No Way to Die

by M. D. Grayson

Holly smiled at him. “Thanks,” she said.

  I glanced at Kenny. You smooth-talking little devil. Very good.

  It was silent for a few moments.

  “Well,” I said, “I guess that wraps things up for now. We don’t need to take up any more of your time.” I stood up.“I’m very sorry about Thomas.”

  She nodded. “We are, too.” She paused for a moment, and then said,“Do you really think that Thomas might have been murdered?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I guess I’d have to say that it’s too early to tell.”

  * * * *

  “Couple of conflicts there, don’t you think?” I said as we drove back to the office. Since Kenny had driven separately, he was patched in on the speakerphone.

  “Boy, I’ll say,” Toni said.“I seem to remember Katherine saying that Thomas didn’t seem fazed by not being able to sell Starfire to MST. Holly says he was very disappointed.”

  “That’s right,” I said.“Katherine said Thomas was excited to learn there was a market for Starfire, but that he didn’t want to sell to a foreign company. Now, Holly’s saying they didn’t want to sell to the U.S. government, but that Thomas did want to sell to MST.”

  Tony then asked, “Didn’t Katherine also say that it was no problem writing the checks to support the company every quarter? Holly says that it was a cause of friction between Katherine and Thomas.”

  “That’s right,” I said. “And there’s the whole thing about a potential affair,” I said. “What’s up with that?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “That came as a surprise. I assumed that when you nodded at me, you wanted me to drop the line and move on?”

  “Yeah, I sure did. I think we’ll need to regroup and develop a strategy to try and smoke that out. What do you think?”

  “Agreed. That shouldn’t be too hard.”

  “But why would Holly lie about that?” Toni asked. “To throw suspicion on Katherine?”

  I thought for a second, and then said,“Most everything she said painted Katherine in a bad light.”

  “Katherine’s either being grossly maligned,” Toni said, “or else she was a damn fine actress the other morning.”

  “You’ve got that right,” I said.

  I drove for a couple of minutes, and then said,“Kenny, good job back there. Very smooth.”

  “Thanks, boss.”

  “Did what Holly said make sense to you?”

  “From a purely technical perspective,” he said, “yeah—I’m mostly satisfied. I mean, everything she said was correct, at least as far as I can tell—she’s way above my league in this area.” He paused, and then added, “I leave to you guys the interpretation of motive.”

  “You say ‘mostly satisfied.’ Does something bother you?”

  “I don’t know—maybe a little,” he answered. “Think about it. Logically, the Starfire Protocol has three basic potentials for value, as I see it. First, if you’re a government, you can use it to eavesdrop on your enemies all over the world. If they didn’t know Starfire existed, they’d never know the government was listening in.”

  “And Holly said that ACS didn’t want the government to have it because they philosophically didn’t agree with the Feds having that kind of power,” Toni said.

  “Right,” he said. “So the second reason Starfire could have value would be if a criminal organization got hold of it. Imagine if a group of Russian hackers got hold of Starfire. If they were careful and kept it quiet, they could siphon off billions of dollars from accounts all over the world.”

  “Scary thought,” I said. “What’s the third?”

  “The third potential—and the one that’s most viable,” he said, “is exactly the one Holly mentioned. It’s to prove that the current cryptology technology in use is flawed and—here’s the important part—to drive people into a new technology.”

  “In other words, your one-two punch theory.”

  “Exactly,” he said. “And, I might add, it’s the one Holly said they intended to employ.”

  “That’s right,” I said. “So?”

  “So,” he said, “my problem is that, seeing as they had only six employees, how’d they manage to let rumors sneak out? Seems to me like it should have been pretty easy to control. Or, if you look at it from the other side of the coin, the rumors that are out there might have been deliberately planted by ACS as the start of their efforts to deploy Starfire. Maybe the rumors were meant to begin to disrupt the market.”

