Meg wondered, watching the man, if Manheim was telling the truth. He kept running his fingers through his wavy dark hair and shaking his head.
“Congressman Walker finds a tongue on his doorstep and we’re all rushing around to make sure that he’s not upset and that poor Kendra is sedated!” he said. “I’m attacked in the same way—and I’m under arrest!”
“You’re not under arrest,” Matt said calmly. “You’re in here so we can talk to you privately.” He paused, letting his words sink in, then asked, “Who had access to your desk?”
“The entire staff! And Congressman Walker takes appointments. Someone could’ve wandered around the place. I just know I didn’t do it!”
“Mr. Manheim, you have access to the black sedans at Congressman Walker’s house.”
“Oh, no, you’re not going to get me on that! Half this city has access to a black sedan! God, it doesn’t matter. I’m ruined. But I didn’t do this!”
“You have to understand, Mr. Manheim. A young woman is missing, four women have been brutally murdered and a tongue was left at a home where you frequently spend time. And now...one’s been found in your desk drawer.”
“Yes! And like I said, it was obviously planted there! This could be a conspiracy. Someone wants to bring the congressman down. And they’re trying to make it look like he’s involved—or his staff is—in these awful murders.”
“They’re doing a good job,” Matt pointed out.
“This is ridiculous! I never killed anyone. I love Congressman Walker and I loved Congressman Hubbard and...and I sure as hell have no interest in killing women or cutting them up. I love women—in the right way! And you have nothing on me—well, except a tongue in my desk drawer. But I didn’t put it there! Oh, and you’ve got a fingerprint on the box the tongue came in, but hey! I took the box from Kendra when she started to scream!”
“Mr. Manheim, where is Lara Mayhew?”
“I don’t know! We were at a meeting and she left angry. She quit! She quit—and she walked out. Oh, God! I don’t believe this!”
Meg turned when the door opened and Logan Raintree entered the room, motioning to Jackson, who went out and through the door to the interrogation room.
He leaned over the table and said, “Two more tongues have been discovered at your personal residence, Mr. Manheim.”
Manheim stared at Jackson in what looked like total disbelief. “No! No! I didn’t commit these murders. I’m being framed for all this!”
“In your desk, Mr. Manheim, and in the drawer of a bedside table at your private residence. How did the tongues get there? Don’t you lock your doors, Mr. Manheim? If so, how did someone else do this?”
Manheim was suddenly angry. “Why ask me? You’re the FBI. You know how to break in anywhere!”
Jackson stood back. “Mr. Manheim, you’re under arrest.”
*
They had their man, or so it appeared, but Matt didn’t believe they did. While Manheim was being processed, he and Meg went to speak with Congressman Walker. Kendra was with her husband at his office, and while Walker seemed to be devastated, Kendra’s demeanor was one of relief.
“We finally know. We know the truth,” she said grimly. “I’m horrified that this came so close to us and that such a terrible man had our trust. Oh, God! We slept in that house with him there. My grandchildren were around him. But now...now we have to move on. This is going to hurt Ian badly, but...but at least we know the truth. We don’t have to be afraid anymore. It’s going to be all right.”
“It will never be all right, Kendra,” Walker said. “I’m going to resign.”
“You’re not going to resign. You can rise to become the greatest president this nation has seen since Lincoln. If you resign, you’re giving in! The other day you said you refused to do that. I know I’ve wanted you out of public service at times, but I also know it’s where you should be. You can’t resign. You’d be handing the opposition exactly what they want. Manheim wasn’t working alone, and we may never find out what really happened, but...he was a...a spy in your office, secretly working for one of your enemies,” she said wildly. “Someone on the far right or the far left. You can’t let them win!” Kendra told him. She nodded at the two agents. “We’re having a press conference in ten minutes. You’re welcome to be there. We can thank you publicly for your good work.”
“We prefer staying behind the scenes, Mrs. Walker,” Matt said. He found it interesting that Walker and his wife had apparently reversed their positions; now he was talking about resigning, and she was urging him not to. Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice in Wonderland said.
He saw that Meg was trying hard to contain herself—and then, apparently, she couldn’t. She moved forward slightly, looking taller, almost regal in her dignity.