The Hermetrius Conspiracy Page 26

  He gave a lame imitation of an old Jerry Lee Lewis song, “Oooh baby. You knooooow what I like.”

  “Yes I do, Matthew. Finish your drink and I’ll give you some more of what you like.”

  Roberts drained his glass and followed her into the bedroom. He must have undressed out of the camera’s view, because the next thing they saw was Roberts in nothing but his boxers climbing under the bed covers. She appeared at the foot of the bed with her back to the camera and let her negligee slide to the floor. Lynn wondered how far Jack would let this go before turning off the TV, but she shouldn’t have worried. He aimed the remote at the TV and shut it down.

  “They probably won’t be talking about anything of interest to us for the next several minutes. We’ll record it and go over it in the morning.”

  #

  Jack woke up the next time to the smell of fresh coffee from a cup Lynn was waving in front of his nose. “Wake up, sleepy head. Our TV lovers are having a conversation with their morning coffee on the couch.”

  Jack stretched, yawned, and sat up. There, on the big screen, was the happy couple chatting about the weather and when they could get together again.

  “I wish we could see each other more, Matthew. I miss you when we’re apart more than a couple of days.”

  Roberts answered, “Me too, honey.” while he was thinking ‘Pretty soon I’m going to get Winston to erase this threat to my future. Once I enter the race I can’t have a reporter uncovering my affair with Elaina.’

  “I’ve been thinking about your plans to announce your candidacy for President. When are you going to make it public?”

  “We were planning to wait until just before Super Tuesday, but my campaign manager decided we should get on the ballot for the Iowa caucus and the three primaries in February, so he wants me to announce just before Christmas. That will keep me out of the debates, but get plenty of news coverage while people are off for the holidays.”

  “Do you trust your campaign manager, what’s his name ? Winston Charles?”

  “He goes by Win, Win Charles.” That’s the name Matthew came up with on the spur of the moment last month when he told her he was going to run for President and she started asking questions.

  “I haven’t heard of him. Does he have much experience managing winning campaigns?”

  Roberts replied, “That’s why they call him Win, honey.” and laughed at his own joke.

  “What about campaign financing?”

  “He’s taking care of that. I’ll have all the money I need to win the election.”

  Roberts turned back to reading the morning paper. Talking politics with her made him uncomfortable; she was too smart for her own good.

  Elaina wasn’t finished. “Texas Governor Gentry is up 18% in the polls. He will be tough to beat.”

  “Win has that taken care of that, too. Apparently, Gentry had an affair – with a young man – three years ago. That will hit the news just before the first primaries and should knock him out of the race.”

  “Is it true, or just something a reporter made up, like that embezzlement hoax?”

  “Win has the young man set up for a bombshell interview on CNN a week before the New Hampshire primary. With Gentry out of the race, it will open it up for my landslide victory on Super Tuesday.”

  “What’s this gay man’s name? Is he anyone well known?”

  “No, he just came out of the woodwork with this story. Win is lucky he found out about the guy before the media did.”

  Jack turned to Lynn. “She’s asking a lot of questions. Do you think she might be spying for Gentry, or even the democrats?”

  “You’re right. Her questions aren’t just conversation fillers. Lets keep watching to see what else Roberts gives up to her feminine wiles.”

  “You keep on with that, Lynn. I’m going to modify some software so it will record all the audio exchanges between them and print a transcript to study. That way we won’t have to watch all the boring sex stuff.”

  Chapter 57

  Over the following week Roberts visited the apartment four times providing more than fifty pages of dialog between them. Jack, Lynn and the others watched the conversations live whenever they had time, but the transcripts proved the most valuable. Lynn was reviewing the conversation from the third visit when her eye froze on the page. She yelled for Jack, who came running along with others. “What happened? Are you O.K.?”

  “I found something in the transcript.” Lynn pointed to the date and time stamp at the top of the page. “Display the recording that covers this.” It only took Jack a minute to have it running. Roberts and Elaina were sitting on the couch having a glass of wine. By the slur in the Senator’s voice, this wasn’t his first.

