The Collectors cc-2

by David Baldacci

  The Bay Psalm Book wasn’t there.

  When they congregated at Stone’s place that night, they were joined by the newly freed Reuben. After they had all congratulated their friend, Stone wrote on a piece of paper that “I’d rather not discuss things here.” Then he jotted down a series of instructions while the others kept up a chatter of dialogue.

  Thirty minutes later Milton and Caleb left the cottage. Twenty minutes after that, Reuben and Annabelle took their leave. An hour after dark the lights in Stone’s cottage went out, and thirty minutes after that, Stone was sliding on his belly through the high grass in the cemetery. He exited through a gap in the wrought-iron fencing where it dipped down into a hollow behind a large tombstone.

  After a series of doglegs through some old sections of Georgetown, Stone reconvened with the others in an alley. He unlocked a wooden door that was revealed behind a Dumpster and motioned them all through. He locked the door behind them and turned on a small overhead light. There were no windows in the place, so the light didn’t matter. There were some rickety chairs and wooden crates, and the group collectively sat. Annabelle looked around the dank, dirty interior and joked, “You sure know how to show a lady a good time. Is this place available for parties?”

  “Let’s hear your report,” Stone said.

  She took a few minutes to fill everyone in on her and Caleb’s discovery. She passed the glasses and book over to Stone while Caleb remained uncharacteristically silent. Stone looked through the glasses and the book. “You’re right. It does look like a code.”

  Annabelle said, “Who’d be putting codes in library books?”

  Stone put the book and glasses down. Milton picked up the glasses, put them on and started reading through the book.

  Reuben stroked his chin. “Does it tie into Behan’s murder? He dealt in the defense and intelligence industry. God knows there are spies all over those sectors.”

  Stone nodded. “That would be a good guess, but I think it goes a bit deeper than that.” He explained what he and Milton had found out at the Federalist Club and from their talk with Dennis Warren.

  “So this Albert Trent stuck at the intelligence committee,” Annabelle said. “What does that mean?”

  Reuben spoke up. “It means he’d have access to secrets worth selling, I can tell you that. When I worked at DIA, we had briefings all the time with the Hill. The intelligence committee members and their staff all had to have top-secret clearances.”

  “But spies are notorious for not telling Congress everything,” Milton said, looking up from the book. “Would Trent really know enough of value that he could sell?”

  “Remember,” Stone said, “Trent was not always a staffer there. He’d once been at the CIA.”

  “So he could have contacts there. Hell, maybe there, NSA, NIC, the whole alphabet,” Reuben commented. “He might have assembled a minimart for espionage.”

  “But how do you get from a mole like Trent to secret codes in rare books?” Annabelle asked as she shifted her weight on the old chair she was sitting on and rubbed her tender thigh where she’d had to tear the tape off to get the book free.

  “I don’t know,” Stone admitted. “We have to find out more about this Jewell English. If we could get her to crack, we could trace it back to the source. She must know the glasses are missing by now.”

  “Get her to crack?” Reuben exclaimed. “Oliver, we can’t splay her out on a rack and smack her around until she talks.”

  “But we can go to the FBI, show them the book and glasses, tell them our theories and let them take it from there,” Stone suggested.

  “Now you’re talking,” Reuben said. “The more distance we put between us and them, whoever they are, the better.”

  Stone looked over at Caleb, who hadn’t spoken one word and was sitting disconsolate in a corner.

  “Caleb, what’s wrong?”

  The pudgy librarian took a quick breath but didn’t make eye contact with any of them.

  Annabelle, now concerned, said, “Caleb, I’m sorry if I was tough on you today. You actually did a good job.” She bit her lip as she finished the lie.

  He shook his head. “It’s not that. You’re right, I’m totally inept when it comes to the stuff you do.”

  “So what is it?” Stone asked again impatiently.

  He took one long breath and looked up. “The police came to the library today. They gave me the keys to Jonathan’s house. The first thing I did was check on the collection.” He paused, glanced at Annabelle and leaned over and whispered into Stone’s ear. “The Psalm Book’s been stolen.”

