Downtown, Conrad Holt ordered another drink, and SAC Ross consented to a refill of coffee. They had to tread carefully in their unraveling of Armitage’s activities in the Netherlands. The legat program was the responsibility of the International Operations Division at FBI headquarters in Washington, and only the application of significant amounts of pressure from the State Department and the Department of Justice, as well as from within the Bureau itself, had persuaded the IOD to shelve any official investigation into her death. Ross had become involved because Armitage, on his instructions, had been in contact with the unusual private investigator named Charlie Parker during his time in the Netherlands. There was no suggestion that Parker might have been involved in Armitage’s demise, as he had already left the country by then. Neither was he in the habit of hewing Arabic lettering into shower tiles or killing women by slitting their wrists. But Parker and his colleagues, the career criminals Angel and Louis, had received financial, informational, and legal assistance from Ross while they were in Europe. Naturally enough, the deputy director in charge of the IOD was curious to know why, just in case the Parker connection might have led, directly or indirectly, to Armitage’s death. Ross’s answers had been unsatisfactory in that regard, but Holt’s intervention had protected him from falling victim to the kind of intra-agency conflict that destroyed careers, while also ensuring that Ross continued to remain privy to the information gleaned from Armitage’s burner phone.

As if the situation were not already sufficiently complex and fraught with risk for Holt and Ross, both men were career feds. Ross was marginally older, with more years of service, but Holt had risen faster and higher through the ranks. The latter had so far avoided scandal, opprobrium, and anything more threatening than the most routine of inquiries. Holt spoke the language of congressional committees and had a memory that was both comprehensive and selective. He was a survivor in the big pond, and like all survivors, he had sharp teeth.

Ross, on the other hand, would always be tainted by association with the Traveling Man investigation, specifically the lengthy and painful revelation of the Bureau’s failings in the case. Because the Traveling Man had been responsible for the deaths of Susan and Jennifer Parker, respectively Charlie Parker’s wife and young daughter, Ross had developed a relationship with the PI that was, in Holt’s view, potentially compromising. That relationship, in turn, extended to Angel and Louis. For the present, the advantages of retaining links with Parker outweighed the disadvantages, which was why Holt had been willing to protect Ross from enemies both internal and external. Lately, though, Holt had begun seriously reconsidering the wisdom of that support.

‘You still haven’t told me why Armitage was in touch with the Vuksans,’ said Holt.

‘You’re assuming I know,’ said Ross, ‘which flatters my intelligence.’