Kate didnt move.
She burned at Reekas insulting regard for her work. All morning shed pinballed across Queens, talking to the Fultons neighbors, coworkers and confronting investigators.
Reeka had no concept of street-level journalism. Shed never covered a murder, a fire or a disaster, never stared into the eyes of an inconsolable parent and asked for a picture of their dead child. She was young, pretty and had degrees from Harvard and Yale. They were up there on the wall. And shed been on the desk at Newsleads Boston bureau at a time when the entire staffs collective work on a breaking story was a Pulitzer finalist. Reekas uncle, a legend in the news business, sat on Newsleads board of directors. Word was hed pushed for his niece to be moved to headquarters in Manhattan.
Reeka, why do you automatically assume my storys wrong?
Look, you just need to verify your information, to ensure your source is valid.
Valid?
Kate seized her phone from her bag and began swiping through photos shed taken, finding the images she was searching for and thrusting them at Reeka.
This is Jolleen Ballinger, one of the tellers. Shes my source. She spoke with me on the condition of anonymity. She was there when Dan Fulton robbed their branch. I verified the quarter-million-dollar figure with her. Shes valid. I know how to do my job and I did it.
Reeka looked at the photo, then picked up her pen, rotating it for several seconds.
Lets put her name in your story, give it unchallengeable credibility.
Did you hear what I just said? This woman trusted me. I gave her my word that Newslead would protect her identity. She was afraid. If I follow your instructions and burn her, we lose credibility.
Then call her and request permission to use her name.
No! Shes wasnt at a Yankees game, Reeka. Her bank was robbed. This womans already traumatized. Pressing her to use her name in a national news story wont help. In talking to me she took a risk with her employer and the investigation. We need to respect that.
Reeka remained deep in thought, rocking in her chair until her phone vibrated. Before picking it up, she dismissed Kate with a parting order.
All right. I want you to stay on this story, keep us out front. But first, you need to verify the two outstanding aspects with your police source. Do it as soon as possible.
Biting back on her anger, Kate strode down the hall. She passed Chuck Laneers empty office, mourning his departure. This crap with Reeka wouldnt be happening if Chuck were here. Kate took several deep breaths, chiding herself.
Youve got to watch your mouth and be smart about this. Use Reekas request strategically.
At her desk she fished out the cards Nick Varner and Marv Tilden had given her. Shed planned to call them anyway to try to squeeze more information from them. As icy as theyd been to her, Kate had to admit there was something about Varner that she liked. He had nice eyes, but there seemed to be sadness behind them. She reached for her phone and hit the numbers on her keypad.
The line rang twice.
Varner.
Agent Varner with the FBI?
Yes.
Kate Page, with Newslead-we met earlier. Do you have a quick second to talk?
A moment passed.
Kate, you really should call the FBI or NYPD press office.
But your press people arent investigating, you are. And as I recall, Detective Tilden requested I run my information by you. I believe you were present when he made that request.
Another silence.
All Im asking for is a little professional courtesy, Kate said.
Whatve you got?
Weve reported the amount Fulton took was a quarter million and that he left a note saying bombs had been strapped to him and his family, who were being held hostage. But Signal Point Newswire has the figure at two million and says Fultons note warned that a bomb had been placed in the bank. Which version is correct?
Varner muttered something under his breath.
Listen, he said, like I told you before, this is an extremely active investigation. The release of too much information is dangerous.
The storys already been flashing around the zippers in Times Square. I know you guys dont like releasing information, but you dont want misleading stuff out there, that could be dangerous, too.
She heard his irritation as he exhaled, but sensed him warming to her.
This is not for attribution to me, not even to the Bureau. You got that?
Of course.
Im not confirming anything.
Okay.
Youd be correct to disregard the information reported by Signal Point.
Thank you. Do you have any suspects, or possible motives? What about the familys history?
Thats it, Kate. Ive got to go. There might be a press conference at One Police Plaza later today.
After the call, Kate immediately wrote Reeka an email.
Our storys correct. Signal Points is wrong. This has been verified by police sources close to the investigation.
She jabbed the enter key hard, sending it with a vengeance.
She jabbed the enter key hard, sending it with a vengeance.
