to her.”
“And what’s her story?”
“Initially she said she didn’t know her husband was on the plane.”
“Initially? So her story changed.”
Hardy nodded. “Next she told Nathan Gamble that her husband had lied to
her. Said he told her he was going to L.A. to meet with another
company about a job. Turns out he wasn’t meeting with any other
company.”
“Who says?”
“Sidney Archer. I guess she must have called the company, probably to
tell them her husband wasn’t going to be making it.”
“But you verified it?” asked Sawyer. Hardy nodded. “So, any progress
with your investigation?”
Hardy’s face took on almost a pained expression. “Not much makes sense
right now. Nathan Gamble is far from a happy man. He pays the bills
and wants results. But it takes time, you know that.
Still…” Hardy paused and studied the thick carpet. It was easy to see
the man did not enjoy being puzzled about anything. “Anyway, according
to Gamble and Rowe, at least, Mrs. Archer thinks her husband’s dead.”
“If she’s telling the truth, and right now everything with me is a big
if.” Sawyer’s tone was heated.
Hardy looked at him quizzically.
Sawyer caught the look and his shoulders slumped. “Just between you and
me, Frank, I’m feeling a little stupid on this one.”
“Why’s that?”
“I had it pegged for sure that Arthur Lieberman was the target.
Structured the whole investigation around that theory, mainly just going
through the motions on any other angle.”
“It’s early on in the investigation, Lee. No harm done yet. Besides,
maybe Lieberman was the target, in a way.”
Sawyer’s head jerked back. “How’s that?”
“Think about it. You already answered your own question.”
Hardy’s point suddenly came to him. Sawyer’s face grew dark.
“You mean you think this guy Archer arranged to blow up the plane
because we’d think Lieberman was the target? Come on, Frank, that’s a
helluva stretch.”
Hardy countered. “Well if we hadn’t lucked out with this video, that’s
exactly what you’d still be thinking, isn’t it? Remember, there’s one
unique thing about an airplane crash, particularly one where the
aircraft collides with the ground relatively intact, as happened here.”
Sawyer’s face turned ashen while he thought it through. “No bodies.
Nothing to identify, no remains.”
“Exactly. Now, if the plane had been conventionally blown up in the
air, you’d have a lot of bodies to identify.”
Sawyer continued to look stunned at Hardy’s revelation. “That issue had
been bugging the hell out of me. If Archer sold out, collected his
payoff and was planning to run, he’d know at some point the police would
be on to him.”
Hardy picked up the thread. “So to cover his tracks he sets it up like
he gets on a plane which ends up thirty feet under. If evidence of
sabotage is discovered, you logically think Lieberman’s the target.
If evidence of sabotage isn’t found, you still won’t be looking for a
dead man. Everyone stops looking for Jason Archer. End of case.”
“But Christ, Frank, why not just take the money and run? It’s not that
difficult to disappear. And there’s another thing. The guy we’re
pretty sure sabotaged 3223 ended up with a bunch of holes in him.”
“Would the time of death have allowed Archer to get back and do the
killing?” Hardy asked.
“We don’t have the autopsy results yet, but based on what I saw of the
corpse, it’s possible Archer could’ve gotten back to the East Coast in
time to do it.”
Hardy fingered his file while he thought through this new information.
“Come on, Frank, how much you figure Archer got for his info?
Enough to bribe a fueler to bring down a plane and hire a hit man to
take out the fueler? This one guy who until a few days ago led a
respectable life with a family? Now he’s some kind of mastermind
criminal blowing kids and grandmothers out of the sky?”
Frank Hardy looked at his old friend, his lips set in a thin line.
“He personally didn’t blow up that plane, Lee. Besides, don’t tell me
you’ve started analyzing the depths of a person’s conscience. If memory
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