  I thought about this for a second. “But there’d be no reason to let anyone know about Starfire unless you already had an alternative technology ready to roll out,” I said. “If you let the cat out of the bag too early, you’d completely lose the element of surprise.”

  “That’s right,” he said. “You’d trigger a mass exodus away from a current technology to some alternative—an alternative that you didn’t control. It makes no sense to do this. Why not wait until you had the new alternative and then use Starfire to drive the exodus in your direction?”

  “Yet Holly said that they hadn’t gotten anywhere with their new encryption alternative.”

  “Exactly,” Kenny said. “That’s what’s bothering me. Seems to me that they’d most likely have been working both of those angles at the same time. And I can’t see a single reason why they’d ever tell anyone about the Starfire Protocol—ever even admit to its being out there at all—and risk triggering a panic unless they already had the new technology finished and waiting.”

  “As a matter of fact,” Toni said, “it seems logical that you’d introduce the new technology first. Then, to hasten its acceptance, you could drop Starfire on the world. That way, you’d have opened the gate to the corral before you started driving the cattle.”

  “Maybe,” Kenny said. “And if that’s the case, at least the way Holly explained it, ACS is doing it completely backwards.”

  Chapter 7

  THE NEXT MORNING, Richard was already in his office when I got in at quarter ’til eight. I figured that it was about time I got some “directional” advice, so I plopped myself into a chair across from his desk.

  “So,” he said, smiling, “how’d it go?”

  “Someone is being—how should I put it—less than forthright,” I said.

  “I’m shocked,” he said, feigning surprise. “You mean someone’s lying to us? That never happens.”

  “Yeah,Katherine Rasmussen said Thomas was happy and content. Holly says he was ‘disappointed.’ Katherine says that funding the company through its start-up period was not a problem. Holly says Thomas hated having to ask Katherine for the money. Katherine says that Thomas had a great family life. Holly says he had issues—and, it sounded like he might have even been having an affair.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time two women had differing viewpoints of the same man,” he said.

  I nodded.

  “So, that said, big picture. Who are your suspects?”

  “Well,” I said, as I leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a second, considering this.

  I looked back at him. “First,” I said, holding up a finger, “I’d have to say Holly—the jealous lover. If she was his lover, of course.”

  “Always has to be a jealous lover,” Richard agreed.

  “Next,” second finger up, “I’d have to say Katherine—the jealous wife.”

  “The counter-foil.”

  “Number three would be the good folks at Madoc Secured Technologies—the jilted business suitor.”

  “Not usually a murder suspect, but plausible,” Richard agreed.

  “Fourth would be the good folks at the NSA—the spooks—who want to keep all these cool, little decoderring secrets to themselves.”

  “Wow,” he said. “That raises the game to a whole new level, that one.”

  “Anyway,” I said, “that’s just a start. How am I doing?”

  “Excellent,” he said, beaming. “And don’t forget . . .”

  “What?”
/>   “It’s entirely possible that he simply killed himself.”

  “Yeah, there’s that, too,” I said.

  “So,” he said, “based on all that, what are your intentions?”

  “You mean aside from sitting down and asking you for the answers?”

  “Yes,” he said,“aside from that.”

  “I guess my intentions need to be to develop a strategy for each of these scenarios. Figure out a course of action on each that will flush out answers.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know any other way to do it,” he said. “At least in my experience.” He looked at me. “Do you have a favorite theory? Is there any danger of fixation?”

  This was a good question. Fixation is when you don’t know the answer to a problem, but you think you have a pretty good idea. You then buy into your own theory to the exclusion of everything else around you. Then, when it turns out your theory is wrong, you find that in your zeal to prove it, you’ve passed by the clues that could have led to the right answer. For me, this wasn’t usually a problem. “No, no fixation,” I said, laughing. “I’m totally fuzzy in all directions. All channels are still open.”

  “That’s good,” he said. “I wasn’t really worried, but I figured it’s my job to keep everyone reminded about the dangers of tunnel vision.”

