“Right,” he said. “I phoned your office from outside the visitor’s center. Didn’t reach you, left a message and decided to ride back to DC. When I still couldn’t get hold of you, I finally decided to give your cell a shot.” He paused. “Are you OK?”

She took a few seconds to collect her thoughts. “We have a situation here, Alex.”

“What’s happening?”

“I can’t explain this minute. But about Pinnacle... I need access. Something came up in the Stalwart probe and—”

“Carol, I sent you the unlocked file.”

Her eyebrow went up. “When?”

“As soon as I returned to my office. It’s FYEO-encrypted. I’m leaving you to decide who else sees it.”

She stood there a minute.

“All right,” she said. “Thanks, Alex. I’ll get back to you within the hour. We need to talk.”

Michaels didn’t immediately hang up. She could feel his concern in the long silence on the line.

“I’ll wait to hear from you,” he said.

At the Woodmere Middle School, Principal Bernard Hausman was ten minutes from what promised to be a testy interdepartmental meeting when his assistant buzzed on the intercom.

He pushed Talk. “What’s up, Giovanna?”

“I have Mr. Musil on the phone. He’s one of our parents.”

Which Hausman knew. Besides both his daughters being honor students, Musil had been something of a celebrity since last summer’s craziness put him on the news. They’d had several conversations before and after.

He checked his watch. “His timing couldn’t be worse,” he said. “I have three chairs about to march in here screaming their heads off about the budget.”

“I know, Bernie. I already suggested he leave a message. But he says it’s urgent.”

Hausman sighed.

“OK, put him through,” he said and wondered guiltily if he would be as accommodating to a parent who wasn’t the toast of the town.

A moment later Musil came on the phone. “Principal Hausman?”

“Hello, sir. Everything well with you?”

Musil took a breath.

“I have a difficult situation,” he said. “There’s been an accident where I work. On Tenth Avenue. A taxi driver lost control of his vehicle, and my colleague was killed. We were together when it happened.”

“My God. I hadn’t heard. Are you all right?”

“Yes, thankfully,” Musil said. “Principal Hausman, I don’t want the girls finding out about this in class. You know how it is with the internet. So I need to ask that they be discharged early.”

“Of course, I understand. Will you be picking them up?”

“That’s the problem. My wife is away. And I’m not sure how soon I can leave the office,” Musil said. “I’ve arranged for a GoRide to bring them home from school. A family member will be waiting for them.”