  Elaina put her arm around his neck and said “Tell me something I don’t know about you; something that will surprise me and show a side of you I don’t know.”

  “Why do you want to hear my secrets, darling.”

  “Because what I know about you is kind of two dimensional. All I see is the persona you put on for the public, and that can be a bit boring. I want to see some depth, the real you, what’s behind the face you wear.”

  “Let’s see. . . . Well, I once streaked naked across the Yale football field during halftime. And I got away without being caught.”

  “That took some balls, dear, but I’ve seen you naked so there’s no surprise in that for me. I want something shocking.”

  Roberts hesitated. He wanted to impress her, but could he tell her that? ‘Oh, what the hell. She’ll be gone in a week anyway.’

  “I killed my first wife and got away with it. Is that shocking enough for you?”

  Elaina look at him wide eyed. “You did not! You’re just making that up. You don’t have the guts to do something like that.”

  He said, “I hit her over the head with a heavy lamp, several times. Then I stole her jewelry and some other stuff to make it look like a burglary. I even carved a gang logo on her stomach. Check it out on the internet.”

  “I already have. I searched your past when we first started seeing each other. The report said the police were convinced it was a burglar. They never found him, but the case is still open as a cold case.”

  Robert’s laughed. “See how clever I am? What do you say we go into the bedroom and you can show me how impressed you are.” She gave him a kiss and led the way.

  They sat in silence while they digested what they just heard. Then Harriet said “Holy Shit! I can’t believe this just dropped in our laps. We’ve got him now for sure. . . . How are we going to handle this?”

  Tom answered. “It seems pretty simple to me. We just put this video on YouTube. It will get a million hits the first day and his goose will be cooked.”

  Rick spoke up. “I don’t know if that’s the best way, Tom. There is so much phony stuff on the internet. People don’t trust what they see, even if it is a video. Roberts can claim it’s a fake made by his opponents using an actor that looks like him.”

  “Good point.” Jack noted. “I think the surest way to put Roberts out of commission is to send this video directly to D.C. Metro Police Department. It shouldn’t take them long to get a warrant for his arrest.”

  “So we just make a DVD of this part of the recording and what . . . mail it to the police station?”

  “No, there’s a good chance it will never get to the right person. I have a way to make sure it gets to the detective handling the cold case. Lynn, will you do a search to find that detective’s name?”

  Chapter 58

  Detective Abraham Friedman had just gotten back to his desk after lunch at nearby deli when the phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but since the area code was from somewhere in Indiana, he ignored it. As he got back to work he got a call from the front desk. “Abe, you got a letter from a courier down here that you have to sign for. I told the guy I would bring it up to you, but he insisted on handing it over himself. Abe went downstairs, signed for a sealed letter pack, and br
ought it back to his desk. He wondered briefly if he should have the bomb squad look at it first, but it wasn’t big enough to hold a bomb. As he slit it open he thought ‘I suppose it could be anthrax or something,’ but no puff of white powder came out. He dumped a DVD on his desk and inspected it. There was a note with it:

  Detective Friedman;

  This DVD has solid evidence, a confession of sorts, that will close a murder case you worked on six years ago. This was recorded live a week ago from a surveillance camera planted by the Agency I work for in a fraud case. We felt it best to get it to you outside official channels for reasons that will be obvious when you see it.

  The video is encrypted and can only be viewed by entering the key code. I will call you and give you that code. You will, of course, find no fingerprints or other physical evidence on the disk, so you can view it immediately without sending it to forensics first.

  Abraham looked at the phone number from the call he had ignored earlier. He was tempted to call it, but didn’t want to screw this thing up, so he went back to his work. Later in the afternoon his phone rang again. He started the record function and answered. “This is detective Abe Friedman. May I help you?”

  “Here is the key code for the DVD you received this afternoon. Get ready to write. MX3265947Z.

