Whiplash

him. He looked serious and concerned, the picture of cooperation.

Savich sat back in the chair, crossed his ankles, and said easily, 'Mr. Blauvelt was a man to be reckoned with, Mr. Royal. He took care of people who were causing problems, as I'm sure you know. He was a fixture at Schiffer Hartwin when you first came on board five years ago as CEO. He possibly did your own background check.'

'I heard rumors, nothing more. Believe me, I didn't know what, if anything, he was here to do.'

'When was the last time Mr. Blauvelt came to see you, Mr. Royal?'

Royal's eyes never left Savich's face. He splayed his wide palms on the desktop. Nice manicure, Savich saw.

'I don't remember. Wait, oh, yes, it was maybe a year ago. We discussed cost overrun problems with a new drug. We resolved questions and he left.'

'Actually Blauvelt was here three and a half months ago. Why was he here then, Mr. Royal?'

'He was? I'm sorry, Agent Savich, but I don't believe I saw him. Perhaps he was here on vacation.'

Savich merely continued to look at Royal. Clearly he was an ambitious man who enjoyed his perks, a man unlikely to let any morals or ethics impede his progress toward his goals. Surely he was bright enough to come up with a better answer than that to suit Savich. 'Why don't you look it up in your appointment book, Mr. Royal. It will only take a moment.'

Caskie Royal turned his chair to the credenza behind him where his computer sat next to a photo of a pretty blond woman in a white summer dress with two boys, one standing on each side.

'Your family, Mr. Royal?'

'What? Oh, yes, that's my wife, Jane Ann, and my two sons, Chad and Mark.'

He raised his hands to the keyboard, then shook his head at himself. 'Sorry, I forgot.' He swiveled his chair toward the desk again and opened a drawer, withdrawing a datebook covered in beautiful Moroccan leather. He looked up after a moment. 'Here we are. Yes, I remember now. He came over to speak to me about one of our employees. A manager at Rexol, our distribution plant in Missouri. Blauvelt was here to discuss problems with his performance. He wanted me to fire him.

'I, ah, I talked him out of firing the employee, Mr. Rink, who is a good man, very experienced. I explained to Mr. Blauvelt that we could trust Rink to turn things around. He was having personal problems. I told Blauvelt I'd speak to Rink, oversee his work more closely. Blauvelt agreed and left. There was nothing more to it than that.'

So Royal had quickly come up with a nice fleshed-out story on the fly. Savich was impressed. 'You are a very important man in the Schiffer Hartwin hierarchy, Mr. Royal. Why would corporate in Germany send Blauvelt over to speak to you about the performance of one of your own employees?'

Royal continued to smile, looking more sincere than the pope. He said, 'I recall they sent a message through him, Agent Savich, giving me their ideas and expectations. Not a big deal.'

'All right, Mr. Royal. You're certain Mr. Blauvelt wasn't scheduled to meet with you on this trip to the U.S.?'

'No, he wasn't.'

'Would you mind telling me what you had on your computer that might tempt a thief?'

'E-mails mostly, and endless reports, Agent Savich. A great many reports are copied to the CEO, reports on programs in research and development, reports on our cost structure, reports on the status of drug production and distribution, you get the idea.'

'No reports that were particularly critical? That might be of interest to a competitor?'

'That's hard to say, Agent Savich. There were so many reports, I don't think a thief could have located a specific one. But whatever the thief was after, he was out of luck.' He smiled.

'I see. I'm something of a computer expert. Would you like me to look through your files? Perhaps I could locate files that were accessed before you and Ms. Alvarez interrupted the thief.'

Royal shook his head. 'I cannot do that, Agent Savich. I assure you, no files were disturbed. We interrupted whoever it was before anything could be taken.'

'You yourself checked your computer to see what file or files were accessed?'

'Of course I checked immediately, nothing was opened. Look, Agent Savich, I told you, we interrupted the person before anything could be touched. I even took my hard drive to our IT department this morning, had them install a new one. They are checking it again to be sure nothing was uploaded or accessed.'

Now that was well done, Caskie. You're not a dummy, are you? Savich said pleasantly, 'So the files that were on your computer last night are gone, destroyed?'

'That's right. No big deal, Agent. I do it several times a year.'

'I read in the police report that the thief escaped through a small window in your connecting bathroom, which means your thief was very probably a woman. Do you know anyone who might fit the bill?'

Royal shook his head slowly. 'It's bizarre, the break-in. I wouldn't have thought any of our competitors would break into our headquarters.'

'Of course, given how important a cog Mr. Blauvelt was in Schiffer Hartwin's vast wheel, I would assume he would have had the access and passwords to all the management computers. Could he have hired a woman to break into your computer for something specific?'

Royal looked bewildered. 'I'm sorry, but I can't imagine what.'

Savich said, 'Well, we know it wasn't Ms. Alvarez, since she was with you. I guess in a small town like Stone Bridge, you can't be discreet getting a hotel room. That sofa doesn't look all that comfortable.'

'I was not here last night to sleep with her! I do not have sex with my managers. We were having a business discussion, that's all.'

Savich looked down at his fingernails, buffed them on his sleeve. He said, 'A man like you-you earn a good living, you support your family, you provide for all their needs and wants.' Savich splayed his hands in front of him. 'Of course I understand how a man like yourself wouldn't want to admit that you sometimes get bored. That you would want, even need, some variety to liven things up now and then. After all, don't you deserve it?' He gave Royal the man-to-man look he'd seen on DEA agent Joe Monroe's face when he talked about his girlfriends at the gym.

'No, really, it's just that I-' Royal saw that look, recognized it immediately, gave Savich a shrug, and said finally with a smirk, 'What the hell. Carla's hot, you know? She loves sex, unlike my wife, and knows more ways to do it than I do. She had a bad divorce a while back, so there's no chance she'd want more than sex and some laughs.'

'A pity you had to deal with the break-in and the cops instead of enjoying yourself.'

'Yeah, that's the truth.'

'You must have some idea of who broke in last night and why.'

'No, I'm sorry, I don't.'

'Mr. Blauvelt's body was found behind your building, at the edge of Van Wie Park, an area few people ever go since the undergrowth is so thick. Come now, who could Blauvelt have sent to break into your office? Was he here in the building with her? Did you or someone here come in on him, kill him, then panic and dump him out back?'

'No, that is ridiculous! I am trying to cooperate with you, Agent Savich. You have no right to treat me like a criminal. I should get one of our lawyers in here.'

'Would his name be Bender?'

Royal froze. Slowly, he took his hand off the phone. 'Yes,' he said, 'it would. We call him Bender the Elder.'

Savich said easily, 'We are nearly done here, Mr. Royal. I don't believe Bender the Elder is needed, do you?'

Royal chewed that over a moment, then drew in a deep breath, and nodded.

'Tell me, how long have you been having an affair with Carla Alvarez?'

'If you must know, not all that long. Maybe four months. I was getting tired of her, truth be told. You know how it is, you screw an older woman, and she gets ideas.' He shrugged.

Older woman? Savich had seen a photo of Carla Alvarez. Caskie Royal had at least seven or eight years on her. He looked hard at Royal. He looked just a bit shaken, but still well in control. Savich said easily, 'No, I can't say I've had that experience, Mr. Royal.'