“Yes?” The word was snapped short, no trace of sleep but rather the tone of someone with too much to do in too little time.

“It’s Agent Draper, sir. Lisa Draper.”

“Sorry. I didn’t recognize your number. What’s going on?”

She didn’t want to start a report with “I don’t know,” even though she shouldn’t know. Instead, she said, “That Arlington detective, Mancini, is here. I think he’s been here a while.”

“Do you know why?”

“I assume he’s had a break in the case. I don’t think Ethel called him because she could have done so last night. I just wanted to give you a heads-up in case you have sources that could provide more details.”

“Thank you, Draper. I do.”

There was a beat of silence as Lisa hesitated to say anything further.

“It’s okay,” Hauser said, “you can ask me.”

“I’m only asking what I might need to know to be your eyes and ears here.”

“Another Secret Service agent was shot last night. Arlington police found the body in a Tahoe parked in the lot for Roosevelt Island Park.”

Lisa let out a gasp of air. “Wow. Mancini must be here to see if it ties in to Finch’s death.”

“Or the attack on the student, Jesse Cooper. Bradshaw has pretty much tightened control of the investigation into Finch’s death. Now he’s got another one. He’ll be consolidating them into one case, a case that will cross over into our Parker case.”

“How so?”

“The agent in RIP was Trevor Norwood. RIP, damned ironic.”

“That name’s familiar.”

“It should be. Norwood headed up the bust of the New York counterfeit ring and netted the evidence haul that Jonathan Finch brought into Ethel Crestwater’s house. And you know Finch was the man who found Dwayne Parker’s body.”

“I know, sir. I was also on that case.”

“So, this thing could be mushrooming. Don’t get me wrong. Half a million in bogus bills is nothing to sneeze at, but my gut tells me the focus of the case is shifting, shifting to the twenty million Parker squirreled away somewhere. I want that money.”

The way Hauser stated the demand, Lisa wasn’t sure it was personal or professional.

“Yes, sir. I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.”

She heard Director Hauser take a deep breath.

“How well do you know Douglas Gray?” he asked.

“Well enough to speak to. We’ve shared wine and tea with Ethel. We’re both on crazy schedules. Why?”

“Because he was on Norwood’s team. Pay attention to how he reacts to this news.”