Chapter 9

Charlie rummaged in his bag and pulled out his notebook.

Don held up the laptop, "You need this? I can end my game."

"Hmm? No. Keep playing. I have to think this out first." He began writing in his notebook. He was still writing when the crime scene techs arrived.

Don stood when the van pulled up. "Hey, guys," he said as the door opened. "Scott! How's it going?"

"Hey, Agent Eppes, what's up?" Scott said. "I hear it was your SUV that got shot up. You okay?"

"I'm fine. My brother Charlie and I swapped cars earlier. He was driving. But he's okay too. Scott Ward, have you met Special Agent Liz Warner? And this is my brother, Charlie Eppes."

Hands were shaken all around, then they all walked toward Don's SUV. Charlie pointed out the bullet hole in the seat, then they stepped back and let Scott's team do their work.

As they waited, Charlie said, "I'll need everything you have on the people we know are involved in these thefts. And, when you get the students' records, I'll need them too." He shook his head. "I still don't think they're involved in the thefts, the murder, the shooting. They're just students and protest seems to be what students do for a living."

Don chuckled. "Right. If they can't find anything big to protest, they protest the quality of food service. But I'll get you everything I can. You always need more data."

Liz grinned at that. "I've never seen anyone who can go through data like you do, Charlie."

Don's cell phone rang. "Eppes... Okay, great... I'll let him know... All right. Keep me posted. ... Yearh, they're here now, going over my SUV... We're going to Charlie's house, but then I'll be back in... Okay, see you later."

He flipped the phone shut and met Charlie's curious gaze. "Let me know what?"

"That license number you gave me? That Chevy is registered to a Jason LoBella. He's one of the students who filed a complaint against you, right?"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah," he whispered.

"Of course, he claims his car was stolen. But that's what they all say. Colby's checking on his story now."

Charlie turned, shaking his head. "It has to be true. That his car was stolen, I mean. Jason's a good kid. He would never try to kill me."

"And I'll bet you thought Greg Spencer would never beat you up, either, right?"

Charlie glared at Don. "You're right. I didn't. And I was wrong then, so I must be wrong now. Is that the way it is, Don?"

"No, Buddy." Don put a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "I just want you to be open to the possibility, so it doesn't affect your math."

"Don, even in the Finn Montgomery ... suicide... I didn't let my feelings about the case affect my math." At Don's skeptical look, Charlie continued, "Granted my feelings made me work on the case after everyone else was convinced Finn had killed himself. But was there a single result I came up with that was wrong?"

"No. Everything you came up with was right."

"And it will be right this time, too." Charlie looked up. "Here comes Scott. Let's see what they found."

"We found the bullet, Don," Scott said, holding up an evidence bag. "I understand the shooting took place at a different location."

Charlie led the way in his Prius, followed by Liz and Don in his SUV, who were in turn followed by the crime scene team in their van. Charlie pulled over, got out and waited for the others. Don turned on his flashing lights and got out to direct traffic. "Charlie," he said, "where were you when they shot at you?"

"Over here," Charlie pointed, and waited as Don stopped the oncoming cars. "See the glass?"

"And the skidmarks," Don said. "You peeled out after them, didn't you?"

"Well, wouldn't you?"

"Of course. But I'm not a civilian. And being a consultant doesn't count."

Don directed traffic while Scott's team picked up what little evidence there was. When they finished, Scott approached Charlie, "Where was their car when you first noticed it?"

Charlie pointed to a driveway about half a block away. "They pulled out of that driveway."

When the team finished their work, they headed back to the office. Don, Liz and Charlie headed for Charlie's house. As they agreed, Don parked on the street, and Charlie pulled into the driveway.

Alan met them at the door. "I expected you earlier. The ribeyes are sitting out, but I turned the grill off a while ago." He studied his sons' faces. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Don and Charlie said together.

"Liz, give me a hand here. Did those two guys answer just a little bit too quickly?"

Liz laughed. "Mr. Eppes, everything is fine. It's just been a very long day."

"Oh, great. Now the two of them have gotten you to lie for them. And, please, call me Alan." He led the way into the living room. "Who would like a beer?"

All three raised their hands, and Charlie said, "Thanks, Dad." He headed toward the back door. "I'm going to start the grill up again."

"You sit. I'll get the grill. You drink your beer. Maybe if I get enough alcohol into the three of you, one of you will tell me the truth."

