by Jack Davis
Lublin was taken off guard. In the short amount of time it had taken for Pencala to get him out of the car, his outlook had changed. In the next instant he was immediately self-conscious. While he knew there had to be female agents, it had never crossed his mind one would be involved in his case. He had pictured himself going head to head with either gruff fools who he could mentally have his way with, or intelligent agents he could spar with on a higher level, but all these potential adversaries were supposed to be men. He was ready to deal with men, not a woman, especially an attractive woman.
The Pencala Factor, and it was a factor for Lublin, made the processing go quickly. He started the conversation. “Are there many gir…women agents in the Secret Service?”
“Not too many. About three hundred, I think.”
When she stopped talking to focus on the processing, all Lublin could think about was keeping the conversation going. He asked how long she had been an agent, and if she liked it. The questions seemed dull to Lublin and he wished he could come up with something that might go a little deeper. At a loss, he kept up his line of questioning about her job.
All the while, Pencala and Swann walked him through booking. He was not manhandled or rushed and did not interact with other inmates. Each step of the way, the two agents explained what was going to happen.
Lublin thoroughly enjoyed having Pencala take his fingerprints. As she moved close and took his first hand, he smelled her perfume. She even smells gorgeous. Not overpowering, just a light natural fragrance that Lublin felt matched her perfectly. He wanted to touch her hair but knew it would elicit a reprimand and likely a change in personnel for the prints. He held back.
“Relax and try not to roll your own fingers. Let me do all the work.”
She firmly rolled each print on his right hand. It was almost relaxing, in a semi-sensual way. She was in charge and in control. Something he’d never experienced. He kept his other hand in his pocket to mask his arousal. He didn’t want the process to end.
As he tried not to be too conspicuous in looking at Pencala, he realized that while she wasn’t a classic beauty, she was probably the sexiest woman he had ever seen. Ever. She exuded sex appeal. Her looks, her physique, her confidence, her perfume, her voice, even her name seemed to Lublin to fit the young woman who had been in such close contact with him for the past twenty minutes.
When Lublin was led off for a strip search, Pencala departed; the spell was temporarily broken. He had been given an initial search by Swann when arrested and handcuffed at his office. Now, he was subjected to the indignity of a complete strip search. He noticed it was the guards at the facility who performed the disgusting invasion of his privacy, and not the agents who had arrested him. He assumed this made it easier for them to interview him later if they didn’t have to be part of the degrading procedure. As he was getting dressed, he again felt self-conscious, wishing he had worn nicer clothing; the warm thoughts of Pencala returned.
Dressed, Lublin resolved to stop thinking so much about Pencala and focus on the important issue at hand. He was under arrest for multiple federal felonies. He didn’t know what the government had against him, and he needed to figure out whether he should try to get more information, or a lawyer. The lawyer option was uppermost in his mind as he was led out of the room into the hallway where Swann and Pencala stood.
“You can’t count that,” Pencala protested to Swann. “It was three movies.”
“Yeah, but it was one story. Jackson realized to do it justice would take three movies.”
“Three very long movies,” said Pencala.
“The Dark Knight was close to three hours.”
Pencala turned to Lublin, “Everything go okay?”
Since meeting Pencala, Lublin had been looking for an entree to more than a superficial conversation; this might be his opening. “No problems.” Then trying to defend Pencala’s point of view, Lublin turned to Swann. “The movies were based on three different books, though.”
Swann looked at him quizzically, then gave an expression of understanding. “Like I was telling her, it was all one story. He couldn’t have made it one book of a thousand pages. He had to break it up into manageable chunks.”
“He certainly could have made it one book; Tolstoy did.”
As Pencala took Lublin by the arm and directed him down the hall, Swann continued from behind. “This is silly. Kay’s just pulling my chain by telling me The Dark Knight is one of the best movies of all time because it made more money than any other movie in history. I was saying that the Lord of the Rings trilogy made more. And just because a large part of the population likes something doesn’t mean it’s better than something they don’t. You’re too smart to think that. You don’t even mean it.” Swann shook his head in disgust.
Pencala smiled. “It’s called voting with your pocketbook. It’s as good as having a select group of elitists telling you what’s good and what isn’t. It’s America.”
“I think NASCAR, professional wrestling, and rap music prove you wrong. Craig, help me out here, The Dark Knight vs. Lord of the Rings, I mean, really.”
Lublin was all too happy to join in. “I have to agree with Agent Swann. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a masterpiece of literature that has passed the test of time for over half a century. I’m sure the movies will hold up well over time also. The Dark Knight wasn’t a bad movie—very predictable—but I don’t think it will rank anywhere near the trilogy twenty years from now. I don’t see how it could; The Lord of the Rings is a classic written by one of the geniuses of the last century; The Dark Knight was based on comic books, for heaven’s sake.”
“Graphic novels,” said Pencala with a twinge of cynicism. She smiled.
Lublin was mesmerized and continued his point to try to impress his captor. “Personally, considering the mix of morality, drama, intricate plots, and incredible imagination, I think Tolkien’s work is the best piece of literature ever written.”
