Now Maria was in an interview room sitting across from Jane Hosfleter and two other agents. Hosfleter had blonde hair cut short and a Nordic cast to her cheekbones and nose. She had fair skin, blue eyes, and a take-charge confidence. Marquez was in the room despite her objections. She glanced his way occasionally, her eyes dead to him, her tone with Maria varying. She was a good interrogator. She came on hard, turned soft, backed away, and came in another direction. The agent sitting alongside her said nothing and didn’t need to. It was Hosfleter’s show and Hosfleter moved the conversation from the W Hotel in Westwood and Maria’s relationship with Jack Gant to politics and civil disobedience, as if she was just shuffling cards and not really even engaged yet. She kept reassuring Maria, but Maria like her mom was a born skeptic.
‘I’m not going to bait you, Maria, or try to trick you. And I’m not questioning anything you’ve told us. You saw the fire on TV last night and everything clicked. I get it. But what I want to do now is ask some questions about your views to see if we can learn something about him. Is that OK?’
‘Go ahead.’
‘All right, here’s a question, would you say global warming is the biggest threat facing our country?’
‘It might be.’
‘Bigger than terrorism?’
‘Is that a serious question?’
‘Yes.’
Maria put on a perplexed face and said, ‘Global warming will affect the whole earth.’
‘Then why aren’t we dealing with it?’
‘Because it’ll mean we have to change how we live. It could affect our lifestyles.’
‘And we’re too selfish to do that?’
‘Maybe.’
Hosfleter nodded as though something had just been revealed to her that made a great deal of sense. She paused before saying slowly, ‘You believe global warming has to be dealt with. There’s no choice. So is anything we do to stop it from happening justified as long as it doesn’t hurt people?’
‘I thought you weren’t going to bait me.’
‘Maria, I’m not trying to bait you. I’m just thinking this through. I’m sorry.’
‘Why don’t we talk about Jack Gant? That’s why I’m here.’
‘I really want to know what you think we the people should do about global warming. It doesn’t have to be a long answer.’
‘OK, we should vote out those who pretend the science isn’t in yet, so they can drive their big SUVs and justify what they’re doing to their children. And then elect some realists. How’s that for an answer? I like realists. I like people who make things happen.’
‘Jack Gant may believe burning down a controversial condominium project is making things happen.’
‘What do you want me to say?’
‘Well, here’s another way of looking at it. What do we do when a rich developer, who doesn’t care about anything but making himself money, builds a condo project in a canyon with a fragile ecosystem in an area already running out of water anyway? I guess I’m asking if there are circumstances where setting a fire and burning a project is justified because it protects the earth?’
‘OK, but I’m not in favor of setting arson fires.’
‘You were Jack Gant’s girlfriend. What did he see in you? What did you have in common? I’m trying to get at how he thinks. I’m not saying he influenced you. I’m trying to better see him through you. Does that make sense?’
‘Not at all.’
The agent alongside Hosfleter chuckled and Hosfleter turned and glared at Marquez. She was looking at Marquez when she asked, ‘What would he do if he knew you were here?’
‘I don’t think I want to know.’
‘Does that mean you believe he’s capable of violence?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘I assume you know he was a Navy Seal and highly trained.’
‘He didn’t like to talk about it.’
‘But you knew?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you know he was in the first wave that went to Afghanistan? He was part of the hunt for Bin Laden at Tora Bora. He re-upped and after that he quit. His senior officers said he became disillusioned. He didn’t believe we should have gone into Iraq. Have I said anything you don’t already know?’
‘I didn’t know any of that. The times I asked he didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t like to talk about his past.’
‘Did he like to talk about the US government? How would you characterize his feelings toward the US government?’
‘Angry.’
‘Maria, we have information that leads us to believe he set the fire in Arizona. Did he ever talk to you about stopping developers by burning their projects?’
‘No.’
‘You need to be really sure about that. If it came out later that you knew something more, you could get charged. And I don’t mean taking part in a plot, I mean knowing of its existence and not coming forward.’
‘I’ve told you everything I know.’
Hosfleter tapped her pencil lightly on the table. She took time to choose her next words.
‘We all send conscious and unconscious signals. We do it all the time. We’re very social creatures at heart. That Jack said what he did to you about the island says to me that he felt he could confide in you. He may have communicated other plans consciously or unconsciously, and this is where I need you to really dig down and try to remember everything he said, or confided to you. But, I want to say first that I agree with you about global warming. It is our worst problem and the Arizona condominiums were very controversial because people felt they weren’t environmentally responsible. There were lawsuits and many people today may be secretly thinking it’s good that they burned. You might be thinking that. Your stepfather might. But the Arizona fire is probably sending up more gasses that cause global warming than the condos would have in a thousand years. You know, twenty per cent of the gasses contributing to global warming come from fires, clearing land, and forest fires.’
She leaned forward. She stopped lecturing and spoke as if Maria was the only other person in the room.
‘I admire you for coming forward. If all I had was an overheard conversation and an offhand comment made on a boat, I don’t know if I would put myself through this.’
She waved a self-deprecating hand at herself and the agent alongside.
‘You may also have been in love and afraid now you’re being unfair to him and blowing things out of proportion, but you’re not. He set that fire, Maria. He’s planning other operations and we’re racing the clock. I need you to help me, right now, here in this room. We don’t have a lot of time and you could save lives. Who else should we talk to? Give me some other names.’
Maria didn’t have any other names. Hosfleter thanked her, but later that night after Gant’s face showed on national news and the FBI announced a fugitive warrant naming him as wanted in connection with the fire bombing of the Wonder Rock Condominiums, Maria’s name got leaked as a former girlfriend questioned today. It sounded as if she’d been picked up and brought in. It was unfair and a decision to sweat Maria, despite Maria having come forward. Marquez listened to the TV report and then called Carol Shauf.
‘I’ll meet you there tomorrow,’ Shauf said. ‘I’ll borrow a DBEEP boat. See you around noon. Do you really think we can find this island?’
‘I don’t know, but I think we’ve got a better chance than anyone else.’
‘You might have a short comeback as a Fed if you go poking into someone else’s investigation.’
‘They’re coming after Maria.’
‘See you tomorrow. Look for a DBEEP boat.’