Fowler had given Ann detailed profiles of fifteen DARPA scientists and administrators assigned to the Sea Arrow project. She spent the next hour sifting through the reports, keeping an eye out for the three D’s of nonideological subversion: debt, drugs, and divorce. She made note for Fowler to check up on a female physicist who was undergoing a bitter divorce, as well as a lower-grade engineer who had recently acquired a new Corvette. But, on the surface, none of the employees fit the profile for a security risk.

“Got a second?”

Fowler appeared at her door, walked in and placed a thick folder on her desk. “Here are the staff reports on the DARPA subcontractors working on Sea Arrow. Groton obviously has their own subs under review, plus the Office of Naval Research has a number on their end.”

“What’s the damage locally?”

“Eight private defense contractors, not counting Heiland, plus three university research programs.”

“Enough to keep us busy a while. Thanks, Dan. Can you do me one more favor?”

“Sure, name it.”

“Can you pull the travel history of your DARPA team assigned to Sea Arrow? I want to check for any trips to the major hot spots: East Asia, Russia, and the Middle East.”

“No problem. By the way, here’s the security list for the President’s shipyard tour at Groton a few weeks ago.” He handed her a sheet, which she placed to the side of her desk.

“Interested in lunch?”

“No, I’m good,” she said, diving into the subcontractor data. “Thanks for the reports.”

As she dug into the files, Ann soon realized there was only a peripheral connection between the other contractors and Heiland. Most of the subcontracts focused on hull design and electronic systems, with little, if any, interplay with Heiland’s supercavitation system. Eberson had been the central conduit for all the systems Heiland was developing.

Ann stood and stretched before picking up the security list from the President’s Groton tour. There were only seven names, three from the White House and four from the Pentagon. She immediately noted Tom Cerny’s name. With only Fowler’s off-the-cuff remark as a basis, she phoned in the names to an NCIS colleague and requested an online background check. While she waited to receive an e-mail with the results, she thought of the rarity of a murder like Heiland’s.

The theft of industrial or defense secrets seldom crossed over the line to homicide. Yet Heiland, Eberson, and Manny had been murdered for their work on the Sea Arrow, while Ann and Pitt were nearly added victims. Only a handful of rogue nations would risk such provocative measures, but others might if working through a proxy. The Colombian government certainly wasn’t competing with the U.S. in defense weaponry, so clearly the thieves were working for someone else. But who?