And Diane watched Kelly Harris disappear into Tanner’s office.
TANNER ROSE TO greet Kelly. “Thank you for coming, Mrs. Harris. Did you have a satisfactory flight?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Would you like anything? Coffee or—?”
Kelly shook her head.
“I know what a difficult time this must be for you, Mrs. Harris, but I need to ask you a few questions.”
In the surveillance room, Retra Tyler was watching Kelly on the television set and recording the scene.
“Did you and your husband have a close relationship?” Tanner asked.
“Very close.”
“Would you say that he was honest with you?”
Kelly looked at him, puzzled. “We had no secrets. Mark was the most honest, open, human being I’ve ever known. He—” Kelly was finding it difficult to go on.
“Did he often discuss his work with you?”
“No. What Mark did was very—complicated. We didn’t talk much about it.”
“Did you and Mark have many Russian friends?”
Kelly looked at him, confused. “Mr. Kingsley, I don’t know what these questions—”
“Did your husband tell you he had a big deal coming up and that he was going to make a lot of money?”
Kelly was getting upset. “No. If that were so, Mark would have told me.”
“Did Mark ever discuss Olga?”
Kelly was filled with a sudden foreboding. “Mr. Kingsley, exactly what is this all about?”
“The Paris police found a note in your husband’s pocket. It mentioned a reward for some information and was signed ‘Love, Olga.’ ”
Kelly sat there, stunned. “I—I don’t know what—”
“But you did say he discussed everything with you?”
“Yes, but—”
“From what we have been able to learn, your husband was apparently involved with this woman and—”
“No!” Kelly was on her feet. “This isn’t my Mark we’re talking about. I told you, we had no secrets between us.”
“Except whatever secret it was that caused your husband’s death.”
Kelly felt suddenly faint. “You’ll—you’ll have to excuse me, Mr. Kingsley. I’m not feeling well.”
He was instantly apologetic. “I understand. I want to help you in any way I can.” Tanner handed her his embossed business card. “You can reach me through this number at any time, Mrs. Harris.”
Kelly nodded, unable to speak, and blindly walked out of the office.
KELLY’S MIND WAS churning as she exited the building. Who was Olga? And why had Mark been involved with Russians? Why would he—?
“Excuse me. Mrs. Harris?”
Kelly turned. “Yes?”
An attractive blonde woman was standing outside the building. “My name is Diane Stevens. I’d like to talk to you. There’s a coffee shop across the way and we—”
“Sorry. I—I can’t talk now.” Kelly started to move on.
“It’s about your husband.”
Kelly stopped abruptly and turned. “Mark? What about him?”
“Can we talk where it’s more private?”
IN TANNER’S OFFICE, his secretary’s voice came over the intercom. “Mr. Higholt is here.”
“Send him in.”
A moment later, Tanner was greeting him. “Good afternoon, John.”
“Good? It’s a hell of an afternoon, Tanner. It seems that everyone in our company is being murdered. What the devil is going on?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out. I don’t believe the sudden deaths of three of our employees are a coincidence. Someone is out to damage the reputation of this company, but they’re going to be found and stopped. The police have agreed to cooperate with us, and I have men tracing the movements of the employees who were killed. I would like you to listen to two interviews that I’ve just recorded. These are the widows of Richard Stevens and Mark Harris. Are you ready?”
“Go ahead.”
“This is Diane Stevens.” Tanner pressed a button and his interview with Diane Stevens appeared on the screen. At the right-hand corner of the screen was a graph, tracing lines up and down as Diane spoke.
How much do you know about your husband’s connection with drugs?
What—what are you asking? Richard never would have had anything to do with drugs.
The graphic images remained steady.
Tanner pressed the fast-forward button. “This is Mrs. Mark Harris, whose husband was pushed or fell from the top of the Eiffel Tower.”
A picture of Kelly flashed on the television screen.
Did Mark ever discuss Olga?
Mr. Kingsley, exactly what is this all about?
The Paris police found a note in your husband’s pocket. It mentioned a reward for some information and was signed “Love, Olga.”
