Clear and present danger - Tom Clancy [52]
"No, not at all," Murray lied. He didn't know what was coming, but he knew that it wasn't what Bright thought. He knew several other things that Bright didn't know, also. "Why don't you tell us about it?"
Wegener reached into his desk drawer and pulled something out. He tossed it to Murray. It was a pack of cigarettes.
"One of our friends dropped this on the deck and I had one of my people give this back to them. I figured - well, look at it. I mean, it looks like a pack of cigarettes, right? And when we have people in custody, we're supposed to treat 'em decent, right? So, I let 'em have their smokes. They're joints, of course. So, when we questioned them - especially the one who talked - well, he was high as a kite. That screws it all up, doesn't it?"
"That's not all, Captain, is it?" Murray asked innocently.
"Chief Riley roughed one of 'em up. My responsibility. I talked to the chief about it. The, uh, I forget his name - the obnoxious one - well, he spit on me, and Riley was there, and Riley got a little pissed and roughed him up some. He should not have done it, but this is a military organization, and when you spit on the boss, well, the troops might not like it. So Riley got a little out of hand - but it happened on my ship and it's my responsibility."
Murray and Bright exchanged a look. The suspects hadn't talked about that at all.
"Captain, that's not why we're here exactly," Murray said after a moment.
"Oh?" Wegener said. "Then why?"
"They say that you executed one of them," Bright replied. The stateroom was quiet for a moment. Murray could hear someone hammering on something, but the loudest noise came from the air-conditioning vent.
"They're both alive, aren't they? There were only two of them, and they're both alive. I sent that tape on the helicopter when we searched the yacht. I mean, if they're both alive, which one did we shoot?"
"Hanged," Murray said. "They say you hanged one."
"Wait a minute." He lifted the phone and punched a button. "Bridge, captain speaking. Send the XO to my stateroom. Thank you." The phone went back into place, and Wegener looked up. "If it's all right with you, I want my executive officer to hear this also."
Murray managed to keep his face impassive. You should have known, Danny, he told himself. They've had plenty of time to work out the little details, and Mr. Wegener is nobody's fool. He's got a U.S. senator to hide behind, and he handed us two coldblooded killers. Even without the confession, there's enough evidence for a capital murder case, and if you trash Wegener, you run the risk of losing that. The prominence of the victim - well, the U.S. Attorney won't go for it. No chance… There wasn't a United States Attorney in all of America who lacked political ambition, and putting these two in the electric chair was worth half a million votes. Murray couldn't run the risk of screwing this case up. FBI Director Jacobs had been a federal prosecutor, and he'd understand. Murray decided that it might make things a lot easier.
The XO appeared a moment later, and after introductions were exchanged, Bright went on with his version of what the subjects had told the local FBI office. It took about five minutes during which Wegener puffed on his pipe and let his eyes go slightly wide.
"Sir," the XO told Bright when he was finished. "I've heard a couple of good sea stories, but that one's the all-time champ."
"It's my fault," Wegener grumbled with a shake of the head. "Lettin' 'em have their pot back."
"How come nobody noticed what they were smoking?" Murray asked, less with curiosity for the answer than for the skill with which it was delivered. He was surprised when the XO replied.
"There's an A/C return right outside the brig. We don't keep a constant watch on prisoners - these were our first, by the way - because that's supposed to be unduly intimidating or something. Anyway, it's in our procedure book that we don't. Besides, we don't have all that many people aboard that we can spare 'em. What