The Four Corners of the Sky_ A Novel - Michael Malone [192]
As he seemed to be speaking to Annie, she replied, “Which situation is it, sir?”
Fierson’s assistant opened a folder and placed it in front of him. Glancing in it, he replied, “A serious one.” There were details he would not be able to share; they were protected by the government’s claim that it needed to protect them. “But shall we be candid? We all know your father has, or had, in his possession a certain artifact to which the Cuban government, specifically—” he checked his notes “—the Museo Habana in Plaza de la Revolución, is laying claim. A relic that is reputedly a quote ‘national treasure.’”
Annie asked, “The Queen of the Sea?”
He nodded. “We’d like your help in solving this problem with Cuba, without further embarrassment to anyone. Your father is not yet in police custody, although charged with a number of felonies.”
“Sixty-one counts,” threw in Willie, the chunky FBI agent. He thrust his finger aggressively at Annie. “We want that statue back and we want the jewels that go in it. It belongs to Cuba. Your dad’s got that statue or he hid it someplace and he’s figuring to unload it for some real dirty money. He’s a fugitive. And you know where he is!”
Fierson ignored the agent. “Lt. Goode, by protecting your father, you have made yourself vulnerable to serious charges.”
“Like 10 years worth,” the chunky agent couldn’t stop himself from saying.
Fierson held out a palm to silence him. “If you can assist us in recovering this artifact, and arrange for your father’s return, his problems, and yours, become less…urgent.”
Before Annie could reply, Lt. Commander Bok assured Mr. Fierson that to serve the United States government in any way they asked was both Lieutenant Goode’s duty and her privilege. Chief Warrant Officer Sims couldn’t agree more.
Annie sat straighter in her seat, hands folded tensely but quietly on the table. “Mr. Fierson, should I have a lawyer present?” She glanced at Dan. “I mean, before I speak as to my knowledge of any stolen object?”
“Or the felon that stole it,” growled the FBI man. “I bet you know exactly where Peregrine is.”
“I think I can safely say,” Fierson gestured at the officers and (sternly) at the fat agent, “I think we can safely say that a lawyer won’t be necessary, since any information Lieutenant Goode may have obtained from her father—”
“Or from Rafael Rook,” Dan interjected.
Fierson nodded agreeably. “She obtained without being made in any way aware of its criminal nature. And any subsequent facto actions she took to relieve, comfort, or assist her father or his accomplice, she took in ignorance of the fact that they had committed felonies. There was therefore no criminal facilitation by the lieutenant.”
Dan muttered, “So much for ignorantia juris non excusat.”
The thin young woman laughed but quickly stopped herself.
After a brief glare at them both, Fierson held up for view the Photostat of the sketch of the Queen of the Sea, the one that Raffy had already shown Annie. “Let’s put our cards, all our cards, on the table,” he suggested.
Annie motioned with her hands as if they were spilling those cards before him. “Yes, sir.”
“Your father has somehow acquired this valuable object, a gold and jeweled Spanish Renaissance reliquary known as—” he checked the piece of paper “—La Reina Coronada del Mar. Sources indicate he has a buyer of some sort who intends to donate the statue to the diocese of the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart in Miami.” Again, Fierson checked his pages. “‘El siglo decimosexto reliquia dorada’ appears to have a certain religious significance. We already have in our possession a small, quite authentic silver case alleged to have been removed from the statue, containing a so-called thorn from the crucifixion crown of Christ. Its existence strongly suggests the authenticity of the statue from which it was taken.”
Willie set a small package in bubble-wrap on the table. He unwrapped a little silver box with empty prongs on its lid.