4.

The family practice of Drs. Hanson, Walsh and Lawrence were suddenly under the intense scrutiny of the various branches of U.S. law enforcement concerned with the safety of President Desmond Ogilvey, as well as former President Henry Britland, and member of Congress Sandra O'Brien Britland.

One Regina Franklin was found to be a resident of New Jersey, employed by Dr. Walsh as a receptionist. Once this came to light, Sunday mentioned that this family practice had been hers since she was a child, and that she had been in New Jersey visiting her parents when she suspected she was pregnant. Her suspicion was confirmed after consulting with Dr. Walsh, and it was now believed that his receptionist was one and the same 'Gina Franklin', author of the threatening letter.

"It stands to reason that's how she was able to get your actual residential address, Henry," Jack Collins said to his charge. "Note that it wasn't forwarded to you from Washington, or any other obvious governmental department. It was sent directly to Drumdoe. All this 'Gina Franklin' had to do was take the address straight off the forms Sunday would have filled out at during her appointment."

Henry sat with his hands clasped together, thumbs supporting his chin. "You're right, Collins…I hadn't even thought of that. What have background checks on this woman turned up?"

"Absolutely nothing, unfortunately," Collins said with obvious disappointment, "not even a speeding ticket. But regardless of her squeaky-clean background, this letter is quite damning. The Bureau has just secured a warrant; Regina Franklin will be in custody within the hour."

"Good," Henry sighed, "I want this to be over as quickly as possible."

"We all do, sir," Collins said in agreement.

The Federal Agents assigned the task of tracking Regina Franklin at her place of employment would be disappointed. Entering the premises, they were informed by the receptionist on duty that Mondays were Regina's days off.

Special Agent Anthony Seitz could not mistake the look of curiosity on the young woman's face that was presently sitting at the admittance desk.

"Yeah, she's here on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays," she cheerily informed Agent Seitz, "I'm here all the other days."

"Thank you…Kelly," Agent Seitz replied, eyeing the young woman's nametag. He turned to his partner, Special Agent Gary Flint and quietly asked him to put in a call to the team assigned the duty of tracking Regina Franklin at her place of residence.

"Tell them to be on the lookout for her there," he suggested. Agent Flint nodded, and removed a cell phone to place the call.

"May I have a few words with Dr. Walsh, Kelly?" Agent Seitz asked.

"Well, he's with a patient right now, Agent Seitz," she responded with noticeable emphasis, clearly enjoying the exchange, "perhaps you'd be willing to wait for a few more minutes?"

"That will be fine. Page him, and let him know we're here, please."

"Of course, Agent Seitz," Kelly said indulgently, and picked up the receiver.

Agent Seitz turned to face his partner and rolled his eyes. If there was one thing that annoyed him, it was dealing with ditsy people who clearly watched too much television, and were excited beyond belief when they became part of any kind of police investigation. He suspected Kelly was such a person, even if she wasn't exhibiting all the full-blown symptoms.

"So," Kelly said after paging Dr. Walsh, clearly directing her words at the agents, "what's Regina done?"

Agent Seitz turned to face her and said, "I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you, I'm afraid."

"Ah, top secret, right?" Kelly said, winking. Agent Seitz tried his utmost to conceal his indignation.

"She's just been implicated in some pretty nasty business, that's all," Agent Flint offered, having just ended his phone conversation. "We just need to know that she's not into something over her head."

Kelly looked at him with wide eyes. "Hey – she's not in any real trouble is she?"

"She might be," Agent Flint responded, "that's why we're looking for her."

"Well, she's only been here for like, two months!" Kelly exclaimed, then lowered her voice to take on a more hushed tone: "She hasn't been messing with patient files, has she? I heard about a case down in Florida where some lady was taking confidential patient files and blackmailing the doctor's clients!"

Agent Seitz raised a hand to stop Kelly's onslaught. "It's not that," he said crisply, trying to maintain a low profile in an attempt to keep the people in the waiting area from becoming more curious than they already were.

Taking some offense to his tone Kelly said: "Do you guys even have a warrant? I don't wanna be saying anything that could land Regina in trouble. I know you FBI guys go digging for information from people who think they have an obligation to tell you everything! I'm not dumb – I don't have to tell you anything at all if I don't want to!"

"Yes, we have a warrant; and don't worry, nothing you've said here is of any great importance at this time," Agent Flint said coolly, knowing that his partner was irked by the young woman's diatribe.

Just then an elderly-looking man dressed in a white coat entered the reception area.

"Kelly, you said the FBI was here to see me?" he said with an edge of incredulity.

"Dr. Walsh, I presume?" Agent Seitz queried, stepping forward.

"Yes," the doctor answered hesitantly.

"I'm Special Agent Seitz – this is Special Agent Flint. Don't be alarmed; we'd just like to ask you a few questions about one of your employees – Regina Franklin."

Dr. Walsh seemed to relax noticeably. "Regina? What would you like to know? And please, try to make this as brief as possible, I have patients waiting."

"We'll only be a few minutes, I promise, Dr. Walsh. Is there a place we can speak privately?" Agent Seitz asked, eyeing the now very interested patients in the waiting room, who were whispering excitedly to each other.

"We could step into my examining room," the older man suggested.

"That will be fine," Agent Seitz said. The two agents followed the doctor down a short hall and turned into the first room on the left. A vaguely nauseating antiseptic smell seemed to permeate the air.

"Look, Regina's pretty new here," Dr. Walsh stated. "I don't really know how much help I can be."

"Your other receptionist – Kelly – said Regina has been here for about two months. Is that correct?" Agent Seitz asked.

"That's about right," Dr. Walsh responded.

"And during that time, did she seem at all disturbed, depressed, or exhibit any kind of odd behaviour?" Agent Flint asked.

"Odd behaviour?" repeated Dr. Walsh, "not that I ever could see."

"How would you rate her performance as a receptionist?" asked Agent Seitz.

"Regina's very professional, competent and even sociable, Agent Seitz. I really have not had any problems with her whatsoever for the two months she's been here. I have to admit I'm quite surprised she's under investigation."

"I see," said Agent Seitz. "I'd like to ask you for a copy of the resume and reference letters Regina sent you when she applied for this position, if that's alright, doctor,"

"Certainly," Dr. Walsh said, "anything to help out, though I doubt it will be of any real use. Regina's not the kind I would associate with criminal activities. Just out of curiosity, exactly why is Regina under investigation, Agent Seitz?"

Agent Seitz decided to be up-front with Dr. Walsh. "We suspect her of writing a threatening letter against President Desmond Ogilvey. A warrant has been issued for her arrest."

"How distressing!" Dr. Walsh exclaimed. "For her sake, I hope you're all mistaken. But anyway, on the way out, I'll have Kelly make those copies you wanted. Are there any other questions, agents?"

"None at this time, Dr. Walsh. Thank you for your time." Agent Seitz shook Dr. Walsh's hand and exited the room with his partner behind him.

Buckling himself into the service car after obtaining the requested files, Agent Flint said: "Something doesn't feel right about all this,"

"I feel the same way," Agent Seitz replied with a frown. "Do you think we're chasing the wrong suspect?"

"Well, once we have this Regina Franklin in custody, it will be a pretty cut-and-dried case of comparing the handwriting in the letter and samples of her own. If the lab lands a match, we've got our woman."

"Then let's hope our guys pick her up at her home. Last thing we need is this nut-case acting out on her psycho fantasies."

"If it's her," Agent Flint countered. "But for President Ogilvey's sake, I really hope it is."

"For Mr. Britland and his wife, too," Agent Seitz murmured. "Let's not forget they were targeted in that letter as well."