“How can you do that without them finding out?”
He held up a set of keys. “We’re going to have to do a little midnight research. Rose left the room today for about an hour and I checked the locks on all the cabinets. They’re all keyed the same. My key to the Third Regiment cabinet will open the others.”
“If they catch you . . .”
“If they catch us. I’m going to need some help. It’s tedious, slow work going through those files, and I’m sure they figured out a way to muddy the waters and make everything look legit. We can get started Friday night. Everybody will be taking a long weekend leave to go to the Rutgers game.”
“You’re sure we can pull this off.”
“There’s no hundred percent guarantee, if that’s what you’re looking for. I mean, I don’t think it’s illegal to go through the Honor files. But if they get wind of what we’re up to, it’s going to blow the whole thing. We’re going to have to be careful. We’ll have to refile everything exactly the way it was. If they find anything missing or out of place, alarms will go off. These guys are smart, Jace. I think they’ve been getting away with this shit for at least a year. They know what they’re doing.”
She looked across the room at him. He was incredibly handsome. She reached for his hand. They sat there on the separate beds in the small cadet room, holding hands, and she looked in his eyes and said, “Thanks for helping, Ash. I’ve felt so alone in this thing. It’s good to have you back.”
“Have you talked to your father?”
“About Dorothy? Yeah, but it’s so awkward. He’s the court-martial convening authority. He can’t be involved in the investigation.”
“Yeah, but if this thing blows up your father’s going to be the one The New York Times and the rest of them will be putting the questions to. I think you ought to tell him as much as you can. He needs to know what’s going on.”
“I will, but it’s hard. He’s the Supe. Whichever way things turn out, I don’t want the Corps of Cadets to think that I went running to my father. Whatever we do, we’ve got to do on our own.”
He gently rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb, the way he used to do in movies when they held hands. “I see your point. We can do it, Jace. We’re cadets. When we graduate next June, we’ll be grads. This place belongs to us. If these guys are up to something that’s going to fuck up West Point, we’ve got to stop them.”
“Do me a favor, will you?”
“Anything.”
“Let me continue to handle Agent Kerry. That will keep the spot-light off you.”
“I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you tell Kerry to call me in and question me, along with the other guys who were at the party. That way it’ll look like I’m being treated just like everyone else who was there.”
“Good idea. I’ll tell him.” She paused for a moment, looking into his eyes. “I don’t think we should be seen together. If they find out you came to see me tonight, they’ll know you’re working against them. I want Rose to think I’m at least a little intimidated. He’s not going to get that message if they see us hanging around together.”
“Okay.” He held her hand for a moment, then let go and stood up to leave. “I’ll send you an E-mail toward the end of the week and tell you where to meet me Friday night.”
“I’ll be looking for it.”
He gave her one of his incredible, crinkly little smiles, unlocked the door, and was gone.
CHAPTER 33
* * *
HAVING LEARNED that the three cadets identified in the DNA screen had been questioned by Agent Kerry the day before, Slaight was hardly surprised when the phone rang at Quarters 100 and Melissa informed him that General Gibson had called the office early that morning requesting a meeting as soon as Slaight arrived. An hour or so later, he found General Gibson sitting in the outer office across from Melissa’s desk when he walked up the stairs.
“Jack. Good to see you. Why don’t you come in and we’ll have a cup of coffee.” The Commandant followed him into the Supe’s office. Melissa had already put out the coffee tray. Slaight sat down on the leather sofa. “What’s on your mind, Jack?”
Keeping his uniform jacket on, Gibson sat stiffly in the chair across from Slaight. “Your CID Agent in Charge called in three of my top cadets and questioned them. I’d like to know why these young men were called in and interrogated by a law-enforcement officer without my being informed.”
“I wasn’t under the impression you didn’t need to be notified, Jack. You’ve been getting reports from Lieutenant Colonel Percival about every development in the investigation. I don’t mind telling you that I don’t like playing back-channel-ring-around-the-rosy with my subordinate commanders. I gave the order for the CID to proceed with the interrogation without notifying you.”
“General, that’s against procedure, and I strongly object to it.”
Slaight poured a cup of coffee. “I think you’d better have a look at the regs. I had Cliff Bassett give me an opinion. Your authority extends to cadet disciplinary matters, and right now, this is not a disciplinary matter. It’s an investigation into the cause of death of Dorothy Hamner.” Slaight handed him the cup of coffee and settled back on the sofa.
“The interrogation took place at the Provost Marshal’s office. The cadets were not given the opportunity to consult with military counsel. That’s another violation of procedure. And you violated Army regulations when you ordered battlefield DNA profiles to be used to identify the three cadets.”
“Wrong again. Regulations prohibit use of battlefield DNA profiles in criminal matters. We’re not running a criminal investigation. If it develops that Agent Kerry has assembled evidence that a crime was committed, all of the protections under the UCMJ will be afforded to those suspected or accused. At this juncture, we don’t have any suspects, and Agent Kerry had been ordered to work with Major Vernon to establish cause of death.”
