Page 8 of State of Suspense

Sam rarely saw the identical Miller triplets together and was amazed once again by their striking resemblance, even if they sported different hair and clothing styles. One of them had told her years ago how rare identical triplets were. As someone who’d endured fertility struggles, Sam couldn’t believe such things were even possible.

“May we speak in private?” Sam asked.

The other staffers were huddled in subdued groups, comforting one another.

“Sure,” Faith said.

They followed the sisters to a smaller conference room.

Sam closed the door. “Again, please accept our heartfelt sympathy. We hate to intrude at a time like this, but you know how critical the early hours are in a homicide investigation.”

“We do.” Hope wore her hair longer than the other two. All three were dressed more casually than Sam had ever seen them, as they’d been home for the weekend when they received the news about their boss’s murder. “We’ll do anything we can to help find the person who did this to Tom.”

“First, we’d like to know everything there is to know about his dealings with Congressman Bryant.”

“I wondered if you’d look in that direction first,” Faith said.

“Are there other directions we should be taking?” Gonzo asked.

“As always, this office is involved in a number of complex prosecutions,” Charity said, “but the situation with Bryant had occupied much of Tom’s time recently.” She was the curviest of the three. Sam had watched more than a few men go stupid in the head at the sight of her.

“How can we find out what was happening with the Bryant investigation?” Sam asked.

“Other than the basic info I already gave to Gonzo, I haven’t found anything more in his office or on his computer,” Faith said, “even though we knew he was working on it. When he and his family first went missing, we looked through everything. There was nothing about Bryant.”

“Did that strike you as odd?”

“To have no paper trail at all?” Hope asked. “Definitely.”

“Is it possible he was asked to do the investigation without leaving a trail?” Gonzo asked.

“It’s possible, yes,” Faith said, “but not really feasible. Tom was brilliant, but even he couldn’t keep track of something that complicated in his head.”

“So you think there’s a record somewhere?” Sam asked.

“If there is, we can’t find it here,” Charity said. “We want to look at his house for it.”

“That’s our next stop. Would one of you mind coming with us?”

“I’ll go,” Faith said. “I pulled a warrant because I figured you’d want to start there, too.”

Sam appreciated working with people who knew what they were doing. “That saves some time.”

“Hope and I will continue to sift through other cases for leads,” Charity said.

“That’d be helpful,” Sam said.

“Whatever we can do to find his killer,” Hope said tearfully.

“Thank you.” Sam hugged Hope. “Hang in there.”

“We’re trying.”

They walked out of the building with Faith a few minutes later.

Vernon and Jimmy waited at the curb and jumped out to open doors for them. They’d allowed Sam to go into the U.S. Attorney’s Office unescorted since it was a secure facility.

“This doesn’t suck,” Faith said when they were settled in cozy warmth in back seats that faced each other.

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