Garrison Kennedy looked even more out of sorts than before. He was visibly red-faced and sweating as he entered Abramson's office, and was nervously pushing his disheveled hair out of his face with his hand as he walked through the door.
Adrian was already there, listening to stories that his new boss was telling about President Stoddard and their escapades as young men, and Natalie was in Adrian's office, using his computer to look up anything she could find on Sharon Grier.
"Kennedy. Glad to see you… Are you okay?" asked Abramson, as he sat in a too small leather executive chair that formerly belonged to Sharon Grier.
"Uh. Yeah. Fine. Sorry I'm late." Kennedy said, even though he had arrived less than five minutes after the meeting was supposed to start.
"That's fine. I was just boring Adrian here with stories from my sordid past with John Stoddard." said Abramson. "I won't keep you gentlemen long, since I know it is late in the day and you likely have things you want to do this evening. I've been looking over the case files for both the Grier case and the IED Case, and am interested in your views on things.
But first, I spoke with the police who have run any prints they found at Grier's apartment. They found prints belonging to a professional hitman, Sammy Miller. The only anomaly is that the only time he shows up on surveillance video is the evening of the murder"
"So we still don't know who rigged the door?" Monk asked.
"Right, prior to that, anyone on surveillance either lived in the building or was known to have worked there. Of those that worked there, nobody was at the building during any odd hours. Grier had a maid, but she has been away for 2 weeks visiting family in Puerto Rico, so that pretty much leaves us with someone in the building or someone who accessed the building through some other means.
Concerning the IEDs, there has still been nobody to claim responsibility, however, forensics has a bead on some of the hardware used in the Cannon Building incident. It seems the particular detonation device used is custom made by a company in Alexandria – C&G Demolition. We're working with them now to try to retrieve a list of customers.
What have you gentlemen discovered in your investigations?" Abramson asked, looking at Kennedy as the more senior official.
"Um. Well…we know that there was a list of cities, though we don't know why those specific cities. We're assuming they have some strategic importance. For instance, one of the cities named is Port Arthur, Texas. That is down near our strategic oil reserves. So…we're thinking maybe a foreign entity trying to cause instability." Kennedy said.
"Do you agree with that assessment, Mr. Monk?" asked Abramson.
Monk thought for a moment about how much he wanted to reveal at that time, and decided there was no harm in letting him know the basics.
"Actually, I have a different theory. In the areas which have been struck, you see a lot of similarities and some differences. Several spots used Libyan arms. Foreign powers wouldn't need those. They have their own, unless you are talking about rogue terrorists like Al Qaeda - but they would have claimed responsibility.
Boston used a very sophisticated underwater drone. That could have been foreign but it isn't necessarily required. And the Cannon building, it was a rather simple device that could have been thrown together by your average street gang.
My guess is that this is a domestic terror group with a centralized hub but acting largely as semi-autonomous units. I say centralized hub because of the Libyan implements and the drone. That speaks of some high level of organization and of money. But, if we are to believe the Cannon building is part of the same series of events, and we believe it is, then it's like a smaller group was following a set of general orders from the hub."
"And why do you think nobody has taken responsibility?" asked Abramson.
"If we don't know who they are and what they want, then we can't adequately address the situation. The more uncertainty... the more terror. I agree instability is a goal. I can't see them lying silent forever though." Monk said. "What's the point? Unless they don't really want anything at all and just like blowing stuff up, which is unlikely given the level of sophistication of items such as the drone.
And then there is the issue of how did they get access to privileged information such as Presidential travel routes and the location of the undersea monitor? My thoughts are it came from within this agency." Said Adrian.
"What? Really?" asked Kennedy.
"We're the only centrally organized group to have the access to it, unless you want to believe that there is someone in each agency feeding the central hub the data." Said Monk.
'Makes sense." Said Abramson. "Any ideas who might be feeding data?"
"Possibly." Said Adrian. "But, for right now I would like to hold back on that information until I get a better feel for what we're dealing with."
"Fair enough." Said Abramson. "So…now we have the area of responsibilities and what I would like for you to work on. Mr. Monk, John tells me that you work best without a lot of oversight from the higher ups. I would like you and your wife to continue to pursue the IED case and see what you can find out. Kennedy, I know there is a personal stake in solving Grier's murder, so I'm putting you on her case. See if you can find out who might have hired Sammy Miller.
I would like to have these briefings every other day if possible. We can go more or less if the situation warrants it. Good work, gentleman. I look forward to working with you both."
When Adrian exited Abramson's office, he made a beeline to Natalie. Opening the door, he announced "Kennedy's involved."
"What?!" she said, looking up from the computer.
"Oh, yeah. He came in looking an absolute wreck. Since we know he did not have positive feelings for Ms. Grier, it wasn't from grief.
He's nervous. He's nervous about something or someone related to the case. And…get this..when Abramson asked him who he thought was responsible, he pointed him towards foreign actors. Right now, we've seen nothing to indicate a foreign government is involved. I believe for some reason he was trying to deflect our attention elsewhere. Have you found anything on Grier?" he asked.
"Uh, yes, and no. Sharon Grier first shows up in the public record in 2003. At that point in time she was working for Senate Majority leader Harry Kingston. I looked up her credentials for her education and they don't pan out. I looked at the specific class lists and there is no Sharon Grier or anyone that matches that name." She said.
"Marriages?" He asked.
"No marriages. No family that I can tell. She just appears out of nowhere." Natalie replied.
"How can the director of the FBI be an unknown? Unless she was previously an intelligence asset. But if that were the Case, they wouldn't want the risk of doxing her by putting her face out there all over the place." Adrian said.
Natalie laughed. "Doxing her?"
Adrian grimaced. " Yeah dox. Out her. Identify who she is. Document her identity."
"I know what dox is. I am just surprised to hear you use the term." She explained.
"Sweetheart, this is 2017. And I am on the internet. Get with the program." he said cockily.
Natalie bit her tongue but made a mental note. For later use.
"Alright Bill Gates, if she's not CIA, then what?" she asked.
"Not saying she wasn't . But it would be strange. If Ms. Grier has no known past then someone didn't do their job in letting her climb as high as she did. Let's start with Kingston and find out how he came to know her."
