Author's note.
It took me a couple of attempts to come up with this chapter. I was about halfway through when I realised that I was sliding down yet another rabbit hole and went back and started again. This is what I ended up with. Perhaps one day I might publish the outtake, just to let you know where I was headed. It certainly will not be creating another spin-off like the life after series.
Thanks as always to Dr Mark for his wonderful editing and TheSwiss for his hard work.
KR
PM
Caleb 67 -- Responsibility
I sat staring for a few moments, trying to assimilate what Dianna had just told me. Walter Greenwood was dead? How? What had happened? Had what I'd done been responsible?
Had I killed someone?
What's more, it seemed that I wasn't the only one that suspected me of that crime. Maggie wanted me to come in. Did she really think that I'd do that?
"You think I killed Greenwood?" I asked Dianna, stunned at the implication.
"Of course not," she snapped. "But I know you did something. Whatever it was you did may have caused someone else to do so. We need to know what you did."
"We got him to ...." I began, initially about to tell her that we'd gotten him to confess to the IRS. But then I remembered that we'd turned it around. We had gone with Jules' idea to get them to report each other.
"Oh shit," I said.
"What?" asked Dianna.
"I found out that the person who torched our house worked for Knight."
I went on to tell her about everything I'd found out about Greenwood and Knight, and how we'd decided to get each to confess their sins to the IRS, but at the last minute had decided to swap so that each reported the other to the IRS. Greenwood would report Knight, as well as taking all his funds and donating them to charity, and Knight would report Greenwood. Also he'd report himself to the State Bar, telling them that he'd broken attorney-client privilege.
"I figured that once it came out that they'd reported each other, each would have no memory of doing so. They would think that it was someone else, but have no idea who it might be. They each have many enemies in one field or another."
"Oh," remembered, "we also told Knight's partner that he'd been stealing from him. I think it was Greenwood that did that too."
"So," postulated Dianna, "either Knight's partner challenged Knight, or he found out that Greenwood had turned him into the IRS. That would indicate that Knight has a contact within the IRS. Either way, Knight is my prime suspect."
I sat stunned by this revelation. Had we caused the death of Walter Greenwood? We'd tried to be careful to ensure that nothing like this happened, but it seemed that we'd not been careful enough. What we'd done may have been directly responsible for a man's death.
"Caleb," Dianna said, as if she could read my thoughts even through the phone, "You didn't do this. Whoever killed Greenwood, you are not responsible. Remember also that he and Knight arranged to have your house burned down, and you or any one of your girls might have been inside.
"Yes you got Greenwood to report Knight to the IRS, and his partner, but if indeed it was Knight, HE was the one responsible for Greenwood's death, not you."
"Maggie wants you to come in and detail exactly what you did," she went on. "There's no doubt that you went off piste with this, but we need to limit any damage."
"I'm on my way," I said resignedly.
"What happened?" asked Mary, having heard only half the conversation. I gave them all the memory of the call. Jules paled.
"That was my idea," she said. "I killed him..."
"No," said Mary. "Whoever pulled the trigger did that. Don't you be taking responsibility for someone else's actions. Also, we all agreed." She turned to me. "Let's go."
"Go?" I asked.
"We're coming with you," she said. "Whatever happened, we all decided on the course of action to take, so we each bear some of the responsibility. BUT NONE of us is responsible for Greenwood's death. Let's get that straight right now."
Jules nodded but still looked shaken by events.
Josh and Louise dropped Melanie and Sarah off at the FBI Office and then went back to the hotel. We'd organize transport home when we were done. I parked my truck in the parking lot and Mary, Jules, Amanda, Ness, and I walked up to meet up with the other two girls outside. The front was all locked up.
I called Maggie.
"Hi Maggie," I said.
"Where are you?" she asked.
"We're outside the office. It's all locked up," I said.
"We?" she asked, but then checked herself, "Never mind. There's a staff entrance around the right-hand side of the building. I'll meet you there."
We walked down the alley to the right of the building, where there was a plain door. It looked like a fire exit, but had a swipe card access with keypad by which it could be opened from the outside. I'd never seen it before, having always used the front entrance.
The door buzzed and then opened. Maggie pushed the door open and, on seeing all of us there, stood back to let us in.
"You didn't all need to come," she said.
"Yes," said Mary, "we did. If what we did was instrumental in what happened to Walter Greenwood, then we were all involved."
Maggie nodded and then guided us all to the elevator lobby. We took the elevator to her floor and went into her office. Dianna and Frank Howe were seated in the office waiting for us. There were some agents working at desks in their cubicles.
We had to grab some extra seats so we all had somewhere to sit, but eventually we were all seated in Maggie's office.
"Dianna told us what you told her on the call," said Maggie. "I'd like to hear it from you?"
"Would it be quicker to give you the memories?" I asked. Maggie looked at Frank and he nodded.
It took me a moment to collate the memories, starting from the night that Trevor came to dinner and ending with the night I took action, using illusions on the six men who'd actually been responsible for torching our house, and then compelling both Walter Greenwood and Knight to report each other to the IRS. I left nothing out.
"Well," said Frank. "Remind me not to piss you off. That nightmare was brutal."