“You are splitting hairs, General. My concern is for the rights of my cadets. The way I see it, they’re getting jerked around. I’ve spoken to them. They have assured me that the sex was consensual. That’s all you need to know to call off this witch-hunt and let them get back to running the Corps of Cadets.”
“Let me get this straight. Agent Kerry questioned them yesterday. I believe Mr. Rose was interrogated after supper. Just when did you speak with the cadets about their sexual encounter with Dorothy Hamner?” Slaight took a sip of coffee and watched as Gibson came to the realization that he had stumbled into an admission that was going to be hard to back out of. He pulled at his shirt cuffs, straightening his uniform.
“I became aware that three cadets had sexual relations with Miss Hamner some time ago.”
“How did this happen?”
“Mr. Rose reported it to me.”
“Interesting to learn that you could have volunteered the names of the cadets. That would have made our battlefield DNA screen unnecessary, wouldn’t it, Jack?”
“I didn’t see how a sexual encounter was germane to an investigation into cause of death. The cadets have assured me the sex was consensual. It was a cadet party. You know what goes on. You were a cadet.”
“That’s right. I was a cadet. And back when I was a cadet, we were taught that it’s our duty to cooperate in official investigations. I must say that your silence in this matter speaks volumes.”
“Are you accusing me of obstructing the investigation?”
Slaight called to Melissa for more coffee, taking a moment or two as she came in and replenished the carafe. He waited until she had closed the door before he looked over at Gibson. As Commandant, Gibson was in charge of the administration of the Honor Code. He had weaseled around, trying to assert his control over his “top cadets,” all of whom happened to be on the Honor Committee, and having failed at that, he was now offering up himself as the issue. It was an arrogant and reckless gamble. For the first time Slaight suspected that Jacey’s instinct that the whole thing was about the Honor Code had be
en right. Gibson was trying desperately to protect the members of his Honor Committee, and from what? From being questioned about their involvement with Dorothy Hamner. Slaight found himself wondering if Gibson had even a clue how transparent were his motives.
He poured himself another cup of coffee and held the carafe aloft, offering it silently to Gibson, who shook his head no. He decided to play Gibson’s game, if only to see how he played out his hand. “Let me ask you a question, Jack. When you learned that three members of the Honor Committee, including its Chairman and its Vice Chairman, had sexual relations with Dorothy Hamner in the hours immediately preceding her death, didn’t that raise a red flag with you?”
“No.”
“You never considered that such an unusual sexual encounter might be of interest to the people charged with determining her cause of death?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because the cadets assured me it was consensual.”
“How do we know for sure it was consensual?”
“I accept their word of honor.”
“Let’s think about this for a moment. We’re dealing with young men who are twenty-one, twenty-two years old here. Unless I miss my guess, as Commandant you deal every day with young men and women who are accused of violating regulations. In the most serious cases, you authorize regimental and Commandant’s boards to investigate accusations of wrongdoing. When cadets are found guilty of violating regulations, you authorize punishment. But you’re telling me in this case, involving the death of a young woman, you decided to suspend normal procedures, and you decided to simply take their word that they did nothing wrong? Why the sudden relaxation of vigilance?”
“I know the cadets in question. They are honorable men. They don’t deserve to have their names dragged through the mud because they had sex with a young woman who happened to suffer heatstroke the next day at a parade.”
“But she didn’t suffer heatstroke, Jack. That’s why we’re conducting an investigation. Because we don’t know the cause of her death yet.”
“Well, I can tell you one thing for certain, General. The entire matter would be behind us if it had been a young man who died out there at parade.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means the Academy bends over backwards and jumps through hoops every time something happens to a female cadet. One of them flunks a PT test, they get extra training and more attempts to pass it. They turn up with a failing grade, they’re counseled and tutored and tested again and passed.”
“The same second chances are provided to male cadets.”
“But they weren’t before females were admitted to West Point. West Point used to be a place where young men were tested and the strong survived and the weak perished.”
“You’ve been here two years. You’ve had ample opportunity to change the system if you found it lacking.”
“You know very well that the climate of political correctness pervading the Army would never permit a return to the West Point we knew as cadets. That’s why the Congress is considering a proposal to close the service academies. They have reached the conclusion that all we’ve got left at West Point is a glorified ROTC program with gray uniforms. It costs too much, it’s ineffectual, and it’s not producing warriors.”
“It sounds to me like you don’t want to be Commandant of Cadets at West Point, Jack. If you want out, I can certainly arrange it for you.”
“I’m not going to sacrifice my career on the hollow altar West Point has become.”
“Then I want you to listen to me closely. I’m only going to tell you this once. I’m going to run the investigation into the death of Dorothy Hamner my way, and you are going to back me up. If I get any reports that you are standing in the way of this investigation or not cooperating to your fullest, you are finished as Commandant. Have I made myself perfectly clear on this?”
“Perfectly.”
“Very well. You’re dismissed.”
Gibson snapped a salute and left. As Slaight watched him go, he wondered what lay behind the bitterness Gibson had shown, his intractable conviction that the presence of women had somehow left West Point in ruins. And he wondered how far Gibson was willing to go to return the Academy to the glory he imagined it had once had.
