Removal (27 page)

‘In general terms, yes.’

‘You know that Chief Henry Bryson of the Washington D.C. Police Department has testified to us at some length about the murders of Lucia Benoni and Hamid Marfrela, the Lebanese diplomat?’

‘Yes, Sir.’

‘The Chief told us, in fact, that your agents had cooperated with his officers in the investigation of those murders. Is that correct?’

‘On my instructions, Mr. Chairman, yes, they did.’

‘Are those murders still the subject of ongoing investigations?’

‘Technically speaking, yes, they are.’

‘What do you mean by ‘technically speaking’?’

‘Well, Mr. Chairman, I am satisfied on the evidence, as I believe Chief Bryson is also, that Hamid Marfrela murdered Lucia Benoni. But Marfrela himself was killed shortly afterwards, and we have not reached any conclusions about the reasons for that murder. It may be that whoever killed Marfrela was also involved in the Benoni killing. But we don’t know for sure. So the files remain open but, frankly, I must tell the Committee that I hold out little hope that we will ever finally solve these murders.’

‘Is it your testimony to this Committee that you have no evidence as to the identity of the killer of Hamid Marfrela?’

Lazenby bit his lip.

‘That is partly correct, Mr. Chairman. We did get a description of a person who may well have been the killer, and there were various fingerprints in the apartment, but we haven’t been able to tie the evidence to a particular suspect.’

There was a silence while the Chairman rearranged his papers. Lazenby took a sip of the water in front of him, and hoped he did not look as nervous as he felt. The eyes of the members of the Committee seemed to be focused directly on him. The camera lights were blindingly bright.

‘Mr. Director, are you aware of the evidence that Ms. Benoni was found to be in possession of a special pass, enabling her to enter the White House without going through the usual screening procedures for each visit?’

‘The S-Pass? Yes, Sir, I am aware of that.’

‘And are you further aware that this Committee has heard testimony that this S-Pass was issued to Ms. Benoni at the personal request of the President?’

‘I’m aware that that has been alleged.’

‘How did you become aware of it? From following our proceedings?’

Lazenby leaned forward in his chair.

‘No, Mr. Chairman. I believe I read about it in
The Washington Post
.’

A loud outburst of laughter ran around the room. The Chairman seemed vexed, but smiled in an effort to appear gracious.

‘As Director of the FBI, is it your normal practice to get information about your ongoing investigations from
The Washington Post
?’

Wills was touching Lazenby’s arm with his hand. Lazenby nodded almost imperceptibly.

‘Mr.Chairman, this information had nothing to do with the investigation into Ms. Benoni’s death, so whether I got it from the
Post
or anywhere else is not really very relevant.’

The laughter was replaced by a gasp of surprise. A staffer rose from her seat behind the Chairman and handed him a handwritten note.

‘It was not relevant that the victim of this crime had an S-Pass? Why not?’

‘Because the President had an alibi, Mr. Chairman. He wasn’t a suspect.’

The laughter was even louder. Out of the corner of his eye, Lazenby noticed that even Wills had managed a smile.

The laughter subsided and there was a long and uncomfortable silence. The Chairman seemed frustrated.

‘The Chair yields two minutes to the Honorable Lady from Maine.’

Lazenby and Wills exchanged glances. Helen de Vries was a former prosecutor, with an incisive mind and a fiery partisan temperament. She did not like Steve Wade, and had already made clear in the press her intention of linking him to some wrongdoing, if it was at all possible. Unlike the Chairman, Helen de Vries needed no notes.

‘Mr. Director, what investigation did you do into the activities of Hamid Marfrela?’

‘His activities? I’m not sure what you mean.’

Helen de Vries pursed her lips and nodded briefly. ‘Well, follow along with me if you can. Marfrela was a Lebanese diplomat, correct?’

‘Correct.’

‘The evidence suggested that he and Lucia Benoni were lovers?’

‘The evidence suggested that they had sex on the night she was killed.’

‘His name was in her address book, correct?’

‘Yes, it was. Along with a large number of others.’

‘And you were aware that the President also had a relationship with Lucia Benoni, correct?’

This time, Wills leaned right across in front of Lazenby. ‘Excuse me, Congresswoman, what kind of relationship are you referring to?’

