“She was scared,” said Taylor. “Which is understandable, given her theory of why Harry was murdered.”
“Right. Makes sense from her point of view. But we know more than she does. About this case, and also about how the world works.” He looked at Taylor. “I’m starting to think maybe she did a number on you two.”
Taylor stared at him. “Excuse me, David. We didn’t just fall off the cabbage truck.”
Kim said, “Sorry. But… she pulled Harry in. And he was top-shelf. She has a kind of… magnetism to her. I saw that. Not to mention easy to look at. Plus, the Odin case would be compelling for Vance—on a professional andpersonal level. But Odin has nothing to do with our case. Neither does Anna Albrecht, for that matter, other than the fact that Harry’s affair with her is what placed him in Berlin, and thus in the crosshairs of a few jihadis who were looking to make a name for themselves by hitting a high-value target.”
Taylor asked, “If Harry was in Berlin to see Anna, and to search for Odin, andnoton official CID counterterrorism business, how could he have even gotten on these guys’ radar in the first place?”
Kim looked at her. “I don’t have all the answers. Yet. But we’re getting there.”
Brodie said, “Harry was shot in a park at threeA.M.He was there for a reason.”
“Maybe he was baited,” said Kim.
“By whom?”
Kim shrugged. “To be determined.”
Brodie said, “You are being handed—or fed—the case you expected to have. The perps, the motive, everything. Your biases are confirmed at every step, and that doesn’t seem to bother you. They must have taught you better critical thinking skills at Quantico. Or at least at Yale.”
Kim stared at him. “Now and then I’ve had the plug pulled on me too, Scott. Feels like shit.”
“You’re deflecting.”
Taylor interrupted, “We have reason to believe that Colonel Qasim encountered Odin at an East German biological and chemical warfare training facility in the late eighties, and that Agent Vance had arranged a meeting with Qasim on the night of his murder to discuss this encounter.”
Kim didn’t reply for a moment. Then he asked, “Is this based on evidence you found at Mr. Qasim’s apartment?”
Neither Brodie nor Taylor replied.
Kim seemed to enjoy catching them off-guard. “Mr. Nasir received a phone call as he was being led into BKA headquarters. One of his associates spotted you two entering Qasim’s building, and Nasir shared that with Schröder.”
Well, thought Brodie, Nasir had made a promise he’d keep an eye on them, and apparently he’d kept it.
The rainfall grew heavier and echoed in the great dome. The watersplashed and streaked down the glass, reducing the panorama of Berlin to a shapeless gray wash.
Brodie suddenly felt like he was in a fishbowl, where the world looked in with clarity, but the view from the inside out was distorted and warped.
The Lebanese mob. The mystery man at the Adlon. The NSA-CIA listening station inside the embassy. The bureaucrats and brass in Berlin and Kaiserslautern and Quantico, all coordinating behind the scenes to get Brodie and Taylor off this case.
They must be close to something that needed to be left alone. Or handled by people who played the game better than CID Agents Brodie and Taylor did. Well, maybe when someone offers you a way out of a shitstorm, you should take it.
Brodie said to Kim, “Nasir already made it clear to us that he would be keeping an eye on our movements in Neukölln, which I guess is his prerogative as the local warlord. As far as our visit to Qasim’s apartment, it did net some valuable Intel.” He described the note about Storkow found on Qasim’s desk, and the mention of Odin’s visit to Storkow in the Stasi report.
Kim listened. Then he said, “You entered the apartment without a warrant and without authorization. Did you at least leave the note where you found it?”
“We did,” said Brodie, “but I think you’re focusing on the wrong issues here.”
“On the contrary. Schröder was apoplectic when he found out you went there. Sharon had to talk him down from having you both arrested.”
“She just wants us out of the country.”
“You are officers of the law who seem comfortable breaking it. Anna Albrecht told us that she didn’t exactly invite you in, either. And the evidence you found in Qasim’s apartment is now—”
“Actionable intelligence,” said Brodie.
“Actionable by whom?”
