Page 83 of Dead Mountain

Now the general looked from Sharp to Corrie and back. “And you’ve come in here, making this serious accusation, based on one person’s story? Do you have any corroboration?”

Again Sharp looked at Corrie.

“Well, sir,” Corrie said, “the radionuclide contamination of the clothing of several of the victims—which included plutonium, polonium, and tritium—are precisely the ingredients one would find in a thermonuclear weapon, according to our lab experts.”

The general stared at her. “Any additional corroboration?”

“No, but I think those radionuclides seem pretty confirmative. It’s hard to explain how else they might have gotten there, sir.”

“Stop calling me sir, young lady. You’re not my subordinate.”

“Noted,” said Corrie, coloring.

Abecassis gently broke in. “If what you describe actually occurred, it would have been a major incident involving dozens of personnel, and there will certainly be a large body of classified records of it. It’ll be a simple matter for us—I mean the general and myself—to either confirm or refute this story. We will investigate it immediately, and I can assure you we will know within twenty-four hours whether this incident actually occurred—or whether this story is false.”

“Thank you, Commander,” Corrie said.

“All well and good, but I would be astonished to see it confirmed,” said the general, with a frosty look at Abecassis. “It sounds to me like a ginned-up conspiracy theory, like so many others connected to this Dead Mountain case.” He paused. “Didn’t I read about the police just arresting an FBI agent previously on the case for threatening some protesters with a gun?”

“The agent in question was long retired from the agency,” said Sharp crisply.

“Still,” said the general. “Not at all encouraging. I’m frankly quite surprised to see you bringing this story to us without more corroboration.”

“Once we heard this story,” said Corrie evenly, “we felt the right thing to do was inform you immediately—and, of course, confidentially. That, we felt, was preferable to investigating the allegation behind your backs—and I should also add our interest in this only extends as far as what precipitated the deaths of those nine hikers.”

“Quite so,” said the general. “I understand. As Colonel Abecassis said, we’ll look into this. Needless to say, this is an unexpected development, and I trust the FBI will keep this absolutely under wraps.”

“The FBI routinely handles highly classified information,” said Sharp. “You can be sure this will not see the light of day.”

They were escorted back to their vehicle. Sharp didn’t speak again until they were out on the highway. “That went better than I expected,” he finally said.

“You think so?” Corrie was surprised.

“Absolutely. First, I’m convinced they had no knowledge of this incident—if it actually happened. That’s good. Second, they seemed sincere in their desire to investigate it and didn’t become overly defensive. Third, they promised that records would be quickly found in their classified archive—so we’ll have an answer soon. Fourth, I think both of them are people of good intention. And fifth . . .” He smiled. “The point you made about not investigating behind their backs was a good one.”

She hesitated. “And what do you think, sir? Personally?”

“Do I believe they accidentally dropped a nuke? I don’t know. It’s a crazy story, but God knows anything might be possible. But I feel an obligation to tell you that I’m not pleased about your mishandling of a confidential informant.”

“Mishandling?”

“Next time,” said Sharp, “you need to ask for the informant to supply independent corroboration of a story like that. And you must also insist that he tell his story to at least two agents, so there are witnesses. Otherwise the information is almost useless.”

“Sir, I tried my best to do all those things. I asked him to make the statement in your presence. He absolutely refused and was going to leave. I had no other choice . . . unless I was willing to allow our potential answer to slip away.”

“That may be. But the regulations are in place not only to protect the public, but us as well. If this turns out to be a false lead, you and I are both in trouble. The air force is not going to let it slide. You understand that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“My concern now,” Sharp said after a moment, “is that if it is true—how will the air force respond?”

44

CORRIE ARRIVED IN her cubicle at seven, having hardly slept the night before. She was filled with anxiety about the case and what would happen to her—and Sharp—if the allegation turned out to be false.

Almost before she could settle down at her desk, her phone buzzed. It was Sharp.

“SAC Garcia wants us in his office. Now.”

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