CHAPTER TWENTY
“Misunderstanding”
Wednesday afternoon.
Hornbuckle pasted a smile across his mug and stuck out his hand. “Good to see you. I’d heard you’d retired.” It was the same pale white skull, wide-set eyes and razor slash mouth. Some guys shave their skulls they look like an uncooked muffin. Others looked designed that way. Hornbuckle was of the latter.
Otto gaped. Steve growled. No one had ever said a word to him about whether any of the other members of the team had survived. When he asked, they told him it was need to know. Otto made his own inquiries, all of which led nowhere. The Agency would not confirm or deny Hornbuckle’s death.
And he pops up here in the middle of an SHC investigation? Otto didn’t believe in coincidence.
“Have you been recalled?” Hornbuckle said still gripping Otto’s hand.
“I’m working on a national security matter with the Feds. Why did you hail me just now?”
Hornbuckle released Otto’s hand and half-covered his involuntary smile. “You look remarkably like Top Ten hacker Randall Kleiser.”
“How long have you been with the Denver FBI?” Otto said. “What happened to you after the mission?”
Why did you leave the room?
“Why don’t you and me get together for a drink at five? Is this your office? I’ll stop by.”
“Sure,” Otto said. What the hell.
“Nice dog,” Hornbuckle said backing away.
Otto went into his office, shut the door and phoned Alvarez.
“Gus, could you come down here a minute?”
Seconds later Alvarez knocked and entered. He took the spare chair and petted Steve who laid his head on the agent’s knee. “What’s up?”
“Do you know Agent Hornbuckle?”
“Not well. He’s only been here a month. He’s in charge of the cyber-tracking unit. Why?”
“He was on my last mission. We went in to tap Ghaddafi. I always thought the mission was FUBAR, the way they threw it together. Do you know what happened?”
“I’ve read the reports. You witnessed an SHC.”
“Nice of you to say so. That’s what led to the medical discharge. At that time somebody in the agency had to know about the combustions. They should have listened to me.”
“We’re listening to you now. What about Hornbuckle? Something queer there?”
“Once I mustered out I tried to find him. The Agency wouldn’t tell me if he were alive or dead. He and I are the only survivors of that mission and he shows up here? Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
“Nothing strikes me as odd. As long as Hornbuckle has a higher security clearance there’s nothing we can do about it. I see a lot of guys like Hornbuckle. Close-lipped, uptight. Doesn’t mean he’s sketchy. But I’ll keep an eye out.”
Otto felt foolish. Hornbuckle was probably legit. Well he’d find out.
“Sorry to bother you, Gus.”
“No bother. Bunch of the guys are meeting up at six at the Irish Public House.”
“I’m meeting Hornbuckle but maybe I’ll see you.”
Alvarez returned to his office. Otto watched the videos again. Each time the conflagrations appeared more divorced from time and space, otherworldly in their intensity. He felt the beginning of a headache and turned away from the computer to rub his temples.
Back to the glass teat.
FIRST IRISH CASE OF DEATH BY SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION
(Sep. 23, 2011)
A man who burned to death in his home died as a result of spontaneous combustion, an Irish coroner has ruled. It is believed to be the first case of its kind in Ireland. West Galway coroner Dr Ciaran McLoughlin said it was the first time in 25 years of investigating deaths that he had recorded such a verdict. Michael Faherty, 76, died at his home at Clareview Park, Ballybane, Galway on 22 December 2010.
Deaths attributed by some to ‘spontaneous combustion’ are when a living human body burns without an apparent external source of ignition. Typically police or fire investigators find burned corpses but no burned furniture. An inquest in Galway on Thursday heard how investigators had been baffled as to the cause of Mr. Faherty’s death. Forensic experts found that the fire in the fireplace of the sitting room where the badly burnt body had not been the cause of the blaze that killed Mr. Faherty.
The court was told that no trace of an accelerant had been found and there had been nothing to suggest foul play. The court heard Mr. Faherty had been found lying on his back with his head closest to an open fireplace. The fire had been confined to the sitting room. The only damage was to the body, which was totally burnt, the ceiling above him and the floor underneath him.
Dr McLoughlin said he had consulted medical textbooks and carried out other research in an attempt to find an explanation. He said Professor Bernard Knight, in his book on forensic pathology, had written about spontaneous combustion and noted that such reported cases were almost always near an open fireplace or chimney.
“This fire was thoroughly investigated and I’m left with the conclusion that this fits into the category of spontaneous human combustion, for which there is no adequate explanation,” he said.
Retired professor of pathology Mike Green said he had examined one suspected case in his career. He said he would not use the term spontaneous combustion, as there had to be some source of ignition, possibly a lit match or cigarette. “There is a source of ignition somewhere, but because the body is so badly destroyed the source can’t be found,” he said.
He said the circumstances in the Galway case were very similar to other possible cases. “This is the picture that is described time and time again,” he said.
“Even the most experienced rescue worker or forensic scientist takes a sharp intake of breath (when they come across the scene).” Mr. Green said he doubted explanations centered on divine intervention. “I think if the heavens were striking in cases of spontaneous combustion then there would be a lot more cases. I go for the practical, the mundane explanation,” he said.
Otto recalled Dickens’ words on the subject from Bleak House: “Here is a small burnt patch of flooring; here is the tinder from a little bundle of burnt paper, but not so light as usual, seeming to be steeped in something; and here is - is it the cinder of a small charred and broken log of wood sprinkled with white ashes, or is it coal? Oh, horror, he IS here!”
Otto turned his attention to Sen. Darling. He went over the Senator’s schedule going back several years. Fact-finding mission to Iraq. Fact-finding mission to Afghanistan. Burnishing his foreign policy cred. Had Darling been planning on seeking higher office? He’d have to ask Stella.
But if Darling planned to seek the Presidency wouldn’t Stella have mentioned it? And what was Pendragon’s part in his death, if any? Pendragon was at the forefront of the new energy companies and had received a half billion-dollar government loan to develop solar resources. But Pendragon could cover the entire North American continent with solar panels and they wouldn’t produce enough juice to light New York, let alone incinerate a man.
Besides. Darling was their honey boy. They had no reason to want him dead.
He’d read Sally Crandall’s transcripts. He doubted she’d lied. She was as baffled as anyone.
Otto searched the vic list for other politicians. Jean-Jacque Fusillier, a member of the French Socialist Party went up in flames at his country cottage at a birthday celebration for his seventeen-year-old son. The investigation blamed the fire on birthday cake candles but the whole thing smelled of cover-up.
Otto put in a RFI to the agency for Fusillier and Yakovitch. He phoned Stella. She was in court so he left a message. The dossier on Froines was thick and included a classified assessment of Glass Defense Industries. Glass was developing an infrared weapon for the Army for use in crowd situations. As near as Otto could tell the Glass Infra-Red Crowd Control Initiative caused an unpleasant tingling sensation on the skin but didn’t actually cook anybody.
Find the source of the energy and you solve the mystery. If it were a battery it would solve the earth’s energy needs. It wasn’t a battery. Technology like that could not remain secret for long.
Steve licked Otto’s pants.
“Don’t lick the pants, Steve.”
The Ocelot buzzed. It was Yee.
“Mr. White, please activate the video link on your computer.”
***