"Most of the people at the mosque, Commissioner," Britton explained, "have rap sheets for drugs and/or theft. Which would keep them from getting airport work permits. But if they wanted to snoop around this airplane company:"
"Lease-Aire," Castillo furnished.
": they could send a brother or sister, or the guy next door, who is clean and could get an airport work permit:"
Commissioner Kellogg held up his hand to cut him off.
"I get it," he said. "And checking that out takes time, right?"
"Yes, sir," Betty and Britton said, almost together.
"We don't have any time," Kellogg said. He looked at Britton. "If you went back to the mosque, what do you think you could find out?"
"Not much, sir. I can't ask too many questions."
"Who at the mosque would know?"
"The mullahs."
"And if we hauled them in, what would we learn?"
"Not much. They know all about the Fifth Amendment; they claim it if we ask if it's raining."
"How many mullahs?"
"There's one head man," Britton said. "Abdul Khatami, formerly Clyde Matthews, and then:"
"Has this guy got a sheet?" Commissioner Kellogg interrupted.
Britton answered first with his hands, mimicking the unrolling of a long scroll.
"Before he converted, Clyde was a very bad boy," Britton said. "He was in and out of the slam from the time he was fifteen. A lot of drugs, but some heavy stuff, too, armed robbery, attempted murder, etcetera. He was doing five-to-ten in the federal slam-for cashing Social Security checks he 'found'-when he converted. So far as I know, he's been clean since; he sends the faithful out to raise money for the cause."
"How many more mullahs would be likely to know something about the Liberty Bell?"
"Three, maybe four-no more than four."
"You have their names and where we can find them?"
"Yes, sir. But:"
"Send Highway to pick them all up, one at a time. Lots of sirens, lots of noise. I want it known that we've picked them up. Keep them moving between districts, no more than an hour in each district. Dutch, you work out the details."
"What are we charging them with?" Chief Inspector Kramer asked.
Commissioner Kellogg ignored the question.
"Your people will interrogate them, Dutch. With Britton and Major Miller watching through a one-way glass. Northeast Detectives is probably as good a place as any to do that."
Chief Inspector Kramer nodded.
"Sir," Britton said. "If I'm held much later than eight in the morning and this is going to take longer than that:"
"You're not going back undercover, period," the commissioner said.
"Sir, I'm the best chance we have to learn anything at the mosque," Britton argued.
"What's the other guy's name who's in there with you?"
"Parker, sir. He's a good man, but he hasn't been under long enough for them to trust him."
"Maybe they will start to trust him, once they figure out you've been in there," Kellogg said. "And this way, you get to stay alive. I want you available until this thing goes down."
"But, sir:"
"That's it, Detective Britton," Kellogg said, flatly. "That's what's going to happen."
"Yes, sir."
"And this way, when Hall and I go see the mayor and he turns to me and asks what I'm doing about this I can truthfully tell him we think we know who the guys who stole that airplane are, that we've rounded up the mullahs and pulled you out to interrogate them. Okay?"
"Yes, sir," Britton said.
"And we might as well start on getting a judge to authorize wiretaps on the mosque and every phone that looks promising. That'll take some time, but we should do it."
"Commissioner, we-Homeland Security and the Secret Service-have blanket authority to tap in a terrorist situation like this. All we have to do is report it to a federal judge later."
"I didn't know that," Kellogg said, surprised. "You can authorize that?"
"As a supervisory special agent, sure."
"If you were to ask for the help of the Philadelphia Department to help you put in your taps, I'd be happy to oblige."
"Thank you, sir."
Kellogg studied Castillo. "So you're a Green Beret major."
"Yes, sir, I am."
"And a supervisory special agent of the Secret Service? You told me you had the credentials, but:"
"It's on the up-and-up," Castillo said. "I was sworn in."
"How do you keep who you really are straight?"
"With difficulty, sir," Castillo said and glanced at Betty Schneider.
She shook her head.
"When I talked to Matt Hall earlier, Castillo," Commissioner Kellogg said, "he said he was going to come as quietly as he can. What did he mean by that?"
"Usually, Commissioner, when he goes to a city where the Secret Service has an office they'll send people-usually four to six, in a couple of GMC Yukon XLs-to back up his personal security detail. That attracts a lot of attention. If he said he's coming quietly, he doesn't want that attention. I don't know this, but what I think is that they called the Philadelphia office and told them to send a car-not a Yukon-to meet the plane. They may not have told-probably didn't tell-Philadelphia that the secretary is coming."
"What's his personal detail?"
"Two Secret Service guys. This morning, I know it will be Joel Isaacson-who is more than a bodyguard and who is usually with the secretary. And almost certainly his partner, Tom McGuire, who is also more than a bodyguard."
"Are you going to the airport to meet him? With Sergeant Schneider?"
"No, sir. I'm just about through here. I'm going to Fort Bragg. As I said before, Secretary Hall wants me to be in on the planning to neutralize the airplane."
"Miller, where are you going to connect with Secretary Hall?"
"I don't know, sir," Miller said and looked at Castillo for guidance.
"I think you should meet him at the airport," Castillo said. "Even better would be you and Sergeant Schneider."
"Nobody's had much sleep. Will you be okay with that, Schneider?" Kellogg asked.
"Yes, sir. I'll be all right."
"Okay, then, that's done," Commissioner Kellogg said. "Miller and Schneider can bring him up to speed on the way in from the airport. You're going to the airport right now, Castillo?"
"Just as soon as my sergeant gets here from the arsenal. He may already be here."
"Okay, let's get started on hauling in these lunatics and putting in the taps. We may get lucky, despite what Britton thinks. I sure as hell hope so."
[SIX]
In the unmarked car on the way to the airport, Castillo called Secretary Hall again.
"Sir, I regret the hour but you said I should keep you in the loop."
"What's going on, Charley?"
"The commo gear here has been set up and linked with the one in your office and Bragg, so you'll have it when you get here. Dick Miller and Sergeant Schneider, who know what's going on here, will meet your plane and be available while you're here. There's nothing else I can do here, so I'm headed back for Bragg to meet General McNab. I'm on my way to the airport now."
"How are you doing with the FBI?"
"The FBI here has sent the photographs and the names of the two Somalians who were here over their net to the FBI office in Tulsa. The SAC tells me they will run them past the people at Spartan right away. They-Tulsa-told him they know the Spartan director of security; he's retired FBI. So it shouldn't take much time to confirm these are the guys we're looking for. It may already have been done. I'll bet my last two bucks that it's our guys."
"We're betting a lot more than your last two bucks," Hall said.
"The commissioner decided to bring in the mullahs from the temple to see if we can learn something," Charley said to change the subject. "He also wanted to tap their phones and was going to start getting the necessary warrants from a judge. I told him we had blanket authority to tap without a warrant. Do we?"
"Christ, you told him that and didn't know?"