Page 93 of State of Suspense

He looked stunned. “How do you know about a confidential in-house message?”

“How many people work for the DOJ?”

“Uh, around a hundred and fifteen thousand.”

“You sent a message to a hundred and fifteen thousand people and expected that to stay confidential?” She looked at Freddie. “I mean, I don’t know anything about being the AG, but I know people, and most of them can’t keep their mouth shut about anything. I could’ve heard about that message from any one of them.”

“You can be certain I’ll launch a full investigation into who leaked that message.”

“Knock yourself out. In the meantime, maybe you can tell me why you suspect someone inside the department in Tom’s murder.”

“I never said that!”

“Your message said that.”

“No, it didn’t. It said that anyone who knows anything should come forward.”

“In other words, ‘I suspect someone in this department knows something.’”

“You read it wrong, but it wasn’t intended for you, was it?”

Sam’s frustration with him was about to boil over. “I feel like we’re talking in circles here. Why did you ask us to come in?”

“I wanted to be forthright about my long relationship with Tom and offer the resources of the Justice Department to your investigation.”

“Thanks. We’re good.”

Cox shifted his gaze to Freddie. “I saw your press briefing this morning.”

“What about it?” Sam asked.

“It looked to me—and I could be wrong, of course—that you don’t know anything more today about what happened to Tom than you did the day he was killed.”

Sam wished she could throat-punch the man. “When you’re running an intense investigation, do you go before the media and tell them everything you know? You’ve overseen a criminal investigation before, right? Oh wait, that was a hundred years ago for you. So maybe you don’t know. I’d be happy to educate you if that would help you understand.”

His expression was thunderous. “This meeting is over.”

“Since you may not be clear on how these things work, if you know something about what happened to Tom, it’s in your best interest to tell us now. If we find out later that you obstructed our investigation, you’ll be charged.”

“Get out.”

Sam and Freddie got up and left the room. They walked past the young man at the desk outside the AG’s office and were headed for the elevators when Sam turned back to speak to the admin. He was of average build with thinning brown hair and eyes that might’ve been hazel. It was hard to tell, as he wore glasses. “Are you the one who called me to set up this meeting?”

“I am.”

“What’s your name?”

“Why does that matter?”

“It matters because I say it matters.”

He seemed to scoff at that.

“We could take this downtown to my office if it’s too difficult for you to answer my question here.”

“You can’t just arrest people.”

She glanced at Freddie. “Can I just arrest people?”

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