Gary Ackerman graduated high school with both Harper Worthington and former congressman Roy Travertine. Worthington and Travertine went on to college and Ackerman joined the air force. He has a pseudonymous Web site, The Truth Files, which is all about conspiracies, mostly government and military related. Before Travertine’s death, Ackerman was a regular volunteer on his campaign and served in a nonpaying role as the head of a group called Veterans for Travertine. It’s the only political activity Ackerman has on record. His accident was five years ago, he was lucky to survive. Most of his rants on his Web site appear to be harmless. But some of his insights were proven accurate over the years by subsequent events. For example, three years ago he wrote about a governor in another state and claimed that he had embezzled money out of a fund he created, based on one line in an obscure newspaper article. Last year, the governor was indicted for embezzling—not from that specific fund, but from the prison system, conspiring with his brother-in-law who worked for the bureau of prisons.
But the big thing? Adeline Reyes-Worthington got a restraining order against him seven years ago, during her first election campaign. Don’t have the details—it was filed in D.C.
“Gary Ackerman must be the guy Harper met with,” Lucy said. “It explains the note about Travertine on the tablet. Maybe that’s how Ackerman got in to see him.”
“What it doesn’t explain is what they talked about or why Ackerman set him up at the motel.”
“If Ackerman set him up.”
“What other logical explanation is there? There was a restraining order against him—”
“To stay away from Adeline.”
“Still. Would her husband trust him?”
“It seems that way.”
“Or Ackerman came up with a way to punish Adeline by killing her husband.” Even as Barry said it, his tone suggested he didn’t believe it.
“He doesn’t have the resources, and he’s a paranoid conspiracy theorist,” Lucy said. “Someone could have known that Harper was meeting with Ackerman.”
“It’s more likely that Ackerman was hired to set Harper up—or possibly threatened to set him up—and then killed to keep him quiet.”
Certainly possible, Lucy thought.
Barry didn’t speak for the rest of the short drive. He was preoccupied and more serious than usual.
They showed their badges to the apartment manager, who let them into Ackerman’s studio.
The one-room facility was clean but cluttered. The twin bed was made military neat; the kitchenette was in perfect order with no dishes in the sink. But there was little space to move around. Each wall was covered with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. They were packed with books, binders, and file folders. On a desk, under the lone window which looked out onto the street, was a power cord. It went with a Toshiba laptop that was no longer on the desk. While the desk was completely clear, there were stacks of files under the desk, all labeled.
“Other than the laptop, we can’t possibly know if anything was taken,” Lucy said.
“Don’t be so sure of that,” Barry said. “I’ve known guys like Ackerman. Once we figure out his logic, we’ll know if anything is missing.”
Lucy slipped on gloves and opened the desk drawers. “I think I found it.”
“That was fast.” Barry looked inside the bottom drawer. There were hanging files, all neatly labeled. The contents from one hanging file were missing. The identifying tab had been torn off.
The files on either side of the missing file were dated: April, June.
“This must have been what he was working on,” Lucy said. “And whatever he was doing in May, that’s now gone.”
She pulled the two files and glanced through them. Nothing jumped out at her. She was about to sit down and go through them more carefully when she heard Barry on his cell phone. “Juan, can you send Zach with an agent to Gary Ackerman’s studio? There’s potential evidence here, and we need someone with an analytical mind to weed through the irrelevant files to find the important items.”
When Barry was done, Lucy said, “We’re not doing this?”
“We have another appointment. I wasn’t sure what we would find here, and I didn’t want to send Zach on a wild-goose chase. Juan’s going to send Nate with him.” Zach Charles was an analyst, not a field agent, and therefore couldn’t work in the field without being accompanied by an agent. And in a case like this, an agent would be added protection.
Lucy glanced around before they left. She felt compassion for the veteran she’d never met. A good, honest life damaged by a reckless driver. Living with paranoia and fears he might not even understand. The brain was the most complex organ in the human body. Even neuroscientists knew less about the brain than what they suspected they could learn. But what was the trigger? What event or article or image had Gary Ackerman seeking out Harper Worthington?