She shot to her feet again, paced the length of her small dining room. “That afternoon when I saw Andy, he was angry. He felt betrayed by the Army. He blamed me for the fact that he didn’t get an honorable discharge and lost his disability benefits. Mustard agent left him with constant headaches, and he thought the VA owed him treatment. He didn’t understand that many service members exposed to mustard agent have been denied disability benefits. It has nothing to do with anything I reported and everything to do with mustard agent. In other words, it’spolitical.”
“What about Jason and Frank? Did he have any reason to want to killthem?”
Mia picked up her wine, sipped, then sat again, a thoughtful frown on her face. “I was there with Andy in medical. He was terrified. He had inhaled the gas and gotten liquid agent on his skin and in his eyes. He shouted at Jason to help him, but Jason had a half-dozen others there, too. He was angry that Jason didn’t know what to do for them. Jason did eventually speak withinvestigators.”
“What aboutFrank?”
“Frank was the brigade commander and oversaw the initial investigation. He couldn’t stand Andy. He shouted at Andy in front of the entire company that Andy was a waste of a uniform. He probably played a role in Andy’sdischarge.”
“What was Andy’s rank? What wasJason’s?”
“Their rank? Andy was an E2—private second class. Jason was young. I think he was a first lieutenant at thetime.”
Joaquin took up his pencil, wrote down the men’s names again—and Mia’s—in order of rank. Andy was at the bottom, and everyone else involved was above him. “If it’s Andy, he’s taking out his chain ofcommand.”
“Jason wasn’t in his chain ofcommand.”
“But he was an officer,right?”
Mia stood, looked over at him, her face going pale. “The police have been through all of this, right? They must have eliminated Andy as a suspectsomehow.”
“There’s only one way to find out. I’m callingWu.”
* * *
Mia didher best to explain everything to Wu on speaker phone, telling him about her growing sense that something was wrong and walking him through the details of what she and Joaquin had discussed. “I can’t find any reason why Powell would kill Andy and Jason. It just doesn’t make sense until you flip it around. Andy blamed all of us for the fact that his life was amess.”
Wu didn’t sound particularly impressed. “Ms. Starr, I see why you’re concerned, and I understand why you’ve reached this conclusion. But we’ve kept a close eye on Meyer—his credit cards, his bank account, his cell phone and even his car. It’s gotten us nowhere. If he’s alive out there, he has turned his back on everything he owned. He has no hope of returning without giving himselfaway.”
Mia hadn’t realized that. “What about the bloody towels and bath mat that ended up in the wood chipper? Was the bloodhis?”
“We did take hairs and a semen sample from his sheets so that we’d have something in case we found a body. I don’t know if they’ve processed it yet. We didn’t put a rush on it or the DNA in the towels, just the samples you two gave us and the blood from the crime scene. I can check on the other stuff in themorning.”
“Why can’t you check on it now?” Joaquinasked.
“Because, Mr. Ramirez, even people who work at the CBI lab need sleep.” Wu softened his tone. “How about you two come to the station tomorrow morning and we go through this then? We should have DNA back on Powell. We’ll know definitively whether he was in that parking garage or not. I suspect we’ll find that he’s our doer. He fits the height and weight of the individual in the securityfootage.”
“He and Andy were close in height,” Miasaid.
Wu went on as if he hadn’t heard her. “The son of a bitch lied about his whereabouts and didn’t want to give DNA. We had to strap him down and take blood, because he wouldn’t open his mouth. Why would he do that unless he knows DNA will incriminate him? On more than one occasion, he told law enforcement how much he’d like to see youdead.”
Joaquin glared at the phone, muttered something in Spanish, his gaze softening when he looked at Mia. “What about Mia’s safety? You confiscated her firearm. Can you at least put a patrol on herhouse?”
“I can do that. I’ll do my best to get your piece back to youquickly.”
That wassomething.
“Goodnight,” Wu said. “I’ll see you in themorning.”
Joaquin pulled out his cell. “I’m callingDarcangelo.”
They went through the whole conversation again, telling Julian about Mia’s misgivings and their suspicions aboutAndy.
“I asked Wu if he could check on the DNA from the towels and bath mat. He said he’d do it in the morning. Mia would sleep a lot easier if we knew definitively that the blood belonged toMeyer.”
Julian must have been taking notes because he repeated what they’d told him. “I can call the lab, see if anyone’s there. If they haven’t processed it yet—you said Wu didn’t put a rush on it—then it’s not going to help you at all. You said Wu is putting in for extra patrols on yourstreet?”
“Yes. I’m not sure Wu will follow through, but that’s what hesaid.”