A Thin Veil

by Jane Gorman

  “Well, of course, I focus on the interests of my constituents. That is what I’m paid to do, you know.”

  “And you’ll be leaving office at the end of this year, I understand?”

  “Yes, that’s right.” She was still smiling, replacing the cup. “I have an offer from Barton McFellan. An opportunity for me to get more closely involved in the issues that are most important to me, without getting bogged down in all the rest of the legislative calendar, as I do now.”

  Adam realized she was treating this interview exactly as she would an interview with a local journalist. Everything was on the record. And nothing could be taken as truth.

  “Tell me about Jason McFellan,” he asked. “I understand he was there that morning, as well. Was he on the trip to Philadelphia?”

  “Jason? Oh, no. He rarely chooses to leave DC. Except of course to go to Maryland, for social reasons.” She smiled again, nodding. “He did join us for breakfast, however. I think he saw it as an opportunity to get to know me a little better, in a casual setting. Getting to know John as well.”

  “What was your husband’s role going to be while you were in Philadelphia? Was he just along for the ride?”

  “Hah.” This was the first time she had shown true amusement. A real laugh. “As if he could offer any other assistance.”

  “Your husband?” Adam let his confusion show through.

  She shrugged. “My husband. McFellan.” She shrugged. “Any of them.”

  “So McFellan was there to have breakfast. And to talk with Ambassador Saint-Amand?”

  “I suppose. It’s always good to know the right people.”

  Adam put his head on the side, his brow furrowing. “What is the ambassador the right person for, Senator?”

  “Well…” She spread her hands wide. “As I said earlier, he’s involved in a lot of things. Not much that would interest Barton McFellan, I did tell Jason that. But” — she exhaled deeply — “he insisted on coming. Thought it would be quite a treat, apparently.”

  “What kind of things?” Adam repeated patiently.

  “Immigration reform. The drug war. You know how it is. He wants his country to take a firm line, as we have. To root out the problem before it gets worse. And, as I said, he’s made a lot of enemies in the process.”

  Adam nodded, sipping his own coffee. It was lukewarm, without sugar. He grimaced and replaced the cup on the coffee table. Senator Marshall’s office was easily three times the size of the linked offices leading up to it, offices Miranda had led him through on their way here. One wall held a row of windows looking out onto the small park across Delaware Avenue. Adam could see dark green leaves moving in the breeze. The main door was behind him but another door stood to his left. He wondered where that led. A secret escape route, perhaps. He grinned to himself, and Senator Marshall frowned.

  “Tell me about Jay, ma’am,” he said. “Was he working on anything that involved the ambassador?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Jay served as my Director of Constituent Services. He worked with Pennsylvanians who came to me for help or support.”

  “Did he spend most of his time in your Philadelphia office, then?”

  “No, he was based here. I have two other aides who work at the Philadelphia office. They report to Jay—” She grimaced. “Sorry, I should say reported. They reported to Jay, who managed all constituent relations for me.”

  “And you were happy with his work?”

  “Absolutely. He was a good worker, a good man. He had a very promising future, Jay Kapoor.” She shook her head as she shifted in her seat. “This is a tragic loss.”

  “I am sorry to have to make you think about it, Senator.”

  “No, no, not at all. I’ve been getting some wonderful support from my constituents. It’s been heartwarming.” She smiled. “It’s even made me reconsider my retirement from public service.”

  “It was a very close call for you, too, Senator. I know how scary that is.”

  “Do you, Detective?” She smiled wider, her ruby lips glimmering. “I suppose in your line of work, you do. Yes, indeed, I think people appreciate how difficult this has been for me.”

  “Can you tell me anything more about what Jay was working on?” Adam leaned forward as he asked the question.

  Senator Marshall shifted back in her chair. “I don’t understand why you’re asking, Detective. As I said, I’m sure the killer intended to shoot Alain Saint-Amand, not Jay. You really need to assure the Kapoors of that.”