  Stone froze for an instant while Milton and Reuben stared at Caleb. “Not the book,” Milton asked, and Caleb nodded miserably.

  Annabelle said, “Hey, if five’s a crowd, I can always leave. I’m not really that into books.”

  “How could it have been taken?” Stone asked, putting up a hand to stop her from departing.

  “I don’t know. You need pass codes to get into the vault and safe. And neither of them was forced.”

  “Who else has the codes?” Reuben asked.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Well, certainly, the lawyer for one,” Stone said. “He had the keys and code to the main vault. He could’ve written the code down before he gave it to you and made a duplicate of the key.”

  “That’s right, I hadn’t thought of that. But what about the small safe? He didn’t have the code to that.”

  Stone said, “You thought of it, he could have too. I mean, it wasn’t that hard. If the lawyer knew Jonathan well and had visited him at the reading room, it could have easily occurred to him. Or perhaps Jonathan gave him that code, but he didn’t give it to you for some reason.”

  Caleb said, “But if he was going to steal it, why not do it before he met with me? That way I’d never even have known the book was there.”

  Stone looked puzzled. “That’s true. Although I still don’t believe it’s connected to the murders.”

  Caleb groaned. “Great, but Vincent Pearl will kill me when he finds out. This was going to be the crown jewel in his career. I bet he even accuses me of stealing it.”

  “Well, maybe he stole it,” Milton said, glancing up from the book.

  “How? He couldn’t get in the house, and he didn’t have the keys or the codes to the vault,” Caleb said. “And he well knows that that book is impossible to sell without the proper papers. He couldn’t make any money off it. He’d be arrested if he tried.”

  They all sat silently until Reuben said, “It’s bad news about the book, but let’s not forget the main agenda. We go to the FBI tomorrow. At least that’s something.”

  “What about Jewell English?” Milton asked.

  Caleb sat up straighter, probably happy to get his mind off the stolen Psalm Book. “If she comes back to the library, I can tell her that I’ll check for her glasses in lost and found.”

  Reuben said, “Hell, if she is a spy, she’s probably already out of the country.”

  “It’s possible she doesn’t know the glasses are missing yet,” Stone said. “She’d only use them when looking for the coded letters. That means she might not pull them out until she comes to the reading room.”

  Caleb said, “So if we get them back to her before she realizes they’re gone, she might not get suspicious.”

  “We’ll need them for the FBI, but if we explain our plan, they might let us get them back to her and they can set up surveillance,” Reuben said. “Then she gets more code, passes it on to somebody, and the FBI is there to nab ’em.”

  “A good plan,” Stone said.

  “Actually, it’s not,” Milton said suddenly. “We can’t take the book to the FBI.”

  They all looked over at him. While they’d been talking, he’d gone back and reread through the slim volume, his hands flipping through the pages faster and faster. He took the glasses off and held up the book, his hand trembling.

  “Why not?” Caleb asked irritably.

>   In answer, Milton handed the glasses and book to Caleb. “See for yourself.”

  Caleb put on the glasses and opened the book. He turned one page and then another and another. Frantic, his fingers whipped through the last part of the book. He slammed it shut, his face a mix of anger and incredulity.

  Stone, his eyes squinty with concern, said, “What is it?”

  Caleb said slowly, “The highlighted marks are all gone.”

  CHAPTER 55

  STONE PUT ON THE GLASSES AND flipped through the book. He ran his finger across one of the letters he knew had been highlighted earlier. It was as dull and lifeless as the others now. He closed the book, took off the glasses and sighed. “The highlighting chemical wash they used had a time limit built in. Then it evaporates.”

  “Like vanishing ink?” Milton said.

  “Somewhat more sophisticated than that,” Stone said. He added in anger, “I should have thought of that.”

  “Do you know about this sort of chemical, Oliver?” Caleb asked.