  Repeat it back to me.”

  Abe recited it back and immediately heard the connection break.

  He inserted the disk into the computer and was prompted for the key code. A title screen opened up.

  This is a conversation between Senator Matthew Roberts and his friend, Elaina Bennett, recorded on 25 November 2015, at her Georgetown apartment.

  The title screen faded and the conversation began. Three minutes later Abe called his partner. “Al, get over to my desk. You need to see something.”

  As soon as he played the DVD again he turned to Al. “Did you hear what I heard?”

  “He confessed to his wife’s murder!”

  “It’s better than that, Al. He told her about the gang logo he carved in her stomach. That fact was never released. We held it back as something only us and the killer would know. We have this guy cold. Let’s run this by the boss and bring Roberts in.”

  #

  Roberts was on the golf course when two men approached him. His partner confronted them. “This is a private golf course. You can’t be out here.”

  They ignored him and approached Roberts. “Senator Matthew Roberts, you are under arrest for the murder of Judith Roberts, your wife. You have the right to remain silent, you have . . .”

  Roberts cut him off. “Stop talking. Do you want to draw a crowd? I know and understand the Miranda rights. Now get in the golf cart and let’s go somewhere more private.”

  “I’m sorry sir, we can’t do that. You will have to walk back to the squad car with us.”

  “You’re not going to put cuffs on me, are you?”

  “Put your hands in front of you, sir.”

  With the cuffs snapped in place and a golf jacket over his hands, they took him toward the parking lot.

  His golf partner couldn’t believe what he just saw. He had to keep this quiet somehow. He got into the cart and headed for the club house, but by the time he got there everyone was talking about it. Someone told him that the caddy had seen the whole thing and ran back to tell everyone.

  #

  Back at the Double Wide they all sat down to watch the evening news. They weren’t disappointed. All the networks were carrying the story. They settled on Fox News to listen to the details.

  Senator Matthew Roberts was arrested today by detectives from the Washington D.C. Metro Police. He is charged with the murder of his wife six years ago. At the time police ruled the case as a burglary gone bad, but never were able to identify a suspect. The police now say that they have additional evidence that proves conclusively that Judith Roberts was murdered by her husband.”

  The reporter went on to give the details of the arrest, and show old news video from the murder scene.

  Lynn smiled. “I can’t believe they arrested him on the golf course. That pretty much guaranteed the public and news media would find out. There’s no way Winston can shut this up. Roberts is finished.”

  They all agreed and passed around high fives. Harriet asked Rick, “Would you break out some expensive wine from our basement wine cellar, my dear. We need to celebrate!”

  “Well, I have a fine 2015 Chablis from Carlo Rossi, and a vintage 2015 Franzia Moscato – both in a box and both already half empty. What’s your pleasure, madame?”

  “Oh, bring them both out. Maybe there’s enough left to get us all a little drunk.”

  They all laughed and gathered in the kitchen to get a glass.

  #

  They watched the Fox Morning News after breakfast. They repeated what was reported last night, but the update was interesting. The Senator was released on a half-million dollar bail. There was nothing about who put up the bail, but they agreed it must have been Winston.

  “Rick, do you think you can trace that bail back to Winston somehow?”

  “I don’t know Jack, he probably did it through one of his disconnected companies. I’ll see what I can find out.”

  Jack rapped on the table with his empty coffee cup. “I now call this meeting of the Heroes of the Republic to order. The business for today is to discuss how Winston might react to the arrest of Roberts. Who wants the floor first?”

  Harriet had a concern. “Roberts is out of the race, but I wonder if Winston has a backup waiting in the wings – someone who will do the same things as president that Roberts was going to? Jim, did you hear any word of this while you were with Winston and his staff?”

  “No, Winston focused entirely on Senator Roberts. He even had a body guard detail watching him and he was driven everywhere by one of Winston’s men. They didn’t want some accident to ruin everything.”

