“Name rings a bell.”
“He’s from Staten Island.”
“Yeah?” Peter grinned. “New Yorkers. Goddamn everywhere. I can’t escape them even if I want to.”
“They colonize every place they go.”
McNeal turned off the engine. He picked up a large manila envelope containing some of the documents he had been given by Caroline’s lawyer. He and his brother headed inside. They rode the elevator to the third floor and were buzzed into suite 306.
Bone was a huge guy, clean-shaven, dark suit. He shook both their hands and showed them into an interview room. “Nice to see you again, Jack.” He shut the door behind him.
“You too. This is my brother, Peter. He’s on the force.”
“Nice to meet you, Peter. So, how can I help you guys today?” he said. “Pull up a seat. Take the weight off.”
Jack sat down first as Peter pulled up a seat from the far end of the room. “Appreciate you seeing us, Ryan.”
“How is Internal Affairs these days?”
“Busy. Real busy.”
Ryan scribbled a few points on a legal pad. “I’m sorry about your wife. Very sad. I heard through the grapevine.”
Jack nodded. “Appreciate that.”
“She was a journalist, right?”
Jack nodded. “So, how’s life in the FBI?”
Ryan shrugged. “What can I say? It has its moments. Anyway, how can I help?”
McNeal took a few minutes to explain the background. The deaths of both his wife and Sophie Meyer. “The whole thing, Ryan, is crazy.”
Ryan took notes.
“Peter and I have been talking about something Caroline’s lawyer passed on to me.”
“Show me what you’ve got.”
Jack handed over photocopies of several of the files from the CD. “This is what we have. It relates to my late wife’s investigation into the death of Sophie Meyer a few years back. But it’s just a taste, to give you a flavor of what this is all about.”
Ryan scribbled some more notes before he leafed through the papers in the folder. He took a good ten minutes reading the information. “I can see this is something worth taking a very close look at. I know just the person.”
“You’ll make sure they get it?”
“I will send this down to DC myself, and I’ll ensure that not only is it given priority but that I get back to you as soon as I can.”
McNeal went quiet for a few moments.
“My wife was convinced she was being followed. Then she was found floating in the Potomac. She was investigating the death of Sophie Meyer, who was found overdosed three years earlier, also in Washington. I also watched a video of my late wife on the flash drive. It mentioned the name Henry Graff. Graff was Sophie Meyer’s husband. I believe he’s an old friend of the President. So, you can see why I’m bringing you such information. It’s very sensitive.”
Ryan nodded respectfully, slowly leafing through the papers again.
“I understand these are classified papers. Pentagon, top secret. No idea how Caroline got those. But there seem to be names of other key individuals who have been redacted.”
“I think you did the right thing bringing this to our attention.” Ryan scribbled down more information. “What do you believe happened? You’re a cop, after all.”
“I’m Internal Affairs. My brother is the cop. But we both think it’s highly suspicious. To say the least. And that it warrants further investigation.”
Peter stared at Ryan. “You’re from Staten Island, Jack was saying?”
“Grew up there.”
“Whereabouts?”
“Travis, on the West Shore.”
Peter nodded. “New Dorp, on the East Shore.”
Ryan nodded. “I know where you are. Giacomo’s, right? Best pizza on the island.”
Peter smiled. “You know it. Look, something is clearly amiss here. We want to be up-front. We’re not looking for a favor. We’re doing things by the book. Nothing to hide. I can see you’re a stand-up guy. We all grew up in the same neighborhood, right? We just want you to open an investigation into this. Perhaps you might want to pass it on to the DC police after the FBI have checked it out.”
“I can’t make any promises. You understand that, right?”
Jack leaned forward. “As Peter explained, we don’t want favors. We just want the FBI to investigate this. We thought about handing this over to the police. But this is clearly a sensitive issue. Perhaps with national security considerations.”