Page 62 of Crosshairs
Instead of answering, all I could do was nod. I sat there silently, considering my options. Then I had an idea. Possibly a really good idea.
I spun around and aimed for my desk as I thanked Walter. It was still too early in the morning to try this idea, but I knew what call I’d be making as soon as the clock struck eight.
CHAPTER 76
THE OFFICE WAS still mostly empty when I called Roberta Herring. Roberta and I had worked together in the Bronx decades ago, back when we were both rookie patrol officers. I tried to teach her patience and she tried to teach me to use my gut feeling more. The irony is that she left the NYPD and worked her way up the ladder with the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. It was about the only agency with any oversight over the FBI. It also forced Roberta to be patient with every case. Investigations into wrongdoing at the FBI were never undertaken lightly and always took far too long.
Roberta picked up on the second ring. I could almost feel the smile as she said, “Mike Bennett, calling me before 9 a.m. My guess is that you need help, or you miss me so badly you couldn’t wait until I was a little more settled behind my nice cushy desk.”
“Both.” We laughed together for a moment. We weren’t onlyold friends; we were alsogoodfriends. We didn’t need any pretext to call each other, and we didn’t need excuses when we called to ask for help. Roberta had helped me through some of the most difficult times imaginable. Hell, Roberta had stood as godmother to my second youngest, Shawna. She had been just about the only choice. Often people just assume that because Shawna is Black, we chose a Black woman as her godmother. That never once played into our decision.
We quickly caught up with each other’s lives since I’d last seen her in Washington, DC, where not long ago she’d helped me look into Emily Parker’s murder. Then Roberta got right to the point. “What’s this call really about, Mike?”
I held nothing back. I told her about the case, Rob Trilling, how even my family loved him. Every detail I could think of. I waited in silence. Maybe longer than I thought I should. Then I realized from the sound of keystrokes that she was looking at her computer. I heard a couple of um-hums and ah-ahs.
Roberta said, “I can see all these referrals you’re talking about. None of them are restricted. None of the cases seem particularly high concept or unusual. We both know the city of New York experiences a great deal of fraud. We also know people from all walks of life download child pornography. I’d be surprised to find a serious hedge-fund manager who didn’t bend the law.”
“So you can find the cases that quickly on the computer?”
“And that means anyone in the New York field office could do the same.”
I felt disappointment. I couldn’t quite place it at first. But I now realized just how much I didn’t want this theory to be possible. Trilling had gone off the rails. I couldn’t ignore it. Walter’s concern about Trilling snapping popped into my head.
Then Roberta said, “What I’m missing is the psychological makeup and assessment of … What’s his name? Rob Trilling?”
“I gotta say, Roberta, he seemed like a really decent young man. I’m afraid Juliana has a little bit of a crush on him. On the flip side, I could see him having a self-righteous streak. He thinks things should be done a certain way. He believes in a mission for the police department. I can imagine him taking things too far. I just don’t want it to be true.”
“You say he’s an Army vet.”
“Yeah.”
“Sniper?”
“No, a Ranger. From what I gather, a really good one.”
“We can’t eliminate this being a result of some form of PTSD.”
“I’ve considered that. It doesn’t change the fact that he needs to be stopped.”
“Does he go to any kind of therapy or counseling?”
“Yeah, I spoke to his VA counselor. She’s not all that worried about him.”
“Of course she isn’t. That’sourjob. And it’s a much tougher job when a suspect is likable.”
I thought about that, then said, “I guess that’s where my doubts spring from.”
“Have you started writing the arrest affidavit? That was what always made cases real for me. When I had to put the facts in order and hand it to someone who knew nothing about the people involved. They could read the facts and see that a crime had been committed.”
“I’ve got a few more things to tie up. But I intend to start working on it this afternoon. I’m still piecing together information on the last shooting. The neighborhood activist with acriminal background, Gus Querva. Aside from being a public figure with a dark past, I don’t see where the FBI was investigating him.”
Roberta typed away for a moment more, then said, “I see it.”
I started taking notes on another nail in Rob Trilling’s coffin.
CHAPTER 77
I WAITED ON the phone while Roberta Herring checked and rechecked every file she could find connected to Gus Querva.