Her handwritten notes were gone.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Lucy found it hard to focus on her physical training, and she didn’t know who she should go to about her missing notes. She mentally replayed what she’d done with them last night, before finding Tony unconscious in his office. She’d brought down his file, plus her list of people from Weber’s book, but she’d left her personal notes-questions to herself, facts from the book, comments about Tony’s notes-in her desk. She was certain of it. Almost.
Paula Kean entered the gym near the end of training and spoke with Harden. A few seconds later, Harden called Lucy over.
“You’re free to go with Agent Kean,” he told her.
Lucy glanced at the class supervisor, trying to assess why she was being pulled out. Kean’s face was impassive, as usual.
Lucy followed her out and down the hall. Kean stopped just outside her office door. “Assistant Director Hans Vigo needs to speak with you.” She lifted her chin. “I see his visit is not a surprise to you.”
“Kate told me he was here.”
“I’ll clear your absence in Warrants with your instructor, but you’ll have to make up the work. You can get the assignment and notes from New Agent Aragon-he’s a friend of yours, right?”
“Yes.” Jason would not only have good notes, but he also had the most experience with warrants and would be able to answer any questions. “Thank you.”
“We haven’t spoken since you found Agent Presidio. If you need to talk, please let me know. Tony was a good man, and he obviously saw something special in you.”
For the first time since she’d arrived, Lucy felt comfortable with Kean. Though her tone was formal, it had an edge of sincerity that Lucy appreciated.
“Thank you. He was a terrific teacher. We’ll all miss him.”
Kean smiled, a rare warmth in her pale eyes. “He had a reputation for being tough on the new agents, but you seemed to hold up well.” She stepped into her office, then stopped and said, “I know you’re a personal friend of Dr. Vigo’s, but if you’d like me to join you, I’m available.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m okay.” Kean didn’t say anything about the meeting Kate had alluded to at lunch, and Lucy didn’t ask.
She crossed the courtyard and Agent Trevor Seward was talking to two new agents in the lounge. “Hold up,” he told her.
She waited for him in the hall, though she was antsy to see Hans.
“Don’t you have Warrants this afternoon?”
“Yes, but Dr. Vigo called me into Tony’s office.”
“I’ll walk you down.” He touched her arm. “Are you okay?”
“Everyone is asking me if I’m okay. I am.” She glanced at him with a half smile. “But thank you.”
“It’s my job to help you and the rest of your class get through the remaining weeks. I was here only five years ago; it can be hell.”
“I can handle it. Growing pains, that’s it.”
Seward stopped at the secure staircase that led to the basement. He swiped his card over the security panel, and the door unlocked. He opened it for her. “Just remember, Agent Laughlin and I are here to help if you need to talk to someone about what happened with Agent Presidio, or anything.”
Why did everyone think she needed to talk to someone? She’d been around death and dying enough to know the process. But she simply said, “I appreciate it.”
She went down to Tony’s office alone. Hans was sitting at Tony’s desk going through stacks of files.
“Dr. Vigo.”
Hans smiled and stood to greet Lucy. “Sit down.” He returned to his seat but moved files to one side so they could talk.
Lucy had known Hans for seven years. Though they’d met after tragedy, Hans and her brother Dillon had worked together often and she’d seen Hans across the dinner table dozens of times over the years because of his friendship with her brother. Hans had helped reinstate Kate to the FBI after she’d gone rogue, had worked with Lucy’s other sister-in-law years ago, and had given Lucy a glowing recommendation into the FBI. The Kincaids considered Hans part of the family.
Hans wasn’t one for chitchat; he came straight to the point. “Tell me what you were working on for Agent Presidio.”
Lucy said, “I’m truly sorry about his death. You were friends.”
Hans stared over her shoulder, his eyes unfocused. “Yes,” he said quietly. Then he shook his head and looked directly at her. “I’m clearing up Tony’s files and taking over his classes, until we find someone to replace him. I’ve taught here before, so there shouldn’t be any disruption. Any help you can give smoothing things over with your class would help.”
“Anything you need.”
“I talked to Agent Madeaux last night about Tony’s work on the Weber case. I don’t know that I’ll be getting involved, but Tony left a message for me yesterday before he boarded the plane. I didn’t get it until after he died.”
Hans continued, “Agent Madeaux said you were helping Tony. How so?”
“Before he went to New York, he gave me his file on the McMahon case because we’d been talking about it and Rosemary Weber and whether her death could have had something to do with the Cinderella Strangler investigation.”
“You lost me.”
“I’ll backtrack.” Lucy relayed the information as if she were giving a report. She explained to Hans about Suzanne contacting her Wednesday morning, discussing Weber’s murder with Tony, and the work she’d been doing reviewing the McMahon file and the analysis of Weber’s books while Tony was in New York. “Tony thought it was suspicious that Weber’s notes from her first book were missing from the library archives.”
“He suspected her murder had something to do with the McMahon case, and not the book she was currently researching?”
“Yes, I’m certain of it, though he didn’t explicitly say that. He said something was bugging him and he wanted to look as his notes again. So I agreed to meet him in his office. When I got here, he was unconscious.”
“Where is his file? Did you bring it?”
“I had it with me last night.” She glanced around the office, but it was much messier than yesterday. She gestured to the table just inside the door. “When I saw him, I dropped the file on that table but it’s not there now. It’s a file folder about an inch thick.”
“I’ll find it.”
Lucy frowned and looked around the office. “It should be here.”
“Lucy, it’s okay.”
“I need to find it, sir.”
Hans smiled. “You can call me Hans when we’re alone. No need to be formal.”
“It’s important. I think someone was in my dorm room today.”
“Someone broke in?” Hans raised his eyebrows.
“I don’t know. But I made some personal notes about the McMahon case, and I kept them in my desk. I’m almost certain that’s where I put them, but maybe I grabbed them when I picked up Tony’s file.”
He eyed her closely. “But you don’t think so.”
She shook her head. “I remember everything clearly from the minute I found him, but I can’t remember if I picked up my notes. He’d asked for something specific-he wanted a list of every person Weber wrote about, and what she said about them.”
“Because he thought someone might have a motive, even ten years later.”
“Yes. So I typed up my notes. I included those in his folder, not my handwritten notes.” The more Lucy thought about the series of events, the more certain she was that she’d left her written notes in her desk.
“Tony over-involved himself on too many of his cases, particularly cases involving young children, sometimes to the point of obsession. It’s one reason he was here-he’s brilliant, but…” His voice trailed off.
“I didn’t think he acted obsessed, just contemplative. Curious.”
“You didn’t know him like I did,” Hans said, his voice switching from friendly to authoritarian.
Lucy wondered if she should mention Tony’s interest in Peter McMahon, decided yes. “Tony asked me to find Peter McMahon, Rachel’s younger brother. I don’t think he believed that Peter was responsible for Weber’s murder, but…” She hesitated.