honeymoon.’
‘I understand.’
‘Good, and I understand we brought suspicion on ourselves. I have to admit we did avoid Inspector Govich when he came to Calgary. My husband simply couldn’t stand him.’
‘You can tell your ex that Govich retired.’
‘I don’t think retired would be quite enough to satisfy Larry. He’d want a little more than that.’ She smiled a wry smile now, brushed a strand of hair from her face and said, ‘Bit of an irony that all you had to do was call me yesterday to set up an interview this morning. Don’t tell Govich how easy I’ve become. What about Govich’s partner? I’ve forgotten his name.’
‘Henry Goya.’
‘What does he say about us?’
‘He’s circumspect.’
‘Wonderful, we’re making progress. It’s been how many years?’
‘Twenty-two.’
She smiled again, but less brightly.
‘Let’s move into the kitchen. It’s warmer there.’
She got out a plate and put scones on it that she said came from a bakery in town. She made coffee as she talked and Raveneau ate a scone and drank a mug of coffee while Barbara offered pieces of what she remembered of the day Alan Krueger was murdered. She was nervous. It showed in her hands and voice and Raveneau wanted to put her at ease.
‘I brought the murder files with me. I didn’t bring them to show you crime scene photos but because I thought you might want to see what was written about you then.’
‘Why would I want to do that?’
‘So we start from the same place. They’re in the car. They can stay there or I can bring them in.’
His tactic was to show her everything written about herself and her ex-husband, Larry Benhaime. He wanted to get her off the defensive and break the pattern. Her family members could only be echoing what she had told them.
‘You can leave them in the car.’
‘OK.’
‘And I should say I understand much more than you may realize. I know Inspector Govich discovered we lied about the dinner and that made him suspicious. I would be too. The truth about that particular thing is rather bizarre but simple. Larry, my ex, is a contrarian. If you say yes, he’ll say no, and maybe not right away but sooner or later. He didn’t like your Inspector Govich and I think he told him that we ate dinner at that restaurant that I can’t even remember the name of just to be perverse. When you finally track him down in some bar in Hong Kong I think he’ll tell you he didn’t believe it was any of the inspector’s business where we ate dinner or when we came back to the hotel, or anything else about our honeymoon.’
‘I think they realized that, and from talking with Henry Goya the lie over where you ate dinner didn’t mean anything.’
‘We actually had a reservation and we had looked forward to eating there that night. But we got asked to come to the police station and then we were kept waiting for hours. That’s what made Larry angry.’ She shrugged. ‘We were young and it was a murder and we were tourists. If it happened now I’d have told you everything we know and we’ll talk to you again tomorrow if you want, but we’re leaving now.’
‘It was never about the dinner, Barbara. There were other things.’
‘Why did you go back to this case?’
‘We received a videotape that someone made of Krueger’s murder.’
‘You mean of the actual murder?’
‘Yes, and it’s been looked at and we believe it’s authentic.’
‘That’s quite astonishing. You couldn’t have seen that one coming.’
‘Definitely not, and now I’m going back through Inspectors Goya and Govich’s investigation. I’m retracing their steps
. I have to first understand where they were coming from.’
‘Why would you do that if they didn’t solve it?’
‘Because they had leads and questions.’
‘Like Larry and me.’
‘I don’t know that either you or Larry were ever suspects.’
‘Of course you do, it’s why you’re here. If you hadn’t received the videotape when would this have finally been tucked away in a file cabinet?’
‘We never close an unsolved case.’
‘There’s a TV show where they say dramatic things like that. It’s not a very good one though and I’m more interested in real life. I’m going to put forward my theory of why you’re here. You’re here because you think the original inspectors were on to something about us, or you think it’s possible they were. You aren’t sure, of course, but you’re curious or you are entertaining the idea or maybe they’ve convinced you that they should have arrested us.’
‘They didn’t suspect you and Larry of killing Alan Krueger.’
‘As I said, I don’t believe that.’
‘And I brought the video — which you don’t have to watch because it is graphic — but I’m here with it because I’m hoping when you do watch it, if you do, that it’ll trigger a memory that will help me. It’s the killing with the shooter and you’re not the shooter and I’d say your husband is too tall.’
‘He is six foot three.’
‘So I hear.’
‘OK, Inspector, if it proves once and for all it wasn’t us, let’s watch it. Bring your coffee. I’ll bring the scones. It’ll be like a date. We’ll play it in the den. Do you watch things like this often at your police station?’
‘We don’t get many like this.’ As they walked into the den, Raveneau asked, ‘How long were you married?’
‘Too long. I’ve learned that I tend to recognize things long before I act. My daughter thinks medication could help that. What do you think?’
‘I try to avoid medication.’
‘Do you ever feel like your life is a series of connected failures?’
‘I know what that feels like.’