Thomas Casey disturbed la Rosa. His calls were aimed at getting information, not offering it. But of course Raveneau knew that. Since returning from Hawaii Raveneau had taken calls three or four times a day from Casey. She watched his face as he talked to Casey. She saw the notes he wrote. The cryptic quality of those notes was a little bit of a running joke in the office, but the same inspectors came to him for help in solving cases. What he wrote after this conversation with Casey was the word ‘prunes.’ What did that mean?
She questioned him as they got in the car. ‘Is he calling to remind you that you trespassed on his property and went into the house?’
‘He lets me know and you should know I’ve talked with the lieutenant and the captain about going into Jim Frank’s house. I also called the Hawaiian police. They thought I was crazy since no complaint was filed. But if it’s a crime it’s a local crime. They should know about it.’
‘What you did isn’t breaking and entering. He’s working it. He’s working you as he tries to make it into something.’
‘Of course he is, but we need him. He’s the best source on Alan Krueger we’re likely to ever have, so if he wants to call fifteen times a day that’s fine with me. He likes to talk and he fishes for what I’ve learned as he eases out more possible leads, so there’s some sort of game underway, but he did tell me today about a young woman who lived with Jim Frank during the years Krueger came through. On one of the next calls he’ll give me her name.’
‘He’s dropping bread crumbs for us. It’s time to confront him. You’re being played and you’re going along in part because he’s got this leverage over you for trespassing and going into the house.’
That was going to make him angry and she didn’t really believe what she had just said, but she sensed he needed a push. He glared at her now.
‘So far he’s showed you his photo album and talked about what good friends the three of them were, yet he doesn’t really know what his good friend AK was doing with the counterfeit money. I don’t believe that. I don’t believe him. If Captain Frank was ferrying counterfeit money and whatever else in his luggage, then they all knew about Krueger’s operations. He gave you Victor Shay’s name then warned Shay. He can’t remember the name of a woman who lived with his good friend for years in the house up the slope. He remembers. You know he remembers. He’s doling out information.’
Raveneau didn’t answer.
‘He’s controlling you and you’re going along with it because you’re worried about what you did.’
‘Do you really believe that?’
‘It’s what I just said.’ After a moment she added, ‘No, I don’t think that, but I do think you’re giving him too much room. He knows more and he should give it to us without the telephone dance.’
‘He feels some responsibility for Krueger’s death. I don’t know why. That’s what I’m working towards.’
‘I think you need to confront him.’
Raveneau didn’t say any more until they got to the Embarcadero and parked. La Rosa thought this was going to be another look at where Krueger was videotaped and shot and where the Canadians crossed and how it all fit together. Raveneau liked to return to where the murders happened. He thought you could pick up a vibe from a place, an idea she entertained but didn’t believe in. Maybe if it ever once helped solve a case she would start believing. She didn’t see the point in driving here other than to talk away from the office. She rode with him today but she was agitated and less patient.
‘Brooks let me read the Secret Service’s personnel file on Krueger. He built it up as being something and it didn’t turn out to be much of anything. He made the offer, and then dodged me for a week and a half. I read it this morning and got one name out of it, a John Pagen, and it turns out he was the special agent in charge at the time. He’s the one who accepted Krueger’s resignation and helped him get the outside contracting work. I got a phone number for him and talked to him. I told him the bills Krueger was carrying were supernotes. He was surprised that the Secret Service now identifies them as the first supernotes. When I talked with Casey today he gave me one new name. What do you think that name was?’
‘Pagen.’
‘That’s right, John Pagen, now what do you make of that?’
She didn’t know what to make of it and Raveneau gestured in front of them.
‘Brooks and I took a drive after the bomb casings were lost. That drive finished here or this was the goal. Brooks believes the President is the target and the bomb casings tie to the counterfeit bills.’
‘He’s said that several times, hasn’t he?’
‘He has and he knows this visit will get canceled, but what he’s trying to communicate is how worried and powerless he feels to protect the President. The explosive power these bombs could generate scared him to his core. We drove a route the President could take after giving a speech about the new subway system in Union Square. He’s supposed to come down here and ride the light rail with the mayor and a senator. That’s the part that Brooks worries about.’
Her anger toward him softened a little. ‘You believe there’s an assassination plot, don’t you?’
‘I don’t know what I believe yet. I can’t quite make the cabinet shop murders fit in with a quietly evolving assassination plot. Brooks believes the attempt will come when the President is riding on the light rail car.’
‘But if he’s not coming it doesn’t matter.’
‘Between the FBI and the Secret Service there’s a belief the plotters are some long range planners. They’ve showed me a few transcripts, Coe in particular.’
‘That doesn’t sound like the FBI.’
‘Coe is a different cut and a younger generation.’
‘So Brooks thinks they’ll just move it somewhere else?’
‘That’s right, and they believe it’s referred to as the “first event.” Because of Krueger carrying those same series counterfeit bills and Casey’s connection to Krueger, they’ve tapped Casey’s phone lines.’
‘They can do that?’
‘They can do whatever they want. Coe called me this morning and told me that.’
‘The Secret Service and FBI really believe there was or is a plot to assassinate the President here?’
‘They do and there’s worry the plotters have contacts within the Fed law enforcement agencies. There’s a reason the Secret Service didn’t get invited to the bomb casing bust.’
‘How much of this do you believe?’
‘I don’t know yet. Like all these conspiracy ideas it’s grown long legs and if it exists it’s probably just a handful of people. Is there a leak from a sympathizer or from someone well-placed? That’s hard to say from where we stand. They’ve brought me in because of the overlap with the counterfeit bills and to make me more cooperative. But they do believe something is in motion. They believed it before those bomb casings but they don’t have any way to tie the bomb casings to their previous suspicions. That’s where it stands.’
They watched the light rail car approach and the darkness of what Raveneau had described sank in more. She watched the rail car and a tourist taking photos with his phone. The car was light and clattered as it passed by. How do you protect a President from a determined group with weapons like these bombs? You couldn’t do it. It was nearly impossible.