--

It was getting dark as Colby and David pulled into the parking lot near Jason LoBella's dorm. "So," Colby said, "It sounds like Don didn't believe LoBella's story about his car being stolen."

David chuckled as he glanced at Colby. "And you do believe it?"

Colby laughed. "Not at all."

As they entered the dorm, David sniffed. "I didn't expect to smell pot at Cal Sci. They need their braincells here. You'd think they'd stay away from that stuff."

"True," Colby said, "But it is the weekend. Even geniuses need a break."

"Let's hope our guy is feeling mellow enough to tell us the truth."

They walked down the hallway to Jason LoBella's room, and David knocked on the frame of the open door. "Jason LoBella?"

A young man with close cropped curly black hair looked up from his desk, and pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. "Yes? Oh, you're the cops here about my car?"

The agents flashed their badges and both said, "FBI."

"FBI? Since when do the feds investigate stolen cars?"

"Since the vehicle in question was used in an attack on a consultant working on an FBI case," Colby said.

"Consultant? What are you talking about? Did you find my car?"

"No sign of the car yet," Colby said, stepping into the room. "But the consultant got the license number, and, surprise, surprise, we find out there's a stolen vehicle report."

"Jason, you're one of the students who filed a complaint against Professor Eppes, right?"

Jason's mouth dropped open, and his face turned white. "The consultant who was shot at... It was Dr. Eppes, wasn't it? Is he okay?"

"Yeah," Colby said, "You got lucky."

"Me? I didn't have anything to do with this."

David shook his head, smiling, "Agent Granger, do you believe in coincidences?"

"Not on your life, Agent Sinclair. Too bad Professor Eppes isn't here. He'd be able to tell us the odds that Mr. LoBella's car just happened to be the one that was stolen to be used to attack the professor that Mr. LoBella filed a complaint against."

"Agent Granger, that was one of the most poorly constructed sentences I've heard in a long time."

"But Mr. LoBella understands it perfectly, don't you, Jason?"

Jason buried his face in his hands. "Dan borrowed my car last night."

"Daniel Weimar?" Colby asked.

"Yeah. He promised to bring it back this morning. When I couldn't get ahold of him, I was pissed off. So I filed the stolen vehicle report."

David flipped his cell phone open. "Don, we're with LoBella now. He let Daniel Weimar borrow his car last night... Yeah, he's one of the other kids who filed the complaint against Charlie... Okay, we'll follow up on it."

David closed his phone and said to Jason, "You're going to need to come with us to file a formal report."

"But I have to study."

"On a Saturday night?" Colby took a step toward Jason. "We'll have you back before bedtime, and you can do your studying tomorrow. If you'd like, you can bring your books with you."

--

Don put his phone away and shook his head. "Crap," he murmured.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked.

"Listen, that was David. Jason LoBella let Daniel Weimar take his car last night. Weimar hasn't brought the car back."

Charlie slumped in his seat. "So it sounds like they were after me. Unless," he looked up and met Don's gaze, "unless they are part of the gang of art thieves. I'm going to start on that algorithm we discussed earlier." He grabbed his bag and headed for the garage.

"Charlie!" Don called, "What about supper?"

"Come get me when it's ready."

Don put his arm around Liz. "Yeah, like that's going to happen. He suffers from selective deafness when he's working."

"Even when ribeye is involved?"

"Okay, maybe not then. But you've seen him when he works. A nuclear bomb could go off and it wouldn't faze him."

"True," Liz took a sip of her beer. "Should I see if your dad needs help?"

"In a minute," Don murmured as he leaned over to give Liz a kiss.

"Hey, Donnie," Alan called from the kitchen.

Don and Liz exchanged rueful glances. He gave her a quick kiss. "Yeah, Dad?"

"Can you give me a hand out here?"

Don stood. "Be right there." Leaning to whisper in Liz's ear, he added, "His timing is impeccable as usual."

"What's up, Dad?" Don asked as he and Liz walked into the kitchen.

"Could you start carrying things into the dining room? Everything's just about ready. And when you finish that, start trying to get your brother out of the garage."

"How'd you know he was in there?" Don asked as he picked up the salad bowl.

"Father's intuition. Something is bothering the three of you, and when he's bothered, he tries to come up with a solution."

"Nothing's bothering us," Don said as he pushed through the swinging door.

"Liz," Alan said, "grab another beer for Don, would you?"