Part 14 (1/2)
”Did you alert flight personnel?”
”I did.”
”And how did they respond?”
Clearing my throat, I said, ”According to the flight attendants, Myles Shepherd was never on the flight.”
Agent Cunningham sat back with a groan.
Agent Phillips rolled his eyes.
A chair sc.r.a.ped.
Agent Phillips left the room.
Agent Cunningham continued the interrogation. ”In your opinion, is Shepherd capable of a.s.sa.s.sinating the president? Does he have the means? Access?”
”Yes, he's definitely capable of it. Most definitely. He's boastful, compet.i.tive, highly intelligent, opinionated, and Machiavellian.”
”Machiavellian?”
”Scheming. Immorally ruthless. While I was in his office, he drugged me.”
Agent Cunningham showed surprise for the first time. ”Drugged you? With what drug?”
Before I could answer, Agent Phillips returned. His lips were pursed. His jaw set. He slapped a manila folder down on the table and took a seat. ”I made some preliminary calls,” he said, not bothering to ask if he was interrupting. ”I spoke to-” He looked inside the folder for the name. ”Fred Benson. Do you recognize that name, Mr. Austin?”
”He's the vice princ.i.p.al at Singing Hills High School.”
”According to Mr. Benson, Myles Shepherd is dead. Are you aware of this, Mr. Austin?”
”Dead?” Agent Cunningham blurted.
Agent Phillips didn't wait for me to reply. ”Mr. Benson says you were standing next to him when he learned of Shepherd's death. That the car accident in which he was killed was broadcast live on local television.”
Two pairs of experience-hardened Secret Service eyes bored into me, waiting for an answer.
”That wasn't his body in the car!” I said, defending myself. ”Besides, that doesn't change anything, does it? There are others involved in the plot and they're still out there. They use code names.”
Agent Cunningham said in all seriousness, ”These coconspirators. Are they dead too?”
Agent Phillips's pad and pen appeared again. ”Do you have the names of these coconspirators?” he asked.
”I have possible code names.”
”Go ahead.”
”Shepherd's code name was Semyaza.” I spelled it for him. ”As for the others, well, it's conjecture based on research.”
Agent Phillips sighed.
”You see, Semyaza is the name of a lieutenant in an ancient organization, and from that I have deduced the name of the mastermind.”
”Which is?”
Hesitation. Again with the hesitation.
The agents waited. Expressionless.
”Most likely,” I said, ”the code name of the head of the organization is . . . is Lucifer . . . Satan.”
Agent Phillips's pen dropped onto the table. He didn't write the name down.
After an uncomfortable silence, which to me was doubly painful because the place where the dog bit me was burning, Agent Phillips asked, ”Did Shepherd give you any indication as to the ident.i.ty of Satan?”
I smiled. The question sounded funny. ”Actually, yes,” I said, fidgeting, which hurt like crazy, ”he told me that it was a waste of time to inform the president of the a.s.sa.s.sination plot because . . .” This is the part I hadn't told anyone. But I had to tell the Secret Service, didn't I? While I didn't believe it was true for a moment, the information might provide a clue that could lead to the conspirators. ”Because the president already knew about it.”
The agents exchanged glances.
Phillips said, ”OK, I'll bite . . .”
I laughed at the unintended joke despite the pain.
They didn't laugh with me.
”Exactly how would this information have reached the president?”
”Before answering that,” I said, ”you have to remember I'm just reporting what I heard.”
”Noted.”
”According to Myles Shepherd, the president knows about the a.s.sa.s.sination plot because he's the mastermind behind it.”
Neither man blinked. It was amazing.
”President Douglas is plotting his own a.s.sa.s.sination?” Agent Cunningham said.
”You're saying President Douglas is Satan?” Agent Phillips added.
”I know how this sounds,” I said.
”Tell us about how Shepherd drugged you,” Agent Cunningham said.
”Drugs?” Agent Phillips shouted. He was out of the room when I'd mentioned drugs.
I told them how I suspected Shepherd might have used peyote, which has hallucinatory qualities. Then I described everything that happened in Shepherd's office.