Frank glowed as though he had been awarded the fourthgrade spelling bee
crown.
“It’s terrible, you know. Tell me, have you learned of any connection
between Walter’s suicide and this criminal being gunned down?”
Frank shook the stars from his eyes and his pair of steady eyes came to
rest on the chiseled features of the President.
“Come on, Ueutenant. I can tell you that all of official and unofficial
Washington is right this very minute savagely attacking the issue of
Walter Sullivan having hired an assassin to avenge his wife’s death and
then taking his own life in the aftermath. You can’t stop people from
gossiping. I would just like to know if your investigation has led to
any fact to substantiate Walter having ordered the killing of his wife’s
murderer.”
“I’m afraid that I really can’t say one way or another, sir. I hope you
understand, but this is an ongoing police investigation. 9@
“Don’t worry, Lieutenant, I’m not treading on your toes.
But I can tell you that this has been a particularly distressing time
for me. To think Walter Sullivan would end his own life.,One of the most
brilliant and resourceful men of his era, of any era.”
“So I’ve heard an awful lot of people say.”
“But just between you and me, knowing Walter as I did, it would not be
out of the realm of possibility that he would have taken precise and
concrete steps to have his wife’s killer … dealt with.”
“Alleged killer, Mr. President. Innocent until proven guilty.”
The President looked at Burton. “But I was led to understand that your
case was pretty much ironclad.”
Seth Frank scratched his ear. “Some defense attorneys love ironclad
cases, sir. See, you dump enough water on iron, it starts to rust and
before you know it, you got holes everywhere.”
“And this defense attorney was such a person?”
“And then some. I’m not a betting man, but I would’ve given us no more
than a forty percent shot at getting a clean conviction. We were in for
a real battle.”
The President sat back as he absorbed this information and then looked
back at Frank.
Frank finally noted the expression of expectancy on his face and flipped
open his notebook. His heartbeat calmed down as he perused the familiar
scribbles.
“Are you aware it was right before his death that Walter Sullivan called
you here?”
“I know that I spoke with him. I was not aware that it immediately
preceded his death, no.”
“I guess I’m a little surprised that you didn’t come forward with this
information earlier.”
The President’s face fell. “I know. I guess I’m a little surprised
myself. I supposed I believed I was shielding Walter, or at least his
memory, from further trauma. Although I knew the police would eventually
discover the call was placed. I’m sorry, Lieutenant.”
“I need to know the details of that phone conversation.”
“Would you like something to drink, Seth?”
“A cup of coffee would be fine, thank you.”
As if on cue, Burton picked up a phone in the corner and a minute later
a silver-plated coffee tray was delivered in.
The steaming hot coffee was sipped; the President looked at his watch,
then saw Frank staring at him.
‘I’m sorry, Seth, I am treating your visit with the importance it
deserves. However, I’ve got a congressional delegation coming to lunch
in a few minutes and quite frankly I’m not looking forward to it. As
funny as it sounds, I’m not particularly enamored of politicians.”
“I understand. This will only take a few minutes. What was the purpose
of the call?”
The President leaned back in his chair as if organizing his thoughts. “I
would characterize the call as one of desperation. He was definitely not
his usual self. He seemed unbalanced, out of control. For long periods
of time he would say nothing. Very unlike the Walter Sullivan I knew.”
“What did he talk about?”
“Everything, and nothing. Sometimes he just babbled. He talked about
Christine’s death. And then about the man, the man you arrested for the
murder. How he hated him, how he had destroyed his life. It was truly
awful to hear.”