Two days after the package was mailed in Pittsburgh, LtCol. Terrell’s secretary Alicia burst into his office and said excitedly, “You won’t believe it! Those people have sent you another letter. This time with a package.”
With that she put it on his desk. Deputy Superintendent Terrell looked at the package with a look usually reserved for poisonous reptiles, and said, “Oh my God, not another one! I’m still trying to convince the FBI and even the superintendent that I’m not holding out! I have no secret, unreported sources. I don’t know anybody who could be doing this. What is in the package before I read this note? No, never mind. I’m not going to read it. Tell the superintendent I’m on my way with a priority item.”
When the superintendent and his shaken deputy came out of the conference room after scanning the DVD, they hurried down to the front entrance, jumped in their staff car, and told the driver to head for the FBI.
The superintendent dialed the FBI director’s number, and when his secretary answered, said, “Martha, we have another hot one. Clear us through and clear the director’s or the deputy’s calendars for the rest of the morning. We have incredibly detailed information on terrorist activities and identities from the same source. Yeah, Terrell’s secret contact.”
“Colonel, you gotta believe me. I do not, repeat do not, have any sources, let alone secret ones. If you don’t believe me, the Bureau will crucify me!”
“Bob, you are going to have to come up with a better story than ‘I don’t know anything about this.’ Asking me, never mind the Bureau, to believe there isn’t anything that could have led these people to pick you out of the thousands of other possibilities is just not credible. These people are more than a little scary. They know more than the FBI. How could that be?”
Bob Terrell just shook his head and mumbled, “How can I ask you to understand when I don’t? Can’t we just forget the package was mailed to me and concentrate on the substance?”
“That would make sense, but you know the FBI. They cannot stand loose ends and to them you are a giant loose end. Maybe we should let ’em believe we have a secret informant. They would believe that, but it would start a giant turf war and the terrorists would be forgotten in the process. No, the only course I have is to let you swing in the breeze. Good luck.” The Colonel was still chuckling when the car cleared the barrier and swept into the underground reception area.
The FBI director had cleared his calendar and after watching the contents of the DVD flow across the screen, he said, “I can’t believe this. It has to be about the best information we have ever received from an unknown source.” The last was said as he stared at Bob Terrell who kept his poker face on and looked out the window. The director shifted his glance to his deputy, Chuck Higgins, and said, “Chuck, what’s our first step?”
Addressing the director, Higgins said, “Call our New York office and get them to check the information about the killing in Central Park. At least we can check that. Next, get a crime scene team out to the address on MacArthur Boulevard where Armstead alias Yuri alias Petrov allegedly lived. We need to get a message to our Jacksonville office and get them cranked up on doing a really thorough investigation of the Yulee explosion. The Annapolis office needs to get out to Tilghman Island and reinvestigate the marina explosion. We need to get organized to check out the Charleston and San Francisco cells. If it all checks out, this information is a bonanza for us.”
Looking at Terrell, Higgins said, “Nice going, Terrell. Give your guy a bunch of kudos from us. Incidentally, Terrell, the Bureau will expect your full, and I mean full, cooperation with this investigation.”
The superintendent looked up sharply and said, “I’ll have none of that. If Bob knew anything more about this, he would tell us. And if the Bureau has that kind of an attitude, the next time we’ll take our information somewhere else. Is that understood?”
The director said, “Colonel, we understand and are very appreciative of your cooperation and team spirit, and I’m sure Mr. Higgins shares my viewpoint. Don’t you, Chuck?”
“Yes, sir. Bob, I apologize if I sounded like you were the problem. But these people, whoever they are, leave bodies everywhere they go. This case won’t be finished until we have put them where they belong.”
The director looked up sharply and said forcefully, “Chuck, I may be somewhat new on this job, but it seems to me that you had better get your priorities sorted out. What jury would convict anyone who has done what these people have done? Hundreds or even thousands of people could be dead without them. How many of these killings may have been self-defense? No way to know. So I’m telling you and you had better pass it down the line that, when the terrorist problem is over, then and only then, maybe I will have this Agency chasing after vigilantes or whatever they think they are.
“Right now I could pin a medal on them. That brings me to the media part of this problem. None of this – and I mean none of it – gets leaked to the media. When we make an arrest, we will brief the media, giving the credit to good police work and to the heroic men and women of the FBI. Do we all understand? Now, we have a helluva lot of work to do. Colonel, I have a request. Can you lend us your deputy for a while? I want him to act as the deputy on the task force we are setting up today.”
“Bob, is that all right with you?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll do anything I can to help.”
“Okay.” The superintendent said, turning toward the director, “Terrell is yours as long as you need him.”
“Thank you, Colonel. Deputy Terrell has my authorization to keep you fully informed through secure channels.”
“I appreciate it. If you have a few more minutes I would like to share some thoughts that have occurred to me.” At the director’s nod, the Superintendent of the Maryland State Police continued, “Whoever these people are, they are very professional. Consider the way they communicate with us. Mailing something to the State Police is very easy, no risk involved. Our system is not geared to handle incoming mail with forensics in mind. How many people handle the mail while it is in the system? Your lab people, who I know are very good, recovered no useful forensic evidence from the first letter to us. Whatever was used to format and print that letter, I bet is now destroyed. Also, look at the scope of their activities in a very compressed time frame.
“The outskirts of Washington, D.C., Tilghman Island on the eastern shore, Jacksonville, Florida and New York City – this is not one person or even a handful of people. They must have at least 10 people they can count on and big bucks to cover all the expenses. To my knowledge they have not left a single clue or bit of evidence behind. The only time weapons were used was on the hillside behind the restaurant near Great Falls Park. Bodies were left behind in Florida, Tilghman Island and New York, and no sign of the use of weapons. Five of the bodies were armed. The crushing of Olsen’s chest had to be done by a highly trained fighter with martial arts skills. So I think we are seeing the work of a disciplined organization, not a loose group of a few vigilantes. Maybe ex-Special Forces.”
The director peered over his glasses and said, “Colonel, I think you are right on. Chuck, use that analysis and profile until we get enough information to change directions. Oh, and for your information, Superintendent, it appears that we might have a DNA lead. A faint trace of blood was left on the ground near the body. The lab people say the trace of blood was not enough to convict anyone due to the condition of the crime scene after the rain and the trampling of the ground before it could be secured. If we get another sample from the same person we may be able make a match. And one last point, I consider these people to be on our team. We know and they know they have broken the law, actually lots of laws. My clear instructions are that, for now, I am declaring these people or organization off limits for law enforcement investigations until I say otherwise. I am invoking my National Security authority to protect this source of information. We will not jeopardize the best domestic terrorist source we have for short term desires to make a neat FBI prosecution case. Terrorism will not be defeated by the old ingrained practice of making individual cases, getting indictments, arresting individuals and trying to get convictions. Something more innovative is required, and we need good intelligence from wherever. That is all. Get to work.”
Facts and Fictions 