  “We don’t want them thinking that working for you got him killed, is that it?”

  Senator Marshall’s face sharpened. “What a horrible thing to say, Detective.” She stood. “I believe you are done here.”

  “I’d like to take a look at Jay’s work area, if you don’t mind.”

  She frowned, so Adam continued, “The Kapoors specifically asked me to offer them some insight into Jay’s work here.”

  She picked up her phone. She didn’t speak, but within a few seconds the young blond woman was back in the office.

  “Miranda, please show Detective Kaminski to Jay’s desk. He’d like to look at some of Jay’s work.” Her displeasure was evident in the tone of her voice, but Adam would take what he could get. “Don’t let him simply poke around, though.”

  “Of course, Madame Senator.” Miranda gestured to Adam to follow her.

  Adam turned back to the senator. “Ma’am, was there anyone else there that morning that you’re aware of?”

  “What do you mean? You have all the reports, you know who was there.”

  “I’ve gotten unsubstantiated statements from two witnesses that there was at least one other person at the residence that morning. Maybe two. I’d like to know if you’re aware of that.”

  “I… well” — a frown flitted across her face, quickly replaced with the stock smile Adam was beginning to recognize — “I can’t help you there, Detective, I couldn’t confirm anything like that.”

  “There was someone else there, is that what you’re saying? Someone you can’t confirm?” Adam stepped forward and Miranda took a step after him. Adam stopped and glanced back at her. Did she think he was about to attack the senator? And would she throw herself in between them if he did? He smiled and looked at the senator.

  “I’m not in the business of spreading rumors, Detective.” Senator Marshall stepped behind her desk, her back to the windows. “If there was anyone else there that morning who is not included in the FBI reports, I cannot confirm that. And I will not speculate to please you.”

  Adam felt a light touch on his arm, then Miranda jerked her hand back. She looked nervous, uncertain. Adam smiled at her, thanked the senator for her time, and followed Miranda out to Jay’s desk.

  Sam found his way back to Jay Kapoor’s work area in time to see the blond woman they had met earlier stepping between Adam and Jay’s desk, sliding a sheaf of papers into an open drawer.

  Adam glanced up, saw Sam, and smiled. “Hey, Sam, just looking around.” He glanced at the woman and winked. “Not too much though, right, Miranda?”

  “Is it okay for us to look through here, do we have permission?” Sam addressed his question to Miranda.

  “Yes, the senator approved this. But she specifically told me not to let you simply poke around. Is there anything in particular I can show you?”

  Her face pulled even tighter as she spoke, and Sam felt bad for her. Even with her hovering over them, they were bound to come across information the senator wouldn’t want them to have. Surely Lisa Marshall knew that. She had set Miranda up with an impossible task.

  He leaned on the desk across from Adam, his arms crossed against his chest. “Tell me what Jay was working on — as much as you can, I mean. I know you can’t discuss any personal matters. He did work directly with constituents, right?”

  “He was the Director of Constituent Services, yes… we had other staff in Philly and Harrisburg who really worked directly with constituents. Jay more… k
ind of… oversaw all that.” Miranda stepped closer to Sam as she answered, turning her back on Adam, who still stood at the front of Jay’s desk.

  Adam moved silently, leaning over the desk, reading through everything that was visible, occasionally gently nudging a paper out of the way to read something below it.

  “How was he to work with? Can you give me a sense of who he was, what kind of person he was?” Sam asked, smiling at Miranda encouragingly.

  “Well… you talked with Todd already, didn’t you?”

  “That’s right, but you might have a different impression than Todd. Did you work closely with Jay?”

  “Not really.” Miranda shook her head, in the process glancing back at Adam. He stood exactly where she had last seen him, against the desk innocently watching her and Sam speak. She turned back to Sam. “Jay worked more closely with the senator, to be honest. I’m her scheduler, so I report to the Chief of Staff, not directly to the senator.”

  “Will losing Jay give you an opportunity, then? A chance for promotion?”

