Decker put his hand on the globe.
“I’m not following.”
“McClellan doesn’t strike me as a worldly guy. Too much diversity around the globe, so why this thing sitting right on his desk within easy reach? So he can check out where the other half lives? Don’t think so.”
Decker bent lower and examined the globe’s surface. He ran a finger along the equator, pushing and probing with his nails. Then he started at the Arctic Circle and headed south. His finger stopped at one spot near the bottom of Greenland.
“Give me that letter opener.”
Mars handed it to him.
Decker carefully inserted one end into a small crevice in the globe. He very gently worked it back and forth.
“The damn thing’s coming apart,” exclaimed Mars.
The globe did indeed open into two metal halves, with a lip from one half inserting under the other.
And inside the space was a rolled-up photo.
Decker slid it out. “I noticed the edges didn’t line up exactly. It had been opened before. We’ll take a picture of it and then put it back and jigger the globe back together. I don’t want him to know we’ve discovered it.”
Mars was staring at the rolled-up photo like it was a rattler about to strike.
“Decker, do you know who’s in the picture?”
“I think I know.”
He slowly unrolled it and looked at the image.
“Were you right?” asked Mars.
Decker slowly turned the photo toward him. “Yes.”
When Mars saw the people in the photo his knees buckled. Decker had to grab him with his free hand to keep him upright.
“Holy shit, I can’t believe it,” exclaimed Mars as he held on to the side of the desk.
“Pretty much sums it up,” replied Decker.
“What the hell does this mean?”
“This means we finally have a chance.”
CHAPTER
69
SIX PEOPLE SAT inside a conference room at the FBI’s Washington Field Office: Decker, Mars, Bogart, Milligan, Jamison, and Oliver.
Bogart said, “As you know, we’ve been called off the case to work on, well, other matters. But we haven’t given up on finding Lisa Davenport. We’re working nonstop on that.”
“Are there any leads?” asked Jamison.
Milligan spoke up. “A couple, but they ultimately led to nothing. No ransom demands. No communications of any kind. It’s bizarre.”
Mars looked at Oliver. “How’s the court stuff coming in Texas?”
“Good and bad news,” she said. “The good news is it doesn’t seem like Texas is going to try to put you back in prison, as I said before.”
“That’s great news,” said Jamison.
“The bad news is it looks like to compensate for that they’re going to fight tooth and nail against the lawsuit I filed for damages from the attack on you at the prison.”
“Not surprising,” said Decker. “It’s their way to try to save face.”
Bogart said, “Decker has filled us in on Roy Mars meeting with Melvin, and the fact that he’s not Melvin’s father. And while I believe there’s a connection with the ‘Three Musketeers’ and all this, including Davenport’s disappearance, without strong evidence my hands are tied.”
Decker leaned forward. “Roy more or less affirmed our theory of the case. That he was on the run after falling out with his racist buddies. But he has the evidence against them. That was in the safety deposit box. That evidence will topple some pretty powerful men for crimes they committed five decades ago.”
“Did he say who these men were?” asked Oliver. “You mentioned the police chief.”
“Yes, he did. Our job now is to find Roy and get that evidence.”
“Decker, that’s what we’ve been trying to do,” said an exasperated Jamison.
“I know, Alex. I just feel like our chances are better now.”
“Why?”
“We might have an ace in the hole.”
“Can you explain that?” asked Milligan.
“Melvin and I went exploring. And we found something that might prove to be the thing that busts this whole case wide open.”
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense, Decker,” exclaimed Jamison.
“It proves that a swap did indeed take place.”
“A swap?” said Milligan.
“Right.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
“It means in this case one person swapped for another.” He pulled something from his pocket. “And here’s the proof.” He turned the copy of the photo around for all to see.
A chair was knocked over and feet rushed toward the door.
The locked door.
Mary Oliver turned back around to look at all of them, her face contorted into an ugly mass.
“You son of a bitch!” she screamed at Decker. Then she launched herself at him, but Bogart caught her by the arm and flung her back against the wall.
Milligan and Jamison looked bewildered.
“What is going on?” asked Milligan.
Decker looked at the picture he held. “This is a photo of Cain chief of police Roger McClellan.” He paused. “And Mary Oliver.”
Bogart righted the overturned chair and pointed at her. “Sit.”
Oliver barked, “You can’t order me around. I want out of here now. This is false imprisonment.”
Jamison said, “But that’s you in the picture. With McClellan!”
“So what? Is there a law against having your picture taken?” She whirled around at Bogart. “If you don’t let me out of here right now, I’m going to file such a massive lawsuit against the Bureau that your next posting will be at the unemployment office.”
“I don’t think so,” said Decker. “As I explained to Agent Bogart before, you will be arrested and charged in the abduction of Lisa Davenport.”
“Davenport? Are you nuts? You have no evidence at all tying me to that crime.”
“She would have opened her door that late at night only to someone she knew. The crime scene was rigged to let us think a terrific fight had ensued. It hadn’t.”
“And why don’t you tell me the motivation I would have to kidnap her?”
“The swap. With Davenport gone you volunteered to help us in the investigation. You played the heartfelt comrade wonderfully, even throwing in a dash of self-guilt. But with Davenport gone you were right in the middle of the investigation. You fed the results of all of our efforts to McClellan, who probably had men in Texas. When we were planning to visit Melvin’s home you grabbed your phone. You said you were responding to a text from your friend in Texas having to do with Melvin’s lawsuit. But the thing was, I was sitting next to you and I never heard the phone ring, buzz, or vibrate. You just used that as an excuse to warn your colleagues what we were going to do so they could get there first and search the place. Later, I’m sure you texted them again and told them about the hiding place in the garage that Melvin told us about. That’s why it already had been searched when we got there.”
Milligan said angrily, “And then they tried to kill us!”
“You’re nuts. I don’t even know McClellan. That photo was from some event. Lots of photos were taken.”
“Let’s cut to the chase, Oliver,” said Decker. “You didn’t just happen to decide to take up Melvin’s case. You were ordered to do so.”
Mars looked at her. “All those questions about my family, my father, or at least who I thought was my father. You were pumping me for information before they were going to execute me. You were trying to see if I knew where the stuff from the safe deposit box was.”
“I worked my ass off for you.”
Bogart said, “After Decker showed me the photo earlier, I did some digging. Your legal work was merely perfunctory. And when Melvin was rearrested, it was Decker who saved him in court, not you. And I also checked on the ‘lawsuit’ you filed against the state of Texas on Melvin’s behalf. Never happened.”