Tyler heard Arthur's side of the conversation with the Director. Pity he couldn't hear the Director's voice, recognition may have sparked some memory. Had Arthur referred to a 'her?' Why couldn't he remember? Tyler's frustration deepened as he developed a new understanding of the cruelty of Alzheimer's.

The instant Arthur disconnected, Tyler asked. "What is the Director's name?"

"Meredith Paslow."

"Is she related to Martin Paslow," Tyler asked? Again his memory had leaked a snippet of information. Paslow was a name that triggered recognition.

"Are you referring to Senator Paslow, from Virginia?" asked Kenni. "He is her father."

"We need to find him."

"What is his involvement in all of this?" asked Arthur.

"I'm not sure," Tyler replied. "I just remember meeting with him. I don't know where and I can't recall when."

"Call the Director back, Arthur," said Kenni. "She'll know where to find him."


"It's Arthur Ashe again," he said on hearing the voice of the Director's assistant. "I have information she needs to hear."

"There's a problem, Arthur," she replied. "She's has stepped out of the office."

"Patch me through to her cell then." Arthur waited. A moment later the assistant returned.

"It's not responding."

"Where is she?"

"I don't know." Arthur sensed her uncertainty. He held silent hoping she would continue. She did. "After your call, she went to visit her father in hospital."

"What hospital?"

"I can't answer that."

"For fuck's sake, lady," Arthur exploded. "Think about what you just said. Her phone's not answering. Has that ever happened before." He paused to allow the significance of his suggestion sink in. "Your boss maybe missing, possibly abducted and you're worried about disclosing privileged information. Let the Director's blood be on your hands. I'm not exaggerating when I say every second counts." The assistant buckled.

"Walter Reed." Arthur disconnected, he'd heard enough.


His three companions listened in disbelief as Arthur relayed what he'd just learned.

"What's he doing in hospital?" asked Tyler.

"One way to find out," said Kenni as she reached for her phone. "Anyone have the number for Walter Reed?" With no answer coming she accessed the phone's internet.

"Is that wise?" asked Tyler as the policewoman commenced punching numbers into the keypad. "Do you really think they'll tell you the truth?"

"I think Tyler raises a good point, Kenni," said Arthur. "Besides which I'm not sure it's a good idea to advertise our presence here." She put her phone away.

"They already know we're here," she countered.

"Meredith Paslow and her assistant know we're here, but no one else."

"What then do you suggest?"

"It's time to review what we know as opposed to what we don't know," said Tyler. "Sadly, it's precious little. We know her father is at Walter Reed. Why? We don't know.


"With no answers there," he continued."We look at the other player in the scene, the Director herself. What do we know about her? And more importantly, what prompted her decision to go visit her father? Was it a scheduled visit or a result of Arthur's phone call? Guess only two people can answer that."

"Were this a police investigation, I'd start out at the hospital," said Kenni. "There at least we can obtain definitive answers. We can find out why her father was there and the time she arrived and left. We'd also learn if she was alone. That would at least provide us with a starting point."

"Sounds great in theory, Kenni," said Arthur. "But you're forgetting one thing. You have no jurisdiction here and every policing body in the nation is searching for us. We'd never make it to the front door."

"To me there's one obvious conclusion," said Jess joining the discussion for the first time. "Something about your conversation panicked her. Arthur, did you pick up on anything she said? A change in her tone perhaps?" The tall man shook his head.

"There's only one thing more dangerous than playing the supposition game," said Tyler. "And that's doing nothing. So I'm suggesting we go with my theory. I'll bet all money her father's dead. And furthermore I'll wager the circumstances weren't natural."

"You're suggesting he was murdered, Tyler?" asked Kenni. "Why?"

"Because of his involvement with me," said Tyler.

"You don't know that, Tyler," said Jess.

"I can't prove it, but I know how they operate. I was one of them."

"It's true." Arthur confirmed his colleague's statement. "We called it sowrot."

"Silencing of witnesses, removal of truth." Tyler experienced another memory. "The Department's policy of survival."

"And our Government supported this?" asked Jess.

"It had no choice, September 11 has a lot to answer for," said Arthur. "It introduced an unprecedented factor of fear into the life of every American. Our leaders had two choices, submit to terrorism or fight back. Homeland Security was created to lead that fight."

"Tell me about Homeland Security," said Jess. "I keep hearing the name. But I have no idea who or what it is."

