The General's Daughter

understand, sir. I’ll tell them.” He hung up and looked at us. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Colonel.”

“Coffee?”

“Please.”

He poured two cups of coffee and indicated the sugar. He began without preamble, “I’ve encountered very little discrimination in the Army, and I can speak for other minorities when I say that the Army is, indeed, a place where race and religion are not a factor in advancement or in any other area of Army life. There may be racial problems among the enlisted personnel, but there is no systemic racial discrimination.”

I wasn’t sure where this was going, so I put sugar in my coffee.

Colonel Fowler looked at Cynthia. “Have you experienced any discrimination based on your sex?”

Cynthia hesitated, then replied, “Perhaps… yes, on a few occasions.”

“Have you ever been harassed because of your gender?”

“Yes.”

“Have you been the subject of rumors, innuendos, or lies?”

“Maybe… once that I know of.”

Colonel Fowler nodded. “So you see that I as a black man have had fewer problems than you as a white woman.”

Cynthia replied, “I know that the Army is less accepting of females than of males. But so is the rest of the world. What is the point, Colonel?”

“The point, Ms. Sunhill, is that Captain Ann Campbell had a very difficult time here at Hadley. If she had been the general’s son, for instance, and had fought in the Gulf, Panama, or Grenada, she would have been idolized by the troops as so many sons of great warriors have been throughout history. Instead, the rumor going around is that she fucked for everyone on post. Excuse my language.”

I offered, “And if Captain Campbell had been the son of a fighting general who came home covered with glory and fucked all the female personnel on post, he’d never have to buy another drink in the O Club.”

Colonel Fowler looked at me. “Precisely. We have that odd double standard for men and women that we would not tolerate if it were racial. So if you have some hard information concerning Captain Campbell’s sexual conduct, I’d like to hear it, though I don’t care if it’s true or not.”

I replied, “I’m not at liberty to reveal my sources at this time. My only interest in Captain Campbell’s sexual conduct is how or if it relates to her murder. I have no prurient interest in her sex life as an entertaining sidelight to her rape and strangulation out there on the rifle range.” Actually, of course, she wasn’t raped, but I wasn’t giving out free copies of the autopsy.

Colonel Fowler said, “I’m sure that’s true, Mr. Brenner, and I didn’t mean to question your professional ethics. But you’d damned well better keep that connection in mind and not let your investigation become a witch- hunt.”

“Look, Colonel, I appreciate your distress, and the distress of the deceased’s family. But we’re not talking about rumor and innuendo, as you suggested. We’re talking about hard facts that I have. Ann Campbell had not only an active sex life, which in her position in this man’s Army is not solely her business, but she led a potentially dangerous sex life. We can argue about double standards all morning, but when I hear that a general’s daughter slept with half the senior married officers on post, I think of suspects, not tabloid headlines. The words ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ don’t pop into my detective’s mind. But the words ‘blackmail’ and ‘motive’ do. Do I make myself clear, sir?”

Colonel Fowler must have thought so, because he was nodding, or perhaps he was agreeing with some thought in his head. He said to me, “If you make an arrest, do I have your assurances that only the minimal amount of this information appears in your report?”

I had half a mind to tell him about Ann Campbell’s hidden store of sexual delights and how I had already compromised myself to minimize the damage. I said, “The evidence in Captain Campbell’s house could have and should have been shared with Chief Yardley. But Ms. Sunhill and I took a precautionary move to ensure that anything in the house of an unmarried, attractive female officer that would be embarrassing to her family or the Army did not wind up as a public amusement. Actions speak louder than words, and that’s the only assurance I can give you.”

Again, he nodded, then said quite unexpectedly, “I’m very pleased with both of you. I’ve checked you both out, and you come to us with the highest recommendations. It’s our privilege to have you assigned to this case.”

I lifted my feet because the bullshit was getting higher, but I replied, “That’s very good of you to say that.”

He poured us more coffee and said, “So you have a prime suspect. Colonel Moore.”

“That’s correct.”

“Why is he a suspect?”

“Because,” I replied, “there is forensic evidence that he was at the scene of the crime.”

“I see… but no evidence that he actually murdered her?”

“No. It’s possible that he was there earlier or later than the time of the crime.”

“But you have no evidence that anyone else was there.”

“No conclusive evidence.”

“Then doesn’t that leave him as the most likely suspect?”

“As of now.”

“If he doesn’t confess, will you charge him?”

“I can only recommend in a case like this. The final decision as to charges will undoubtedly be made in Washington.”

“It seems to me that your report and recommendation will be the deciding factor.”

“It should be the only factor, considering that no one else has a clue to what happened.” I added, “I must tell you, sir, that these rumors linking Ann Campbell to certain officers on post may or may not include people such as the staff judge advocate, and others who may not be as objective or impartial as they should be in this matter. I hate to be the one to sow seeds of mistrust, but I’m only advising you of what I’ve heard.”

“Heard from whom?”

“I can’t say. But it came from a good source, and I suspect you know how widespread this problem is. I don’t think you can clean your own house here, Colonel. Your broom is dirty. But perhaps Ms. Sunhill and I can.”

He nodded. “Well, on that subject, I was speaking to General Campbell when you arrived. There’s been a new development.”

Uh-oh. I don’t like new developments. “Yes?”

“The Justice Department, in a meeting with your superior, Colonel Hellmann, and the Army judge advocate general and other interested parties, has decided to assign the FBI to this case.”

Oh, shit. I said to Colonel Fowler, “Well, then, the damage control is out of my hands. You and everyone else who wears a green uniform should know that.”

“Yes. Some people are upset. Not everyone in the Pentagon knows how much damage control is necessary, so they caved in to these demands without a good fight. But they did get a compromise.”

Neither Cynthia nor I bothered to ask what it was, but Colonel Fowler informed us, “You two are to remain on the case until noon tomorrow. If, after that time, you haven’t made an arrest and recommended charges, you will be relieved of your investigative duties. Though you will remain available to the FBI for consultation.”

“I see.”

“A task force is assembling right now in Atlanta consisting of FBI personnel, a team from the Judge Advocate General’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, and senior officers from your own CID in Falls Church.”

“Well, I hope the SOBs all have to stay in the VOQ.”

Colonel Fowler forced a smile. “We don’t want this, of course, and I suspect you don’t, either. But if you think about it, it was inevitable.”

Cynthia said, “Colonel, Army captains are not murdered every day, but this sounds like overkill, and sounds more like PR than good police science.”

“That point was raised. The reality, however, is that it was a female, she was raped, and it was General Campbell’s daughter.” He added,