  Miranda gasped. “That’s a horrible thing to say. I would never want Jay to die. And I would never want to get a promotion because someone was killed. Even someone like Jay.” At her last sentence, her hand flew up to cover her mouth and she turned her back to Sam, her eyes now on Adam.

  “Tell me about Jay.” Adam spoke softly. “Don’t worry, what you say to us won’t be shared with Jay’s parents. Or the senator.”

  Miranda nodded, pulling out the chair next to Jay’s desk. She perched on the chair, her elbow resting on the surface of the desk. Adam took the chair behind the desk, presumably Jay’s chair, bringing his hazel eyes closer to level with hers. Sam stepped back to let Miranda focus on Adam.

  “He knew a lot,” Miranda started, then paused.

  “A lot about politics?” Adam encouraged her.

  “No, no.” Her hair seemed to float around her face as she shook her head vigorously. “About people. About our lives. Our private lives.” She chewed on her lower lip as she pulled her words together.

  She looked up at Adam, her eyes begging him to understand. “He would remember things. Little things, little details. And bring them up again. Months later sometimes. Like… like I had a bad night one night. I got drunk…” She closed her eyes as she spoke. “Spent the night with a guy I hardly knew.”

  “I’m sure that happens.” Adam smiled encouragingly at her.

  “Of course, yes. It’s just… Jay brought it up again. Months later. Like he thought I owed him something.”

  “Like what?” Adam asked.

  “He needed to get someone in to see the senator. And I asked him” — she stared at Adam, her eyes wide — “Why not go to the senator? You work with her, I said. He smiled… that creepy smile of his. And said he didn’t want her to know he was involved.” She furrowed her brow. “Which doesn’t make any sense at all, because he’s the Director of Constituent Services, of course he’s involved.”

  “Who was the person?” Adam asked.

  She shook her head. “I never found out. I didn’t make the appointment.” She shrugged. “I have no idea what Jay was thinking, that bringing up that night would make me want to schedule this appointment.”

  “And did he ever mention it again?”

  “No… no, he didn’t. Sandra did.”

  “Who’s Sandra?”

  “She’s our legislative director. The senator’s, I mean. She’s on the staff.”

  “What did Sandra say?”

  Miranda shrugged. “Just that I should be careful what I tell Jay. What I let him know. I guess he had been saying some pretty mean things about me, about that night. It didn’t matter.” She turned her confused eyes back to Adam. “No one cared. It happens. I don’t know why he was being so mean about it. Sandra was right. I watched what I said around Jay after that.”

  21

  “Anything interesting on his desk?” Sam asked after they had passed the guard’s station on their way out of the building.

  Adam looked up and down the street before answering. “A few things. He had a collection of letters from constituents, complaints about everything from tax rates to local noise violations.”

  Sam grinned. “All good things to write to your senator about, right?”

  Adam laughed. “He also had some news clippings, looked like he was organizing them into a photo album. Stories about local elections, crimes, crazy hospital fees, break-ins, a hit-and-run, that sort of thing.”

  “News clippings? Isn’t everything online these days?”

  “Well, if I wanted to make sure I could put my hand on something when I needed it, maybe years in the future, I’d keep a hard copy. Web pages change, get removed…”

  “Even get edited. You’re right. So he’s stockpiling news. But why?”

  “Look, we know from Todd that Jay was involved in some kind of shady dealings—”

  “The drugs, right?” Sam interjected.

  “Yep, could be.” Adam nodded as they crossed the street toward the Capitol grounds. On this beautiful June day the sidewalks teemed with pedestrians, some visitors to the nation’s capital, others locals with business on the Hill. “I get the sense he liked to use information. To avoid paying the rent… to get people in to see the senator…”

  Sam whistled. “You’re talking about blackmail.”

  Adam shrugged. “That’s a dirty word, I know, but if it fits…”

  Sam looked up at the Capitol in front of them. “I got a call from Ramona’s dad while you were in with the senator.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Adam asked as his phone started to chirp. He pulled it out of his pocket, glancing at the name of the caller. “Listen, Sam, sorry, I gotta take this.”

