“No, we don’t. It’s not our case. It’s a civilian jurisdiction.”
“What was it? A burglary?”
“It maybe started out that way.”
They said nothing more. Summer and I walked them out to the sidewalk in front of post headquarters and watched them climb into their Pentagon car. It was a Mercury Grand Marquis, a couple of model years newer than Mrs. Kramer’s big old boat, and black rather than green. Their driver was a tall guy in BDUs. He had subdued-order badges on and I couldn’t make out his name or his rank in the dark. But he didn’t look like an enlisted man. He U- turned smoothly across the empty road and drove Vassell and Coomer away. We watched his taillights disappear north, through the main gate, and away into the darkness beyond.
“What do you think?” Summer said.
“I think they’re full of shit,” I said.
“Important shit or regular flag-rank shit?”
“They’re lying,” I said. “They’re uptight, they’re lying, and they’re stupid. Why am I worried about Kramer’s briefcase?”
“Sensitive paperwork,” she said. “Whatever he was carrying to California.”
I nodded. “They just defined it for me. It’s the conference agenda itself.”
“You’re sure there was one?”
“There’s always an agenda. And it’s always on paper. There’s a paper agenda for everything. You want to change the dog food in the K-9 kennels, you need forty-seven separate meetings with forty-seven separate paper agendas. So there was one for Irwin, that’s for damn sure. It was completely stupid to say there wasn’t. If they’ve got something to hide, they should have just said it’s too secret for me to see.”
“Maybe the conference really wasn’t important.”
“That’s bullshit too. It was very important.”
“Why?”
“Because a two-star general was going. And a one-star. And because it was New Year’s Eve, Summer. Who flies on New Year’s Eve and spends the night in a lousy stopover hotel? And this year in Germany was a big deal. The Wall is coming down. We won, after forty-five years. The parties must have been incredible. Who would miss them for something unimportant? To have gotten those three guys on a plane on New Year’s Eve, this Irwin thing had to be some kind of a very big deal.”
“They were upset about Mrs. Kramer. More than about Kramer himself.”
I nodded. “Maybe they liked her.”
“They must have liked Kramer too.”
“No, he’s just a tactical problem for them. It’s an unsentimental business, up there at their level. They hitched themselves to him, and now he’s dead, and they’re worrying about where that leaves them.”
“Ready for promotion, maybe.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But if Kramer turns out to be an embarrassment, they could go down with him.”
“Then they should be reassured. You promised them a cover-up.”
There was something prim in her voice. Like she was suggesting I shouldn’t have promised them any such thing.
“We protect the army, Summer,” I said. “Like family. That’s what we’re for.” Then I paused. “But did you notice they didn’t shut up after that? They should have taken the hint. Cover-up requested, cover-up promised. Asked and answered, mission accomplished.”
“They wanted to know where his stuff was.”
“Yes,” I said. “They did. And you know what that means? It means they’re looking for Kramer’s briefcase too. Because of the agenda. Kramer’s copy is the only one still outside of their direct control. They came down here to check if I had it.”
Summer looked in the direction their car had gone. I could still smell its exhaust in the air. An acid tang from the catalyst.
“How do civilian medics work?” I asked her. “Suppose you’re my wife, and I go down with a heart attack? What do you do?”
“I call 911.”
“And then what happens?”
“The ambulance shows up. Takes you to the emergency room.”
“And let’s say I’m DOA when I get there. Where would you be?”
“I would have ridden to the hospital with you.”
“And where would my briefcase be?”
“At home,” she said. “Wherever you left it.” Then she paused. “What? You think someone went to Mrs. Kramer’s house last night looking for the briefcase?”
“It’s a plausible sequence,” I said. “Someone hears that he’s dead from a heart attack, assumes he was pronounced in the ambulance or the emergency room, assumes whoever he was with would have accompanied him, goes down there expecting to find an empty house with a briefcase in it.”
“But Kramer was never there.”
“It was a reasonable first try.”
“You think it was Vassell and Coomer?”
I said nothing.
“That’s crazy,” Summer said. “They don’t look the type.”
“Don’t let looks fool you. They’re Armored Branch. They’ve trained all their lives to roll right over anything that gets in their way. But I don’t think the timing works for them. Let’s say Garber called XII Corps in Germany at twelve-fifteen, earliest. Then let’s say XII Corps called the hotel back here in the States at twelve-thirty, earliest. Green Valley is seventy minutes from D.C. and Mrs. Kramer died at two o’clock. That would have given them a twenty-minute margin to react, maximum. They were just in from the airport, so they didn’t have a car with them, and it would have taken time to get hold of one. And they certainly didn’t have a crowbar with them. Nobody travels with a crowbar in their luggage, just in case. And I doubt if the Home Depot was open, after midnight on New Year’s Eve.”
“So someone
“We need to find that agenda,” I said. “We need to nail this thing down.”
I sent Summer away to do three things: first, list all female personnel at Fort Bird with access to their own Humvees, and second, list any of them who might have met Kramer at Fort Irwin in California, and third, contact the Jefferson Hotel in D.C. and get Vassell and Coomer’s exact check-in and checkout times, plus details on all their incoming and outgoing phone calls. I went back to my office and filed the note from Garber and spread the note from my brother on the blotter and dialed the number. He picked up on the first ring.
“Hey, Joe,” I said.
“Jack?”
“What?”
“I got a call.”
“Who from?”
“Mom’s doctor,” he said.
“About what?”
“She’s dying.”
five
I hung up and called Garber’s office. He wasn’t in. So I left a message detailing my travel plans and saying I would be out for seventy-two hours. I didn’t give a reason. Then I hung up and sat at my desk, numb. Five minutes later Summer came in. She had a sheaf of motor-pool paper with her. I guess she planned on compiling her Humvee list there and then, right in front of me.
