neatly listed. The sequence began exactly twenty years ago
and averaged more than thirty entries for each of the 7305
days since. Froelich sampled the first dozen reports and then
skipped ahead to random interim dates. There was nothing
even remotely useful.
‘We need to refine the parameters,’ Neagley said. She
squatted next to Froelich and moved the keyboard closer.
Cleared the screen and called up the enquiry box and typed thumbprint-as-signature. Reached for the mouse and clicked
on search. The hard drive chattered and the enquiry box disappeared.
The phone rang and Froelich picked it up. Listened
for a moment and put it down.
‘Stuyvesant’s back,’ she said. ‘He’s got the preliminary FBI
report on the rifle. He wants us in the conference room.’
‘We came close to losing today,’ Stuyvesant said.
He was at the head of the table with sheets of faxed paper
spread out in front of him. They were covered in dense type, a
little blurred from transmission. Reacher could see the cover
sheet’s heading, upside down. There was a small seal on the
left, and U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation on the right.
‘First factor is the unlocked door,’ Stuyvesant said. ae FBI’s
guess is the lock was picked early this morning. They say a
child could have done it with a bent knitting needle. We should
have secured it with a temporary lock of our own.’
‘Couldn’t do it,’ Froelich said. ‘It’s a landmark building. Can’t
be touched.’
q’hen we should have changed the venue.’
‘I looked for alternatives first time round. Every other place
was worse.’
‘You should have had an agent on the roof,’ Neagley said.
216
‘No budget,’ Stuyvesant said. ‘Until after the Inauguration.’
‘If you get that far,’ Neagley said.
‘What was the rifle?’ Reacher asked, in the silence.
Stuyvesant squared the paper in front of him. ‘Your guess?’
‘Something disposable,’ Reacher said. ‘Something they
weren’t actually planning on using. In my experience something
that gets found that easily is supposed to get found that easily.’
Stuyvesant nodded. ‘It was barely a rifle at all. It was
an ancient .22 varmint gun. Badly maintained, rusty, probably
hadn’t been used in a generation. It was not loaded and there
was no ammunition with it.’
‘Identifying marks?’
‘None.’
‘Fingerprints?’
‘Of course not.’
Reacher nodded. ‘Decoy,’ he said.
if’he unlocked door is persuasive,’ Stuyvesant said. ‘What did
you do when you went in, for instance?’
‘I locked it again behind me.’
‘Why?’
‘I like it that way, for surveillance.’
‘But if you were going to be shooting?’
Fhen I would have left it open, especially if I didn’t have the
key.’
‘Why?’
‘So I could get out fast, afterwards.’
Stuyvesant nodded. ‘he unlocked door means they were in
there to shoot. My take is they were waiting in there with the
HP5 or the Vaime Mk2. Maybe both. They imagined the junk
gun would be spotted at the fence, the bulk of the police
presence would move somewhat towards it, we would move
Armstrong towards the motorcade, whereupon they would have
a clear shot at him.’
‘Sounds right to me,’ Reacher said. ‘But I didn’t actually see
anybody in there.’
‘Plenty of places to hide in a country church,; Stuyvesant said.
‘Did you check the crypt?’
‘No.’ l’he loft?’
217
‘Plenty of places,’ Stuyvesant said again.
‘I sensed somebody.’
‘Yes,’ Stuyvesant said. ‘They were in there. That’s for sure.’
There was silence.
‘Any unexplained attendees?’ Froelich asked.
Stuyvesant shook his head. ‘It was pure chaos. Cops running
everywhere, the crowd scattering. By the time order was
restored at least twenty people had left. It’s understandable.
You’re in a crowd on an open field, somebody finds a gun, you
run like hell. Why wouldn’t you?’
‘What about the man on foot in the subdivision?’
‘Just a guy in a coat,’ Stuyvesant said. ‘State cop couldn’t
really come up with anything more than that. Probably just a
civilian out walking. Probably nobody. My guess is our guys
were already in the church by that time.’
‘Something must have aroused the trooper’s suspicions,’
Neagley said.
Stuyvesant shrugged. ‘You know how it is. How does a North
Dakota State trooper react around the Secret Service? He’s