“Do you know his name?”
“No. He wasn’t part of her life. He just did her a favor once, as she put it.”
“All right, George. Thank you so much. You’ve been a huge help, as always.”
“You’re welcome, Dr. Owens. Call me again if you need anything more.”
She ended the call, raised an eyebrow toward Xander.
“Well?”
“Very interesting.”
“I’ll say. I think it’s probably time to call Fletch, give him some information.”
“Probably. Hopefully Reed will be back with the details on Gerhardt soon, too. More coffee?”
“I don’t know how you can handle all that caffeine.”
“That’s a yes?”
She smiled. “Yes.”
He bussed her on the forehead and went in search of refills. Sam watched him go, just happy to be near him. Then she dialed Fletcher’s number, and gave him all the news.
Chapter 38
Washington, D.C.
Detective Darren Fletcher
Fletcher was back at the JTTF when his cell phone rang. He was surprised to find Mrs. Conlon on the other end of the line.
“Detective, I apologize for my tone this morning. I am not mentally prepared to think about anything other than the fact that my Marc is gone, and I’ll never see him again.”
“I understand, Mrs. Conlon. There’s no need to apologize.”
“Thank you. I thought about what you said, about Marc’s research, and people he might have come in contact with who upset him. There was a boy who Marc talked to a few times on his computer. I don’t remember what they call it.”
“Skype?”
“That’s it. Yes. He was on the computer with this young man and I was bringing some laundry up. They were having an argument.”
“Do you remember what it was about?”
“No, sir. The minute Marc realized I was in the room he shut the computer. I asked if everything was okay and he said it was, that he was just talking to a fellow student who needed some help with his thesis.”
“Why did this moment in particular stand out to you, Mrs. Conlon?”
“Because he was lying to me. He didn’t lie much, we had an understanding. You don’t need to lie, you can just say it’s none of my business and so long as it’s clear no one is getting hurt, I’ll leave it alone. But he was upset, angry, and when I left the room I heard him slamming around upstairs.”
“When was this, ma’am?”
“Oh, a couple of months ago. The thing is, looking back, I think I recognized the boy. He was hanging around our neighborhood a few days ago. I didn’t know who he belonged to, he was like a stray dog just hoping someone might take him in. He was sitting in his car like he was waiting for something. That’s all I have, Detective.”
“Mrs. Conlon, would you mind sitting down with an artist and letting us get a composite of this boy?”
“I don’t know what good that will do. I can barely remember what he looks like, I just recognize that he was the same person Marc fought with.”
“Anything might help us, ma’am. You’d be amazed at what you do remember, even though you don’t think you do. I can arrange for an artist to come to your house right now if it would be convenient.”
She sighed. “I guess that would be fine. Better than sitting here grieving. At least it will give me something to do.”
*
Fletcher told Inez to get an artist with an Identi-Kit to head over to the Conlon house, then sat back in his chair and tried to piece things together. Just as he decided he’d be better off chucking it all and starting from scratch, and maybe grabbing a sandwich and some coffee to go along with that, his cell trilled.
It was Sam.
“Hey there. How’re the mountains treating you?”
“Very well, thank you. Have you talked to Amado?”
“About the delivery methods of the abrin? Yes. Great catch. It’s all being tested now.”
“Good. Listen, I have something else that you’re going to need to check out. Something that now ties everyone together.”
“Hit me.”
“The congressman was with Loa Ledbetter in Africa in 1990. She was in the Peace Corps briefly, and apparently so was he.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“That’s interesting. But I’m not sure how to use it. That was a long time ago. He wasn’t on the public radar then. He was just a kid, really.”
“He’d be, what, twenty-two or twenty-three. About her same age, actually. I’m just here looking through Ledbetter’s photos, and up pops the congressman. They were definitely in the same place at the same time. They knew each other.”
“That helps, but, Sam, you’re giving me precious little to go on.”
“Precious little is an understatement. But there’s something here, I can feel it. Ledbetter uses the photos from her trip to Africa, specifically the day she was with the Maasi, on a lot of her stuff—it’s the focal point at her office, it’s her Facebook photo.”