Other than catching sight of Howie, together with Julie and Molly entering church on Sunday morning, we saw nothing more of our associate's Boston visitors. On Monday, Howie was on time, unusual as I assumed he'd driven his guests back to Massachusetts Sunday afternoon and would wait until early morning to return. He failed to discuss his itinerary but commented freely on how he'd enjoyed the weekend.
Betsy lined up two likely abductions and she was anxious to get started, Quinn had already performed his part, setting his apparatus appropriately for a rural Iowa location where a twelve year old boy had gone missing. Martha had asked to come in late as baby Clair had a bad night. This was not the first time she wasn't able to assist. When those occasions arose, Betsy stepped in and tried to talk Howie into the state of relaxation he required. While she wasn't as successful as Martha, it usually ultimately worked.
Quinn complained of a headache and I silently wondered if he'd over indulged the night before. Martha continued to whisper to me she wished he'd go easier on the booze. While she didn't ask directly, I sensed she hoped I'd talk to him. Much the case with Howie and Julie, I felt the personal lives of our group deserved their own space to address their own problems.
Once the others were in session, as we called it, my duties were minimal. I performed all the infrequent and minimal tasks of Econ Scrutiny and handled any direct contact with Daniel Brennan. I was tidying up some details when my computer singled an incoming message, from Merrill Cooms.
When we first accepted Mr. Cooms' generous funding, we established this secure connection in case he ever had a need to contact us. The line had never been used. While we telephoned him, not so frequently of late, he'd never found the need to call us. I quickly telephoned our benefactor.
When I assured him we were indeed speaking on a secure line he took a deep breath. "We've had an incident a few hours ago," he said, with a tremor in his voice.
"Is everyone all right?" I asked.
"Yes. Well, not everyone I suspect. But everyone here is safe and uninjured."
"Please; tell me what happened!"
"We had an intruder last night. It's the first time that's happened. We've taken steps for my home not to look like a fortress, but believe me, it is. This invader was very cautious and avoided much of our security."
"But not all of it."
"Correct. He made it to an open window on the first floor. With one leg in my house and one leg out, my man Aldo Benitez shot him."