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Authors: Jeffrey Archer
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stopped him. Mark showed
his credentials and said that he had an appointment with the Director. The
Secret Service man courteously asked him to wait by his car. After consultation
at the door, Mark was shown into a small room just on the right of the hall
which was obvious used as a study. The Director came in. Mark stood up.
‘Good evening, Director.’
‘Good evening, Andrews. You’ve interrupted
a very important dinner. I hope you know what you are doing.’ The Director was
cold and abrupt, clearly displeased at being summoned to a meeting by an
unknown junior agent.
Mark went through the whole story from the
first meeting with Stames through to his decision to
go over everybody’s head. The Director’s face remained impassive throughout the
long recital. It was still impassive when Mark had finished. Mark’s only
thought was: I’ve done the wrong thing. He should have gone on trying to reach Stames and Calvert. They were probably home by now. He
waited, a little sweat appearing on his forehead. Perhaps this was his last day
in the FBI. The Director’s first words took him by surprise.
‘You did exactly the right thing, Andrews.
I’d have made the same decision in your place. It must have taken guts to bring
the whole thing to me.’ He looked hard at Mark. ‘You’re absolutely certain only Stames , Calvert, you, and I know all the details of
what happened this evening? No one from the Secret Service, and no one from the
Metropolitan Police Department?’
‘That’s correct, sir, just the four of us.’
‘And the three of you already have an
appointment with me at 10:30 tomorrow morning?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Good. Take this down.’
Mark took out a pad from his inside coat
pocket.
‘You have the Attorney General’s number
here?’
‘Yes, sir,’
‘And my number at home is 721-4069. Learn
them and then destroy them. Now I’ll tell you exactly what you do next. Go back
to the Washington Field Office. Check on Stames and
Calvert again. Call the morgue, call the hospitals, call the highway police. If
nothing turns up, I’ll see you in my office at 8:30 tomorrow morning, not
10:30. That’s your first job. Second, get me the names of the Homicide officers
working on this detail with the Metropolitan Police. Now tell me if I have this
right you told them nothing about the reason you went to see Casefikis ?’
‘Nothing, sir.’
‘Good.’
The Attorney General put her head around
the door.
‘Everything under control, Halt?’
‘Fine, thanks, Marian. I don’t think you’ve
met Special Agent Andrews of the Washington Field Office.’
‘No. Nice to meet you, Mr Andrews.’
‘Good evening, ma’am.’
‘Will you be long, Halt?’
‘No, I’ll be back as soon as I’ve finished
briefing Andrews.’
‘Anything special?’
‘No, nothing to worry about.’
The Director had obviously decided nobody
was going to be told the story until he got to the bottorm of it himself.
‘Where was I?’
‘You told me to return to the Washington
Field Office, sir, and check on Stames and Calvert’
‘And then to call the morgue, the
hospitals, and the highway police.’
‘Right.’
‘And you told me to check on the Homicide
officers, get their names.’
‘Right. Take down the following: check the
names of all hospital employees and visitors, as well as any other persons who
can be identified as having been in the vicinity of Room 4308 between the time
the two occupants were known to be alive and the time you found them dead.
Check the names of the two dead then through NCIC and Bureau indexes for any
background information we may have. Get fingerprints of all persons on duty and
all visitors and all otherswho
can be identified as having been near Room 4308, as well as fingerprints of the
two dead men. We will need all these prints both for elimination purposes and
possible suspect identification. If you don’t find Stames and Calvert, as I said, see me at 8.30in my office tomorrow
his credentials and said that he had an appointment with the Director. The
Secret Service man courteously asked him to wait by his car. After consultation
at the door, Mark was shown into a small room just on the right of the hall
which was obvious used as a study. The Director came in. Mark stood up.
‘Good evening, Director.’
‘Good evening, Andrews. You’ve interrupted
a very important dinner. I hope you know what you are doing.’ The Director was
cold and abrupt, clearly displeased at being summoned to a meeting by an
unknown junior agent.
Mark went through the whole story from the
first meeting with Stames through to his decision to
go over everybody’s head. The Director’s face remained impassive throughout the
long recital. It was still impassive when Mark had finished. Mark’s only
thought was: I’ve done the wrong thing. He should have gone on trying to reach Stames and Calvert. They were probably home by now. He
waited, a little sweat appearing on his forehead. Perhaps this was his last day
in the FBI. The Director’s first words took him by surprise.
‘You did exactly the right thing, Andrews.
I’d have made the same decision in your place. It must have taken guts to bring
the whole thing to me.’ He looked hard at Mark. ‘You’re absolutely certain only Stames , Calvert, you, and I know all the details of
what happened this evening? No one from the Secret Service, and no one from the
Metropolitan Police Department?’
‘That’s correct, sir, just the four of us.’
‘And the three of you already have an
appointment with me at 10:30 tomorrow morning?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Good. Take this down.’
Mark took out a pad from his inside coat
pocket.
‘You have the Attorney General’s number
here?’
‘Yes, sir,’
‘And my number at home is 721-4069. Learn
them and then destroy them. Now I’ll tell you exactly what you do next. Go back
to the Washington Field Office. Check on Stames and
Calvert again. Call the morgue, call the hospitals, call the highway police. If
nothing turns up, I’ll see you in my office at 8:30 tomorrow morning, not
10:30. That’s your first job. Second, get me the names of the Homicide officers
working on this detail with the Metropolitan Police. Now tell me if I have this
right you told them nothing about the reason you went to see Casefikis ?’
‘Nothing, sir.’
‘Good.’
The Attorney General put her head around
the door.
‘Everything under control, Halt?’
‘Fine, thanks, Marian. I don’t think you’ve
met Special Agent Andrews of the Washington Field Office.’
‘No. Nice to meet you, Mr Andrews.’
‘Good evening, ma’am.’
‘Will you be long, Halt?’
‘No, I’ll be back as soon as I’ve finished
briefing Andrews.’
‘Anything special?’
‘No, nothing to worry about.’
The Director had obviously decided nobody
was going to be told the story until he got to the bottorm of it himself.
‘Where was I?’
‘You told me to return to the Washington
Field Office, sir, and check on Stames and Calvert’
‘And then to call the morgue, the
hospitals, and the highway police.’
‘Right.’
‘And you told me to check on the Homicide
officers, get their names.’
‘Right. Take down the following: check the
names of all hospital employees and visitors, as well as any other persons who
can be identified as having been in the vicinity of Room 4308 between the time
the two occupants were known to be alive and the time you found them dead.
Check the names of the two dead then through NCIC and Bureau indexes for any
background information we may have. Get fingerprints of all persons on duty and
all visitors and all otherswho
can be identified as having been near Room 4308, as well as fingerprints of the
two dead men. We will need all these prints both for elimination purposes and
possible suspect identification. If you don’t find Stames and Calvert, as I said, see me at 8.30in my office tomorrow
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