  “True. Good advice,” I said.

  It was quiet for a second, and then he said,“There is something that troubles me with this case.”

  I looked at him. “There’s a lot that troubles me about it, but are you thinking of something in particular?”

  “Yes, I believe so. In every possible scenario—with all these potential killers running around—if Thomas Rasmussen was murdered, someone was able to so skillfully manipulate the physical evidence in such a manner that an experienced homicide detective, an experienced medical examiner, and an experienced forensic pathologist—” he counted them off, one-two-three, on his fingers as he called them out, “—all three missed any signs that the victim might have been murdered. And these are all highly trained professionals specifically looking for any such signs. That’s extraordinary. In my fifty years in the business, I don’t think I can ever recall that happening, not when a gun’s involved. I mean, there were occasions when something might have initially been missed—some telltale sign or something. But it was always there when you went back to reexamine. That’s how you knew it was a murder and not a suicide, after all. In this case, nothing at all.”

  “But you must have seen murders disguised as suicides,” I said.

  “Oh, certainly. Drownings, jumpers—all kinds. Even gunshots. But the gunshot wounds leave some of the most telltale forensic evidence. The pathology and the forensics are well known. I’ve never seen a murder using a gun where the perp actually got away with it—it’s too hard to manipulate the evidence.”

  “And in this case,” I said, “there’s no physical evidence that points to murder.”

  “Exactly,” he said. “This being the case, if in fact Thomas was murdered, I would be inclined to say that this level of expertise would tend to rule out either Katherine Rasmussen or Holly Kenworth. Neither would be able to pull this off themselves.”

  “But—” I started to say.

  “But then I’d be fixating based on my own initial thoughts, when the clear fact is, either of the women could have hired someone,” he said, completing my thought.

  “Exactly,” I said.

  “But nonetheless, whoever murdered Thomas Rasmussen—if indeed he was murdered—that person would have had to have been an expert,” he said. “Not just your average run-of-the-mill hit man that you happened to meet at a bar.I’m baffled, professionally, as to how it could have been done,” he said. Richard loves a good mystery.

  “Well, we’ll be getting some insight into that at ten o’clock, right?” Inez had sent us the autopsy report yesterday, and Richard had forwarded it on to his friend Dr. Carolyn Valeria. She’d agreed to meet us in our conference room this morning.

  “That’s right,” he said. “Maybe that will help shed some light.”

  * * * *

  Promptly at ten o’clock, Dr. Valeria walked through our front door. She was a tall, distinguished-looking woman in her early sixties. Her short hair was a mixture of blond and gray. She wore a sharp black coat over a white blouse and black slacks. I was sitting at the receptionist desk, waiting (we take turns acting as receptionist). I introduced myself, and when Toni came out of her office a couple seconds later, I introduced her, too.

  Toni said hello, and then she stepped back to admire Dr. Valeria’s suit. “I have to say, Dr. Valeria, I absolutely adore your suit. It’s the new Armani Collezioni, right?”

  Dr. Valeria turned to Toni, surprised. She smiled and said, “That’s an excellent fashion eye, my dear. I am most impressed.”

  Toni smiled back. She did a little pose. “Well, don’t let the casual attire and the Doc Martens fool you,” she said. “Underneath it all, I’m a closet fashion hound. I tried that exact suit on last week, but it didn’t fit me nearly as well as it does you. It looks like they designed it for you specifically. On you, the lines are beautiful—long and elegant and flowing. On me, everything was sort of—how should I put it—bent?”

  Dr. Valeria laughed. “That’s one way to put it, I suppose. My dear, if I had half the curves you do, I’d gladly trade ‘long and elegant’ for ‘bent’ any day of the week.”

  Toni laughed. “Shhh!” she said. “You’ll have all the boys talking.”

  She and the doctor had a good laugh as Toni led her back to our conference room.

