Agent Williams nodded. "That would explain why nobody saw it."
An idea occurred to Grant. What if this wasn't what they thought? "Hang on. You say that nobody actually saw him dump it in?"
She shook her head. "No. No one has reported ―"
Grant interrupted, "And nobody knows where he dumped it?"
"No."
It all fit. It all came down to why. The net result of poison in the All American Canal was what? Grant turned to Agent Williams. "Have they shut the head gates yet, the ones feeding water into the canal?"
"Yes," she said. "They shut them as soon as the report came in."
Grant smiled. "He's bluffing."
Agent Williams looked uncomfortable. "What makes you say that?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Agent Williams looked over at Lloyd, who shrugged his shoulders.
Grant rubbed his forehead. "Look, what's the net result of poisoning the water?"
Lloyd answered. "Kill a ton of people?"
Grant shook his head. "I could buy that if this were somebody else. But assuming this is the same guy that blew the Glen Canyon Dam, Davis Dam, and the California Aqueduct, it wouldn't add up. What was the first thing that we did after the call came in?" Grant answered his own question. "We shut the head gates, the same as when he blew the California Aqueduct. He knew that's what we would do."
Agent Williams seemed to be catching on. "Okay, I can see why dumping poison in the canal would make us shut it down — that makes sense — but what makes you think it's a hoax?"
Grant smiled. "There's one thing inconsistent with the other bombings."
"Yeah, this wasn't a bombing, it was a poisoning," Lloyd said.
Grant shook his head. "Okay, but even more inconsistent is the fact that he phoned. That's the first time he's done that."
Agent Williams looked confused. "I don't know what difference it makes. Even if we believe he's bluffing, we still need to check it out, just to be safe. It's not like we can open the gates and take the risk the poison really exists."
Grant knew neither the agent nor Lloyd was following his line of reasoning. In fact he wasn't sure he knew himself. All he knew was that he'd just been given clue number four, and it fit. All four attacks were intended to send more of the Colorado River downstream. He felt it more than knew it.
"No, you're right, Agent Williams. I'm not saying we shouldn't close the gates. The point I'm trying to make is about the bomber himself. He doesn't care what happens to the canal, and by warning us, he's telling us his intent is not to kill, he just wants us to divert more water downstream."
"But what's downstream? Just Mexico."
Shauna walked over from the river and joined the conversation. "The Mexican Dam is called Morales. It's similar to Imperial Dam in that its primary purpose is to divert water for irrigation."
Lloyd looked confused. "So even if our bomber's intent is to steal all this water for the Mexicans, would their canal even hold it?"
"No way," said Grant. "Their canal isn't even as big as the All American."
"Then what's below that?" asked Agent Williams.
"Nothing," said Shauna, "just a dry riverbed. Morales diverts almost the entire river west."
Agent Williams sounded surprised. "Then where does the water go that continues downstream?"
Shauna shook her head. "Basically nowhere. There isn't much left. By then the riverbed is almost dry."
The special agent looked confused. "All the water? Dry riverbed? You mean the Colorado River is gone after Morales?"
Grant winced. It was like he had just been gut punched. His mind began racing and the voices of the others started to fade. The puzzle fit. He had all the pieces. And now that he did, he felt like an idiot for not seeing it before. It was the damn Mexican border; he hadn't been thinking beyond it. He had been hypnotized by the old "that's not my job" theory, the same theory he hated when others adopted it. In order to understand the intentions and motives of the Colorado River bomber, he needed to look at the Colorado River as a whole.
Shauna continued, "Yeah. Like I said before, we ended up signing a treaty with Mexico to guarantee what they get today. Without the treaty, the river wouldn't even make it there. The Americans would use it all."
Agent Williams thought about that for a minute. "What about where the river hits the ocean?"
Shauna laughed. "The delta? There isn't one. The water doesn't make it there any more. The whole thing is dried up."
Grant jumped back in, but his voice was dreamy. "People who visited the delta in the early 1900's described endless marshes, filled with millions of waterfowl. Huge fish hunted in the brackish water. The delta stretched across almost fifty miles. Explorers considered the Colorado River Delta one of the most incredible places on earth. Jaguars were even seen hunting there."
Agent Williams looked between Shauna and Grant. "And it's all gone now?"
Grant nodded. "All of it. The river bed dries up almost sixty miles from the ocean; it just kind of disappears into the sand."
Lloyd, who had been silent, argued, "But every map I've ever seen, shows the Colorado River emptying into the Gulf of California."
Grant looked him in the eyes and shook his head. "Not any more. Not for decades."
Lloyd rubbed his eyes, then responded with vigor. "Hey, I'm no tree hugger, but that stinks. So we need water. Fine. Divert a little here and there, okay. But, all of it? Every drop? We dry up a delta that big so we can have water fountains and palm trees in Los Angeles and Las Vegas? That seems a little over the top."
Agent Williams spoke again, almost pleading. "I don't understand how this could happen."
Grant hung his head. "Well, it did. It was a different time." He knew how it happened. Everyone had been looking out for number one. When the U.S. government allocated the water in the Colorado River between the western states and Mexico in 1930, the squeaky wheel got the oil. California squeaked the loudest, and the delta didn't squeak at all. Early in life Grant learned that water flowed downhill. But, after joining the Bureau, Grant learned that water flowed uphill, toward money, and in the West, nobody had more money than California.
Grant continued. "Well, I think we finally have a plausible motive for our bomber."
"Do we ever," Lloyd said.
Grant felt funny. They had just cracked the case wide open. The Colorado River bomber was an environmentalist. He was sure of it. Now the FBI would know where to look. They could track him down. But Grant didn't feel as good as he should, and he sensed that the others didn't either. It had been easier when they thought the bomber wanted to destroy, maim, or kill. Now the motive turned out to be restoring a wildlife habitat. Now what? Grant knew what they had to do, but his feelings had changed.
"So what's next?" asked Agent Williams.
Grant considered. "First, we need to tell Phil."
Agent Williams nodded.
Grant pointed south. "Then somebody needs to contact Mexico again, and let them know what's happening."
Grant knew what else they needed to do. Subconsciously, he'd known it all along. "And finally, we need to start making arrangements to go into Mexico. With all the water that's headed downstream, the Colorado River Delta is going to be wet again, after over fifty years. And I have a feeling our environmentalist is going to be there to celebrate it."
The helicopter blew dust in all directions as it lifted off from the Palo Verde Diversion Dam. Grant caught a final glimpse of Don Simpson from above. The head of the Palo Verde Irrigation District still looked nervous. He had been extremely anxious when he found out they were leaving. But, all things considered, things were fine at Palo Verde. The water levels had been slowly dropping since peak, and the rate at which the dike was washing away had slowed. The farmers were lucky, especially compared to what might have been if they had not intentionally broken their dam. Grant had tried to reassure Don of that fact before leaving. Not that Grant could blame him. Many of the farmers would hold Don personally responsible for the dike's failure. Blame waited on both sides of tough decisions.