“No, but it did reveal traces of a strong sedative. Strong enough to have knocked her out.”
Knox stopped, and so did Puller.
“A sedative?” she said. “Why didn’t anyone else notice that?”
“Because I think they all stopped looking at the tox report when it showed no poison. Me, I tend to read until the end.”
“But why would there be a sedative in her system?”
“My brother could have injected her with one.”
“Why would he do that if he wanted her to talk?”
“To allow him to escape after they finished talking.”
“But why would she lie if she knew it was provable by a blood test?”
“Because she’s not as smart as
she thinks she is. I don’t believe she thought it all the way through. And I think she truly hates my brother and saw an opportunity to really stick it to him. Calling him a coward and trying to make us believe that she was able to fight him off successfully must have really brightened her day. Oh, and she obviously knew you had searched her house and found the gun in the bookcase. That’s why she mentioned it. Really good liars always work in something true to make the lie more plausible.”
“So that means she was lying about . . . well, everything.”
“I never doubted that for a minute,” said Puller.
CHAPTER
51
THEY HAD ALMOST gotten to the building’s exit when two security personnel stopped them.
“Chief Puller? Agent Knox?” said one, who was dressed in cammies and carried the rank of sergeant.
“Yes?” said Puller.
“Mr. Carter would like to see you both.”
Donovan Carter was waiting for them in a room adjacent to his formal office. There was one other person in the room, a man of medium height with a thick head of blond hair and penetrating green eyes. Like Carter he wore a suit, regulation navy blue with a white shirt and muted striped tie.
“This is Blair Sullivan,” Carter began, indicating the man next to him. “He heads up our internal security section.”
The man gave a curt nod in their direction but said nothing.
“After our conversation last night,” began Carter.
Puller’s gaze shot to Sullivan, but Carter said, “It’s all right, Agent Puller. I’ve brought him into the circle. He was instrumental in tracking certain things down for me.”
Sullivan folded his arms across his chest and did his best not to look at either Puller or Knox.
Carter drew open a file that was sitting in front of him. “Let’s first address Susan Reynolds’s financial history. I wasn’t personally aware of this, but her husband was an FBI agent who was killed many years ago.”
“A hit-and-run, she told us,” noted Puller. “Never solved.”
Carter glanced at Sullivan, who took up the story. “There was a two-million-dollar life insurance policy on Adam Reynolds,” said Sullivan.
“Why so large?” asked Puller.
“He was an FBI agent. They had two young children. Ms. Reynolds had a similar policy on her because she traveled a great deal out of the country for the government in some remote places. Thus there obviously was a heightened risk for them both. The premiums had been duly paid up. Ms. Reynolds collected the money. She used it to pay off some debts, help raise her kids, and she invested the rest. I wish I had asked for her investment advice. She did a lot better than my 401(k). Needless to say, the insurance payout has grown substantially over the intervening years.” He stopped and stared at Puller.
“And the Joan Miró in her library?” asked Knox.
“It is a Joan Miró, but it’s a signed limited edition. Not something I could ever afford, but Ms. Reynolds purchased it some years ago for quite a good deal. And she had the money to do so. It’s on her disclosure form and has been for years.” Again, Sullivan stopped talking and stared pointedly at Puller.
Carter said, “I apologize that I wasn’t aware of any of this last night when we spoke.”
Sullivan said, “With all due respect, sir, you run an organization with thousands of employees. It would be impossible for you to know the intimate financial details of each person. That’s my job.”
“And Niles Robinson?” asked Knox.
“She’s not going to win. But it’s not going to be easy either.”
“If only we had something against her.” She looked at Puller, who was now gazing off and obviously not listening to her.
“Puller, where is your head?”
He said, “I just think I missed something.”
“Missed something? Where?”