“Brad Foster, age twenty-one, killed in a suspicious house fire while on a two-week vacation in Maui with Natalie St. Clair.”

“Two weeks in Maui for a couple of college kids?” Gonzo asked with a low whistle.

“Apparently, Foster’s family was loaded. His parents owned the beach house. Anyway, from the reports I found in the newspaper, Natalie went out for a morning walk and while she was gone the house went up. Police suspected arson but couldn’t prove it. Her alibi for the time of the fire was flimsy. They looked really closely at her but never charged her with anything.”

“Good work, Cruz,” Sam said. “We’ll have another chat with Mrs. Jordan tomorrow.”

“I should also add that I found no unsolved dismemberment cases in the District, Virginia or Maryland,” Freddie said. “I can widen the search if you think it’s worth it.”

“Hold off on that for now. Gonzo, what do you have from the search of O’Connor’s cabin?”

“Nothing other than some additional references to the kid, Thomas—cards, letters, artwork from when he was younger—but you’ve already got that.”

“What about the immigration bill, Dad?”

Skip took them through the finer points of the proposed law. “There’s a lot of passion on both sides of this issue. There are those who feel that keeping our borders open to people in need is what this country is all about—‘give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…’” When he was greeted with blank stares, he added, “Emma Lazarus? The poem engraved on the Statue of Liberty? Did you people go to school?” Rolling his eyes, he continued. “The other side argues that immigrants are a drain on the system, that charity should begin at home and we can’t take care of the people who are already here.”

“Would killing the senator kill the bill, too?” Sam asked Nick.

“That’s exactly what it did. We had it sewn up by one vote. The Senate’s in recess until January. Depending on who they get to take John’s seat and whether he or she supports the bill, we might get lucky and get it back to the floor for a vote sometime next year. But either way, the supporters will have to start all over to make sure they have the votes. Even a month is a long time in politics—plenty of time for people to change their minds.”

“So if someone was out to stop it altogether, killing him would accomplish that,” Sam said.

“It’ll certainly delay it indefinitely. Getting a bill through committee and on to the floor for a vote is no simple process. It took more than a year of writing, rewriting, compromising, meetings with various lobbies and interest groups, more compromise. Not simple.”