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smiled. “I like how you picked that right up.” He paused. “But you probably see that the generator would not have kicked in and then died if the power hadn’t gone off first.”
    She considered this and her eyes widened in realization. “So you think the main power was tampered with too?”
    “Right now, I have no firm answers. But it’s certainly possible.”
    “DB is going nuts right now trying to figure out what really happened.” She suddenly looked at him nervously. “And your brother and all. I’m sure you’re as worried as anyone.”
    “It’s not easy seeing a family member in prison. But my job is to investigate serious military crimes. And duty trumps family in this circumstance, obviously.”
    She cradled her cup of coffee and said, “I knew about his commendation. For helping you. I saw the paperwork go through.”
    “A lot of lives would have been lost without him.”
    “Seems weird, doesn’t it?” began Chelsea.
    “What’s that?”
    “A man is convicted of treason and then helps his country and gets a commendation but is still in prison. And then he escapes from prison. Just seems off.”
    “I’m sure agents have been in to interview you and the rest of the staff.”
    “They haven’t gotten to us yet, but I’m sure they will. I know they were at DB all day yesterday, and I’m sure they’ll be there for a while longer.”
    “I wonder if my brother had any recent visitors?” said Puller. He wasn’t looking directly at Chelsea when he threw this out, but in his peripheral vision he was observing her reaction.
    “That’s not my department. The log would show that, of course. DB keeps meticulous records of who comes and goes. Well, you know that, as many times as you’ve come to see him.”
    “Yes, they do. And I’m sure they’ve already looked at the visitors’ log.” He now looked at her expectantly.
    She grew pink under his scrutiny. “I wouldn’t know about that.”
    “Aren’t things computerized at DB?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “So there would be digital files of visitors?”
    “Yes, there are.”
    He sat forward and tried to choose his next words with particular care.
    “Chelsea, something doesn’t smell right to me on this. Now, I’m telling you this on the QT, okay?” She nodded quickly and he continued. “I was approached recently by a couple of generals and someone from NSC—”
    “The NSC? National Security Council? Oh my God!”
    “Yeah, pretty high-up stuff. Anyway, they approached me with a lot of questions, none of which I had answers for. But I think they want me to get answers. And to do that I need information.” Puller went back over in his head what he had just said and came away confident that he had told her no outright falsehood. Not that that would help him much if the hammer came down. However, he did feel guilty for asking the woman to help him. But her next words made him forget this concern.
    “I don’t see how I can help, John. I don’t really have access to much.”
    He sat back. “Know anyone who might and who might be willing to talk to me?”
    “There’s one of the guards. He’s actually been talking to me about applying to CID. Maybe it could be a scratch each other’s back sort of thing.”
    “Maybe it could. What’s his name?”
    “Aubrey Davis, PFC. Nice guy. Young, single. He likes his beer but I hear he’s also serious about getting ahead in his career.”
    Puller slid his card out and handed it to her. “Tell him to give me a call on my cell, okay?”
    She took the card and nodded. “I will. But I can’t guarantee he’ll help you.”
    “No one can guarantee that. Most leads fizzle out. I just try to keep plowing through the ones I have and hope they lead to new ones. Thanks again.”
    He left her there and returned to his car. Okay, it would take some time for that angle to work out, he knew, if it ever did. If he were really unlucky, this PFC Aubrey Davis might report the inquiry and up the line it would go