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“So when her prints and the name hit the FBI database?” said Decker.
“We knew what had become of her. But we don’t know who killed her.”
“Or why she was here?” said Decker.
“Precisely.”
“There’s an old man at that nursing home named Brad Daniels who worked at the London Air Station decades ago. Irene, under the name Mary Rice, worked as a physical therapist and met Daniels that way.”
“We actually knew about her job at the nursing home,” said Blue Man. “We paid for PT training for her. I think she continually changed occupations just to make us do things for her. Provide her education and money.”
“She must have hated you all very much,” pointed out Jamison.
“No doubt she did, as I would have if the positions were reversed. But this elderly gentleman, Daniels? Explain, please.”
Decker said, “We talked to him. He clammed up when we asked him about the work he’d done here. Said it was classified.”
“And when Decker told him that Mary Rice had been murdered, he lost it. Screamed at us to get out.”
“You think he told her something? That’s why she came here?” This comment came from Robie.
Decker and Jamison both nodded. “That’s right,” she said.
“And perhaps he feels guilt for what happened to her,” said Blue Man. “Which might have caused his anger.”
Decker looked at Blue Man. “What do you know about the Douglas S. George Defense Complex?”
“The Air Force, in theory, runs it. But it is odd.”
“What is?” asked Jamison.
“There’s a similar facility on the other side of North Dakota. The one here was constructed in the fifties, the other one in the sixties. The latter only operated for a very short time before being decommissioned; its original mission had fallen into disfavor and its price tag became too costly. But it still tracks the skies with its PARCS radar array.”
“Just like the one here?” said Jamison.
“Yes.”
“So they’re redundant?” noted Decker.
“Exactly.”
“In addition to the ambulances and the men Robie saw being wheeled away, we talked to a farmer who lives right next to the facility.” Decker went on to explain what Robert White had seen that night.
“That is quite disturbing,” said Blue Man.
“But maybe enlightening, too?” suggested Decker.
“Illuminating, at the very least,” replied Blue Man. “Robie?”
“Yes, sir?”
“We’ll need to check that out. Now.”
“Right.” Robie left.
Blue Man looked back at Decker. “This is obviously far more than a murder investigation.”
“I’m just a cop doing his job.”