  Chapter 59

  Charles Winston was furious! ‘How could Roberts have given away the only thing that would assure his defeat. And how could the police find out about it so quickly. I sent Elaina to Roberts to keep an eye on him, and to test him about keeping secrets. She purposely baited him to see if he would tell anything about his connection to Winston. That was her job. She got him to talk about the murder, but how did the police get the information? Elaina must have sold out to them. That’s the only answer. He picked up his secure cell phone and called Alexei. “Get over here as soon as you can. I have a couple of assignments for you.”

  An hour later Alexei was in Winston’s office. “What can I do for you, sir?”

  “I have two problems that could destroy the years of work it took me to set all this in motion. And now, as we’re nearing the finish line, it’s all about to fall apart. I suppose you have seen the news about Senator Roberts.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “I had one of my people bail him out of jail. He’s now at home waiting for me to call. I want him taken care of. It has to be a suicide. The police might be running a stakeout on his house, so be careful. After you finish this job, I have another one for you. I want no evidence of a struggle in her apartment, and I want her body to disappear. The details are in this packet. Let me know when you’re finished. There’s a big bonus in this if you can do it right.”

  “Yes sir, You can count on me.”

  #

  Jack and the others turned on the TV to watch the evening news. The Breaking News banner was already flashing and the announcer was in mid sentence.

  . . . of a gunshot wound to the head at his home this afternoon. The Senator didn’t leave a suicide note, but his arrest yesterday was probably a factor. We will air a special tonight at 9 p.m. about Senator Matthew Roberts’ life and career.

  No one spoke at first. Then Lynn said “Do you think it was really suicide, or did we get him killed?”

  “Either way he won’t be spending the rest of his life in prison for murder,” Jack commented. “But if I were a betting man, I would
put my money on Winston’s men. He had some of our agents killed to protect his conspiracy, and Roberts was a bigger threat than we ever were. I definitely believe he ordered the killing.”

  They sat in silence for awhile, contemplating the events of the past two days; realizing that they had a hand in it – in the Senator’s murder. Their only crime was unauthorized entry to the apartment . . . and illegal surveillance. But those were both misdemeanors.

  Harriet cleared her throat. “We are all feeling responsible right now, but we didn’t kill him, Winston’s henchmen did. And we didn’t order the killing, Winston did. So stop feeling sorry for yourselves and let’s get the bastards! That’s our new mission: to prove Winston and his hired killers committed these murders, and those of the FRA agents. Agreed?”

  Lynn laughed. “I’m waiting for the theme from Superman, or the Avengers to play.”

  #

  They were all in a good mood over breakfast – talking about getting their lives back to normal. But Jack looked deep in thought.

  “Earth to Jack, Earth to Jack. Come in Jack.” Lynn joked.

  “Sorry. I was thinking ahead about our new mission – getting Winston and his thugs put behind bars. And everyone else who was responsible for this mess.” He turned to Jim, “Who are his thugs, Jim. Who has been doing his dirty work for him?”

  “Originally it was Blackworth security, but you guys made them look like fools so Winston fired them and hired Alexei Brusilov. He has a low profile security firm that employs mostly security professionals and hired guns from Russia, and has no scruples about what he will do for a client if asked.”

  “Where is his firm located? Is it in the D.C. area?”

  “That’s a problem. He has no permanent location. To stay below the law enforcement radar, he operates out of old warehouses and changes locations every few months.”

  “Do you know where he’s operating from now?

  “No one knows where his headquarters are. He uses only untraceable cell phones and most of his employees work out of their homes. He calls them, gives them a mission, they complete the job, and report back to Alexei. Most of his people don’t even know where he is.”

  “Jim, would you make a list of everyone you think was involved in murdering the FRA agents and the man in the Alexandria Hyatt, killing Senator Roberts, chasing us around the country, planting false scandal details to get the right wingers elected, and anyone else who should be sent to jail over this conspiracy. That will be our ‘wanted’ list for our new mission.”