Khalil was just a step or two ahead of us.'
I decided to reply and said, 'That's all it takes in a race. Second place is just the first loser.'
Mr. Koenig regarded me a moment and repeated, 'Second place is the first loser. Where did you get that?'
'I think the Bible.'
Koenig said to Roberts, 'Take a break,' and Mr. Roberts put down his pencil.
Koenig said to me, 'I understand you've put in a transfer request for the IRA section.'
I cleared my throat and replied, 'Well, I did, but-'
'Do you have some personal grudge against the Irish Republican Army?'
'No, actually, I-'
Kate spoke up and said, 'John and I discussed this earlier, and he has withdrawn the request.'
That's not exactly what I said to her, but it sounded better than my racist and sexist remarks regarding Muslims. I glanced at Kate and our eyes met.
Koenig informed me, 'I reviewed the Plum Island case last fall.'
I didn't reply.
'I read the case report prepared by Ted Nash and George Foster, and the report that was written by a Detective Beth Penrose of the Suffolk County Homicide Division.' He added, 'There seemed to be some differences of opinion and fact between the ATTF report and the Suffolk County Police report. Most of the differences had to do with your role in the case.'
'I had no official role in the case.'
'Nevertheless, you solved the case.'
'I had a lot of time on my hands. Maybe I need a hobby.'
He didn't smile. He said, 'Detective Penrose's report was perhaps colored by your relationship with her.'
'I had no relationship with her at the time.'
'But you did when she wrote her final report.'
'Excuse me, Mr. Koenig, I've been through this with the NYPD Internal Affairs-'
'Oh, they have people who investigate affairs?'
This, I realized, was a joke and I chuckled, a second or two late.
'Also,' he continued, 'Ted and George's report may have been colored by the fact that you pissed them off.'
I glanced at Nash, who seemed totally aloof, as usual, as though Koenig was talking about another Ted Nash.
Koenig said, 'I was fascinated by your ability to get to the heart of a very complex case that had eluded everyone else.'
'It was standard detective work,' I said modestly, hoping that Mr. Koenig would say, 'No, my boy, you're brilliant.'
But he didn't say that. He said, 'That's why we hire NYPD detectives. They bring something different to the table.'
'Like donuts,' I suggested.
Mr. Koenig was neither amused nor annoyed. He said, 'They bring to the table a degree of common sense, street smarts, and an insight into the criminal mind that is slightly different from that of an FBI or CIA agent. Do you agree?'
'Absolutely.'
'It is an article of faith in the ATTF that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Synergy. Right?'
'Right. '
'This is only possible through mutual respect and cooperation.'
'I was just about to say that.'
He regarded me a moment and asked, 'Do you want to stay on this case?'
'Yes. I do.'
He leaned toward me and looked in my eyes. He said, 'I don't want to see any grandstanding, I don't want to hear about any shitty attitudes, and I want complete loyalty from you, Mr. Corey, or so help me God, I'll have your head stuffed and mounted on my desk. Agreed?'
My goodness. The guy sounded like my ex-bosses. There must be something about me that brings out the nasties in people. Anyway, I mulled over the contract amendment. Could I be a loyal and cooperative team player? No, but I wanted the job. I realized that Mr. Koenig hadn't demanded that I cease my sarcasm or dull my rapier wit, and I took this as either approval or an oversight on his part. I crossed my fingers and said, 'Agreed.'
'Good.' He put out his hand and we shook. He said, 'You're on.'
I was going to say, 'You won't regret it, sir,' but I thought maybe he would, so I just said, 'I'll do my best.'
Koenig took a folder from Roberts and began leafing through it. I regarded Jack Koenig a moment and decided I should not underestimate him. He didn't get to this corner office because Uncle Sam was his mother's brother. He got here for all the usual reasons of hard work, long hours, intelligence, training, belief in his mission, good leadership skills, and probably patriotism. But a lot of people in the FBI had the same skills and qualifications.
What distinguished Jack Koenig from other talented men and women was his willingness to accept responsibility for catastrophes that he'd been hired to prevent. What happened this afternoon was bad enough, but somewhere out there was a bad guy-Asad Khalil, and others like him-who wanted to nuke midtown Manhattan, or poison the water supply, or wipe out the population with microorganisms. Jack Koenig knew this, we all knew this. But Koenig was ready to carry this burden and take the final rap if and when it happened. Like today.
Koenig looked at Ted, Kate, and me, then nodded to Roberts, who picked up his pencil. The John Corey job interview and attitude adjustment period was over, and Part Two of the JFK disaster was about to begin.
Koenig said to Kate, 'I find it hard to believe that Flight One-Seven-Five was without radio contact for over two hours, and none of you knew about it.'
Kate replied, 'Our only contact with the airline was through the gate agent, who knew very little. We'll have to re-evaluate that procedure.'
'That's a good idea.' He added, 'You should also be in direct contact with Air Traffic Control and Tower Control, and the Port Authority police command center.'
'Yes, sir.'
'If that flight had been hijacked in the air, it could have been in Cuba or Libya before you knew about it.'
'Yes, sir.' She added, 'Ted had the foresight to have the name and phone number of the Tower Supervisor.'
Koenig glanced at Nash and said, 'Yes. Good thinking. But you should have called him sooner.'
Nash didn't reply. I had the impression that Nash would say nothing that Mr. Roberts could jot down on his legal pad.
Koenig continued, 'It would appear that our February defector was on a dry run to see what our procedures are. I think we all suspected that after he bolted, hence the extra precautions this time.' Koenig added, 'If the February defector had been blindfolded, he wouldn't have seen the Conquistador Club, its location, or… how to unlock the door. So, maybe we should start blindfolding all non-authorized personnel, including so-called defectors and informants.' He added, 'Also, you'll recall that the February defector was brought in on a Saturday and saw how few people were at the Conquistador Club on a weekend.'
Part Two, it seemed, was a review of policies and procedures, also called Closing the Cage After the Lion Escapes. Mr. Koenig went on in this vein for some time, speaking mostly to Kate, who was filling in for our fearless leader, George Foster.
'All right,' said Mr. Koenig, 'the first indication you had that everything was not going as planned was when Ted called the Tower Control supervisor, a Mr. Stavros.'
Kate nodded. 'That's when John wanted to go out to the aircraft, but Ted, George, and I-'
'I've already noted that,' said Mr. Koenig. I sort of wanted to hear it again, but Koenig pushed on and asked Ted Nash a direct and interesting question. He looked at Nash and said, 'Did you anticipate a problem with this assignment?'
Nash replied, 'No.'