‘What kind of relationship does the witness know about?’

‘From his own personal knowledge? I assume you’re not asking him to speculate.’

Helen de Vries hesitated.

‘From his own personal knowledge, or information gathered during the investigation.’

Wills nodded. ‘You may answer on that basis, Director.’

‘Congresswoman,’ Lazenby said, ‘the only relationship suggested by the evidence is one of personal friendship, which I believe the President has already conceded. Again, I don’t believe this had any bearing on the investigations.’

‘Director, is the Committee to assume that you see no cause for alarm in the fact that both the President and the man Marfrela were having a relationship with Lucia Benoni?’

Lazenby bristled.

‘As I’ve already tried to make clear, Congresswoman, the evidence suggests that Marfrela had sex with Lucia Benoni on one occasion, while her hands were tied behind her back, after which he shot her in the head. I don’t know about you, but to me, that doesn’t qualify as a relationship.’

There was more laughter. Helen de Vries seemed vexed. The Congressman sitting next to her whispered something to her. She drummed her fingers on the table.

‘I yield back my remaining time to the Chair,’ she muttered venomously.

Vernon Moberley made a great play of looking at a gold pocket watch on a heavy link chain, which he had removed from the vest pocket of his suit.

‘It is approaching the time for recess,’ he observed. ‘We have had a full day. I think the wisest course would be to resume tomorrow. Mr. Director, I would request that you not discuss your testimony with anyone other than your attorney overnight.’

‘Very well, Mr. Chairman,’ Lazenby said.

As the members of the Committee filed out, Lazenby stood wearily. His headache had now taken a full grip.

‘Well, I thought that went pretty well,’ Jerome Wills ventured. ‘How do you feel about it?’

‘I don’t know. Where do you think de Vries was headed with those questions?’

‘They’re out to nail the President any way they can,’ Wills replied. ‘I’m sure she was hoping you had some smoking gun to hand her. But you don’t.’

‘I have a feeling she thinks she has one already,’ Lazenby said. ‘Look, Jerome, since I’m in quarantine, why don’t you go and do whatever you have to with Kelly and Jeff, and tell them I can’t talk to them now? I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘All right, Director. Have a good evening.’

‘I’ll do my best,’ Lazenby said.

At the door of the committee room, he signaled to the marshal, who stood ready to escort him to the car waiting for him outside.

‘Home, Director?’ the driver asked cheerfully.

‘No, the Bureau. I have some calls to make.’

* * *

‘So, eventually,’ Linda said despondently, ‘Miss Graylor asked the Vice President to come and talk to me. The Vice President in person. Imagine that.’

‘What did she say?’ Kelly asked.

She and Jeff had listened to Linda talk almost without interruption through a makeshift dinner at Kelly’s apartment. They were all very tired. After a long day, they had settled down to watch lengthy television coverage of Ted Lazenby’s testimony before the Committee. When the direction of the questioning became clear, Linda had become very agitated. She was scheduled to testify immediately after Kelly and Jeff. Kelly settled her friend down with a glass of wine, and that had been the point at which Linda had broken down, sobbing out the story of what had happened to her during the previous two days. Kelly and Jeff listened incredulously.

‘She told me that the President had no right to say what he said, and she would speak to him about it. She said I had to testify, and I should tell the truth.’

‘She’s absolutely right,’ Kelly said.

She stood and walked noiselessly on bare feet from the small living room to the adjoining kitchen to fetch the wine bottle, from which she refilled the glasses.

‘Remember, Linda, you don’t actually know what went on in the hotel room…’

‘Oh, come on, Kelly…’

‘No, you don’t. All right, you saw the woman go in, you heard some noises…’

‘The kind of noises I remember from the days when I used to have sex.’

‘Whatever. If that’s all they have, it won’t stand up. They need some other evidence Linda, evidence you can’t give. When all is said and done, you really don’t know what happened.’

‘I know what happened.’

‘That’s not evidence. It’s not for you to draw conclusions. You know that. That’s up to the Committee. If the Committee chooses to draw some conclusion the President doesn’t like, that’s his fault for putting himself in a bad situation and then lying about it. Your job is to state the facts. The facts are, you saw the woman go in, you heard noises, you saw the woman come out. If they ask you what the noises were, you say you don’t know and you can’t speculate.’

