“It was Wilford, Darryl Wilford. I still have his employee file if you’d like to see it.”

It really was anticlimactic.

*******************************************************

Alex’s mind was still reeling as she and her partner got into David’s car. David started the engine, but left it in park. Then he leaned back, his eyes on the ceiling.

“Well, at least it’s a partial verification of your assassin’s story.”

“How so?”

“Well, she identified the shooter. Said he hung out with Wilford. Now we come across the manager of this store, and he says Darryl Wilford hung around with this guy,” he motioned to the picture in his pocket, “who we now know as George Mather.”

“Yeah. But it’s not as solid as I’d like.” She shrugged. “It feels like I’m still forgetting something.”

“Like what?”

“If I knew, Dave, I’d tell you. Good job pulling out the picture, by the way. I’m so wiped this morning I probably would have forgotten.”

“Doubt it. You’d have remembered, and gone back if you needed to.”

“Maybe.” She rested her elbow on the door, her hand reaching up to idly play with a few stray strings in the ceiling.

David watched her for a moment longer, and then opened the file Mr. Clymes had given them. Inside was an employment application filled out in an even hand, with a picture attached. He flipped past it for a moment, reading the application. Then he turned to the next page. He was looking for something, but he didn’t know what it was until he saw it.

“Bingo, Alex.”

“What?”

“Here.” He showed her the file, pointing to what had caught his eye. “His emergency contact was George Mather. And there’s an address.”

Alex nodded, taking the folder from him. “Yeah, but it’s New York. Last night Teren said he’d been gone from there for eight months.”

“How do you know it’s the same one?”

“I don’t. So, of course, I’d like you to check it out when we get back to the office.”

“Me? What will you be doing?”

Alex was staring at the picture of Darryl Wilford. “I have to see a man about a rifle.”

David snorted. “Funny, Alex.” He put the car in gear and began to pull out of his parking spot. “Really funny.”

She looked at him. “I’m not kidding. Teren said something last night about a gun Mather owned, and I want to check it out.”

“What kind of gun?”

“A Romanian rifle. One that uses a seven-point-sixty-two millimeter bullet, and has a sniper’s scope on it.”

“And you think it might have been the weapon in New York?”

“I think it might be possible. But I thought the Dremov was on the list of banned weapons. I want to check with Mikey, in ballistics.”

David frowned as someone cut sharply in front of him. “How would Mather get a banned weapon?”

“Come on, Dave. He’s CIA remember?”

“Oh, right. Thanks for clearing that up for me, partner.”

“No problem.”

*******************************************************

It was just past one o’clock when they got back the office. As the two of them stepped off the elevator, Mark Garnett came around the corner.

“Hey, you’re back. Anything?”

“Yeah, we’ll tell you later. Would you spread the word that we need to see everyone in the control room at about three thirty?”

“Sure, Alex, I can do that.” Mark started to walk away, then snapped his fingers and turned back. “Damn, I almost forgot. Two things for you, Alex. First, Cliff wants to see you pronto. Something about a meeting last night?”

“I figured he’d want me to stop in. What else?”

“I contacted Price in Philly. He said he’d get samples of the two coats from the police, and send them up with a courier. Matter of fact, they should be arriving at the lab this afternoon. I don’t know if you were right, but …”

David grinned at him. “For some reason, Mark, I think she was dead on.”

“Why’s that?”

“Later.” Alex glared at her partner. “Just tell everyone that they really want to be at the meeting. I’m heading to Cliff’s office, and then down to ballistics. I’ll meet you all at the control center.”

“Right. I’m gonna give a call to some of the jobs listed on Wilford’s application.”

“Wait, who’s Wilford?”

Alex patted Mark on the back. “Don’t worry, Mark. All will be revealed.”

She headed down the hall to see Cliff Jackson.

*******************************************************

Alex found Cliff in his office, eating a late lunch. He asked her what Teren had said, and ate his french fries as he listened. The more she told him, the slower he ate. When she told him about Clymes’ confirmation, he stopped eating altogether.

“Let me get this straight, Reis. First, Mather screws his comrades over in Europe, getting Watson killed in the process. After that, he comes back to the states, somehow getting in without alerting the agency. He gets the assignment to kill Dabir, and gets his brother-in-law to drive the car. They then get blown to hell because they like making money more than they like the cause. Is this correct?”

“Well, I’m not sure about the timeline, exactly, but I think it’s a possibility. Only one thing you missed.”

“What’s that?”

“Teren hinted that Mather might have killed Fletcher in New York.”

“Shit. How does she know?”

“She didn’t say. But she said he was in New York at the time, and he owns this rifle that uses the right kind of ammo. I’m heading down to ballistics to talk to Mikey and ask him what he thinks.”

“Any other leads you’re following?”

“Yeah, I’ve asked Research for financial records on all our players. Maybe we’ll shake something loose from the money tree. After all, assassins have to get paid.”

“Right. What’s David up to?”

“He’s following up on Wilford, trying to find out about his past. I’m hoping that if we can fill in a little more of the history, then we can find out who they had contact with. It’s going to be tougher with Mather, obviously, but I’m thinking we should try.”

“Okay.” Cliff was nodding. “I think you’ve done a good job. But I gotta tell you, you look like shit.”

Alex felt her cheeks get hot. “Thanks, Cliff.”

“No problem. You haven’t been getting much sleep, huh?”

“No. I was thinking of sneaking away after the meeting this afternoon. Would you kill me if I did?”

“Only if you did anything other than get sleep. You keep driving yourself, Alex, and you’re gonna end up with ulcers.”

“I fully intend to spend the evening sleeping, sir.”

“Good. Now, why did you want to call this meeting?”

“Well, number one, I think everyone ought to hear about Mather and Wilford. Two, I think we need to find out where these two were during each of the other killings. Once we do that, we can re-work the timeline, and trace their movements. My gut tells me we’ll find one or both in each location at the right time.”

“You think the two of them were responsible for all the deaths?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, since they’re dead, does that mean the killings are over?”

Alex clenched her jaw. “I have a feeling they aren’t, Cliff. I mean, we don’t know who hired these guys, or who blew up their car. Until we answer those questions, I got a feeling the killings won’t stop.”

Cliff stared at his desk, a faraway look in his eyes as he nodded at her. Then he raised his head and looked at her. “By the way, I got a message from Deputy Director Bishop.”

“Really.”

“Yes. He said that he and the director had every confidence in our team, and since they were also short on manpower, there would be no additions to our staff. The task force will continue as is for at least another two months.”

Alex shook her head. “That sucks, Cliff.”

Cliff had to grin at her. “Hey, chin up. You already found the guys that killed Dabir. You even have their names.”

“Yeah, because Teren gave them to me.”

“Ah, but remember, you and David planned the trip to the store before you met Teren. So, even without her, you would have gotten one name, and had the other in the folder. All she did was verify what you would have found out.”