her other wrist and spoke into the microphone.
‘Copy, out,’ she said. She was pale.
‘What?’ Reacher asked.
She ignored him. Spun round and called to the last remaining
agent free in the lobby. Told him he was acting on-site team
leader for the rest of the night. Spoke into her microphone and
repeated that information to all the agents on the local net. Told
them to double their vigilance, halve their perimeters, and
further compress exposure time wherever possible.
‘What?’ Reacher asked again.
‘Back to base,’ Froelich said. ‘Now. That was Stuyvesant.
Seems like we’ve got a real big problem.’
169
NINE
S
HE USED THE RED STROBES BEHIND THE SUBURBAN’S GRILLE AND barged through the evening traffic like it was life and
death. She lit up the siren at every light. Pushed through
and accelerated hard into gaps. Didn’t talk at all. Reacher sat
completely still in the front passenger seat and Neagley leaned
forward from the back with her eyes locked on the road ahead.
The three-ton vehicle bucked and swayed. The tyres fought for
grip on the slick tarmac. They made it back to the garage inside
four minutes. They were in the elevator thirty seconds later. In
Stuyvesant’s office less than one minute after that. He was
sitting motionless behind his immaculate desk. Slumped in his
chair like he had taken a punch to the stomach. He was holding
a sheaf of papers. The light shone through them and showed
the kind of random coded headings you get by printing from
a database. There were two blocks of dense text under the
headings. His secretarywas standing next to him, handing him
more paper, sheet by sheet. She was white in the face. She left
the room without saying a single word. Closed the door, which
intensified the silence.
‘What?’ Reacher said.
Stuyvesant glanced up at him. ‘Now I know.’
170
‘Know what?’
¢rhat this is an outside job. For sure. Without any possible
doubt.’
‘How?’
‘You predicted theatrical,’ Stuyvesant said. ‘Or spectacular.
Those were your predictions. To which we might add dramatic,
or incredible, or whatever.’
‘What was it?’
‘Do you know what the homicide rate is, nationally?’
Reacher shrugged. ‘High, I guess.’
‘Almost twenty thousand every year.’
‘OK.’
i’hat’s about fifty-four homicides every day.’
Reacher did the arithmetic in his head. ‘Nearer fifty-five,’ he
said. ‘Except in leap years.’
‘Want to hear about two of today’s?’ Stuyvesant asked.
‘Who?’ Froelich asked.
‘Small sugar beet farm in Minnesota,’ Stuyvesant said. q’he
farmer walks out his back gate this morning and gets shot in
the head. For no apparent reason. Then this afternoon there’s a
small strip mall outside Boulder, Colorado. A CPA’s office in
one of the upstairs rooms. The guy comes down and walks out
of the rear entrance and gets killed with a machine gun in the
service yard. Again, no apparent reason.’
‘So?’
¢rhe farmer’s name was Bruce Armstrong. The accountant’s
was Brian Armstrong. Both of them were white men about
Brook Armstrong’s age, about his height, about his weight,
similar appearance, same colour eyes and hair.’
‘Are they family? Are they relatedF
‘No,’ Stu.vvesant said. ‘Not in any way. Not to each other,
not to the VP. So therefore I’m asking myself, what are the
odds? That two random men whose last name is Armstrong
and whose first names both begin with BR are going to get
senselessly killed the same day we’re facing a serious threat
against our guy? And I’m thinking, the answer.is about a trillion
billion to one.’
Silence in the office.
I’he demonstration,’ Reacher said.
171
‘Yes,’ Stuyvesant said. q’hat was the demonstration. Coldblooded
murder. Two innocent men. So I agree with you. These
are not insiders having a joke.’
Neagley and Froelich made it to Stuyvesant’s visitor chairs and
just sat down without being asked. Reacher leaned on a tall
filing cabinet and stared out of the window. The blinds were still
open, but it was full dark outside. Washington’s orange nighttime
glow was the only thing he could see.
‘How were you notified?’ he asked. ‘Did they call in and claim
responsibility?’
Stuyvesant shook his head. ‘FBI alerted us. They’ve got software
that scans the NCIC reports. Armstrong is one of the