My belt and shoelaces were collected, then I was taken to a cell. I knew I’d need a clear head in the morning, so I collapsed onto the bunk and tried to will myself back to sleep. Of course, that never works when you need it to. For thirty minutes I sat there thinking how terrifically stupid I’d been. I’d been too overconfident. I’d overestimated my own cleverness. Worse, I’d once again underestimated who I was dealing with.
I just couldn’t figure out how they’d pulled this off. Even if Martie was working for Jones, aka Tretorne, how in the hell had they fabricated such condemning evidence?
I suddenly heard the sound of a lock being opened down the hall. Then footsteps. No lights were turned on, so the hallway and my cell remained pitch-dark. The footsteps stopped in front of the cell.
I could smell the cologne. A good one, too, like scented pines. Very expensive.
“Tretorne, you bastard,” I said.
“You look good in there, Drummond,” he said.
I said, “Yeah? Why don’t you come on in and join me? I’d love a chance to rip your guts out.”
He chuckled. “I knew it was you who burgled my room. You have no idea what that briefcase cost. And I really would like to get my passport and ID back. It’ll be a real pain in the ass if I have to get them replaced.”
Sounding more bitter than I wanted, I said, “Gee, Jack, I’m really sorry. I’d hate to think I’ve put you out.”
“Well, you have, Drummond. You’ve really pissed me off.”
“Then we’re even. Let me out of here.”
“I’m afraid it’s no longer that easy.”
“Sure it is, Jack. If I go to jail, I won’t take my secrets with me.”
“You don’t have any secrets. You only think you do.”
“Hah,” I said. “I know all about what you and Murphy are up to. You frame me, and I’ll get the word to every reporter I know. Believe me, I’ll find a way. Think about that.”
“I already have, Drummond. You think they’ll listen to you? No one listens when an accused murderer starts mumbling about conspiracies and frame-ups. Think about it, Drummond. You’ve got no evidence, and you’ve got no leverage.”
He was right, of course. And that only infuriated me all the more. He moved back and I saw him lean against the wall. His face was completely in the shadows, which only made him appear more sinister.
When he spoke again, his tone sounded suspiciously reasonable. “Regardless, I’m here to make a deal. This will be your only chance. Want to hear it?”
I said, “I’ve got nothing better to do for the moment.”
“Okay. You quit screwing around and do what you’re supposed to do on this investigation, and we’ll call this thing even. I’ll even convince Clapper to cancel that inquiry, and you can get on with your career.”
“That’s it?” I asked.
“That’s it,” he said.
“And I’m supposed to just overlook this little thing you’ve got going with the Green Berets?”
“In a nutshell, yes.”
“What about Berkowitz? Am I supposed to forget you did that, too?”
“We didn’t do Berkowitz’s murder.”
Now it was my turn to chuckle. “Horsecrap.”
“It’s the truth. I don’t know who murdered him.”
“But you’re framing me for it.”
“Sure. You’ve put us in a difficult corner, Drummond. But if you’re the leading suspect in a murder investigation, well, you can hardly remain the chief of the investigating team. Nor can you leak to the press like you tried with Berkowitz. Very cute, that.”
So that confirmed it: My office was bugged. They’d listened to the whole conversation I had with Berkowitz. They’d listened to everything.
That confirmed something else, too. They had a compelling motive to murder Berkowitz.
I said, “Come on, Tretorne. What was it? Was Berkowitz getting too close? Did he have you figured out? Why’d you have him killed?”
“I’ll say it again. I don’t know who killed Berkowitz. We didn’t do it. I’m not crying any crocodile tears about it, though. He wasn’t much of a human being. However, his death gives me the opportunity to get you out of the way.”
“You’re a real prick.”
“I’m not proud of this, but I’m doing it for my country.”
I almost guffawed at that one. That line really was the last refuge of the worst kinds of scoundrels. I thought of telling him he sounded just like one of Hitler’s henchmen on the docket at Nuremberg, but I’d just be wasting my breath.
Instead, I said, “How’d you work the frame?”
“Easy, really. Everything today is electronic, even police lab work. You’d be surprised to know how easy it is to hack in and change the image of a shoeprint stored in a lab computer when you have the right technology. These NSA people can do miracles.”
“And the note they found in Berkowitz’s room?”
“A man with all the right credentials planted it in Berkowitz’s room yesterday. The right technology can also produce flawless forgeries.”
I didn’t say anything, so he added, “Look, Sean, don’t force us to do it this way. I admire you. I really do. I know all about your time in the outfit. You did some very courageous things, and you’ve been very dogged in this investigation. But I can’t let you damage your country. Don’t make this personal.”
Back when I was dancing with Sergeant Major Williams in the hard sell interrogation room, every time he hit me, something nasty took control of my brain. I kept mouthing off at Williams, and he kept hitting me harder and doing more and more serious damage to my frail body. I thought about that every night when the day’s session was over, and I knew I was facing another one the next day. The rational part of my brain warned me that passive resistance would spare me a lot of pain, but somehow every time they threw me back in that padded room with that sadistic monster, I couldn’t help myself. I climbed right back in the saddle, and he drew a little more blood and bounced me off the walls a little harder.
Now I was twelve years older, but was I twelve years wiser? All I had to do was give Tretorne what he wanted. I could get on with my life. Okay, I’d have to live with the fact that I’d participated in a whitewash. Everybody in life has a few blemishes on their record. That’s why Catholic priests do such a brisk confessional business. What made me any different? What made me so holy?
I said, “Okay, Tretorne, I’ll do it.”
He jerked himself off the wall and approached my cell. “You better mean that.”
I sounded angry, because I was. “I told you I’ll do it.”
Even in the dark, I could feel his mechanical eyes studying me.
“Give me your word as an officer,” he demanded. He was a West Pointer, so he’d been trained to believe that an officer’s word was an inescapably sacred bond. It was kind of funny, really. He looked right past the irony of forcing me to swear I’d lie on an official report.
“You have my word,” I said.
“Okay. In about two hours, General Murphy will come in here and swear you were with him the night Berkowitz was murdered. That’ll get you released. But you try to screw me, and I’ll have your ass right back in this cell. There won’t be any second chance, either.”
“Look, I gave you my word. Get me outta here, and I’ll do everything you want.”
“All right,” he said.
Then I heard his footsteps echoing down the hallway again. I was lying, of course. The second I got out of here, I was going to do every damned thing I could to screw Tretorne and Murphy and the whole United States Army. I had no idea what that was, but I sure as hell couldn’t get anything done sitting in this jail cell.
You are who you are, and there’s nothing you can do to change that. These guys framed me and blackmailed me, and I was mad enough to spit. Only I’d settle for a little revenge.
Chapter 25
At eight o’clock they came to get me. Martie accompanied the military policeman who carried the keys. He had showered and changed, and now he wore a striped suit with a striped shirt and a striped tie speckled with tiny stars. On top of his abominable taste, he was color-blind. It was all red, white, and blue. He resembled a walking American flag.