The Narrows - Michael Connelly [61]
“The FBI? Harry, I told you I couldn’t go to them first. Not until I —”
“I didn’t go to them. They came to me. I’m out in the middle of the desert, Graciela. Things I found in Terry’s office led me out here and the FBI was already here. I think it is safe to talk. I think the person they are looking for here is the one who hurt Terry. I don’t think this is going to come back on you now. I think I should talk to them, tell them what I’ve got. It might help catch this guy.”
“Who is it?”
“Robert Backus. Do you know the name? Did Terry mention it?”
There was silence while she thought about it.
“I don’t think so. Who is it?”
“A guy he used to work with.”
“An agent?”
“Yes. He was the one they called the Poet. Did you ever hear Terry talk about the Poet?”
“Yes, a long time ago. I mean, three or four years. I remember he was upset because I think he was supposed to be dead but it looked like he wasn’t. Something like that.”
It must have been around the time that Backus had supposedly resurfaced in Amsterdam. Terry had probably just gotten the internal files on the investigation.
“Nothing since then?”
“No, I can’t remember anything.”
“Okay, Graciela. So what do you think? I cannot talk to them unless you allow it. I think it is okay.”
“Then go ahead if you think it will help.”
“It means they’ll be coming out there soon. FBI agents. They’ll probably take The Following Sea back to the mainland to go over it.”
“What for?”
“Evidence. This guy was on the boat. First as a charter and then he came back and snuck on. That was when he changed the meds.”
“Oh.”
“And they’ll also come to the house. They’ll want to talk to you. Just be honest, Graciela. Tell them everything. Don’t hold anything back and it will be all right.”
“Are you sure, Harry?”
“Yes, I’m sure. So you’re all right with this?”
“I’m all right.”
We said good-bye and disconnected. As I was walking back toward Zigo I opened my phone again and called my home number. I then disconnected and repeated the process nine more times, wiping out any record on my phone of the calls to Buddy Lockridge and Graciela McCaleb. If things went wrong in the RV and Dei wanted to know who I called, it wouldn’t be easy for her. She’d get nothing off my phone. She’d have to go to the phone company with a warrant.
As I approached, Zigo saw what I was doing. He smiled and shook his head.
“You know, Bosch, if we wanted your phone numbers, we would’ve picked them out of the air.”
“Is that right?”
“That’s right, if we wanted to.”
“Wow, you guys are really rather special, aren’t you?”
Zigo looked at me over his sunglasses.
“Don’t be an asshole, Bosch. It gets tiring after a while.”
“You should know.”
19
ZIGO ESCORTED ME BACK IN without another word. Agent Dei was waiting at the table. Rachel Walling still stood by the counter. I calmly sat down and looked at Dei.
“How’d it go?” she asked in a pleasant tone.
“It went fine. My client says I can talk to you. But it’s not going to be a one-way street. We trade. I answer your questions, you answer mine.”
She shook her head.
“Uh-uh, that’s not how it works. This is an FBI investigation. We don’t trade information with amateurs.”
“You’re saying I’m an amateur? I bring you a photo of the long-lost Robert Backus and I’m the amateur?”
I saw movement and looked over to Rachel. She had brought her hand up to her face to hide a smile. When she saw me looking at her she turned toward the counter and acted like she was studying the photo of Backus again.
“We don’t even know if that is Backus,” Dei said. “You’ve got a guy with a beard, a hat and dark glasses. It could be anybody.”
“And it could be the guy that is supposedly dead but somehow managed to kill five men in Amsterdam a few years ago and now, what, six men here. Or is it more than the six listed in that newspaper story?”
Dei gave me a tight, unpleasant smile.
“Look, you may be impressing yourself with all of this, but we’re still not impressed.