Rarities Unlimited 04 - The Color of Death

Gallagher.”
    “I think—I can’t be certain—but I think Norm’s brother is a Jason. At least, his nickname is Jase.”
    “You never said anything about a brother.”
    “That’s because I don’t really know much about Norm, except that Lee is—” She stopped abruptly, then continued after only a brief pause, “Lee was over the moon about him. That’s all Leetalked about when he called me. That and the fact that Norm was urging him to tell Mom and Dad. Norm’s family was very supportive of him.” Frowning, Kate pulled the clip out of her hair and rubbed her scalp as though that would stimulate her memory. “Lee said that was something he and Norm had in common. Jase supported Norm and I supported Lee. Given the context, I just assumed that Jase was Norm’s brother.”
    “Fair enough. And that would certainly connect Sizemore’s company with Lee in a big way,” Sam said. “If Lee told Norm what was in the courier packet, and Norm told his brother Jase, who also happens to be Jason Gallagher, and Jason mentioned it to his boss…”
    “That’s a lot of ifs,” Kate said dubiously.
    “Yeah. But it’s a link we didn’t have before. Let’s see if it goes somewhere.”
    “Are you going to call Jase?”
    “First I’m going to be sure that we have brothers. If we do, we’ll assume linkage.”
    “Why not just ask Jase?”
    “Because if Sizemore is dirty, Jase could be dirty too.”
    Kate shifted unhappily. “Are you saying that Jase set up his brother’s lover?”
    “I’m saying I don’t know who’s dirty and who isn’t. Until I do—or can at least make a reasonable guess—I’m not going to go broadcasting my suspicions.”
    “But they were going to be married.”
    It took Sam a moment, but he made the connection. “Look, Jase could have tipped someone, or Sizemore could have, or someone else who had the information, without intending to harm anyone but the insurance company. Up until Lee died, the couriers weren’t killed.”
    “What changed that?”
    “Good question.” Sam fiddled with a piece of pizza crust and stared into the middle distance. “The Purcells were killed to keep them quiet about where they got the sapphire. I think the female courier was roughed up to change the MO so that the cops wouldassume South American gangs were at play, rather than the guys I call the Teflon gang. The female courier happened to have a thin skull, so she died. The courier who was shot in the parking lot is just one of those things that go down when crooks carry guns. A screwup. Otherwise it was a classic Teflon job—homemade remote key, inside information on the courier and the route, the courier isn’t around for the grab, no one is hurt, in and out and gone in thirty seconds.”
    “How many of these nineteen couriers fit that profile?”
    “Twelve, if I’m right about the female courier and the parking lot screwup, and one or two others where the MO is mixed.”
    “What does your boss say about your theory?”
    “My SAC says that his boss told him that when we round up all the South American mutts, and the courier hits continue, then and only then will Kennedy start looking under his maiden aunt’s bed for Teflon ghosts.”
    “Got it. Kennedy’s not impressed.”
    “Neither is Sizemore. Kennedy controls the Bureau information pipeline, so nothing gets in the files that would make him unhappy. Sizemore has the media in his pocket, which only feeds the frenzy for South American gangs.”
    “That’s what you meant when you said facts that don’t agree with the brass don’t make it into the final report.”
    “Yeah.”
    “It’s a wonder anything ever gets done.”
    He smiled wearily. “It’s not just the Bureau. It’s human nature. We don’t like the bearer of bad news. We reward the folks bringing good news. Guess which messenger gets ahead in the world?”
    Kate just shook her head.
    “Okay,” Sam said, “next civilian under investigation is CGSI. Raul Mendoza did a preliminary on them and came up with nothing interesting. Ditto the accountant. Only thing of interest is that they handle their own courier and security information, always.”
    “Dad has tried to interest them in using his company. No sale.”
    “Tell him not to take it personally. Sizemore got the same treatment when he tried to include them in his security umbrella for this show. They told him to go crap in his mess kit. A few other security companies tried, but they weren’t gem and