bracketing an odd note that read Today is already the tomorrow which the bad economist yesterday urged us to ignore.
Harvath lined up the photo of the ears and note alongside the tight shot of the sign. The writing was exactly the same. “Any idea what it’s supposed to mean?”
“I assume it means someone doesn’t like how the Fed is handling the economy. It’s just a quote from some dead economist named Henry Hazlitt.”
Harvath doubted it was “just a quote.” It obviously held significance for whoever had written it. Placing the crime scene photo of Claire Marcourt’s body with the other two pictures, he remarked, “How about the local police, do they have any clues to go on? Witnesses? CCTV footage?”
“Nothing,” the security chief replied. “Whoever did this went to great lengths to make sure they didn’t leave any evidence behind.”
He found that hard to believe, too. There was always evidence. It was just a matter of how well trained you were to look for it. Harvath studied the photos for a few more moments before saying, “I’m not exactly sure why we’re here. The FBI must already be all over this.”
He could feel the Old Man bristle next to him, but he didn’t care. The question needed to be asked.
“Yes,” Lewis offered. “The FBI is already involved, but we want tomake sure we’re bringing in every resource we can to prevent anyone else from being killed.”
Jacobson added, “I have contacts at the Bureau and I know how it works. If we have any hope of bringing this to a rapid resolution, we need to have someone familiar with the system who, how do I say this delicately? Someone who’s not afraid to work outside it.”
Harvath didn’t reply. He let Jacobson’s words float in the air above the conference room table.
“We also need someone who can keep quiet,” Lewis stated.
Now we’re getting to the heart of what this is really about, thought Harvath.
“You need to understand,” Lewis continued, “that there are several forces arrayed against the Federal Reserve who want to see us gone, and it’s not just citizens. There are members of Congress as well. Granted they’re not very powerful or very well organized, but a scandal of this magnitude could help put some wind in their sails and we don’t want that.”
“With all due respect, how are you going to hide it? You’ve already got five kidnappings, one of which has turned into a murder.”
“We’re trying very hard to keep it out of the press. So far, we’ve been successful.”
“There’s no way that’ll hold,” Harvath replied.
“We’ve asked the families and law enforcement for their cooperation, and so far they’ve been on board, but now with a murder things are going to be different,” Jacobson said. “We’ve got maybe forty-eight hours, seventy-two tops before this story is everywhere.”
Lewis nodded and Jacobson pulled a sheet of paper from his file and pushed it across to their guests. “This is a list of the missing candidates.”
Harvath and the Old Man studied it together.
Marcourt, Claire—New York City
Mitchell, Betsy—Seattle
Penning, Herman—Boston
Renner, Jonathan—San Francisco
Whalen, Peter—Chicago
“I’ve never heard of any of these people,” Harvath finally said.
“Me neither,” the Old Man replied. “Who are they?”
“Private sector people. Investment banking mostly,” said Lewis. “Because of the trouble the economy has been having and the way fingers have been pointed at us, we were considering bringing our next chairman or chairwoman from outside of the Federal Reserve. Sort of a breath of fresh air as it were.”
Harvath looked at him. “How many people knew these were your top picks?”
“It was quietly known inside the organization.”
“And outside of it?”
“The candidates themselves knew, and there were some financial reporters who had speculated on who might be on our list, though as far as we know, no one had come close to
Harvath lined up the photo of the ears and note alongside the tight shot of the sign. The writing was exactly the same. “Any idea what it’s supposed to mean?”
“I assume it means someone doesn’t like how the Fed is handling the economy. It’s just a quote from some dead economist named Henry Hazlitt.”
Harvath doubted it was “just a quote.” It obviously held significance for whoever had written it. Placing the crime scene photo of Claire Marcourt’s body with the other two pictures, he remarked, “How about the local police, do they have any clues to go on? Witnesses? CCTV footage?”
“Nothing,” the security chief replied. “Whoever did this went to great lengths to make sure they didn’t leave any evidence behind.”
He found that hard to believe, too. There was always evidence. It was just a matter of how well trained you were to look for it. Harvath studied the photos for a few more moments before saying, “I’m not exactly sure why we’re here. The FBI must already be all over this.”
He could feel the Old Man bristle next to him, but he didn’t care. The question needed to be asked.
“Yes,” Lewis offered. “The FBI is already involved, but we want tomake sure we’re bringing in every resource we can to prevent anyone else from being killed.”
Jacobson added, “I have contacts at the Bureau and I know how it works. If we have any hope of bringing this to a rapid resolution, we need to have someone familiar with the system who, how do I say this delicately? Someone who’s not afraid to work outside it.”
Harvath didn’t reply. He let Jacobson’s words float in the air above the conference room table.
“We also need someone who can keep quiet,” Lewis stated.
Now we’re getting to the heart of what this is really about, thought Harvath.
“You need to understand,” Lewis continued, “that there are several forces arrayed against the Federal Reserve who want to see us gone, and it’s not just citizens. There are members of Congress as well. Granted they’re not very powerful or very well organized, but a scandal of this magnitude could help put some wind in their sails and we don’t want that.”
“With all due respect, how are you going to hide it? You’ve already got five kidnappings, one of which has turned into a murder.”
“We’re trying very hard to keep it out of the press. So far, we’ve been successful.”
“There’s no way that’ll hold,” Harvath replied.
“We’ve asked the families and law enforcement for their cooperation, and so far they’ve been on board, but now with a murder things are going to be different,” Jacobson said. “We’ve got maybe forty-eight hours, seventy-two tops before this story is everywhere.”
Lewis nodded and Jacobson pulled a sheet of paper from his file and pushed it across to their guests. “This is a list of the missing candidates.”
Harvath and the Old Man studied it together.
Marcourt, Claire—New York City
Mitchell, Betsy—Seattle
Penning, Herman—Boston
Renner, Jonathan—San Francisco
Whalen, Peter—Chicago
“I’ve never heard of any of these people,” Harvath finally said.
“Me neither,” the Old Man replied. “Who are they?”
“Private sector people. Investment banking mostly,” said Lewis. “Because of the trouble the economy has been having and the way fingers have been pointed at us, we were considering bringing our next chairman or chairwoman from outside of the Federal Reserve. Sort of a breath of fresh air as it were.”
Harvath looked at him. “How many people knew these were your top picks?”
“It was quietly known inside the organization.”
“And outside of it?”
“The candidates themselves knew, and there were some financial reporters who had speculated on who might be on our list, though as far as we know, no one had come close to
Similar Books
