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“Ifthat happens.”
“Otherwise, that brings us back to the beginning of our conversation.”
“Spying on me, tapping my phones, bugging my home?”
“Yeah, that part. If you were in my position and wanted to find a suspect in a mass murder, and you had a reasonable expectation he might try to contact someone you knew, could you think of a better and more expedient way to catch him?”
Again, Griffin was making perfect sense. Damn. “No. It’s probably what I would suggest.”
“I’m glad you agree. Because, one way or another, we’re bringing him in.”
***
Lynch called Kendra on her drive back to the condo. After she filled him in on her meeting with Griffin, he was quiet for a long moment.
“What are you thinking?” she said.
“A couple of things. As much as I’m not crazy about you being the target of a surveillance state, Griffin makes a good point. He needs to find Suber and bring him in.”
“Yes.”
“And, at the moment, I rather like the idea of armed government agents always nearby, watching your every move. There’s a killer out there who has you in his crosshairs. If Griffin decides to do this now, I’m all for it.”
“I thought you might think that.”
“Of course, you could just do as Griffin asks and convince Suber to go in.”
“If and when I hear from him.”
“You’ll hear from him soon, I’m sure. Just have your pitch ready. In the meantime, what are we doing today?”
“I’m going to track down the physician who may have known Milo Fletcher. You?”
“More conference calls, I’m afraid. It’s starting to get contentious in Johannesburg, and a heat wave is showing just how negligent some of their corrupt politicians have been in maintaining the energy grid. There could be a riot if we’re not careful.”
“Good luck. I’ll keep you posted on what I find out.”
***
It took Kendra most of the afternoon to find Robert Benjamin, a physician who worked with the U.N. in Nigeria, and even then he tried to politely brush her off. “Look, Dr. Michaels, you’re wasting your time. I have no idea where he is. I haven’t even spoken to Milo in years. Which was the best thing for both of us. We never did get along. He was always a domineering asshole and weird as hell. The only reason we roomed together was that we were both there on scholarships and we didn’t have a choice. The minute I was able to get a job I moved out and left him to his weirdo friends.”
“You’re my only hope unless you can give me any other names,” Kendra said urgently. “He’s something of a mystery man. Trust me, I have access to some incredible government resources. I don’t have anything close to a current U.S. address for Milo. Or even a former one, for that matter. Or family members and known associates.”
“Except me,” Benjamin said sourly.
“Except you. I didn’t even know how he managed to deal with the usual college entry forms, much less scholarship requests. Do you know?”
“Chicanery, bribery, lies. Anything that would get him where he wanted to go. He was very clever in his way, and he tried to manipulate me, too. But we were too different, he didn’t have anything I wanted. I heard later that he quit the university and was living in Europe. I’m sure that he was able to function very well there.”
She was getting nowhere. “When and why did he get in touch with you?”
“Two years ago. I was in L.A. at a seminar, and he popped in and asked me to do him a favor. He had a young kid with him who had overdosed and asked me to treat him. I refused and told him to check him into a hospital. He said that was inconvenient and if I didn’t help, he’d have to let the boy die. He was totally cold, the usual Milo. I knew he’d probably do it. I gave the kid emergency treatment and sent them on their way. But I got the boy’s ID, and I notified the drug hotline together with Milo’s name as contact.”
“Milo Fletcher?”
“No, he was going under a different name then. Milo…” He had to think a moment. “Milo King. I thought it was like him to adopt a royal name for himself. He always had delusions of grandeur.”
“What was the boy’s name?”
