“So now we have two deaths connected to agent Whitaker.”
“Hold on a second. There’s nothing to suggest Whitaker had anything to do with causing her death. Hell, considering we were jumped at the storage locker, doesn’t it seem likely that this may be the same people who were behind that?”
“No. We finally got the information back on them. They were common criminals with long records for robbery and armed assault.”
“They could have been hired by someone to wait at that particular storage locker for whoever came back to retrieve the files. Hell, they didn’t try to rob us. They just started shooting as soon as they were close enough.”
“First, you’ve looked at the files, there was nothing there. Also, there have been a whole series of break-ins and several strong-arm robberies in that area. I know it seems like a coincidence, but those sometimes happen. The only evidence we have anywhere is the connection of your Agent Whitaker to two homicides.”
“What about the other bodies, you said there was a shootout?”
“Yes, there were two other men, but both had prints on file and are known to us. Again, common criminals.”
“You have to admit that isn’t right. So first you have just random guys trying to kill us, I guess to rob us, and now more people you’re saying are street criminals involved with the death of someone connected to this. I just don’t buy it.”
“I get you’re having trouble with this. More, I agree with you; this doesn’t add up for me either, not yet. I’m not saying I’m ready to place the blame of either murder at Agent Whitaker’s feet, just that we really need to talk to her and see if she can help us make sense of all this. I need to go to Mrs. Sharp’s home and see if there’s anything there that explains how she ended up in an unrented apartment in a gunfight. It’s against procedure, but why don’t you come with me and see if for yourself. That way, you can see what happened and if your friend was involved.”
“Is there any chance we can see the place where the shootout happened too?” Taylor asked.
Graf stopped and considered for a few minutes, clearly weighing having someone outside of his agency at a crime scene.
“We can do that,” he said after a moment. “We’ll stop at her apartment first since its closer, and I’ll check to make sure my techs have finished with the scene. If they have, then we can go.”
Knowing how the Bureau worked, he knew they’d throw a conniption if someone like him went to one of their crime scenes. Considering the Germans he’d known in the past and his dealings with them so far during this investigation, they were if anything more officious. He appreciated Graf bending the rules for him. However, he couldn’t help the sneaking suspicion that Graf also wanted Taylor there to spot anything that might be connected to Whitaker. He knew it’s what he would have done in Graf’s place.
The pair drove to Sharp’s apartment in silence after Graf called to double-check the address Taylor had for her. While they drove, Taylor considered how screwed he was. If they didn’t turn up anything at Sharp’s place, then Taylor was out of leads. He had no doubt that Sharp’s death was tied into Frieda’s death, Whitaker’s investigation, and the guys at the storage facility.
Despite what Graf said, Taylor didn’t buy the random crime angle. He’d seen that type of lazy police work before by cops, wishing away leads as the most straightforward explanation to keep from having to follow things down harder paths. Sometimes they were right, but very often they’d been wrong.
Even if the gunmen were just local criminals, they could have been hired by someone to do the dirty work. Considering that the dead men found on the scene with Sharp’s body were also supposed to be the same variety of criminals, that seemed even more likely. One coincidence Taylor could buy, maybe, but this many would have required astronomical odds.
Sharp’s apartment was located not far from the historic center of Berlin, which would have put her close to the foreign office and similar governmental buildings. The complex itself was newer and more stylized, not the cement block house style that surrounded it and looked like it would cost a fair amount to Taylor’s admittedly untrained eye.
An officer met them at the building with whatever paperwork Graf seemed to need to have the building maintenance man let them into her apartment. Taylor hadn’t seen Graf call ahead to have the paperwork waiting for him, but it fit in with the man’s personality.
The apartment was tidy, modern, but somewhat bland. The furniture wasn’t the somewhat eclectic mix you’d get from someone who furnished it over time. Everything was almost certainly bought at once, and the apartment probably came furnished. There was very little personalization in any way. No pictures on the mantels, and nothing stuck to the fridge with magnets. If it wasn’t for the food in the fridge and the clothes in the closet, Taylor would have almost thought the apartment was unoccupied.
Sharp was clearly fastidious. Taylor was used to living with Whitaker, who was very much a type-A personality that needed everything in its place, and yet their apartment had never looked like this.
Taylor and Graf poked around for a while. Still, despite looking everywhere he could think of, nothing jumped out at him as being connected to Whitaker. Graf seemed to find it notable that there weren’t any documents or home office, but Taylor didn’t think that meant as much as Graf did. Her offices weren’t that far from here, and she probably would have kept most documents there. There was a dock for a laptop, but no laptop, which might not mean anything. Besides her office, she could