  “Not this process, no. But it would make sense. If you’re a spy and it’s possible that the glasses might fall into the wrong hands, the book will reveal nothing if enough time passes.” He looked at Caleb. “Whoever put the chemical wash on had to know that Jewell English would have access to the book before the effect wore off. How could that be accomplished?”

  Caleb thought for a moment. “Someone would have to go into the vault and doctor the book there. Then contact her somehow and tell her which one to ask for. She comes to the library right away and asks to see it.”

  Stone studied the cover of the book. “It seems that it would be quite a tedious process to mark each appropriate letter. If nothing else, it would take some time.”

  “Well, people are in and out of the vaults fairly frequently. But some of the interior vaults don’t see a lot of use. However, if one of the library staff were in there for hours on end, it would be noticed, certainly.”

  Reuben said, “Maybe whoever did it is really good, can do it quickly, maybe using some sort of template.”

  “What about after hours?” Stone asked.

  Caleb looked uncertain. “In the vault? That would be limited to a very few. The director and the Librarian of Congress are the only two I can think of. The computer is programmed to deny access to other people after hours unless special arrangements have been made. It certainly wouldn’t be an everyday thing.”

  “So DeHaven would’ve had access to the vault after hours?” Stone said.

  Caleb nodded slowly. “Yes, he would. Do you think he was part of the spy ring? And that’s why he was killed?”

  Annabelle started to protest, then seemed to think better of it.

  “I don’t know, Caleb.” Stone rose. “What we need to do now is act. Caleb, call Jewell English and tell her you’ve found her glasses where she dropped them in the reading room. Tell her you’ll bring them by to her.”

  “Tonight? It’s already nine o’clock,” Caleb said.

  “You have to try! It’s clear to me that we’re operating on a very tight time frame now. And if she’s made a run for it, we need to know.”

  Annabelle said, “Oliver, that might be dangerous. What if she’s still around and suspects something’s up?”

  “Caleb will wear a listening device. I know that Milton has some of those gadgets at his home.” Milton nodded. Stone continued, “Milton will go with him to English’s but remain hidden outside. If something happens, he can call the police.”

  “What if the something that happens is bodily harm to me?” Caleb whined.

  “You described her as an elderly lady, Caleb,” Stone reminded him. “I think you should be able to handle the situation. However, I believe the more likely scenario is that you’ll find she’s gone. If so, try to get into her house and discover what you can.”

  Caleb was squeezing his hands nervously. “But what if she hasn’t left? And what if she has some big thug around who attacks me when I go to see her?”

  Stone shrugged. “Well, of course, that would be unfortunate.”

  The librarian turned crimson. “Unfortunate? That’s easy for you to say. Pray tell what will you be doing while I’m risking my life?”

  “Breaking into Albert Trent’s home.” He glanced at Annabelle. “Are you game?”

  “Oh, absolutely,” Annabelle said, smiling broadly.

  “What about me, Oliver?” Reuben said pitifully. “I thought I was your Tonto.”

  Stone shook his head. “You’ve been arrested once and you’re still a suspect, Reuben. We can’t risk it. You’ll have to sit this one out, I’m afraid.”

  “Well, that’s just great,” Reuben grumbled, slapping his thigh in frustration. “Some people get all the fun.”

  Caleb looked ready to strangle the big man.

  CHAPTER 56

  CALEB PULLED HIS NOVA WITH the rattling tailpipe to the end of the quiet cul-de-sac and shut off the motor, glancing at Milton nervously. His friend was dressed all in black with his long hair bunched under a knit ski cap; he’d also darkened his face.

  “My God, Milton, you look like a poster boy for Criminals Are Us.”

  “It’s just standard-issue surveillance dress. How’s the wire?”

  Caleb rubbed his arm under his jacket where Milton had attached the listening device. He also had a power pack stuck in the back of his waistband. “It’s itching the crap out of me, and the power pack’s making my pants so tight, I can barely breathe.”

  “It’s actually probably just nerves,” Milton commented.

  Caleb glared at him. “You think?” He slid out of the car. “Just make sure 911 is on your speed dial, burglar boy.”

