“I was planning on it, sir.”
“And get someone to show you the after-action review system.”
“Colonel Howe has already instructed Major Klasky to show us.” He asked, “How well did you know Major Ames, sir?”
“Not well. I don’t have much interaction with the DEVCOM people, outside an occasional briefing. Also, it was no secret that I was not the biggest fan of his team’s work.” He added, “I know Ames had a good reputation. Hardworking, smart.Hecertainly thought he was doing good.” That seemed to remind him of something. “We’ll need to arrange for you to have a sit-down with Mr. Saltsberg. I’ll talk to Sergeant Mendez about that.”
Brodie asked, “Who is Mr. Saltsberg?”
“Eric Saltsberg. Synotec guy. No one mentioned him?”
“No, sir.”
Morgan gave an exasperated sigh. “Sensitive subject, I guess. I had him arrested.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said I had him arrested. House arrest. He’s perfectly comfortable.” He explained, “He’s an engineer. Synotec sent him here two days ago to observe a training exercise. He was supposed to stay a night and drive back to Nevada the next morning. The night he was here was the night of Major Ames’s death. Upon the discovery of Ames’s body, I declared a lockdown. No one leaves. Well, he flipped his lid. Got in his car, drove to the gates, and threatened to crash them if he wasn’t let out. Good luck in a Toyota Camry. Anyway, he was out of control, so I had him taken into custody.”
This place was getting more and more nutty. Either Eric Saltsberg was incredibly unlucky, or it was more than a coincidence that he was here the night that one of his products turned homicidal. Brodie’s list of persons of interest was growing.
“We will certainly need to interview him, sir.”
The general nodded. “He’s not a bad guy. Just kind of high-strung. A civilian not used to someone else telling him where he can and can’t go.”
Well, getting suddenly told you couldn’t leave a remote desert outpost might upset anyone. As would the discovery that one of your creations had just split a guy’s head open. Brodie imagined that General Morgan’s decision to detain a representative of Synotec had not gone over very well with his superiors. It was also becoming increasingly clear that General Morgan did not give a shit.
Mrs. Morgan and Taylor returned with the coffee and a homemade pecan pie, which they all enjoyed in relative silence, except to talk about how good the pie was. As soon as they’d finished, Brodie and Taylor got up and said their good-byes and thanks.
General Morgan walked them to the front door. “It was good to meet you, agents. It’s obvious to me this investigation is in good hands. Don’t hesitate to let me know how I can be of assistance.”
Taylor said, “Thank you, General. And if you think of anything that might be relevant to the case, please let us know.”
They left the house and walked in silence across the cul-de-sac. Once they were well out of earshot, Taylor said, “I enjoyed the food, and one of the hosts.”
“He’s a lot.” Brodie told Taylor about the arrest of Eric Saltsberg of Synotec Systems.
“Wow,” she said. “That seems pretty impolitic, at the very least.”
“Or an abuse of power. Saltsberg could have been compelled to speak with us whether he was detained here or allowed to go home to Nevada first. But the timing of Saltsberg’s visit is suspicious.”
They reached the house and Brodie unlocked the door. As they stood in the dark foyer, he called out, “Bucky? Are you here to kill us? I’m sorry about before.”
Taylor turned on the lights. “Not funny. The idea of spending the night here with sixty of those things nearby is already giving me the creeps.”
“Sorry.” He added, “We could have had a nightcap if I’d swiped a bottle from Morgan’s stash.”
“I think we’ve had enough. Let’s turn in. Packed day tomorrow.”
There were loud, rapid knocks on the door. Brodie and Taylor exchanged a look, then Brodie checked the peephole. It was Caroline Dixon.
He opened the door. She had a stack of papers in her hand and a frantic look on her face.
She said, “I found something.”
CHAPTER 15
DIXON LAID HER STACKS OFpapers on the living room coffee table and spoke rapidly as she shuffled through them. “The DEVCOM lab has an intranet. A local shared server so we can all access the same files. The security logs for the lab as well as for the Vault entrance and D-17 storage bays are kept on there. But I’ve also been storing local backups of the logs on my computer, just as an extra precaution. On a hunch I decided to compare them.” She looked at Brodie and Taylor. “There’s discrepancies.”
