“You’re right. He could’ve done that. Retired. Given it up.
But he came back, and more than that, he came back and apparently
blackmailed whoever he saw kill Christine Sullivan.
And if he presumably didn’t do it for money, then why?”
The detective thought for a moment. “To make ’em sweat.
To let them know he was out there. With the evidence to destroy them.”
“But evidence he wasn’t sure was enough.”
“Because the perp was sor respectable.”
“Right, so what would you do given those facts?”
Frank pulled to the curb and put the car in park. He turned around. “I’d
try to get something else on them. That’s what I’d do.”
“How? If you’re blackmailing someone?”
Frank finally threw up his hands. “I give.”
“You said the wire transfer could be traced by the sender.”
46SOTP
“So, what about the other way? Receiver back up the line?”
“Goddamned stupid.” Frank momentarily forgot his concussion and slapped
his forehead. “Whitney put a tracer on the wire, going the other way.
The person sending out the money thinks all along that they’re playing
cat and mouse with Whitney. They’re the cat, he’s the mouse. He’s
hiding, getting ready to run.”
“Only Luther didn’t mention the fact that he was into role reversal.
That he was the cat and they were the mouse.”
“And that tracer would eventually lead’right to the bad guys, probably
no matter how many shields you put up, if they thought to put up any at
all. Every wire in this country has to go through the Federal Reserve.
You get the wire reference number from the Fed or the sending bank’s
wire room, you got something to hang your hat on. Even if Whitney didn’t
trace it back, the fact that he received the money, a certain amount, is
damaging enough. If he could give that info to the cops with the name of
the sender and they check it out…”
Jack finished the detective’s thought. “And suddenly the unbelievable
becomes very believable. Wire transfers do not lie. Money was sent. If
it was a lot of money like I’m sure it was here, then that cannot be
explained away. That is pretty damn close to bull’s-eye evidence. He set
them up with their own payoff.”
“I just thought of something else, Jack. If Whitney was building a case
against these people, then he was eventually planning to go to the
police. He was going to just walk in the door and deposit himself and
his evidence.”
Jack nodded. “That’s why he needed me. Only they were quick enough to
use Kate as a way to ensure his silence.
Later they used a bullet to accomplish that.”
“So he was going to turn.himself in.”
“Right.”
Frank rubbed his jaw. “You . know what I’m thinking?”
Jack answered immediately. ‘He saw it coming.” The two men looked at
each other.
Frank spoke first, the words came out low, almost hushed.
“He knew Kate was a setup. And he went anyway. And I thought I was so
fucking clever.”
“Probably figured it was the only way he’d ever get to see her again.”
“Shit. I know the guy stole for a living, but I gotta tell you, my
respect for him grows by the second.”
“I know what you mean.”
Frank put the car back in gear and pulled off.
“Okay, again, where does all this conjecture leave us?”
Jack shook his head, lay back down. “I’m not sure.”
“I mean so long as we don’t have a clue as to who it is, I’m not sure
what we can do.”
Jack exploded back up. “But we do have clues.” He sat back as though all
his energy had suddenly evaporated after that one thrust. “I just can’t
make any sense out of them.”
The men drove on in silence for a few minutes.
“Jack, I know this sounds funny coming from a policeman, but I think you
might want to start considering getting the hell out of here. You got
some bucks saved? Maybe you should retire early.”
“And what, leave Kate swinging in the wind? If we don’t nail these guys
what is she looking at? Ten to fifteen as an accessory? I don’t think