  “I’ll see you later, then?” Sam asked, but Adam was turning away, phone to his ear, a deep frown creasing his forehead. He watched as Adam started walking toward the Mall, his pace picking up as he moved.

  “Calm down, Julia. Say that again.” Adam’s feet moved without his control, his steps getting faster as he absorbed what his sister was telling him.

  “A break-in, that’s all. It’s just… I don’t know. I was here, you know? Sleeping.” Adam could tell Julia was doing her best to stay calm, but even so her voice shook as she described what had happened.

  “Where are you now? Are you safe?”

  “I’m safe, Adam. I’m here at home, the thief’s long gone.”

  “What’s missing?”

  “It’s… oh.”

  “Julia—” Adam’s voice broke and he took a deep breath, tried to control his thoughts. He needed to help, not freak out. “Talk to me, Julia.”

  “Some artwork. Some is gone. Some is…” Julia sniffed. “Destroyed.”

  “He vandalized things? Is that what you’re saying?”

  Julia took a moment to respond and Adam knew that she was nodding. “Yes.” She was struggling to keep her voice in control. “Ruined them. I can try to fix some, but…” He heard the sound of something hitting the ground over the phone, Julia dropping a piece she had given up for lost. She inhaled sharply, the tears loud in her cry.

  He could almost feel her shudder through the phone, and his pace picked up even more as his feet turned into the grounds of the Capitol. “How did they get in?”

  “The police said the thief jimmied the front door. I guess the lock wasn’t good enough. I guess you were right.”

  “This isn’t about right or wrong, Julia. You were at home, you deserved to be safe. You did nothing wrong, you hear me?”

  Silence again, probably Julia nodding again.

  “And you didn’t hear anything during the night?”

  “I did.” Julia was crying steadily now and Adam bit his lip. “I did,” she continued, “I heard something. I…”

  “You’re safe, Julia, that’s what’s important here, don’t forget that. Now tell me, what did you hear?”

  “A noise, something soft. I woke up, with a feeling, you know?”

 
“Sure, I know what you mean. Did you check it out?”

  “No… I didn’t. I sat up. I didn’t hear anything else. I convinced myself I was dreaming, imagining it.”

  “That’s probably a good thing, Julia. God knows what could have happened if you’d confronted him.”

  Julia made another sharp inhale, and Adam regretted having said that.

  “And the police are there, right?”

  “They were. They came, took my statement, looked around. They said they weren’t optimistic, Adam.”

  “Damn.” Adam held the phone away from his mouth for a moment, his jaw working hard. “Okay, I’ll call in, see what I can do.”

  “Adam…”

  His steps had continued as they talked, but the tone in her voice now brought him up short. “What? What else is it?”

  “It’s just a feeling.”

  “That’s okay, sometimes gut feelings are important.”

  “When I woke up… I felt…” Julia took a deep breath.

  “Go on,” Adam encouraged her.

  “On my face… I felt it on my face.”

  Adam gripped the phone tighter. “Felt what?”

  “I think he licked me, Adam. I think he licked my face. While I slept.”

  Adam said nothing. There was nothing he could say. He felt his own breath coming fast, his eyes clouding with rage. He took a deep breath and felt the anger shuddering through him. The helplessness. The same helplessness he knew Julia was feeling, too.

  “How could I have slept through that, Adam?” Her voice faded into nothingness.

  “Bastard,” Adam swore under his breath. A woman passing by turned and gave him a look. He turned away, down the slope of the hill toward the Capitol Reflecting Pool. Blurred lines shaped and reshaped the outline of the Capitol dome as the water in front of him moved in the growing breeze. A symbol of freedom and democracy forming, then breaking apart, then taking shape again, warped and unclear. Then gone again.

  He tried to focus on the details of his sister’s story, trying to recognize something that would give a clue to the perpetrator. That would keep Julia safe.