Playing Dead_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [76]
“I’ll remember.”
TWENTY-ONE
It was nearly five when Mitch and Steve walked into the Sacramento regional FBI office to meet with their supervisor, Megan Elliott.
Meg was at her desk. Mitch suspected she worked longer hours than anyone else here, but even if he was concerned about her workaholic lifestyle he didn’t feel right commenting on it. “Come in,” she told them when Steve knocked on her open door. She finished up the report she was typing and turned to them. “I hear you two have been busy.”
They sat in the chairs across from Meg. Her blond hair was pulled back into a long, sleek ponytail. Her casual look. When she was in the field, she wore her hair up tight. Having it down made her look softer and more like the woman Mitch had cared for all those years ago.
A lifetime ago. It was all water under the bridge.
Steve began, “Like I told you earlier, we have a positive ID on Oliver Maddox. I sent off the flash drive found in his stomach to our office in Menlo Park. Don’t know that we’ll get anything off it, but it was in a titanium case. Instead of screwing with it here, I thought it best to get an expert.”
“Good.” She made a note. “I’ll follow up first thing in the morning.”
“We have a missing person of interest. Professor Don Collier, Maddox’s advisor, made a conflicting statement to the police. Maddox told his girlfriend he had a meeting scheduled with his advisor, but Collier told the police Maddox canceled the meeting. The girlfriend said Maddox was too excited about his project, and that Collier told her that Maddox didn’t show up—he said nothing about Maddox canceling. We went to clarify with the professor and found out that he canceled his classes for the day. We went to his residence, but he wasn’t there.”
“Do you have enough for a warrant?”
“Doubtful,” Steve said. “We’re digging a bit more into his background.”
“I’ll get in contact with the U.S. Attorney’s office and give them a heads-up.”
As always, crossing her t’s and dotting her i’s, Mitch thought. Meg wouldn’t allow anything to slip by under her watch.
Steve filled Meg in on everything except their suspicion that Claire O’Brien was working on something related to Oliver Maddox. However, he said, “According to his girlfriend, Maddox was still working on the Thomas O’Brien case.”
“The file says that the Project didn’t take the case.”
“True, they didn’t. But Maddox was writing his thesis on it nonetheless, and he told his girlfriend that it was called ‘The Perfect Frame.’ ”
“O’Brien’s guilt was established in a court of law,” Meg said. “We are here to uphold those laws. Whether he was wrongfully convicted is not something that our office considers.”
Mitch leaned forward. “Hypothetically,” he said, catching her eye, “if O’Brien was framed and Oliver Maddox found evidence for such, that is a strong motive for his murder.”
“As far as I’m concerned, you have two separate cases here. You have a fugitive, and you have a homicide. Whether Maddox had information that may have exonerated Mr. O’Brien is irrelevant to the fact that O’Brien is a fugitive. I expect you both to be equally diligent on both assignments. And don’t forget that the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department has jurisdiction on the Maddox case. The only reason you two are still on it is because they asked for our assistance with the evidence, and they haven’t told you to back off.”
“If we find O’Brien, can we keep him in federal custody?” Mitch asked spontaneously.
“We have no cause. We’d keep him at the county jail until transport back to San Quentin or wherever the State of California wants to send him is arranged. We don’t have jurisdiction over him. He was convicted in a California court, he is the state’s problem. The only reason he’s on our radar is because they asked us to help in tracking down the escapees. His crime wasn’t federal.”
“What if I could prove O’Brien is in danger if he’s remanded to state custody?”
“What proof? More of the