I said, “Kate and I would like to go upstate and assist in the search.”
I’m sure I wasn’t Tom Walsh’s first choice to take this assignment, but I was on-duty today, plus he knew Harry and I were friends. Also, he needed an FBI agent on the spot ASAP, and Kate had made the mistake of coming in for half a day on a holiday, and voila, Walsh could tell Washington he already had a team on the way upstate.
Walsh said to me and Kate, “I thought you’d want to do that, so it’s all arranged.”
“Good. We’ll leave as soon as possible.”
He checked his watch. “In fact, you’re leaving in about five minutes. There’s a car downstairs to take you to the Downtown Manhattan Heliport. An FBI helicopter will take you to Adirondack Regional Airport. Travel time is about two hours. There will be a Hertz rental car at the airport in John’s name. When you get there, call me, and I’ll give you further instructions.”
Kate asked, “Do we have a contact person there?”
“You may.” He added, “Agents from Albany and from here will be joining you tonight or tomorrow.”
I inquired, “Have we gotten a search warrant for the Custer Hill Club?”
“The last I heard from our office in Albany is that they were trying to find a U.S. attorney on the holiday, who in turn needs to find a Federal judge who wants to work today.”
“Have they tried the saloons?”
Walsh continued, “The U.S. attorney will need to convince a judge that this is a Federal case, and that he or she should issue a search warrant for the Custer Hill Club property-which is about sixteen square miles of land-but not the lodge itself. We’re not going to get that without probable cause, and we have no reason to think that Harry Muller is in the house.”
Kate said, “We don’t need a warrant if there’s an immediate danger that a person’s life may be in jeopardy.”
Walsh agreed. “I’m sure the owner, Mr. Madox, would consent to a search for a person who may be lost or injured on his property, and we’ll go that route first. But if Madox is not cooperative, or just not available, and an employee of the club doesn’t know what to do, then we’ll execute the warrant for the property search.”
I asked, “And how do you explain to Mr. Madox that you may have a Federal agent missing on his property?”
“He doesn’t need to know it’s a Federal agent. We’ll leave the property search to the state police.” He added, “Obviously we’re trying to do all we can, short of alerting Madox that he’s under surveillance.”
I pointed out, “If Harry was detained by the security people at this club, then Madox knows he’s under surveillance, Tom.”
“First, there is no evidence and no reason to believe that Harry was detained at the Custer Hill Club. But if he was, then he’d certainly stick to his cover story.”
“Which is?”
“A lost bird-watcher.”
“I don’t think that’s going to fly, pardon the pun.” I asked, “And what if these security people searched him? Was he clean going in?”
Walsh hesitated, then replied, “No. But what are the chances that private security people are going to physically search a trespasser? Or that Harry would allow that?”
“I don’t know, Tom. But I wouldn’t want to find out the hard way. If I had gone in, I wouldn’t be carrying my Fed creds and Glock.” I reminded him, “Cops impersonating drug dealers don’t have their gun and badge with them.”
Walsh didn’t seem to appreciate the lecture. He said to me, “First of all, the Custer Hill Club is not a drug den, so don’t use your NYPD analogies where they’re not appropriate. Also, let’s assume Harry was
“Okay, so let’s assume he’s lost or hurt on club property. The state and local police should be conducting a land-and-air search right now. What are we waiting for?”
“We’re not waiting, John. We’re taking it a step at a time, and they
I replied, “I’m not seeing much light here myself.”
“This is no different than any other assignment. You get as much light as you need to take the next step into the dark.”
“Sounds like bullshit to me.”
“It’s actually official policy.”
Kate said, “John, we need to get going.”
Walsh stood, and we stood with him. He said, “If anything develops on the way there, I’ll radio the helicopter.”
We all shook hands, and Walsh said, “If you need to stay overnight, find a room.”
I replied, “Don’t expect to see us until we’ve found Harry.”
“Good luck.”
We left Walsh’s office, returned to our desks, shut down our computers and gathered our belongings, then took the elevator to the lobby.
A car and driver were waiting for us outside, and on the way to the heliport, Kate asked me, “What do you think?”
“I think you should never go to the office on your day off. No good deed goes unpunished.”
“I was fortunate to be here.” She asked, “I mean, what do you think about Harry?”
“Based on my experience and on statistics, the most probable explanation for any disappearance, especially that of an adult male, is an accident that hasn’t yet been discovered, a suicide, or a planned disappearance. Rarely is foul play involved.”
She thought about that and asked me, “Do you think he had an accident?”
“No.”
“Suicide?”
“Not Harry.”
“Do you think he’s just goofing off someplace?”
“No.”
“So…”
“Yes.”
We didn’t speak for the rest of the ride.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Afew helicopters sat on the pad, and ours was easy to spot because it had FBI markings, which most FBI aircraft don’t. I prefer to travel and arrive in unmarked conveyances, but the pilot explained that this was the only chopper available on short notice. No big deal.
We climbed aboard the helicopter-a Bell JetRanger-and it lifted from its pad on the East River and followed the river north. To my left was the towering skyline of Manhattan Island, and to my right, the mysterious flatlands of Brooklyn and Queens, where I rarely venture.
We continued north over the Hudson, following the majestic river valley.
In less than ten minutes, we passed over the Tappan Zee Bridge, and a few minutes later, we were flying over open countryside on both sides of the valley as we continued to follow the Hudson River northbound.
I’m not a big fan of the great outdoors, but from up here, the landscape was a spectacular panorama of small towns, farms, and trees whose autumn leaves were glowing in the bright sunlight.
Kate said, “We should get a weekend house up here.”
