While Justice Sleeps(36)

“The lock on the door was clearly jimmied open,” Agent Lee insisted. “Did you do that? Will your hand match the bloody print we found next to her body?”

“I knocked. The door was open. I found her body and checked to see if she was alive. Then I panicked and left.”

Agent Lee capped his useless pen. “You’re lying to me, Avery. I know it, and so does everyone in this room. If you don’t tell me the truth, then I intend to book you on murder charges and let the judge figure it out.”

“Enough.” Chief Justice Roseborough glared at the FBI agent. “She’s explained herself. Move on.”

“We’re in your office as a courtesy,” Major Vance interjected. “Ms. Keene has committed a crime. She will answer his questions.”

    “I appreciate the help, Major Vance, but I’ve got it,” Agent Lee said, rebuking his Homeland Security counterpart. “Ms. Keene is afraid that if she admits how she got inside, she’ll hurt herself. She’s a smart young lawyer who’s watched a lot of cop shows, I bet.”

A buzz sounded on his phone, and he glanced at the information that had come in from the coroner. Scowling, he tried a different tack. “Where were you at five this morning?”

Knowing her answer would only lead to more questions, Avery said nothing.

Agent Lee’s scowl deepened. “Silence isn’t your friend, Ms. Keene. Why can’t you tell me where you were at dawn?”

A lie rose to her lips, but then she thought of the cameras installed in the Metro and along high-crime streets in DC. Streets that likely included the shooting gallery she’d pulled her mother from that morning. “I was out. But not in Maryland.”

“Can you prove it?”

“No.”

The Chief gave Avery an appraising look. Standing, she waited for Agent Lee to rise as well. “Thank you, Agent.”

“I’m not done, Madam Chief,” Agent Lee said as he remained seated, ignoring the dismissal. “I’ve been more than cooperative. I agreed to interview her here, and she isn’t currently under arrest. Both situations can change.”

Unused to the lack of deference, the Chief gave a narrow smile. “It’s been a very long day, and I’m sure you can understand that Avery is exhausted. She has told you what she can.”

“Which is nothing. If this is about her having the power of attorney for the justice in a coma, I don’t care. What I do care about is why she’s not down at the Hoover Building being questioned in less cushy surroundings instead of being cosseted here. So what am I missing?” The last he directed at Major Vance.

“I share your frustration, Agent Lee, but this is a delicate situation. The privacy of this investigation must be sacrosanct,” Vance replied.

“I’m a delicate kind of man, Major, and if either of you want my help, I need to know more than her name, rank, and serial number.” He lifted his pen. “The one forensic staffer I was allowed to bring to the crime scene indicated that the bullet that killed Jamie Lewis had been dug out of the wall, and the casing was missing. Apparently, she was shot at close range, in the back. Do you own a gun, Ms. Keene?”

    “No.”

He looked at Vance. “Is Ms. Keene under investigation by your office? Whatever the hell office that is. I’m still not quite clear on your jurisdiction.”

“Ms. Keene is a person of interest to Homeland Security.”

Agent Lee cocked his head. “A person of interest because someone might draw a conclusion from the fact that the private nurse for a comatose Supreme Court justice was shot to death hours after she accompanied him to the hospital? Or the fact that the dead woman seemed prepared to flee the jurisdiction, given the boxes in her living room and the plane ticket in her name at BWI? And the primary beneficiary of his demise is the one who conveniently discovered the body? Yeah, I consider her of interest too, Major. I recognize a hit when I see one. Do you?”

Vance merely inclined his head in acknowledgment. “Our expectation is that you will pursue your investigation with all deliberate speed, Agent Lee, and that you will keep me apprised of your findings. Thank you for your time and discretion.”

Lee shook his head. “This farce of an interview was a waste of my time and a bit of an insult to the dead woman, too. But until I’m told by the director himself that I need to back off, I intend to treat Ms. Keene as a suspect.”

“Am I under arrest?” Avery asked.

“Not yet.” He finally rose and shoved a hand into his jacket pocket. “But don’t plan on going anywhere.”

The Chief led him to the outer office and passed him off to Debi, who would not leave until the Chief did. Avery remained in the chambers, waiting with Major Vance.

He took a step closer to her chair. “The FBI is gone. So why were you at the nurse’s house, Ms. Keene?”

The lie was easy. “I thought she’d want to know his prognosis. When she didn’t answer, I went inside.”

“By picking the lock?”

Avery shrugged. “The door was open.”

    The Chief reentered the office. “Avery, I’m sorry you had to be the one to find her.” With a warning look at Major Vance, she instructed the law clerk: “I’m sending you home. As I expressed to Agent Lee, this has been a traumatic day.”