  “Carolyn,” Richard said warmly as he entered the room. The two embraced, and then Richard said, “Thank you so much for coming to talk with us today.”

  “Yes,” I added. “We’re very grateful that you could have a look at the report and meet with us. Before you get started, we’ll have two other guys joining us in a few minutes. They’ve been chasing down some information, and they’re on their way back now.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” she said. “I was just delighted to hear from my old friend Richard.”

  “The pleasure is all mine,” Richard said graciously. “It’s been much too long.”He turned to us. “Dr. Valeria—”

  “Please,” she said, “that’s enough of that. Let’s just make it Carolyn this morning.”

  “As you wish,” Richard said. “Carolyn and I first met in the early ’90s, shortly before I retired.”

  “That’s right,” she said. “As I recall, I’d been working in the FBI Crime Lab for about ten years or so, and I was conducting a seminar for local law enforcement agencies on the proper ways to preserve DNA evidence. Richard was in Washington, D.C., representing the Seattle Police Department.”

  “Because we’d just had a case thrown out for mishandling the evidence,” Richard laughed. “Our chief was quite upset, and he sent me along with three other detectives. It was supposed to be punishment, but we had a great time—actually, we probably had too good of a time.”

  “The four of them made quite an impression,” Carolyn said, smiling. “Those were the days, right?”

  “Indeed, they were,” Richard said. “We should get together—perhaps this evening if you’re able. I know Maria would like to meet you. How long are you in town?”

  “I’m actually here for two weeks,” she said. “I’m meeting my sister, and we’re going up to Vancouver for a week.”

  “Excellent,” Richard said. “I’ll speak to you after our meeting, then.”

  She turned to me. “Please excuse us. We’ve gotten carried away while we have work to do, am I correct?”

  I smiled. “That’s no problem at all. We’re very glad you’re here, ma’am. We can sure use some expert advice.”

  “Good. But I caution you, you’ll not get it if you call me ‘ma’am’ again.”

  “Sorry,” I said. “Force of habit.”

  “Military?” she asked.

  I nodded.

 
; “It shows,” she said. “I’ve had plenty of opportunity to rub shoulders with you military men. Almost always unfailingly polite.”

  I smiled.

  “Today, though, it’s just Carolyn, okay?”

  “Got it,” I said.

  “Good. I’ll get us started, and the others can join in when they arrive.” She opened up an attaché case she’d set down and pulled out a file. “Yesterday morning,” she said, opening the file, “Richard contacted me and said he’d be sending a file, which I received shortly thereafter.”

  She looked down and referred to the file. “This file contains a complete autopsy report of one Thomas Lloyd Rasmussen, date of birth 9 September1970. The report concludes that the victim died of a self-inflicted, perforating contact wound from a .357 Magnum bullet.” She looked back up at us. “Is this your understanding as well?”

  “Yes,” I said. “That’s exactly how it was presented to us.”

  “And,” she continued, “Richard explained to me that your firm has been engaged by the widow of the deceased to first, determine if the death might have been caused by a homicide instead of a suicide, and, if so, to get the Seattle Police Department to reopen the case. Correct?”

  “That’s it,” I said.

  “All right, then,” she said, adjusting the file in front of her. “I’ve reviewed the file. I’m ready to answer your questions. How can I help?”

  “Danny,” Richard said, “if I may, perhaps I should ask a few questions.”

  I nodded.

  Richard turned to Carolyn. “Carolyn, would you mind telling us a little about your background?”

  “Certainly,” she said. “I should have started with that, I’m sorry. I graduated from the Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1977. I did my internship and my pathology residency at the Georgetown Medical Center. Immediately afterward, I joined the FBI—that would have been in 1981. My official title was Biologist Forensic Examiner. I worked in the FBI Laboratory in Virginia for the next thirty years until I retired two years ago, when my husband passed away. During that time, I rose to the position of Master Forensic Examiner.”

  “Very impressive,” I said.