Couples
Chapter 87
Lorne isn't crazy about driving close to four hours to the Mohawk Valley. Still, he wants to talk to the Jensen family and isn't about to add to their grief by summoning them to the city. Kate's contact is looking into the unusual interest in Marcus Jensen's death. He's hoping he'll hear something from her during his trip.
The Big Apple in late August is hot and sticky, but both the temperature and humidity fall as Lorne heads north. After a couple of hours, he turns off the air conditioning and opens the car windows. The breeze is enough to keep him comfortable, and the rush of air reminds him of driving through the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania.
He doesn't regret moving to be with Lanie. As far as he's concerned, it was the best decision he ever made. However, the close quarters in the city can subconsciously raise the tension level of everyday living. Lorne can understand why Rick keeps a house away from the island of concrete. He can feel his muscles relax with some space around him. After the stress of wedding planning, the release is welcome.
As he approaches the westward bend of his route, he notes a text coming in from Kate. Taking the first available exit, he pulls into a fast-food restaurant's parking lot to read it. She attached a carefully worded communication from Sergeant Smith. "I've been informed that the governmental interest in the case is above my pay grade."
Kate adds that both she and Rick interpret that as having something to do with classified intelligence. Lorne agrees. At this point, he doubts he'll get much of anything useful out of the Jensen family. But he's come this far. It's worth a try.
"Jack, what the hell is this?" the director demands, handing the senior asset a printout. "Can't your son and his wife keep their noses out of business that doesn't concern them?"
"Obviously, it does concern them, or I wouldn't be reading this," Jack responds mildly. "Oh, Marcus Jensen. I thought we had the coroner in Mohawk under control."
"We did," the director agrees, "but the family wouldn't accept the finding."
"So this fellow Faulkner is reviewing it and somehow pulled Kate and Richard into it. We should have made sure the body was cremated."
The director shakes his head. "The Jensen family wouldn't allow it. And now we have a mess on our hands. Jensen's death has wide-reaching implications. Even if we read Beckett and Castle in, the questions are already out there. We can't put a lid on all of them."
"But if there's anyone who could think up a workable cover story, it's Richard." Jack insists. "If we're going to do damage control, reading him and Kate in would be a strategic move."
The director scowls, shaking his head. "All right, do it."
Lorne pulls into the drive of the home of Pearl and Bjorn Jensen. The house, on the edge of a stretch of farmland, looks to date back at least to the 1930s. The fields appear to be growing several different crops. Rose bushes line the front of the structure. As Lorne approaches the front steps, he waves away a ladybug that lands on his hand.
Pearl answers Lorne's ring, immediately inviting him to sit on an overstuffed couch in an old-fashioned parlor. Bjorn joins them, as do Marcus's two sisters, Agnes and Christine. Christine perches on the edge of a wingback chair. "Tell us what you found, Dr. Faulkner."
Lorne takes a breath. "Your brother showed signs of exposure to a particular type of poison, a type that might be found in pesticides."
"I knew it wasn't natural causes," Bjorn declares. "That boy was never sick a day in his life."
"He had the usual colds and things that we all got, but nothing serious," Pearl interjects. "He was quite healthy."
"It made him a good advertisement for what he taught," Agnes adds.
"And what was that?" Lorne inquires.
"Sustainable organic farming," Christine explains. "Natural pest control, like ladybugs to eat aphids. He rotated crops and avoided commercial monocultures that would be more vulnerable to an emerging threat. He went all over the world teaching his methods."
"The chemical companies hated him," Agnes interrupts. "Could they have poisoned him?"
"How?" Christine demands. "Marcus wouldn't go near a pesticide."
"He might not have known he was doing it," Agnes argues. "What if someone slipped it in his herb tea?"
Lorne holds up his hand. "Let's take a step back. You said that Marcus traveled a lot. Where did he travel before he became ill?"
"Ukraine," Pearl recalls.
"He said it was the breadbasket for the whole area, and some of the farmers were anxious to learn his techniques," Christine puts in. "But they might also be using chemicals banned in the United States. Marcus would have tried to help them stop."
"And how long after he returned from Ukraine did he develop symptoms?" Lorne questions.
Pearl looks at Bjorn. "You picked him up at the airport. How was he?"
"He was a little off," Bjorn admits. "It was a long flight. I thought he was just tired."
"And he didn't go out into the fields the next day," Agnes remembers. "When he was home he always went out into the fields. After that, he just got sicker until we took him to the hospital. The doctors said they thought he picked up an infection, maybe a virus, but they didn't know what it was."
"That never made sense to me," Christine claims. "Marcus was always so careful. He worried about organisms that weren't part of the local ecosystem invading and upsetting the natural balance. He would have taken precautions against picking anything up and bringing it home."
"That's why we were so suspicious," Agnes explains. "Did someone poison my brother, Dr. Faulkner?"
"I can't say whether he ingested a toxic substance accidentally or someone administered it to him. But your brother didn't die of natural causes. Of that, I'm sure," Lorne declares.
Bjorn gets to his feet. "If someone killed my son, they should pay."
"I knew it!" Rick exclaims, slapping his palm against the counter as Kate ends their call with Lorne. "A man dies of poisoning with a nerve agent after returning from a former Soviet country. He's a spy!"
"Babe, you heard Lorne," Kate cautions. "They use banned chemicals over there. And he would have been examining plants and stuff. It could have been an accident."
"But if it was an accident, why try to cover it up?" Rick protests. "Why not call it an accidental poisoning, end of story? The family grieves, maybe starts a foundation in the deceased's name to protect people against harmful pesticides, and life goes on. Perhaps they even sell more rutabagas or whatever they grow.
"But there was a coverup, Kate. A coverup could come from two places, a company that hawks deadly pesticides or good old Uncle Sam. Given that Marcus traveled the world, he would have made a perfect intelligence asset. And the agency's kneejerk reaction to his demise would have been a coverup. It all fits, Kate. Marcus Jensen discovered information the other side didn't want him to know. The Russians still have a heavy presence in Ukraine. They sent someone to take him out."
"Babe, even if that's true, there's no way we could find out or prove it."
"If someone is killing our spies with nerve agents, then the agency already knows, Kate. There's got to be a way to dig out the truth."