  “Roger that,” Milton replied as he took out a pair of night binoculars and scanned the area. He’d also brought a high-speed camera and a Taser gun.

  Jewell English had answered Caleb’s phone call and seemed delighted that he’d found her glasses. Tonight would be fine regardless of the late hour, she’d said. “I don’t sleep much,” she confided to Caleb on the phone. “But I might be in my nightgown,” she added in a girlish voice.

  “That’s nice,” he’d answered dully.

  As he walked toward her home, he took note of the other houses. They were all aged tiny brick ranches with cookie-cutter yards and darkened interiors. A cat snuck across one lawn, startling him. He took several deep breaths and muttered, “She’s just an old lady who lost her glasses. Just an old lady who lost her glasses. Just an old lady who could be a spy with henchmen waiting to slit my throat.” He glanced back at the car. He couldn’t see Milton but assumed his sidekick was busily snapping photos of a suspicious-looking robin lurking on a tree branch.

  The lights were on in Jewell’s home. He could see lace curtains in the windows and through the big living room glass, knickknacks and bric-a-brac positioned on the painted fireplace mantel. There was no car in the rusty carport. He assumed she’d either quit driving or her ride was in the repair shop. Her lawn was neatly cut, and two columns of rosebushes guarded the front of her house. He rang the bell and waited. No one came. He rang it again. No footsteps reached his ears. He glanced around. The street was empty, quiet. Maybe too quiet, as they say in the movies; right before you’re shot, stabbed or eaten.

  He’d called her a little over an hour ago. What could have happened in the interim? He’d heard the bell buzz, but maybe she couldn’t hear it. He knocked on the door, hard. “Jewell?” He said her name again, louder. From somewhere a dog started barking, and he jumped. It wasn’t from inside the house, though, probably a neighbor’s mutt. He knocked again, harder, and the door swung open.

  He turned, poised to run. You never ever went into a house when the door just opened like that. The next sound nearly pushed his heart into defib.

  “Caleb?”

  He shrieked and grabbed the handrail on the front stoop to avoid pitching over into the bushes in his fright.

  “Caleb!” the voice said again urgently.
r />   “What? Who? Dear God!” He spun frantically around trying to see who was calling his name, his feet slipping and sliding on the damp concrete. He became so dizzy, he was almost sick to his stomach.

  “It’s me, Milton.”

  Caleb froze in a half-squat, his hands clamped to his thighs as he desperately tried to keep from heaving his dinner into the fragrant roses. “Milton?”

  “Yes!”

  “Where are you?” he hissed.

  “I’m still in the car. I’m speaking to you through the wire. It has communication capability as well as being a surveillance device.”

  “Why the hell didn’t you tell me that?”

  “I did. I guess you forgot. I know you’re under pressure.”

  “You can hear me clearly?” Caleb said between gritted teeth.

  “Oh, yes, very clear.”

  The language that erupted from the staid librarian would have caused the filthiest rap singer in the world to concede his lewd speech title to Mr. Caleb Shaw.

  There was a long pause after this explosion. Finally, a stunned Milton said, “I can tell you’re a little upset.”

  “Yep!” Caleb took a deep breath and willed his food to remain in his belly. He slowly stood erect and stretched out his back even as his poor heart continued to race. If he keeled over with a coronary right now, Caleb swore he’d come back and haunt the little techno-geek every second of every day.

  “Okay, she’s not answering. I just knocked on the door, and it swung open. What would you suggest I do?”

  “I’d leave right now,” Milton answered automatically.

  “I was hoping you’d say that.” Caleb started to back down the steps, afraid to turn around lest something leap out at him from the house. Then he stopped. What if she was lying on the bathroom floor with a broken hip or had suffered a heart attack? The thing was, despite the evidence, part of Caleb could not believe that the same sweet lady who was such an enthusiastic lover of books could be wrapped up in the spy business. Or if she was, maybe she was simply an innocent dupe.

  “Caleb? Have you left yet?”

  “No,” he snapped. “I’m thinking.”

  “Thinking about what?”