Roses Are Red

“He’s late,” I muttered. “Let’s get out of here. We’ve got better things to do.”
    Just then, one of two polished oak doors into the room opened. I knew both of the men who walked in. Neither of them looked very happy. One was FBI Director Ronald Burns, whom I’d met during the Casanova killings in Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The second man was Secretary of Justice Richard Pollett. I had met him when I’d worked on a case involving the president.
    “We’re getting an awful lot of heat on these robbery-murders. The big banks, Wall Street,” Pollett said to Kyle. He nodded in my direction. “Hello, Detective.” Then he looked at Betsey. “I’m sorry, we haven’t met.”
    “I’m Senior Agent Cavalierre,” she said, and rose to shake the secretary’s hand. I’m the SAC.”
    “Ms. Cavalierre is the agent in charge of the investigation?” Pollett asked Director Burns.
    “Yes, she is,” Kyle answered the question. “This is her case.”
    Secretary Pollett turned his unwavering gaze on her. “All right, you’re the SAC. Where are some results, Ms. Cavalierre? I walked into this room ready to make heads roll. Tell me why I shouldn’t.” Richard Pollett had run a large and successful Wall Street investment house before he came to Washington. He knew nothing about law enforcement but believed he was smart enough to figure out anything once he had some facts.
    “Have you ever been part of a national manhunt?” Betsey stared right back into his eyes.
    “I don’t think that’s a relevant question,” he answered dryly. “I’ve run some very important investigations, and I’ve always gotten results.”
    “The robberies have been coming fast,” I found myself saying to Pollett. “Obviously, we were starting from nowhere. Here’s what we know now. A single man planned the Citibank, First Union, First Virginia, and Chase robberies and murders. We know he’s selecting crew members that are willing to kill.
He’s only interested in recruiting killers.
    “Our profile tells us he’s a white male between thirty-five and fifty. He’s probably well educated, with a thorough knowledge of banks and their security systems. He may have worked for a financial institution in the past, or even more than one, and might have a grudge against them. He robs banks for the money, but the murders are probably for revenge.
That
we’re not sure about yet.”
    I looked around the room. Everyone was listening instead of bickering. “A few days ago we located and questioned a man named Tony Brophy. He was recruited for one of the jobs but was turned down. He wasn’t cold-blooded enough. He wasn’t a killer.”
    Betsey spoke. “We have over two hundred agents in the field. We were only a couple of minutes behind them at the Chase robbery in D.C.,” she said. “We know that he calls himself the Mastermind. There’s been a lot of progress in a relatively short time.”
    Pollett turned to the FBI director and nodded curtly. “I’m not satisfied, but at least I finally got a few answers. It’s your job to get this Mastermind, Ron. Do it. What’s happening makes all our financial systems appear vulnerable. The polls say confidence in the banks is down. And that’s a disaster for this country. I assume your
Mastermind
has figured that out already.”
    Ten minutes later, Betsey Cavalierre and I rode the elevator down to the FBI’s underground garage together. Kyle had stayed behind with Director Burns.
    When we got to the basement floor, she finally spoke. “I owe you one for upstairs. You saved me. Big time. I was
this
close to unloading on that pompous Wall Street asshole.”
    I looked at her and a smile broke on my face. “You definitely have a temper. I hope
you
don’t have a grudge against Big Business or the banking system?”
    She finally grinned. “Of course I do. Who doesn’t?”

Chapter 54
    I SPENT THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS at the hospital with Jannie. She told me again that she was going to be a doctor and she sounded ready to take her med boards. She took delight in using terms like
pilocytic astrocytoma
(her tumor),
prothrombin
(a plasma protein used in the clotting of blood), and
contrast material
(dye used in the CT scan she’d had just that morning).
    “I’m back,” Jannie finally announced, “and the new and improved model is better than ever.”
    “Maybe you better go into the public relations or the advertising field when you grow up,” I teased her. “Work