I—I don’t know what—
But you did say he discussed everything with you?
Yes, but—
From what we have been able to learn, your husband was apparently involved with this woman and—
No! This isn’t my Mark we’re talking about. I told you, we had no secrets between us.
The lines on the voice stress analyzer graph remained even. Kelly’s image disappeared.
“What was that line on the screen?” John Higholt asked.
“That’s a voice stress analyzer, a CVSA. It registers microtremors in the human voice. If the subject is lying, the modulations of the audio frequencies increase. It’s state of the art. It doesn’t require wires, like a polygraph. I’m convinced that both women told the truth. They must be protected.”
John Higholt frowned. “What do you mean? Protected from what?”
“I think they’re in danger, that subconsciously, they have more information than they realize. They were both close to their husbands. I’m convinced that at some point, something revealing might have been said that slipped by them at the time, but is in their memory banks. The chances are that as they start to think about it, they’re going to remember what it was. The moment they do, their lives could be at risk, because whoever killed their husbands could be planning to kill them. I intend to see that no harm comes to them.”
“You’re going to have them followed?”
“That was yesterday, John. Today it’s electronic equipment. I’ve put the Stevens apartment under surveillance—cameras, telephones, microphones—everything. We’re using every bit of technology at our disposal to guard them. The moment anyone tries to attack her, we’ll know.”
John Higholt was thoughtful for a moment. “What about Kelly Harris?”
“She’s in a hotel. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get into her suite to prepare it. But I have men staking out the lobby, and if it looks as if there might be trouble, they’ll handle it.” Tanner hesitated. “I want KIG to put up a five-million-dollar reward leading to the arrest of—”
“Wait a minute, Tanner,” John Higholt objected. “That’s not necessary. We’ll get this solved and—”
“Very well. If KIG won’t do it, I’ll personally offer a five-million-dollar reward. My name is identified with this company.” His voice hardened. “I want whoever is behind this caught.”
Chapter 20
IN THE COFFEE shop across the street from KIG headquarters, Diane Stevens and Kelly Harris were seated at a corner booth. Kelly was waiting for Diane to speak.
Diane was not sure how to begin. What was the dreadful thing that happened to your husband, Mrs. Harris? Had he been murdered, like Richard?
Kelly said impatiently, “Well? You said you wanted to talk to me about my husband. How well did you know Mark?”
“I didn’t know him, but—”
Kelly was furious. “You said you—”
“I said I wanted to talk about him.”
Kelly rose. “I don’t have time for this, lady.” She started to walk away.
“Wait! I think we might both have the same problem, and we may be able to help each other.”
Kelly stopped. “What are you talking about?”
“Please sit down.”
Reluctantly, Kelly returned to her seat in the booth. “Go ahead.”
“I wanted to ask you if—”
A waiter approached the table with a menu. “What would you ladies like?”
To be out of here, Kelly thought. “Nothing.”
Diane said, “Two coffees.”
Kelly looked at Diane and said defiantly, “Make mine tea.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The waiter left.
Diane said, “I think that you and I—”
A young girl came up to the table and said to Kelly, “Can I have your autograph?”
Kelly looked at her. “Do you know who I am?”
“No, but my mother says you’re important.”
Kelly said, “I’m not.”
“Oh.” They watched the little girl leave.
Diane looked at Kelly, puzzled. “Should I know who you are?”
“No.” Kelly added pointedly, “And I don’t like busybodies prying into my life. What is this all about, Mrs. Stevens?”
“Diane, please. I heard that something terrible had happened to your husband and—”
“Yes, he was killed.” Did you and Mark ever discuss Olga?
“My husband was killed, too. And they both worked for KIG.”
Kelly said impatiently, “Is that it? Well, so do thousands of other people. If two of them caught colds, would you call it an epidemic?”
Diane leaned forward. “Look, this is important. First of all—”
Kelly said, “Sorry. I’m not in the mood to listen to this.” She picked up her purse.
“I’m not in the mood to talk about it,” Diane snapped, “but it could be very—”