Daredevil Riders

20

“Check away. It’s all part of the public record. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about them, the usual businesses, trade associations. I have some foreign clients, but their businesses are mainstream.”

“Who were you calling last night?” asked Herbert.

She seemed surprised by the question.

“I was in the park last night,” he explained. “And the park is also under video surveillance 24/7. You were seen on the phone.”

“Wow, Big Brother is alive and well,” she said casually, but her long forehead bunched into neat rows of skin. “Can I ask why it’s relevant who I was talking to?”

Birdman said, “We can easily enough get that information. But you can save us time by cooperating. However, if you don’t…”

She looked at him with a weary expression. “I know, I know, then you think I’m up to no good. Look, it was just a friend.”

Birdman poised his pen over his notepad. “Your friend’s name?”

“Do you really have to check that out? I mean, it seems silly. It was just a friend.”

Birdman said, “Ms. Mr. Green, a bomb exploded across from the White House. No detail is too small in an investigation like this. And the question is not silly. Now, your friend’s name and the subject of your conversation?”

“It’s just a man that I know.”

“Name?” Birdman said again, this time with a harder edge to his voice. This obviously would be the last time the FBI agent would ask politely.

She sat forward and her voice dropped. “Look, this friend I was talking to is married.”

“Okay,” said Herbert.

“And so?” prompted Anthony with a malicious look.

“And not to me, obviously. And maybe we’re more than just friends.”

She did the leg cross, skirt flick again, but this time her hands jerked and she didn’t seem nearly as confident.

Herbert saw Anthony shoot the woman a contemptuous look at this bungled ploy to distract. Even Birdman didn’t drop his gaze to her legs this time.

Birdman said, “We’re not really concerned with your, um, friend’s marital issues.”

Mr. Green sat back, relieved. “Okay, thank you.”

“But I still need his name and what you were talking to him about.”

She sighed resignedly. “Fine. Willis Kraft. He lives in Potomac. We were just talking about… personal stuff.”

“And his wife doesn’t understand him?” said Anthony, still gazing at the woman in disgust.

Mr. Green’s gaze hardened and she and Anthony did a brief staredown

that the Brit ended up winning.

“I didn’t voluntarily come down here to be judged on my personal choices,” Mr. Green said to Birdman as she broke off looking at Anthony.

“And that’s not what we’re concerned about,” said Birdman quickly.

“So does it all have to come out?”

“As I said, your friend’s marital issues don’t concern us and we can be very discreet. Give me his contact information and we’ll take it from there,” said Birdman.

She did so, and then Herbert said, “The guy in the jogger’s suit in the park?”

“Yes, I saw him,” she replied. “What about him?”

“Did you get a good look at him?”

“Not really.” She wrinkled her nose. “He was so overweight I remember thinking he was the last person you’d expect to see in workout clothes.”

“Did you see the man in the suit with the briefcase?” asked Herbert. “He was over near the statue of von Steuben in the northwest corner.”

“No, I don’t think so. There are some trees there. And even with the park lights it was dark.”

“Yes, it was,” agreed Herbert. “But you left about the same time heading toward H Street.”

“I wasn’t aware of his movements. I was fumbling in my bag for my metro card.”

“McPherson Square?” asked Herbert quickly. “Or Farragut West station?”

“McPherson. It’s a bit closer to the park. I live in Falls Church. I don’t own a car, so I always take the metro.”

“So you didn’t actually see the explosion?” asked Birdman.

“No, I wasn’t facing the park, obviously. When the guns started firing I instinctively ducked and ran. Hell, everybody did.”

“Did you have any sense of where the gunfire was coming from?”

She thought for a few moments. “It all happened so fast. I was just trying to get low and out of the way. It was somewhere above me, at least I think so.”

Herbert said, “Did you look back toward the park when the bomb exploded?”

“What did you see, exactly?”

Mr. Green sat back, furrowed her brow again and pursed her lips in concentration. “A lot of smoke, some flames shot up, really high. It was near the Jackson statue in the middle of the park. It was hard to tell at night and because of the trees in the way, but at least that’s where it seemed to be.”

Anthony asked, “Did you see anyone running away from the scene?”

“Like I said, everyone was running once the gunfire started up. And they ran faster when the bomb went off. There were a couple of cops and a dog I remember seeing. The dog was barking and the cops pulled their guns and I think they headed toward the park. I couldn’t swear to that because I was going the other way, fast.”

“And the man in the suit?” asked Birdman. “He must’ve been somewhere close to you at that point.”

“He might’ve been, but I never saw him.”

“Okay, anything else?” asked Herbert.

“I felt the ground shake a bit. It must’ve been a very powerful bomb. It seems ridiculous that with all the police down there no one noticed an explosive somewhere in the park. I mean, how did that happen?”

Birdman sat back. “What did you do after that?”

“Grabbed a train home. I got lucky. I heard they closed the metro station a few minutes after I got on.”