Alien in the House

find the paperwork.”
    “He had it at his desk at work,” Amy said. “Not exactly hidden.”
    “He didn’t have it at his house or real office. And I’d bet he told Pia he’d destroyed it.”
    “I still go back to why,” Mom said. “And I also still go back to the fact that Santiago was worried that he was being spied on, and as near as we can tell, it was because he’d found those anti-alien lines in the bills. His last line about there being more going on isn’t enough for us to extrapolate anything.”
    “Wait,” Chuckie said, and I could see his Conspiracy Wheels turning. “Hang on one moment. If we take Jeff’s view, that Pia orchestrated Brewer’s murder today, then they were trying again, right?” Everyone nodded. “So they definitely wanted Brewer killed. She was allowed to set up the second attempt, and this time they used Clarence.”
    “And I think they may have used Raul.”
    “How?” Jeff asked.
    “Man who held the elevator for Edmund, did you look at him?”
    Jeff cursed. “No. And that makes sense. Have Clarence do it, because you needed someone strong to get Ed up onto that ledge. But have your professional oversee, just in case things go badly this time.”
    “Logical and efficient, and a good follow up,” Mom said. “However, still more public than any of the others.”
    “The police are investigating as a suicide. I don’t think it’ll hold up, but Nathalie is with us. If Raul was in the building, and I’m now really sure he was, then he’s already broken into their home and planted proof of Edmund’s hidden despair.”
    “Wow, Kitty, are you psychic?” Tim asked. “Because Mossad just confirmed police have found a suicide note.”
    “Thank God we took Nathalie with us,” Jeff said. “Or it might have been a murder-suicide the police think they’re investigating.”
    “Oh, Jeff, like, in that sense, where your head’s at. And Tim, since when did you become best friends forever with the Mossad team at the Israeli Embassy?” Tim, Reader, and Mom all contrived to look innocent. “Oh, great. It’s classified. Well, at least we all like them. Anyway, the Conspiracy King has more for us.”
    Chuckie nodded slowly. “I think we need to answer this question. Why is Pia Ryan dead?”



CHAPTER 86
    “B ECAUSE SHE SCREWED UP,” Michael suggested. “She was in the running, her plan backfired.”
    “Maybe.” Chuckie’s eyes were closed. “Santiago Reyes is dead, yes. But Raul was there, and he was there with SWAT, meaning the plan was always expected to be exposed, police were always expected to be called, and Eugene was always expected to be arrested.”
    “Meaning Raul was in place to cover as backup, in all cases,” Raj said. “Especially if we believe there are other aspiring Apprentices, at least one of them was likely at the dinner party, too. If it were me, I’d want to be sure I had someone I could trust to clean up if one or more of them blew it. And our intel shows that Raul has the strongest connection to someone we all feel was a Mastermind, so I say he’s following the current Mastermind’s orders.”
    Chuckie nodded. “Logical. Everyone going for the ‘job’ would have to be politically connected in some way. And that makes the most sense for his presence in town, too.”
    “So Raul was there to kill Eugene before he could blab, and he’s around to take care of whatever else is needed while Apprentice Tryouts are going on. Getting to have the chance to kill me and Jeff is probably just part of his Christmas bonus.”
    “Right.” Chuckie closed his eyes again. “We agree that Brewer’s ‘suicide’ is Pia’s M.O. But she was dead before it was carried out. So I ask again, why was she killed? She adapted and got her target. Why kill her before you see if she can get Brewer on the second try?”
    “Well, there’s always the possibility that she was in Cliff’s car when he turned it on and just had bad timing,” Jeff said.
    “It’s possible, but why would you put the car bomb in so late?” Chuckie shook his head. “I can’t buy that. Cliff had to park and go inside the Capitol building, for a specific event. There was no way to judge how long it would be before he left the event to return to his car. Thirty minutes would be your best guess for the fastest he’d be back, and you always work assuming worst-case scenario. So, you wouldn’t wait to set up the bomb until the last moment. You’d set it and be far, far away,