“Good morning.” Walsh retrieved his credentials. “I’m here to see Mr. Hickman regarding the wrongful death suit against EMS Baltimore. FBI Agent Levi Walsh.”
“Of course, one moment, Agent Walsh.” The young woman picked up the phone and pressed a button on the console. “Mr. Hickman? I have FBI Agent Walsh here to see you.” She waited. “It’s about EMS Baltimore. Okay, thank you.” She returned the phone to its cradle. “He’s on his way. Feel free to take a seat.”
“I’ve been on my backside for the last hour and a half. I wouldn’t mind stretching my legs for a minute,” he replied.
“Be my guest.”
Mr. Hickman, the senior partner in the law firm, approached with an outstretched hand. “Agent Walsh. I’m afraid I wasn’t made aware of your impending visit.”
Walsh shook his hand. “That’s on me, sir. I left the office first thing this morning before you opened your doors.”
“Okay, then. So, what can I do for you?” Hickman wore a navy blue 3-piece suit with a patterned red tie and looked every part the lawyer.
“Do you mind if we have a sit-down in your office? I won’t take up but a few minutes of your time,” Walsh added.
“Of course. Right this way.” Hickman looked at his receptionist. “Be sure to hold my calls, would you, Jennifer?”
“Yes, sir.” She smiled at Walsh as he walked by.
He smiled in return and felt a mild heat rise in his cheeks. He was much too old for that young woman who couldn’t have been over 25. But for a man in his early forties, it was flattering when a pretty woman smiled, even if it was her job. “I should apologize for the intrusion, Mr. Hickman.”
Hickman walked into his office. “That’s entirely unnecessary, Agent Walsh. Anything I can do to help out you folks, I’m more than happy to do.” He motioned to a guest chair. “Please, have a seat and tell me what it is I can do for you today.”
Walsh sat down. “I work in the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico. Essentially, that means we offer assistance to other FBI offices who need help in areas where we specialize such as serial killings, among other violent-type crimes.”
“Oh my. I see,” Hickman added.
“We’ve been working on a situation with the Houston office and while working on that case, my colleague happened to notice a news story regarding a case your law firm is heading up.”
“We have several cases going at any given time, Agent Walsh. Don’t suppose you can be a little more specific?”
“We’re particularly interested in the civil suit against Baltimore EMS.”
“The wrongful death claim,” Hickman added.
“The very one. See, there’s a suspect out there who, well, I don’t want to get into too fine a detail, but suffice it to say, we’d like to know more about your case and your client.”
“I’ll tell you everything I legally can, Agent Walsh.”
Kate wrapped her knuckles on Duncan’s open office door. “Good morning.”
Duncan peered up. “Hey. I haven’t seen you all morning. Did you just get in?”
“No. I’ve been keeping my nose to the grindstone on this mercy killer.”
“Is that what we’re calling it now?” Duncan asked.
“That’s what I’m calling it.” Kate walked in and sat down. “I wanted to run something past you.”
“Shoot.”
“I know you’ve had to make this whole Riverside immigration deal a priority, but I was hoping you might be able to jump in and help me out with something if you have the time,” Kate said.
“I made my calls to the Riverside people and handed everything to Scarborough. It’ll be up to him to pull the right strings. So, I guess what I’m getting at is, yeah, I have some time. What are you thinking about?”
“Levi will probably end up getting what we need, but in the event the case in Baltimore doesn’t jibe with ours, I think we should still move forward with other leads.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Never put all your eggs in one basket, right?” Duncan added.
“Something like that.” Kate chuckled. “This will be time consuming, but what do you think about looking into previous disaster sites to determine if similar situations exist?”
“You mean, check for other suspicious deaths?” Duncan clarified. “I thought Walsh had considered that angle already?”
“With him getting pulled away, I don’t want it to slip through the cracks. I mean, look, there’s no way this guy is a beginner. I think he could have been at this game for a long time. And if that’s the case, there are bound to be similar deaths over the past few years and if there is, someone might remember the who, where and when.”
“I agree. If it so happens that we find examples of such cases, and Walsh comes back with a name, we might be able to build one hell of a solid case against whoever this mercy killer is.”
Fisher appeared in the doorway. “Good. You’re both here. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” He walked inside.
“Not at all. Just spit-balling,” Duncan replied.
“Then I’d like to run a name past you both. As discussed, I’m working on filling Quinn’s position and someone just handed me a pretty strong candidate to consider.”
“Anyone we know?” Kate asked.
“Agent Mitch Palmero.” He sat down next to Kate.
Duncan looked at him with a furrowed brow. “He wants to make a move?”
“He was so impressed with Reid’s profile and picking up on that news story last night, he thought it would be an honor to work with her. And the rest of us, of course.”
“That’s very flattering, but does he have the right kind of experience?” Kate asked. “Look, I’m not one to talk, I get that, but I don’t think he’s particularly known in the field of profiling. Is he?”
“There’s a whole world outside of D.C., Reid. A lot of extremely talented agents who do exactly what you do in their field offices. They don’t get the
