“What’s so incredible? You have the experience, the knowledge. The inside information.”
“I’ve been a devoted public servant for more than three decades. I’ve given my entire life to law enforcement.”
“And no doubt have been frustrated by what you perceived as law enforcement’s inadequate powers.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Is it?” Ben leaned closer. “I’m remembering something the president told me. After April nineteenth, he was obviously in a state of shock from having lost his wife in such a violent manner. He was very subject to influence. Malleable. An easy target for someone with a private agenda. And he told me that the idea for the proposed amendment had actually come-from you.”
Lehman raised his head. “That’s true…”
“This whole thing has been an insane power grab concocted in your sick mind to-”
“…but the idea didn’t originate with me.”
Ben stopped short. “It didn’t?”
“No. It was suggested to me.” He drew himself up. “And I think I can prove it.”
58
Ben was pleased to see she was already in the computer room. That would make this ever so much simpler.
“Deputy Director Muldoon?”
She turned and greeted him. Her blouse was unbuttoned at least two buttons below what Ben might’ve expected from a deputy director, but he was not one to criticize. “Please call me Nichole, Senator. I got your message. How can I help you?”
Ben glanced over his shoulder before answering. “Nichole, what I’m about to tell you is extremely confidential. Can I trust you to keep this to yourself?”
She nodded. “The Department of Homeland Security is subject to congressional supervision. If a distinguished member of the Senate gives me an instruction, I’m honor bound to take it, unless it conflicts with other duties.”
“This won’t,” Ben replied. “Far from it. Nichole, you know that for some time many people have suspected the Oklahoma City assassins had inside information. I have reason to believe that information came from this department.” He took another deep breath. “From Director Lehman.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Even when he was deputy director, before Marshall was killed, he was one of the few people with the access and information to pull this off.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“Think. Whose idea was it in the first place?”
“President Blake’s?”
“No. Blake got the idea from Lehman.”
Muldoon’s eyes fairly bulged. “Have you told him about your suspicions?”
“I just confronted him, yes. Problem is, he says the idea didn’t originate with him. He says he just took credit for it, but it originated with someone else in the department.”
“Who?”
“He claims he doesn’t recall. That it came in an in-house e-mail.”
“And you believe that?”
Ben smiled thinly. “It doesn’t matter what I believe. It’s easy enough to prove or disprove. If there was an e-mail, it can be traced. We just need to get into the building’s Internet server and search all Lehman’s e-mail. As you probably know, even if a message is deleted from a computer, it remains on the server until it is erased.”
“And you contacted me-?”
“Because Lehman told me that you oversee the in-house computer network. And I certainly can’t ask him to do it.” He took a step forward. “I need your help. Can you find that e-mail? If it exists?”
“Of course,” she answered. “It isn’t hard. I’ll get my tech staff on it immediately. I doubt if it exists-but if it does, we’ll find it, and then we’ll figure out who sent it.”
“Nichole, I need this as soon as possible.”
“Understood. It should be locatable employing some obvious and unique search terms. We’ll crack open the server and get right back to you.” She glanced at her watch. “Want to meet me again in an hour?”
“That would be great. I’ll be in the second-floor interrogation room waiting for you.” He paused. “Thank you for your help. If Lehman has been orchestrating this conspiracy, there’s no way of knowing what he might plan next. Too many people have already died.”
“Agreed. I’ll get right on it.”
“Thank you,” Ben said, barely above a whisper. “The future of this entire nation may depend on you.”
Fifty minutes later, Nichole Muldoon walked briskly into the second-floor interrogation room.
“Bad news,” she said, before Ben had a chance to ask. “Or good news, depending upon your current operating theory. There’s no e-mail.”
Ben rose to his feet. “You’re certain?”
“I’ve got the best people in the business. They checked and double-checked. It was an easy search to run. We scanned for references to a constitutional amendment prior to the presidential press conference when Blake announced it. Nothing.”
“Lehman didn’t get an e-mail giving him the idea?”
“I’m certain he didn’t. We ran several searches. Even if it was initially proposed in some form other than an amendment, we would have found it. It just isn’t there.” She glanced at the door, as if paranoid that someone might be listening. “Does this mean it really was Lehman’s idea? Why would he lie about that?” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God. Unless he really is guilty. Unless he is the mastermind behind the assassination attempts.” She almost fell into the nearest chair. “It was him!”
Ben glanced across at her calmly. “No.”
It took a moment for his response to register. “I…don’t understand.”
“It wasn’t Lehman.”
“But I thought you said-”
“I might have misled you a bit, Nichole. Sorry about that. But then-you flat-out lied to me, didn’t you?”
“I-don’t follow-”
“You didn’t call in any tech help-because you didn’t need it and you didn’t want any witnesses. And you didn’t invade the Internet server so you could find the e-mail. You did it so you could delete it.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“I don’t think so,” Ben said, slowly moving toward her end of the table. “Although there are some who might disagree.”
“I’m telling you, the e-mail isn’t there. Search for yourself.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that it’s gone now. But it was very much present two hours ago when Carl Lehman and I opened up the server and searched for it. Wanna see a copy?”
Muldoon blinked rapidly several times. “You set me up!”
“Yes, and so successfully, too. Maybe I have a future in politics after all.”
She looked at him sternly. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I don’t know anything about any e- mail.”
“Please, Nichole-don’t waste your breath. I have a copy. And we’ve traced it back to your desktop computer.”
