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I nodded. Square one. Normally a couple of phone calls would get me all the grunts on the post lined up a yard apart on their knees, crawling slowly across the terrain like a giant human comb, staring down at the ground and parting every blade of grass by hand. And then doing it again the next day, and the next, until one of them found what we were looking for. With manpower like the army has, you can find a needle in a haystack. You can find both halves of a broken needle. You can find the tiny chip of chrome that flaked off the break.
Summer looked at the clock on the wall.
"Our thirty minutes are up," she said.
We used the Humvee to get over to Psy-Ops and parked in a slot that was probably reserved for someone else. It was nine o'clock. Summer killed the motor and we opened the doors and slipped out into the cold.
I took Kramer's briefcase with me.
We walked through the old tiled corridors and came to Norton's door. Her light was on. I knocked and we went in. Norton was behind her desk. All her textbooks were back on her shelves. There were no legal pads on view. No pens or pencils. Her desktop was clear. The pool of light from her lamp was a perfect circle on the empty wood.
She had three visitor's chairs. She waved us toward them. Summer sat on the right. I sat on the left. I propped Kramer's briefcase on the center chair, facing Norton, like a ghost at the feast. She didn't look at it.
"How can I help you?" she said.
I made a point of adjusting the briefcase's position so that it was completely upright on the chair.
"Tell us about the dinner party last night," I said.
"What dinner party?"
"You ate with some Armored staffers who were visiting. "
She nodded.
"Vassell and Coomer," she said. "So?"
"They worked for General Kramer. "
She nodded again. "So I believe. "
"Tell us about the meal. "
"The food?"
"The atmosphere," I said. "The conversation. The mood. "
"It was just dinner in the O Club," she said.
"Someone gave Vassell and Coomer a briefcase. "
"Did they? What, like a present?"
I said nothing.
"I don't remember that," Norton said. "When?"
"During dinner," I said. "Or as they were leaving. "
Nobody spoke.
"A briefcase?" Norton said.
"Was it you?" Summer asked.
Norton looked at her, blankly. She was either genuinely puzzled, or she was a superb actress. "Was it me what?"
"Who gave them the briefcase. "
"Why would I give them a briefcase? I hardly knew them. "
"How well did you know them?"
"I met them once or twice, years ago. "
"At Irwin?"
"I believe so. "
"Why did you eat with them?"
"I was in the bar. They asked me. It would have been rude to decline. "
"Did you know they were coming?" I asked.
"No," she said. "I had no idea. I was surprised they weren't in Germany. "
"So you knew them well e
nough to know where they're based. "
"Kramer was an Armored Branch commander in Europe. They were his staffers. I wouldn't expect to find them based in Hawaii. "
Nobody spoke. I watched Norton's eyes. She hadn't looked at Kramer's briefcase longer than about half a second. Just long enough to figure I was some guy who carried a briefcase, and then to forget all about it.
"What's going on here?" she said.
I didn't answer.
"Tell me. "
I pointed to the briefcase. "This is General Kramer's. He lost it on New Year's Eve and it showed up again today. We're trying to figure out where it's been. "
"Where did he lose it?"
Summer moved in her chair.
"In a motel," she said. "During a sexual assignation with a woman from this post. The woman was driving a Humvee. Therefore we're looking for women who knew Kramer, and who have permanent access to Humvees, and who were off-post on New Year's Eve, and who were at dinner last night. "
"I was the only woman at dinner last night. "
Silence.
Summer nodded. "We know that. And we promise we can keep the whole thing quiet, but first we need you to confirm who you gave the briefcase to. "
The room stayed quiet. Norton looked at Summer like she had told a joke with a punch line she didn't quite understand.
"You think I was sleeping with General Kramer?" she said.
Summer said nothing.
"Well, I wasn't," Norton said. "God forbid. "
Nobody spoke.
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry," she said. "I'm seriously conflicted. That's a completely absurd accusation. I'm astonished you made it. "
Nobody spoke for a long time. Norton smiled, like the main component of her reaction was amusement. Not anger. She closed her eyes and opened them a moment later, like she was erasing the conversation from her memory.
"Is there something missing from the briefcase?" she asked me.
I didn't answer.
"Help me out here," she said. "Please. I'm trying to see the point of this extraordinary visit. Is there something missing from Kramer's briefcase?"
"Vassell and Coomer say not. "
"But?"
"I don't believe them. "
"You probably should. They're senior officers. "
I said nothing.
"What does your new CO say?"
"He doesn't want it pursued. He's worried about embarrassment. "
"You should be guided by him. "
"I'm an investigator. I have to ask questions. "
"The army is a family," she said. "We're all on the same side. "
"Did Vassell or Coomer leave with this briefcase last night?" I said.
Norton closed her eyes again. At first I thought she was just exasperated, but then I realized she was picturing last night's scene, at the O Club coat check.
"No," she said. "Neither one of them left with that briefcase. "
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"I'm totally certain. "
"What was their mood during dinner?"
She opened her eyes.
"They were relaxed," she said. "Like they were passing an empty evening. "
"Did they say why they were at Bird again?"
"General Kramer's funeral was yesterday, at noon. "
"I didn't know that. "
"I believe Walter Reed released the body and the Pentagon handled the details. "
"Where was the funeral?"
"Arlington Cemetery," she said. "Where else?"
"That's three hundred miles away. "
"Approximately. As the crow flies. "
"So why did they come down here for dinner?"
"They didn't tell me," she said.
I said nothing.
"Anything else?" she asked.
I shook my head.
"A motel?" she said. "Do I look like the kind of woman who would agree to meet a man in a motel?"
I didn't answer.
"Dismissed," she said.
I stood up. Summer did the same. I took Kramer's briefcase from the center chair and walked out of the room. Summer followed behind me.
"Did you believe her?" Summer asked me.
We were sitting in the Humvee outside the Psy-Ops building. The engine was idling and the heater was blowing hot stale air that smelled of diesel.
"Totally," I said. "As soon as she didn't look at the briefcase. She'd have gotten very flustered if she'd ever seen it before. And I certainly believed her about the motel. It would cost you a suite at the Ritz to get in her pants. "
"So what did we learn?"
"Nothing," I said. "Nothing at all. "
"No, we learned that Bird is a very attractive place, apparently. Vassell and Coomer keep coming all the way down here, for no very obvious reason. "
"Tell me about it," I said.
"And that Norton thinks we're a family. "
"Officers," I said. "What do you expect?"
"You're an officer. I'm an officer. "
I nodded.
"I was at West Point for four years," I said. "I should know better. I should have changed my name and come back in as a private. Three promotions, I'd be an E-4 specialist by now. Maybe even an E-5 sergeant. I wish I was. "
"What now?"
I checked my watch. It was close to ten o'clock.
"Sleep," I said. "First light, we go out looking for a yogurt container. "