CHAPTER 34
* * *
IT WAS later that afternoon, and Jacey was jogging along Mills Road next to Lusk Reservoir. She had just started down the hill toward the Cadet Chapel when a staff car pulled up next to her and the passenger window rolled down. It was Chief Warrant Officer Kerry.
“Jacey?”
She stopped. Her sweats were soaked from the exertion of coming up the hill leading to Michie Stadium. She was just about to cut behind the chapel to the path through the woods past the water tower that would bring her out right behind the barracks. She leaned forward with her hands on her knees, panting. “Agent Kerry. How’s it going?”
“I have a few questions for you.”
“Jeez, I’m pretty stinky. Maybe I should grab a shower and meet you later.”
Kerry reached across the seat and opened the car’s passenger door. “I don’t think you ought to be seen down at the Provost Marshal’s office. Hop in. We’ll take a little drive.”
Kerry drove down the hill and took the turn up Merritt Road leading to Delafield Pond. He pulled into the empty parking lot and cut the engine. “I questioned Rose, Favro, and Ivar yesterday.”
“I heard.”
“Really? I tried to keep it quiet, and I certainly didn’t think any of them would leak the news.”
“Ivar blabbed to some guy on the football team.”
“That was stupid of him. Or maybe not.”
“So what’s the story?”
“They’re stonewalling. They’ve coordinated their stories, and they’re not deviating from the script. They admit to having sex with Dorothy, but they contend it was consensual.”
“That’s crazy! Dorothy would never have consented to that!”
“I know. But it’s going to be tough to crack them. I need some-thing I can wedge in there and split them.”
“You know what’s weird, Agent Kerry? These guys are acting like it was just another cadet party, and maybe it was. I’ve been to parties like that one. Everybody gets together and rents a bunch of rooms in a country motel or a hotel down in New York, and they get a bunch of beer and vodka and stuff, and there’s a lot of drinking. I mean a lot. I guess it’s a cadet thing, to see how drunk you can get and still manage to function. So let’s say it was just another cadet party. Then why didn’t they come forward and volunteer that Dorothy was at the party? The only reason there could be is that they had sex with her. But if it was like they said it was, that she, like, was willing, then what have they got to be afraid of? It doesn’t make sense. They’re not acting like guys act when they’ve got nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of.”
“They’re acting guilty.”
“Yes, but guilty of what? Of rape? What if they raped her? They’ve got nothing to worry about. She never charged them, and now she’s dead. There aren’t any other witnesses. If it was rape, it was a perfect crime. They’re home free.”
“We’re not at all certain she was raped. Major Vernon said the physical evidence in the autopsy was inconclusive. There’s a chance they didn’t rape her.”
“Then that’s even weirder. If they didn’t rape her, why are they acting so guilty? It’s got to be that they’re covering up something else. Why did they steal the E-mail disks from my room? It had to be because they had to find out what was on them. That means they were afraid Dorothy had a secret. They were afraid she had told someone, maybe somebody who’s not at West Point, like a friend back home, or her mom or dad. Maybe the secret was that she had been raped. Or maybe the secret was something else, something even bigger. Maybe the secret involved more than just the three of them. All I know for sure is, they felt vulnerable enough to take the risk of stealing the disk
s. That’s the first big mistake they’ve made, because there was nothing incriminating in her E-mail. They ended up tipping their hand that they’ve got something to hide.”
“I could call them in and question them about where they were the night the disks were stolen, but they’ll probably just cover for each other.”
“They can’t cover for Rose. He followed me up to Captain Patterson’s office, and then followed me back to the area of barracks. There isn’t anyone who can account for his whereabouts but me and Captain Patterson.”
“Then the other two will cover for each other. It’s a dead end either way.”
“Wait a minute. No, it’s not. Captain Patterson saw Rose follow me down the stairs when I left his office, then a few minutes later, he caught up to me on Thayer Road. But neither of us saw him follow me to Patterson’s office.”
“So?”
“I was in Patterson’s office for an hour. If we assume he followed me down there from the barracks and left as soon as he saw me enter the office, that would give him plenty of time to make it back to the barracks and go through my room and get back to the fourth floor of Building 606 and wait for me to come out of Patterson’s office.”
“You’re right. He’s got at least an hour he’ll have a hell of a hard time accounting for. Does he know Patterson saw him?”
“I’m sure he doesn’t. Patterson caught a glimpse of him going down the stairs. He didn’t see Patterson.”
“So if he doesn’t know Patterson saw him, he’ll probably feel free to alibi himself any way he wants. This is what we’ll do. I’ll put him on the spot and grill him, and we’ll see what kind of alibi he comes up with. If he says he was with Ivar or Favro, I’ll know he’s lying, but he won’t have any way of knowing that I’ve caught him in a lie. So I’ll let him sit back and think he’s beaten me. In the meantime, why don’t you get a yearbook photo of him and check around your company and see if anyone saw him that night.”
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