“Yes.”
“They could have picked a quieter spot,” noted Puller.
“Well, it was late at night and there weren’t many folks about. And they never got out of the car.”
“And it was just a coincidence you were there?” asked Knox.
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Oh?” prompted Knox.
“As I testified at the court-martial, I had followed Robert there.”
“And why was that?” asked Puller.
Robinson shifted his gaze to him. “Because, quite frankly, I had misgivings about him.”
“Based on what?” Puller said.
“At STRATCOM you’re taught to be paranoid. And I was. I can’t tell you specifically what aroused my suspicions, but I had them. That wasn’t the first time I had followed him. Other times nothing had happened. But this time, well, I wasn’t sure. That’s why I took the photos.”
“And gave them to your superiors?” said Knox.
“Not immediately. But I did after a coworker caught Robert leaving the facility with a DVD.”
“Why not turn him in immediately?” asked Puller.
“I didn’t know that the person he was meeting with in the car was a spy. I didn’t want to make trouble unnecessarily.”
“But then you did turn in the pictures,” said Knox.
“That’s right. They ran it through a terrorist watch database and out the man popped. A bad guy. A real bad guy.”
“So your suspicions were confirmed?” said Knox.
“Unfortunately, yes. Please understand, I thought the world of Robert. He was incredibly bright and hardworking. He was being groomed for bigger and bigger roles. General Able had made him a personal project, in fact. I couldn’t understand why Robert had done what he had, until the Internet gambling came to light.”
“And that was the motive?” said Knox.
“Millions of them, apparently,” said Robinson evenly.
While Robinson was talking Puller had been looking on the shelf behind the man’s desk. He registered one thing and then looked at Robinson. “We appreciate your help.” He gave the man his card and asked him to call if he had anything to add.
Robinson fingered the card and said, “So any idea how he escaped? I thought DB was impenetrable.”
“Well, apparently it has an Achilles’ heel,” said Puller.
Back in the car Puller settled into his seat and closed his eyes.
“Remember, they both used the same phrase in their report, Puller.”
“They also worked together. They might have discussed it before they gave their statements.”
“So you’re now doubting your brother’s innocence?”
Puller opened his eyes and looked at her. “No. My brother was protecting me and my father. He took the fall because the real traitors put him in an impossible situation.”
“And photos can be altered,” pointed out Knox. “Images added or deleted.”
“Yes, they can. And these days, it’s pretty hard to detect.”
“So we struck out with Robinson,” Knox said. “I think the guy was forewarned we were coming.”
“I’m sure he was. I checked him out. He served his country well. Now he’s on the private side making more money, but there was something about the guy. I didn’t see it in Reynolds.”
“Well, if we answer that, we probably answer everything.”
CHAPTER
37
A DAY LATER PULLER laid aside the last page, sat back, and yawned. He was sitting at a spare office in a former CID building at Fort Belvoir. The trial record he had just finished for the third time had been tedious in nearly all respects, except when it was riveting. He had just had to read through it all to get to those parts.
He rubbed his eyes, drank the last of his lukewarm coffee, and stared out the solitary window where the rain had started to fall gently, although it was forecast to turn into a pretty nasty storm as a front pushed through on its way to the Atlantic.