‘I’ve already heard that from the lawyer they got me.’

‘Well, she’s right,’ Kelly said firmly. ‘Listen to her.’

‘In addition to which,’ Jeff said, ‘the right thing is to tell the truth. No one’s above the law, Linda, not even the President.’

‘I know, I know,’ Linda sighed. ‘I just don’t want to be the one who sinks him.’

‘He’s doing that all on his own,’ Jeff replied. ‘There is absolutely no reason for you to go down with him. Hell, Linda, even the Vice President doesn’t want you to do that. Martha Graylor told you, your lawyer told you. What more do you need?’

There was a silence.

‘And if you refuse to testify,’ Kelly said, ‘not only will they throw you in jail, but it will look just as bad, maybe even worse, for the President than if you testified.’

‘How do you figure that?’

‘Simple. It will be obvious you’re trying to protect him, and if you’re prepared to go to jail to do it, they will probably think whatever you’re hiding must be even worse than it is.’

Kelly took Linda’s hand between her own and squeezed gently.

‘In any case, Linda, you have your own future to think about. I’m not going to sit back and watch you throw away your career over this.’

Linda sat silently for a long time.

‘It’s getting late,’ she said eventually. ‘I’d better be on my way. They want me there first thing tomorrow morning. Apparently, they don’t think they’ll be long with you guys.’

‘I’m sure Director Lazenby has told them everything we could,’ Kelly said.

They all stood.

‘Do you want to stay the night?’

‘I can sleep on the sofa if you want to be with Kelly,’ Jeff volunteered.

‘No, thank you,’ Linda said. ‘I should go. Dinner was great. Thanks.’

She kissed Jeff and Kelly in turn.

‘Oh, by the way,’ she added on her way out, ‘just to make it a perfect day, Bob called to say he was shacking up with the bimbo again. If you know anyone else who wants to join in ‘Fuck Linda Week’, tell them all they have to do is take a number.’

Kelly made it to the door just in time to catch Linda as she broke down, weeping desperately, uncontrollably. For several long minutes, she stood by the door holding her friend tight, as her convulsions followed each other in quick succession. Slowly, she maneuvered Linda towards the bedroom.

‘You don’t mind?’ she asked Jeff.

‘No, no problem. Take her to bed. I’ll clear up here. I’ll drive her home early tomorrow morning.’

Jeff quickly cleared away the dishes, ran the dishwasher, turned out the lights, and tried to settle down on the sofa in the darkness. But the persistent sobbing coming from the bedroom would not let him rest. An hour went by, and then another. Tired as he was, he gave up the idea of sleep and switched on the television. Eventually, when his eyes refused to stay open any longer, he drifted into a shallow sleep. Just before five o’clock, leaving Kelly also exhausted and asleep, Linda quietly climbed out of bed, dressed, and left the apartment without a word.

T
HE
C
OMMITTEE
BEGAN
Linda’s testimony just after lunch. They had shown little interest in what Kelly and Jeff had to say. Ted Lazenby had already covered the same ground, and as the Lebanese diplomatic corps had invoked its collective diplomatic immunity, it seemed that little progress could be made on the subject of Lucia Benoni and Hamid Marfrela. Frustrated, the Committee was ready to turn its attention to Chicago. Kelly and Jeff, anxious since waking up to find that Linda had left Kelly’s apartment so early in the morning without telling them, decided to remain in the Committee’s hearing room to listen. They were not alone in their interest in Linda’s testimony. The House Majority Leader, Gerry Parkinson, was sitting unobtrusively at the back of the room with Congressman George Stanley and John Mason. Known only to Mason, Selvey was also sitting nearby, ostensibly no more than a curious member of the public.

After Linda had taken the oath, the Chairman asked only a few token questions about her background and current assignment before handing over to Congresswoman de Vries. After being thwarted by Ted Lazenby the previous day, the former prosecutor was not in a charitable mood.

‘Agent Samuels, I understand you were on duty as a member of the President’s Detail during his trip to Chicago, is that correct?’

‘Yes, Ma’am.’

‘What were your duties?’

‘To make sure the President was secure.’

‘And how did you do that?’

‘I checked everyone who came to his suite at the hotel.’