While hating to disagree with Pencala, Tolkien was one subject where Lublin refused to quibble.
As the three reached Interview Room 2, Pencala applied gentle pressure on Lublin’s arm to get him to stop. He did, but continued to talk, “Even the films do not do the books justice. You really have to read the books to get the full impact. I would recommend starting with the prelude, There and Back Again, known to most people as The Hobbit.”
“I read it in high school,” said Pencala.
Lublin was surprised and afraid the pretty agent may have taken the statement as an insult. He was relieved when she smirked, “I loved it; I just like messin’ with Keith.”
“Mr. Lublin, this is the interview room. We’d like to interview you, but that’s up to you. You’ve been read your rights and said you understood them. Do you want to talk to us or not?”
Going against everything he had convinced himself to do, he found himself saying, “I’d like to clear up this misunderstanding as fast as possible. I’ll talk to you.” Then trying to make the agents self-conscious by forcing them to lie, he asked, “Do I need a lawyer?”
He was surprised by Pencala’s response, “I would, but it’s up to you. If you do, we can’t talk to you. It’s your call.”
Lublin appreciated the young agent’s honesty. “Who would I be talking to?”
“If you want to talk, you can talk to just about anyone.”
“I’ll talk to you and Agent Swann. I want to tell my side of the story and get this taken care of.”
Swann opened the door to the room. Pencala guided Lublin to a seat in front of a table.
There were pads of paper, laptop computers, and a digital tape recorder on the table, along with manila envelopes. Lublin rightly guessed the folders were the case files. They didn’t seem too thick. If they were investigating the murders, the folders would be a lot thicker.
Lublin looked at the two-way glass, “Who will be watching us?”
“I’m not sure who’s in there besides ASAIC Brown, AT Morley, and
Agent Scott from the Syracuse Office. There may be others; I don’t know,” said Swann. “If you’re ready I’m gonna put a header on the tape and start the interview.”
73 | ‘The Interview Is Done’
Binghamton, New York, 10/22/09, 1517 hours
Swann started off the interview discussing hacking. “I’ve reviewed hundreds of scripts and codes. This is by far the best I’ve ever seen. Not just anyone could write this code.” He added that it was too much of a match with Lublin’s other code to be a coincidence. Neither statement was a lie.
“Even if the code was as good as you say it is, there are still dozens of people in the US who could have written it. You could have written it yourself,” replied Lublin.
What Lublin didn’t see was how his recent comments about The Lord of the Rings trilogy played into the agents’ hands: each and every comment or note in the hacking program was a reference to one of the three books. The agents would be able to use Lublin’s confirmation that only a few dozen people in the US could write code at that level, then show the overlay of Lublin’s known code. After all of the similarities had been pointed out to the jury, the references to The Lord of the Rings would be mentioned. Then the agents would testify to Lublin’s familiarity with the works.
When the agents believed they had reached the point of diminishing returns on the code topic, they moved to Lublin’s whereabouts around the dates of the murders. The defendant’s practiced answers came out quickly and easily. He was either “home or working remotely from the field sites at the various SUNY campuses.”
Pencala, who’d done the majority of the investigation into Lublin’s travel, took this portion of questioning. In her disarming manner, she nodded. “Then it should be easy to find someone who could vouch for your whereabouts during the dates in question.”
Lublin shook his head. “To prevent distractions, I prefer to work nights while in the field. That way I avoid having to put up with all the tier-ones bumbling around on the network. Most of them work dayshifts, when most users are on. They make it impossible for me to get real work done.”
Swann, having had to deal with that same issue, nodded in agreement, but countered, “Surely there has to be some type of access record from when you badged in and out of the various buildings?”
Lublin responded rapidly enough to make all the agents, save Brown, know his answer had been rehearsed, “As part of our ongoing security testing, I avoid using my badge and see if I can tailgate my way in. Invariably, it works. I admonish the offender for not following procedures and then go about my business. It’s unfortunate, but I hardly ever have to badge in to gain access to facilities.”
Having let Lublin weave his yarn, Swann started to pull at one of the threads. “Craig, we’ve reviewed the network access logs and while they verify you working remotely, they’re not all during evening hours.” Swann produced the paperwork showing the remote login times varying widely, some taking place during the day. “You must have interacted with someone during those day shifts?”
“Some of my remote access days I may have been working from home. If there was some appointment, like a cable TV repairman appointment between ten and two, something like that. Instead of taking a day of leave I log in remotely and do work, until the person arrives.”
Pencala continued from there. “You indicated you’d been out of town at some points during the time frames in question.”
Lublin immediately qualified the statement. “I said, I think, I may have been out of town during some of those dates. I’m not sure; I would have to check my timecards.” He smiled contentedly.
“We can check those.” Then in an understanding tone Pencala asked, “If you were out of town, there must have been someone you told at work, or a neighbor, someone who could verify your absence.”
“Not that I can think of. I don’t really have to notify anyone at work, and I don’t have any pets or anything requiring attention at home.”
Pencala continued, “Didn’t you call someone in the schools you were going to visit to let them know you would be there working on their portion of the network?”