"It's our employer and Meredith is the Director," said Tyler. "It was created by President George Bush after the Twin Towers attack and its prime role is to protect the country against terrorism. Our department was titled Raota, risk assessment of terrorist activities and our particular section was P & R, planning and response. Does any of that ring a bell, Tyler?"

"Not a bloody thing."

"Can we get back to Martin Paslow, surely you're not suggesting he was our enemy?" Disgust was becoming apparent in the voice of Jess.

"Far from it, Jess," Arthur replied. "Based on my own experience and on the little that Tyler's remembered, I'm convinced Martin Paslow discovered evidence of criminal activity within the Pentagon, evidence I now believe he passed on to Tyler."

"There is one flaw in your suggestion, Arthur," argued Kenni."

"And what's that?"

"Surely, if the perpetrators of this scheme were as ruthless as you claim, they would have killed Tyler when he was first detained." asked Kenni. "Real killers don't leave witnesses."

"Unless, of course, they had something else in mind for the victim," Arthur replied.

"Tyler was broken, physically and mentally. He was in no condition to help anyone." Jess jumped to the defence of Tyler.

"Jess, no one's suggesting Tyler was voluntarily involved in any wrongdoing, but experiments have proved behaviour can be coerced with drug usage," said Kenni. "For the moment however, I'd prefer to leave that aside, I'm more interested in Arthur's statement claiming the people planning all of this had something more in mind for Tyler as I agree with Jess. Tyler was, to all intents and purposes, finished."

"The plan I alluded too required no physical action on Tyler's part," explained Arthur. "So if I might, I'd like to go back to the farmstead where all of this began. When I now analyse that action I see it so differently. I see it as the final act in the cover-up. Allow me to explain.

"Let's take another look at the circumstances, both at the farm and leading up to the actual attack. First of all we have the murders of Alex Bryant and Marvin Trent, both attributed to Calin Roberts, aka Tyler Spellman. Then the body of Lieutenant Walford is found at the scene, also allegedly killed by Tyler. Do these three have anything in common? We don't know, we'll never know. But I believe it's fair to assume all three were linked to the investigation Tyler was pursuing for Martin Paslow. I'd even go further in stating Bryant and Trent had integral roles in the scheme and were executed as they'd become liabilities in the eyes of those above them.

"And lastly in placing Tyler at the death scene, they have their murderer. It has all the earmarks of a Departmental assassination."

"That's most impressive," said Kenni. "But it leaves one question. Where is Meredith Paslow now?"

"I'd suggest she's gone somewhere to grieve. Someplace where she can be alone," Arthur replied. "And what's more, I'd suggest she's taken some form of transport most probably from her father's garage. Knowing her reputation I know she'll not rest until she finds her father's killer."

"I'm not so sure about that," said Kenni. "You see, I have a different theory I'd like to detail." Her audience of three waited. Would her case have the credibility of Arthur's?

"While I don't have any knowledge of how your Department operates, I've spent fifteen years in criminal investigation and I'd like to think that experience has assisted in my developing an analytical awareness. Like Arthur's proposal, my theory too is lacking in hard evidence but it carries all of the identifiable markings of typical criminal behaviour.

"A few moments ago I asked why had Tyler's life been spared. Arthur provided an answer, one that is most plausible. I now have a second question. If we now accept that Tyler was apprehended, beaten and subjected to drugged interrogation, surely it's fair to assume he probably offered the name of Martin Paslow to his interrogators. To me that promotes the same question of Paslow. Why wasn't he killed? Did he have a protector? Or was his hospitalisation a result of a failed attempt on his life?

"If I extend this line of thought further I ask myself who would protect him. I come up with a very obvious answer, his daughter, Meredith. That, I must admit, frightens the living hell out of me. So without knowing the Director, I'm forced to assess what I know of her. Does she possess the power necessary to organise an operation of this scale? I'd have to concede anyone in a position of such power could do this.

"My next point of reference is what has been her response to Arthur's initial approach? This concerns me. Let me tell you why. Firstly, she's no longer available for discussion. Is that coincidence or deliberate? Then she goes visits her father. That too is understandable. It could, just as easily, be to ensure he's permanently incapable of providing future evidence. Then thirdly, based on your assumption she goes to his house. Why? Was she going there to obtain evidence? Or was her motive to conceal the truth?

"We need to find her."

"You've mounted a great case," said Tyler. "But I can't see her being involved. She was with him when he died."

"The killer is normally the last person to see the victim alive."