The Enemy

anything tonight that we would take responsibility for.”
    “Not specifically.”
    “It was psychologically generic,” she said.
    “OK,” I said.
    “And I resent being asked.”
    “OK,” I said again. “Good night, ma’am.”
    I got up out of the chair and headed for the door.
    “What was the real reason?” she asked. “If the display we saw was bogus?”
    “I don’t know,” I said. “I’m not that smart.”

    I stopped in my outer office and the sergeant with the baby son gave me coffee. Then I went into my inner office and found Summer waiting for me there. She had come to collect her lists, because the Kramer case was closed.
    “Did you check the other women?” I asked her. “Apart from Norton?”
    She nodded. “They all have alibis. It’s the best night of the year for alibis. Nobody spends New Year’s Eve alone.”
    “I did,” I said.
    She said nothing back. I butted the papers into a neat stack and put them back inside their folder and unclipped the note off the front.
Hope your mom was OK.
I dropped the note in my drawer and handed the file to her.
    “What did Norton tell you?” she asked.
    “She agreed with me that it was homicide dressed up to look like gay-bashing. I asked her if any of the symbols came from Psy-Ops classes and she didn’t really say yes or no. She said they were psychologically generic. She resented being asked.”
    “So what now?”
    I yawned. I was tired. “We’ll work it like we work any of them. We don’t even know who the victim is yet. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. On deck at seven, OK?”
    “OK,” she said, and headed for my door, carrying her file.
    “I called Rock Creek,” I said. “Asked a clerk to find their copy of the order bringing me here from Panama.”
    “And?”
    “He said it’s got Garber’s signature on it.”
    “But?”
    “That’s not possible. Garber got me on the phone on New Year’s Eve and was surprised I was here.”
    “Why would a clerk lie?”
    “I don’t think a clerk would. I think the signature is a forgery.”
    “Is that conceivable?”
    “It’s the only explanation. Garber couldn’t have forgotten he’d transferred me here forty-eight hours previously.”
    “So what’s this all about?”
    “I have no idea. Someone somewhere is playing chess. My brother told me I should find out who wants me here bad enough to pull me out of Panama and replace me with an asshole. So I tried to find out. And now I’m thinking maybe we should be asking the same question about Garber. Who wants him out of Rock Creek bad enough to replace
him
with an asshole?”
    “But Korea has to be a genuine merit promotion, doesn’t it?”
    “Garber deserves it, no question,” I said. “Except it’s too early. It’s a one-star job. DoD has to bring it to the Senate. That process happens in the fall, not in January. This was a panic move, spur of the moment.”
    “But that would be pointless chess,” Summer said. “Why bring you in and pull him out? The two moves neutralize each other.”
    “So maybe there are two people playing. Like a tug-of-war. Good guy, bad guy. Win one, lose one.”
    “But the bad guy could have won both, easily. He could have discharged you. Or sent you to prison. He’s got the civilian complaint to work with.”
    I said nothing.
    “It doesn’t add up,” Summer said. “Whoever’s playing on your side is willing to let Garber go but is powerful enough to keep you here, even with the civilian complaint on the table. Powerful enough that Willard knew he couldn’t proceed against you, even though he probably wanted to. You know what that means?”
    “Yes,” I said. “I do.”
    She looked straight at me.
    “It means you’re seen as more important than Garber,” she said. “Garber’s gone, and you’re still here.”
    Then she looked away and went quiet.
    “Permission to speak freely, Lieutenant,” I said.
    She looked back at me.
    “You’re not more important than Garber,” she said. “You can’t be.”
    I yawned again.
    “No argument from me,” I said. “Not on that particular subject. This is not about a choice between me and Garber.”
    She paused. Then she nodded.
    “No,” she said. “It isn’t. This is about a choice between Fort Bird and Rock Creek. Fort Bird is seen as more important. What’s happening here on the post is seen as more sensitive than what’s happening at special unit headquarters.”
    “Agreed,” I said. “But what the hell is happening