“No, I don’t see any need to warn people I’m coming so they can clean things up and alter their bad habits. I want to see what things are really like. No-notice visits are a good opportunity to do that.”
Pencala raised her eyebrows and nodded as if agreeing. “And there’s no one here in Endwell you told in case of an emergency?”
“No.”
“So, for days at a time you could go without any significant contact with another human being. And no one could confirm if you were alive or dead?” asked Pencala.
The question hung in the air. Lublin fidgeted in his chair as if the question made him feel uncomfortable. “No, I guess not.”
All the agents noticed the change in his demeanor and how his physical posture had become more rigid. Morley and Scott hoped the interviewers noticed it—they did.
Pencala leaned forward and placed her hands on the table. She wanted to calm Lublin down so he didn’t end the interview. Leaning in, she smiled.
Lublin noticed that Pencala’s breasts were now pressed against the edge of the table. There was no way to look at her and not notice that attribute, but now in this position they seemed magnified. He tried not to stare.
She caught his glance. “Give us something to work with. Anything?”
Lublin closed his eyes, relaxed, took a second to focus. “I prefer to work alone and at night. I get more done then. I do most of my banking and correspondence online, so I don’t get much mail. To any of my online friends it makes no difference if I’m home or anyway. They wouldn’t know if I was in Binghamton or,” Lublin tried to think of someplace that started with a B that was far away, “Berlin. The Network Operations Duty Desk and my neighbors have my cell number. If there’s an emergency they’ll get in touch with me. I’m not currently seeing anyone so there is no one for me to notify. If I want to go somewhere, I go. I do what I have to do and come home. It’s that simple.”
Swann turned the questioning slightly when he asked how much of the network infrastructure could be accessed remotely. Lublin knew the agent was trying to imply Lublin shouldn’t have to travel hardly at all if the network was configured correctly. That most of the work could be done online.
“I think I know where you’re headed. Unfortunately, the SUNY network is not designed how I would like. Each campus had its own stove-piped systems that can’t always be accessed over the SUNY network. Some of them are air gapped, with no physical connection to another network.” Lublin felt he had parried Swann’s thrust. He leaned back.
The last travel aspect the agents wanted to talk to Lublin about was his lack of expenses. Pencala anticipated that Lublin would say he had been out of town at times during the dates of the murders. He admitted that all the remote access wasn’t from his house at night. She had checked and found that he had not put in for leave during those times, so it followed that he was going to have to claim he was on business travel and working. He would have had to stay at hotels, and eat, and travel, all of which required money. The SUNY system had a mechanism for employees to claim legitimate expenses—travel vouchers. To be reimbursed he would have had to submit those vouchers for the time periods in question.
Pencala had checked Lublin’s travel account going back three years and found numerous vouchers for toll receipts and per diem when he was on the road at other times. In fact, he had been anal about getting every cent he was owed when he traveled for work. Once he’d gone as far as vouchering seventy-five cents for a parking meter when he traveled to SUNY Albany.
Swann was about to ask Lublin about the incongruity when the defendant took the interview in a different direction. Lublin felt he was fighting a defensive battle up until then and he wanted to change that. He asked, “Why are you so worried about my travel? Even if I wasn’t where I said I was, and I am not saying that’s the case, it isn’t a crime if I’m not defrauding my employer
. And even if I was, I know for a fact it isn’t a federal offense. What federal law are you investigating?”
“Good point,” said Pencala. “The reason we need to find someone who can verify you were in Buffalo, or Oneonta, or Brockport, or any of the places you say you were, but can’t seem to prove, is that we have evidence you were in Cleveland and Savannah, using false ID and illegal credit cards. That is a violation of 18 USC 1028 and 1029. Both statutes are federal crimes, along with the computer hacking we discussed earlier.”
The professionalism in Pencala’s voice caught Lublin off guard. He no longer liked her confidence or the tone of her voice. “There must be some mistake. I haven’t been to Cleveland in years and I’ve never been to Savannah.”
“There’s no mistake. We have physical evidence that puts you in both cities during the dates we are discussing. That’s why we’re looking for some explanation.”
The certainty in Pencala’s dazzling blue eyes immediately made Lublin nervous. He tried to think about what the agents could possibly have that could make them so certain, or was she just bluffing?
Lublin’s mind played tricks on him. He had always tried to be extremely careful, but what if there was something he’d missed, a camera somewhere that had caught him without his mask or something else that couldn’t be disputed. He started to worry, and then thought an innocent man would surely respond to the agent’s statement.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His voice was weak and shaky.
Pencala opened a folder and started to read, “Mr. Lublin, we have proof you were in Cleveland, Ohio, from April 11th through April 23rd. You arrived at 11:46 a.m. on United flight 3962 from Newark. You stayed at the Marriott hotel under the name Dr. Gerald Peters and used a local cell phone with the number (440) 555-1298. You purchased the phone at a kiosk in the Parmatown Mall on April 11th. You flew back to Newark at 12:20 p.m. on April 23rd via United flight 3953. From there we have you…”
