"Yeah, it would probably be easier figuring out who he didn't tick off." Nicole stifled a yawn. "We found two threats in his desk." She handed Allison two printouts. "This one with the sketch of the noose is from a magazine article that mentioned a number of controversial things Jim did."
Allison looked at the second piece of paper, feeling a pang as she remembered reading about the sad case. "'You killed Brooke. Now you need to die too,'" she read aloud. "Well, that's pretty clear. Just like Cassidy said, we need to look at Brooke Gardner's family and friends. And given that horrible commercial that's been running nonstop, Quentin Glover too. And that's probably only the beginning. I've ordered six months' worth of transcripts of the show so that we can look for other people he might have ticked off."
"You can listen to them all online," Nicole said. "I already checked."
"Yeah, but I'd have to do that in real time. It's too hard to jump ahead with a recording. Whereas on paper, it's a lot easier to skip over the parts that don't have any bearing."
Nicole made a face. "Do you have any idea how many people we could end up having to investigate? The killer could be an individual or a business owner or a politician Fate slammed on air. That's already a pretty big group. Then you add in people who might have had issues with his success, like rivals, stalkers, coworkers, anyone he climbed over on his way up."
Allison said, "And there's all the usual suspects: family, friends, lovers, and enemies." As a starting point with Jim, as well as every suspect in his murder, the FBI would check the basics: the phone book for numbers and addresses, public utilities records to find out who paid the bills and how often, Department of Motor Vehicles for driver's license data and registration records, and National Crime Information Center indices for prior convictions. With such a wide circle of suspects, this alone would mean an incredible amount of work. Allison added,"Plus there's Fate's NOD award. I'll bet that really torqued some people."
"Yeah, in retrospect maybe it wasn't such a good idea that he taunted the people who were the most angry at him." Nicole stifled another yawn. "For tomorrow, I've lined up the use of the radio station's three conference rooms. I figure you and I will take the people who worked closest with Jim, and I've got two teams to take the rest."
"You look like you didn't get any sleep," Allison said sympathetically. "Maybe we should have dinner with Cassidy on another night."
"No. We need to talk to her. But yeah, I am pretty tired. It was everything that happened yesterday. You know what it was like. Everyone in that stairwell really started believing that we were all going to die, and it wasn't pretty. I ended up trying to shelter in place with Mrs. Lofland--that older lady from the jury pool--on the seventh floor of the courthouse. It was Leif who tracked us down and told us things were okay. I was so glad to see him that I actually gave him a hug."
"Really?" She kept her tone neutral. Nicole rarely talked about her personal life, and Allison didn't want to scare her off by seeming too interested.
Allison, Nicole, and Cassidy had attended the same high school, but they hadn't been close and they hadn't kept in touch. By the time they got reacquainted at their tenth reunion, Nicole had a daughter, Makayla. No father was ever mentioned--and Nicole never, ever dated. Allison just figured that the father had been bad news.
Nicole shook her head. "I shouldn't encourage him. My life is too complicated. There's no room in it for a man. I've tried to make that clear, but Leif says he's happy to just be friends. But you know that when a guy says that, he doesn't really mean it."
"Well, I guess there are two possibilities. If Leif really does mean it, then you're okay. But say you're right," Allison ventured. She hoped she wasn't pushing Nic too far. "Say he doesn't mean it. Leif's a good man and a good agent. And he just might be good for you too."
It was always a pleasure to work with Leif. There was a solidity to him that was calming. And it was clear that those blue eyes of his missed nothing.
"But I don't need a man," Nicole answered. "I don't need anyone."
Chapter 20
Willamette Villas Condominiums
While Nic was brainstorming suspects with Allison, her cell rang. At the sound of Leif's voice in her ear, telling her that they now had a search warrant for Fate's apartment, her cheeks heated up. Her body was too eager to betray her.
After promising to call Allison if anything important turned up in the search, Nic gathered with the rest of the ERT in the FBI's parking garage.
At Fate's condominium building, they met the building manager and took the elevator to the twentieth floor.
Leif let out a long, low whistle when the manager unlocked the door and swung it open. "I think I went into the wrong line of work."
Nic felt a smile rise to her lips, and then quickly let it drop. She didn't want anyone on the team guessing anything about her feelings.