The Eighth Sister (Charles Jenkins #1)(100)

Jake tried to appear casual as the receptionist made the call. He listened carefully to her end of the conversation. “That’s what he said,” the receptionist said twice before hanging up.

Minutes later, a tall, thin woman who looked not much older than Jake stepped off the elevator and introduced herself as Molly Diepenbrock. “What is this about?” she said.

“I need to look through the LSR&C documents,” Jake said. “A criminal matter is being finalized this week, so I’m in a bit of a bind and need to see them today. Would you be able to arrange that?”

Diepenbrock said, “I think so. I just have to find them. I’m preparing for trial myself. You’d want copies today, I assume.”

Jake pounced on this comment, knowing Diepenbrock was under the gun and she’d be grateful if he took one more thing off her plate. “Listen, I know what getting prepared for trial can be like. If you just point me in the direction of the documents, I’ll arrange for a copy service to come in so you’re not put out.”

Diepenbrock smiled. “That would be great. I’d appreciate that.”

Jake followed her to the bank of elevators. He felt like he’d been given the keys to the Louvre and hoped he was about to walk out with the Mona Lisa.



Paper plates, used napkins, and empty cans of soda water littered the conference room table. Sloane, Jake, and Jenkins hadn’t left the conference room since Jake returned with copies of all the LSR&C documents. As Jenkins suspected, there weren’t many—just four bankers boxes. The government had no doubt confiscated the vast majority and, in this day of paperless offices, a large amount likely had only existed on LSR&C’s network server. Still, Jenkins was buoyed by what they had found.

“Listen to this.” Jake sipped his drink then read out loud from a cable sent in 2015 that outlined the CIA’s plan for Goldstone to provide Carl Emerson with a cover. “‘Foreign Resources Division requests Mr. Mitchell Goldstone, chairman of the board of LSR&C, to negotiate cover arrangements for Carl Emerson in the alias of Richard Peterson. Foreign Resources Division believes this proposal is operationally sound and should provide solid cover for extended operational use.’”

He set that down and read from a second document. “‘The cover should permit Mr. Emerson to portray himself as a representative of, or as the senior officer or owner of a substantial investment company in Seattle, Washington.’” He lowered the document and picked up a third, plowing forward.

“And here’s the e-mail to the IRS. ‘Headquarters in Langley has contacted IRS and advised to forgo any investigation of tax matters.’” He set down the document and picked up yet one more. “And here’s another document that provides Goldstone with a cover story. ‘Tell investigators: Established three companies in question for undisclosed foreign clients who needed US government base for certain unspecified business operations. Goldstone is strictly a nominee in all matters and has no financial interest in the entities.’”

Jenkins suspected that Carl Emerson had formed TBT Investments to distance it from LSR&C and any potential investigation by the IRS. It made sense, especially if Emerson was washing funds he’d received from the Russians.

“Why would Goldstone plead guilty with this kind of evidence?” Jake asked.

“Because he wasn’t going to be able to get any of it into evidence,” Sloane said. “The judge ruled in a pre-trial motion that Goldstone’s alleged ties to the CIA were irrelevant to the charges brought against him—that he ran a Ponzi scheme and bilked investors out of their life savings.”

“So how are we going to get it in?” Jenkins asked.

“Your case is different. They’ve alleged espionage, and your entire defense is that you acted at the behest of a senior officer within the CIA. The documents are clearly relevant.”

“Doesn’t mean we’ll get them in, especially if someone in the government gets to the judge,” Jenkins said.

“I’ve thought about that also. We need to turn around Harden’s opinion of you and of the government’s case,” Sloane said. “Harden’s only human. He’ll be upset if he’s convinced you sold secrets to the Russians. We need to find a way to let him know you’re telling the truth and the government’s lying. In my experience, if there’s one thing judges hate, it’s attorneys and witnesses who lie.”

“So how do we do that?” Jenkins asked. “How do we get the government to lie?”

Sloane smiled. “We just get them to move their lips.”





60



The following day, Sloane and Jake filed the defense’s motion to compel production pursuant to federal Rule 16, the evidentiary discovery rule. They’d tailored their request to specifically ask for the documents they already possessed. The rule required the government to produce any within the government’s possession, custody, or control, which would include many of the documents within the four bankers boxes. They further requested the government produce Carl Emerson’s last-known address.

The government’s responsive pleading, filed six days later, predictably denied the existence of any such documents and added, “The government has no intention of participating in, or furthering, Mr. Jenkins’s fantasy.” Despite this response, the government sought to have the motion and the response sealed, and they asked that the hearing be held in the judge’s chambers, or that the courtroom be emptied of spectators, because of what it called the sensitive nature of the requested materials.