Hard Fall Part 14

Daggett returned the call to Duhning and spoke to a woman named Fedorko. She had a slight midwestern accent and chose her words carefully. "We have had our work cut out for ourselves, Mr. Daggett, but we are a diligent bunch here at Duhning, as I am sure you will appreciate when you speak to Dr. Barnes tomorrow. He's an engineer on our investigation team."

"Tomorrow?" Daggett asked.

"He's on his way to Was.h.i.+ngton as we speak. I'm to set up a meeting with you or one of your a.s.sociates at your earliest convenience. My understanding is that it's a matter of the utmost urgency. The message is that the simulator session with Dr. Ward was backed up to disk. Dr. Barnes will explain it further when he arrives."

For Daggett, his imagination running away with him, the next twelve hours pa.s.sed slowly.

His meeting with Barnes began precisely at three o'clock, Wednesday afternoon, with Brad Levin in attendance. With the permission of Barnes, it was tape-recorded. Barnes, a narrow-faced man with a brush moustache and long, wispy hair, reminded Daggett of a college professor from the sixties. He knew his stuff when it came to simulators and computers, but had trouble communicating. His accent was either German or Swedish. Each time he explained a point, Daggett felt compelled to repeat his impression of what had been said to make sure he had it all straight. This consumed a lot of extra time and created extra strain. By the two-hour break, the back of his s.h.i.+rt was soaking wet. He kept the letter jacket on to hide it.

"I think I'm confused by all of this," he admitted when Barnes seemed to be running down.

"Go ahead," Barnes suggested.

As Levin sat quietly, Daggett said, "You said that the one thing all the simulations had in common was that they involved lack of pilot control?"

"Yes. Dr. Ward simulated release of pilot control of the aircraft at a number of different alt.i.tudes, all quite low, and immediately after takeoff."

"And you also said that this agrees with what we know about the AmAirXpress crash?"

"Precisely so. Yes. Loss of pilot control would help explain the behavior of flight sixty-four. We need the voice information from the c.o.c.kpit Voice Recorder to know for sure."

"We still don't have that?" Daggett turned to ask Levin.

Levin answered, "They don't want to s.h.i.+p it back here for examination until all the repairs are complete."

"I thought those things were indestructible," Daggett said.

Barnes corrected, "Nothing is indestructible. But it may not matter. The audiotape recorded by flight control supports a c.o.c.kpit fire, as I'm sure you're aware."

Daggett felt frustrated. He hadn't heard anything about flight control tapes. He didn't want Barnes to know that. "What would that prove?"

"It might explain the loss of pilot control. Toxic fumes perhaps."

Daggett made a note of it. Toxic fumes would show up in the autopsy report. He asked, "Why wouldn't the autopilot be on?"

"A general misconception, I am afraid. Autopilot auto-thrust, it's called at takeoff is available but rarely used because it takes the plane entirely out of the pilot's control. Disengagement, if needed, requires several seconds, and even a single second during takeoff is an eternity. Autopilot is used, but would not typically be engaged until, say, eighteen thousand feet or so quite a few minutes into flight."

"It's available, but they don't use it?"

"Most accidents occur during, or just after, takeoff. You'll find ninety nine percent of pilots prefer to have manual control over the bird during this period."

"So you're saying your theory is that there was no one at the controls? Essentially there was no pilot flying the plane?"

"Theory?" Barnes responded. "It is physics, sir. Plain and simple physics." He referred Daggett to his notebook and pointed to a diagram of 64's projected flight route in the few short minutes it was airborne. "Flight sixty-four left the runway at this point. It crashed .. . here," he said, pointing to Hollywood Park. "Well, you see as I've already shown you it's the same with the simulation." He unrolled a map obviously drawn by a computer. "If you remove all control of the aircraft here," he said, pointing to his map, "forty-seven seconds into flight, then given the appropriate data, the simulated 959 impacts here," he said, punching his computerized map. "If you scaled it correctly and overlaid this map onto a map of the L.A. area, you would see that the area of impact is also Hollywood Park."

Breaking a long silence that followed, Daggett, still very much confused, asked, "What about wind speed, ground temperature, that sort of thing? It can't be an exact science, can it?"

"With smaller aircraft, the light winds we're talking about would certainly have made a difference. Not so with something this size. It all comes down to thrust, gravity, ground speed, and flaps. It's entirely predictable. Avionics is an exact science that's what I'm telling you. If we can land an unmanned s.p.a.ce probe on the dark side of Mars a project Duhning was proud to be part of we had better be able to predict the flight pattern of a commercial carrier one minute into flight!"

"But why?" Daggett asked. Barnes stared at him. How was he going to sell Pullman and worse, Mumford something like this? This was the type of thing you kept to yourself until you understood it. He broke his silence. "What about Ward? I know he was in Simulation I understand that much. But what end of things? With a new aircraft like the 959, someone would have to train the new pilots, wouldn't they?"

"That's correct. The pilots have to be recertified for the 959 before they fly it. It's the same with any new aircraft."

"And if they all learn from the same guy, then essentially, during takeoff let's say, they're all going to perform about the same way as whoever taught them, aren't they?"

