Split Second

when he was young and angry and might have picked up a gun and shot someone, Arnold Ramsey chose not to. So given that history, your father, a tenured professor in middle age with a daughter he loved, could plausibly have made the choice not to violently act on his hatred of Ritter. But he might have if another factor was involved.'

'Like what?' Kate asked sharply.

'Like someone else, someone he respected, asking him to. Asking him to join in killing Ritter, in fact.'

'That's impossible. My father was the only one who shot Ritter.'

'What if the other person got cold feet and didn't shoot?'

Kate sat down at her desk, her nimble fingers once more playing their geometric games with the pencil and ruler.

'You have evidence of that?' she asked without looking up.

'What if we did? Would it jog your memory? Does it bring anyone to mind?'

Kate started to say something, then stopped and shook her head.

King glanced at a photo on the shelf and went over and picked it up. It was of Kate and her mother, Regina. It must have been a more recent picture than the one they'd seen in Jorst's office, since Kate looked to be about nineteen or twenty. Regina was still a very lovely woman, but there was something in her eyes, a weariness that probably symbolized her life's tragic circumstances.

'I take it you miss your mother.'

'Of course, I do. What sort of question is that?' Kate reached over and took the photo from him and put it back on the shelf.

'I understand they were separated at the time of his death?'

'Yeah, so? Lots of marriages break up.'

'Any ideas why your parents' did?' asked Michelle.

'Maybe they'd grown apart. My dad was a borderline socialist. My mom was a Republican. Maybe that was it.'

'Yet that was nothing new, was it?' said King.

'Who knows for sure? They didn't really talk about it that much. In her youth my mother was apparently some fabulous actress with a wonderful future. She gave up that dream to marry my dad and support his career. Maybe she came to regret that decision. Maybe she thought she'd wasted her life. I don't really know, and at this point I don't really care.'

'Well, I guess she was depressed about Arnold's death. Maybe that's why she committed suicide.'

'Well, if that was the reason, she waited years to get around to doing it.'

'So you think it was something else?' asked King.

'I really haven't given it much thought, okay!'

'I don't believe that. I'm betting you think about it all the time, Kate.'

One of her hands flew to her eyes. 'The interview is over. Get out!'

As they walked down Franklin Street to Michelle's truck, King said, 'She knows something.'

'Yes, she does,' agreed Michelle. 'The question is, how do we get it out of her?'

'She's pretty mature for her age. But she's also got a lot wrapped up in that head of hers.'

'I wonder how close Thornton Jorst and Kate are? He gave her the heads-up about us pretty fast.'

'I was wondering that myself. I'm not thinking a romantic relationship.'

'More like a surrogate father?' she suggested.

'Maybe. And dads will do a lot to protect their daughters.'

'So what do we do now?' asked Michelle.

'We've clearly shaken up Kate Ramsey. Let's see where she might lead us.'

48

Joan learned some interesting things about John Bruno from the support staff at his Philadelphia law firm. None of them had much good to say about Catherine Bruno.

'Nose stuck so far up in the air it's a wonder she doesn't drown when it rains,' said one secretary about the blue-blooded Mrs. Bruno.

Joan cornered another woman at the law firm who'd also worked with Bruno during his stint as a prosecutor in Washington. The woman remembered Bill and Mildred Martin and had read of their deaths.

'An unlikely person to be murdered,' said the woman with a frightened expression. 'Bill was so sweet and trusting.'

Joan pounced on this. 'Trusting, yes, he was trusting. Even when he shouldn't have been perhaps.'

'Well, I don't like telling tales outside of school.'

'We're both grown; we can tell tales wherever and whenever we want,' Joan prompted. 'Especially if it helps in the cause of justice and other things.'

The woman remained silent.

'So you actually worked for both Bill Martin and Bruno at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington?'

'Yes. Yes, I did.'

'And what was your impression of them?'

'Bill was too nice for his position. We all said that, never to his face, of course. As for Bruno, his personality fit his job perfectly, if you ask me.'

'Tough, ruthless. Not above bending the rules to get results?'

The woman shook her head. 'No, I wouldn't say that. He was tough, but I never knew him to cross the line.'

'And yet I read that there were a lot of problems in the U.S. Attorney's Office back then.'

'There were. Like I said, Bill Martin was too nice sometimes. Some of the prosecutors did cross the line. But let me tell you, a lot of the police officers back then were doing it. There were shakedowns all the time. During the protests in the late sixties and early seventies, I recall dozens of cases of officers fabricating evidence, making arrests for nonexistent crimes, intimidating people, blackmailing them. It was bad, real bad. A disgrace.'

'And yet you're saying Bruno didn't participate in any of that?'

'Well, if he did, I certainly didn't know about it.'

'Did you know Bill Martin's wife, Mildred?'

'A piece of work, that one. Always wanted to live beyond her means. She wasn't a fan of Bruno's, I can tell you that.'

'So I gathered. Then it wouldn't surprise you if she bad-mouthed Bruno, made up lies about him?'

'Not at all. She was like that. She wanted her husband to be this hard-charging man of justice, secretly hoping it would take him, and her, to the big time, meaning big money. Now, Bill wasn't like that. Brunowas. I think she was jealous.'

Joan sat back and digested this new information slowly. She studied the woman closely. She appeared to be telling the truth. If she was, this changed things.

'Would it surprise you if Mildred was involved somehow in either her husband's death or perhaps Bruno's disappearance?'

'It would about Bill. I really think she loved him. But about Bruno?' She shrugged. 'Mildred could be vindictive as hell.'

'Meaning what exactly?'

'That given the opportunity, she might have shot him and not thought twice about it.'

Joan flew back to Virginia and picked up her car. As she was about to head out of the airport, her phone rang. It was her office, reporting back on her inquiry about the whereabouts of Bob Scott and Doug Denby. The report was startling. The magnificent Agency, with all its expensive resources and high-level