“I knew nothing about that.”
“You knew everything about that. Your husband would have never kept that from you. You were too close. I don’t believe then that he had any idea you had been a spy. He loved you, unconditionally. Everyone said he was a great guy, which ordinarily makes me suspicious. But as it turned out, he was a great guy. What you didn’t know was that Berkshire had never forgiven you for what you did, abandoning the cause, and was on the lookout for any way to get back at you, or better yet, get you back in the fold. And Natalie was her opportunity. Ten million bucks or your child and her family get slaughtered by the Russians. And you knew how cruel the Russians could be. Natalie told him and he told you. You were well-off, but where could your husband get ten million dollars in a matter of days? He must have been frantic. But you knew there was a way. And that meant you had to tell the man you loved that you had been stealing his secrets all that time and sending them to the Soviets.” He stopped and stared at her. “How did he take that, Mrs. Dabney? How did he take that betrayal by his wife of decades, by the mother of his children? How devastated was he? I can tell you that he also told Natalie that he thought he knew someone, but he really didn’t. Like Berkshire, he was talking about you, his own wife, the love of his life.”
Tears now were spilling down Ellie’s cheeks. She shook her head but said nothing as a cold wind whipped through the cemetery. She started gasping for breath, pulled an inhaler from her pocket, and took three quick puffs on it.
They all stood there watching her as the chill wind pummeled them.
CHAPTER
74
JAMISON FINALLY DREW CLOSER to Ellie, handed the woman a tissue she had pulled from her jacket pocket, and then stepped back. Ellie used it to dab at her eyes.
Decker said, “So I’m thinking you contacted Berkshire through an old communication channel. You told her of your dilemma and she told you what it would take to get ten million dollars from her organization. You told your husband and he made it happen. And Natalie was saved.
“But then something happened, didn’t it? Natalie spilled the beans that the debt had not been ten million. She had been forced to say that by Berkshire’s people to make you panic and resort to espionage. Berkshire was probably monitoring your family for any weakness to use against you. And she found the mother lode in Natalie. And she was just waiting for you to contact her. But now you realized Berkshire had deceived you. And you told your husband. And, reeling at the guilt of having betrayed his country, and knowing that he would never have to stand trial for it, he decided to murder Berkshire. With your help.”
Ellie put her inhaler back in her pocket and walked over and sat back down on the bench.
“Mrs. Dabney, I’m not here to judge you. My job is to find out the truth. That’s it.”
Bogart added, “If you cooperate, it will definitely be better for you.”
Brown said, “We’re convinced that something is in the works, Mrs. Dabney. Some attack. If you help us out on that, your future will look a lot brighter than if you don’t cooperate.”
“And telling us the truth would be a good start,” said Decker.
A long minute passed.
When she spoke, Ellie’s voice was husky but firm. And her tone was resigned.
“God, I’m just tired. So tired of all of it.” She paused. “Walt told me about his cancer. He would never have kept that from me. Even after he found out about…what I had done. Although he had Natalie go with him to Houston to confirm the diagnosis instead of me.” She paused and looked over at the grave. “It wasn’t Walt’s idea to kill Anna. It was mine. I wanted to do it.” She slowly shook her head, her eyes closed for a moment. “But Walt, gallant to the last, insisted that he would do it. Like you said, he would never stand trial for the crime.”
“You were the one dressed as the clown,” said Decker. “You were the signal to your husband.”
Ellie wiped her eyes with the tissue. “I had parked my car in a garage near the FBI building. I went in there, changed out of the costume, got in my car, and drove home. I knew what Walt was going to do. I cried all the way. It was like I was in some sort of nightmare. My mind was numb.”
Bogart said, “Before he killed Berkshire, we saw a woman on a video with your husband removing items from his safe deposit box.”
“I don’t know for sure, but I assume it was one of Anna’s people. You don’t know this, but they tried to recruit Walt after he stole the secrets to pay for Natalie’s debts. Anna always played the long game. Getting back at me was a secondary goal. Getting Walt as part of her spy ring would have been a great coup for her. They met with him, told him some things. Walt would never have done that. But Walt was a brilliant man. He and Anna were evenly matched there. He played along because he had his own plan. He later videotaped himself naming names and talking about the secrets he stole so your government would be warned to bring down Anna’s spy ring. But they somehow found out about his plan and took the evidence.”
“Did he name you as part of the spy ring?” asked Bogart.
“No. He wanted me to be spared from that.”
“A very understanding man,” snapped Brown. “Considering how cruelly you had used him all those years.”
Ellie looked up at her. “You have spies working for you, do you not?”
“Yes.”
“Do they infiltrate places and pretend to be something they’re not?”
“That happens,” admitted Brown.
“And you believe they are doing important work on behalf of their country?”
“Of course. They’re incredibly dedicated and brave.”
“So in your eyes spies are only incredibly dedicated and brave when they’re working for the Americans?”
Brown flinched but said nothing.
Decker said, “So with that video evidence gone and your husband’s plan ruined, is that when you two decided to kill Berkshire instead?”