Janice pushed back slightly from Hiccock’s embrace to make eye contact. “No less than you did for me, even though I was too self-absorbed and focused on my research to say ‘thank you’ back then.”
“We are still a pretty good team, aren’t we?” Hiccock smoothed her hair back the way he always did.
“Yeah. If we could only be this good in our personal lives.”
“I thought …”
Janice put her finger over his lips. “Don’t ruin this little feel-good session, okay, boss?”
“Okay, former boss.”
Shit. Joey Palumbo hated what he had just heard, but not as much as the smug look on his boss’s face. “He said his father told him that old shoe story.”
“Then the pattern fits. I knew that science twerp was working another agenda.”
“With all due respect, Sir, we don’t know his motives for sure.”
“You’re his friend, so I’ll allow that. But I am telling you this man has done everything to obstruct this investigation from the highest point.”
“It’s just not like Billy, Sir.”
“Did you know his father was a terrorist?”
“Union shop steward, Sir.”
“He destroyed a subway!”
“Did we pull the case jacket on that?”
“Pull your dick for all I care, Joe. Hiccock’s father is dirty, Hiccock is dirty, and they are both going down!”
Joey tried to calm his own emotions by looking to the next step. “Have you told the president?”
“No, that will be your job.”
“Me? No way!”
“You’re an agent and that’s a direct order from your director.”
“Why?”
“Listen, Joe. You met with him. You were running him for the bureau. Whatever he knew came from you.”
“He got nothing from me, in spite of our deal.”
“Your own report states that he had knowledge of Homegrown. There is nobody else in his group affiliated with the FBI. We held that tighter than a Scot holds a fifty.”
“But all my contact with him was your idea! I carried out your stupid, back-channel plan because you, my director, ordered me to.” Joey decided not to point out the fact that Hiccock’s group spent time in the FBI crime lab with Hansen and the tech boys. It would seem like he was passing the buck to Hansen. Besides, he knew the director was well aware of Hansen, but was tightening the screw on him for some reason.
“That’s not the way this is going to go, Joe, so let’s be clear. You finger Hiccock in front of the president and your record and career soar. You hesitate and I’ll have reason to suspect that I made a big mistake by allowing you to monitor a suspect’s progress.”
“When was he ever a suspect?”
“Whenever I say he was.”
“That’s not just hardball, that’s hard-assed ball.”
“The only way I know how to play, Joe. The country is reeling from these terrorist attacks and the president’s handpicked private eye, and your old buddy, turns out to be the son of a founding member of the Sabot Society. You telling the president will balance the scales.”
“Why do you hate Billy so much?”
“He defamed the bureau.”
“So now we are defaming him?”
“You want to start?” Reynolds said.
“This is Special Agent in Charge of my San Francisco office, Joseph Palumbo.”
“Yes, I remember meeting Agent Palumbo the other day.”
“He will report to you what we know. Joe?”
“Good morning. Sir, first I will read from the New York Daily News July 19, 1963. Under the headline ‘Shuttle Burns, Street Opened to Retrieve,’ there is this picture of a badly burned subway car being lifted onto 42nd Street by a crane through a hastily cut hole in the pavement. The top of the article reads, ‘The end of the line for the automated shuttle was reached yesterday when a fire burned under 42nd Street. The computer-controlled train was still in its testing stages. The TA was set to decide on regular service by year’s end. TA officials have not been able to determine the cause of the fire as of press time. Transit Workers Union spokesperson, Harry Hiccock, proclaimed, “This was just God’s way of saying that he didn’t invent trains to run themselves.” Mayor Wagner said, “The fire was unfortunate,” but stopped short of weighing in on the controversial train saying, “The TA has to determine whether they should continue research on automated trains.” The TA estimates it would save $150,000 in labor cost per year as soon as the new shuttle trains went into full operation.
Interestingly enough, union shop steward Harry Hiccock is one of the shuttle motormen who would be replaced by the new computerized train. The Grand Central — Times Square shuttle has only two stops and no other traffic uses those rails. TA officials felt it was the best place to test the feasibility of the Automated Trains,’ etc. etc.”
Joe put down the old yellowed newsprint and picked up a ragged-edged oak tag file folder with a frayed blue string binding it. “The following police report was filed one week later. It reads, ‘Pursuant to investigation of Subway Fire, leading suspects, D’angelo, Hiccock, and Mercer seem to have alibis. NYFD indicates fire could have been set to ignite remotely. Therefore alibis are of little use in this case.’”
“Next time send me a briefing paper, ’cause I don’t know where this is going, Tate,” Reynolds said.
“I didn’t think you would want this on paper, Ray. That NYPD report mentions a possible accomplice to Harry Hiccock, Bernard Mercer. We checked the fingerprints; Bernard Keyes was then the 19-year-old Bernard Mercer. He changed his name in the seventies.”
“That’s your Sabot guy?”
“And Harry Hiccock is William Hiccock’s father.”
“Oh, no.”
“Thought you’d want to hear it first, Ray.”
“How many people know?”
“Just this room.”
“Why are you here, Agent Palumbo?”
“Ray, Joe grew up with Hiccock in New York. I have used his relationship with Hiccock to keep tabs on his rogue investigation.”
“Oh yes, I remember him saying you strong-armed an old friend to plead for information.” Reynolds didn’t know why he said it that way, but he guessed until proven guilty, Hiccock was still on his team and Tate was enjoying this a little too much. He turned toward Palumbo. “And you think Hiccock was deliberately obstructing this federal investigation?”
“The facts seem to suggest a possible link between Bernard Keyes, founder of the Sabot Society, and Harry, Bill’s father …”
“Yes, I am aware what the facts suggest Agent Palumbo, but I am asking what you think, Agent Palumbo.”
Palumbo took in a short breath and then let go. “I think it’s a pile of horseshit, Sir. I knew Billy’s dad. He wouldn’t park illegally even if it meant he had to walk ten blocks. And Billy is a straight arrow, always has been.” Joey deliberately did not make eye contact with Tate. Reynolds took it all in.
“You know that on the basis of what you just reported to me, Hiccock is finished. It doesn’t matter if he is a straight or crooked arrow. At this level, even the appearance of impropriety is as bad as having done the deed.”
“Ray, Hiccock never divulged anything about his father before,” Tate said. “He had the president looking at psychedelic web sites instead of following the guidance of his own Justice Department.”
“Sir, we didn’t divulge anything about Sabot to him. And again, I point out, we are assuming he is a member of Sabot.”
“What about that, Tate? Have there been any EI intercepts linking Hiccock to Sabot?”