Getting up to get a fresh coffee from the lunchroom, Kate reconsidered her initial impression of Varner. Hed impressed her just now. Sure, hed played the surly investigator at the crime scene, but hed just demonstrated that he was willing to work with her, which put matters in a different light. What she really liked was how hed used her first name. That was nice, she thought, adding milk to her coffee when her phone rang.
The callers number was blocked.
Kate Page, Newslead.
Youre the reporter whos asking questions about the Fulton family in Queens?
The woman on the phone sounded a little shaky, as if shed had trouble deciding to call.
Yes.
I have information that might help you.
Thats great. Whos this?
I We cant talk over the phone. Are you in Manhattan? I understand thats where your office is.
Yes, Im at the office now.
Can you meet me in thirty minutes?
Im sorry, but I cant meet with you unless you give me some sense of what you want to talk about.
The woman hesitated. When she spoke again, her voice quavered.
I know the truth about Lori Fulton.
25
New York City
Across the city, near the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge at NYPD Headquarters, Mae Clarke downed the last of her tepid coffee, fighting the urge to get a fresh cup.
She was trying to cut down. Besides, she couldnt leave her desk because at any moment she was expecting prints on the red ball out of Queens, the bank robbery abduction case. The lab had called her supervisor to say the file was on its way.
Mae shoved a stick of Juicy Fruit in her mouth.
She was one of the NYPDs best fingerprint techs and she was ready. Investigators had already obtained a set of elimination prints for each of the family members-from the parents workplaces, and through a child ID safety program for the son.
That was good.
Although Mae didnt have prints for their relatives, or for friends or neighbors who may have been invited into the familys home, she knew that having prints for the key players was a big advantage.
Maes computer chimed.
Here we go.
Chewing faster on her gum, she opened the file-a clear set of unidentified impressions from the right hand: one from the right thumb and one from the right forefinger. Theyd been collected from balled duct tape.
Mae began studying the loops, whorls and arches, analyzing and comparing them against the elimination set. It didnt take long to confirm that the prints on the tape did not come from any member of the family.
With a few keystrokes she submitted the unidentified prints to the New York State Criminal History Record Database-the states primary system for fingerprint identification. The database stored prints belonging to anyone arrested for a finger-printable offense.
It allowed for rapid searching through a range of state fingerprint files-those taken from crime scenes, from gun permit holders, from various professional license applications and also from unsolved cases.
After some thirty seconds, her submission came back with two hits.
Thats a start.
Her keyboard clacked as she submitted the prints to the mother of all databases, the FBIs Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or IAFIS. The system held the criminal histories and fingerprints for more than seventy million people in every state across the country, drawn from every local, regional, state and national network.
This search would take a bit longer, so she returned to the lunchroom where she talked herself into a bottle of water instead of the coffee she was really craving. By the time shed returned to her desk, her search was done.
IAFIS offered a list of five possibles who closely matched her unidentified submission. With the two from the New York system, she now had seven candidates.
She unwrapped a fresh stick of gum, enjoying its sweetness as she began making a visual point-by-point comparison between the duct tape prints and her seven samples. This was when she was at her best, zeroing in on the critical minutiae points, like the trail of ridges near the tip of the forefinger where shed found dissimilarities. That eliminated the first two candidates right off.
For the next set she enlarged the sample to the point where she could count the number of ridges on the thumb. Definite differences emerged.
That eliminated all of the others but one.
Mae sat up, narrowing her eyes as she compared her submission from the duct tape with the computers remaining sample. She concentrated on cluster details, spots, hooks, bifurcations and tented arches.
All the minutiae points matched.
The branching of the ridges matched.
Her breathing quickened as she began counting up the clear points of comparison where the two samples aligned. Some courts required ten to fifteen clear point matches. She had twenty-three and was still counting, knowing that one divergent point would instantly eliminate a print. By the time shed compared the left slanting patterns from the thumb, she had twenty-eight clear points of comparison and was thinking ahead to what it would be like when she was testifying in court.
These prints are consistent with those collected at the crime scene.
She confirmed the identification number of her new subject and submitted a query to several databanks, including the FBIs National Crime Information Center.
Who are you?
While waiting, forever-thorough Mae submitted the elimination prints-those that belonged to Dan, Lori and Billy Fulton-to the New York State and FBI databases, as well.
It was a routine check.