"That follows logically, yes. I can see that."

"And Ward I know he was trained an engineer, but the pictures on his office walls he was a pilot, too, wasn't he?"

"Many of us are pilots."

"But he flew jets."

"That's not unusual either. Jets are what Duhning builds."

"But my point is: There have only been what, twenty, twenty-five pilots through the program so far I read that in one of the reports. You haven't sold all that many planes yet."

"Twenty-seven aircraft," Barnes said, interrupting and correcting the number, "is a significant production, I can a.s.sure you."

Daggett ignored it. "Who was in charge of training those people who then trained the pilots? That would be one of the engineers, wouldn't it be? That would be someone familiar with the new aircraft. Someone like Roger Ward. Ward was in charge of training," he stated. "Ward was Duhning's expert on flying the 959."

Barnes adjusted his gla.s.ses and flipped through some papers. A moment later, reading, he shook his head and then looked up.

He offered Daggett a puzzled, ironic expression, and then his first smile of the day. "And just exactly how did you know that, Mr. Dagger?"

TEN.

MONIQUE DOWNs.h.i.+FTED AND followed the signs for the Beltway. It was the safest place for a meeting. The car purred so softly and sensually that Anthony Kort, who sat stoically in the seat beside her smoking a non filter wasn't sure if it was the car or the woman making that t.i.tillating sound. She wore a sleeveless, soft pink cotton cable-knit suit with matching flats, glossy pink lipstick, and no other makeup that he could see. She glowed in her pink, the brilliant sunlight was.h.i.+ng her in a smoky mist. She was radiant and composed. Strong and confident. He wanted her now. Right here.

Kort set the cigarette down, unfastened his seat belt, and slipped his hand under her pullover.

She hummed contentedly and reached over to stroke him.

His hand roamed the soft warm skin of her chest and then wandered lower, finding her knee, the edge of the skirt, and finally sneaking up underneath. He knew he was on safe ground. Monique liked it wild. She grinned and parted her legs. His fingers reached the top of her silk hose where he encountered a garter belt he loved garter belts and just beyond, her intense warmth, like a furnace.

"Later," she said, gently closing her legs and trapping his hand. It was a tease. Typical of her.

He freed his hand and worked on the cigarette. "So what about the Greek," he asked. "Tell me."

His efforts were useless without the Greek, a complete stranger, whose motives came into question. The Greek's front as a restaurateur caterer covered his true business of corporate espionage. He was believed to have an extensive network of people on his payroll, some pressured into supplying information, some, like the Greek himself, motivated by money. For a fee, he could procure the architecture of Intel's latest chip circuitry, or the number of plant closures and layoffs antic.i.p.ated by General Motors in the fourth quarter. He could tell you which Big Swinging d.i.c.k on Wall Street had a drug problem, or the voting patterns of a particular board of directors. He was in the information business; it had been the Greek who provided them with Roger Ward and Kevin Dougherty. Kort now relied on him for the exact date of the "secret" meeting. He found his reliance on an outsider repugnant, but at this late date saw little way around it.

In this regard, Monique served a useful purpose as a go-between. A buffer in case the Greek intended to sell Kort to the authorities. Also, communicating with the Greek involved a computer bulletin board and most of that technology had pa.s.sed him by. Monique had her place as a p.a.w.n.

Still, he had to wonder: Was the fall of Der Grand coincidence, or had the Greek found a way to double his profits?

He could feel her reluctance to tell him whatever it was she had to tell him, and it annoyed him. "Well?"

She drove a little faster. He wasn't used to having no destination. It unsettled him. She said, "The message was that he does not have the date. The name you want, but not the date. The date has been changed, and he has no way to find out what it is."

"Impossible!" Kort hollered.

"I am only telling you what the message said."

"Impossible," he repeated. "We paid him." The date of the meeting was critical to his success. Without it ... "I must speak with him. It must be as soon as possible. You will arrange it." Then he reconsidered. "No, no. That's no good. He must not know. He might sell me off to someone." He couldn't keep his thoughts clear. Compartments came open without his consent, flooding him with mental noise. He rolled down the window. It helped.

Several minutes pa.s.sed. Kort smoked a cigarette, and then another. He tried to clear his head. "I've just had an idea," she said from behind the wheel. He didn't want to hear her ideas; he wanted time to think.

He glanced over at her; her eyes sparkled with excitement. He misunderstood it, thinking she was going to talk s.e.x. The way she lost focus on what really mattered infuriated him. She said in a low, fierce half-whisper, "There is to be a reception next week hosted by the airline lobbyists. It is to celebrate tougher security standards at airports. Not your favorite cause, but, of course, as vice-president of In-Flite, I am invited. Everyone in the industry will be there. And, if you desire, so will the Greek," she stated. "I can arrange it."

He looked puzzled and she added, "A very good friend is organizing the event. It is an elaborate international cuisine. The Greek is not only a restaurateur, but also a caterer, is that not so?"

He nodded, intrigued by the suggestion. Risky, he thought, but perhaps worth the try.

"I can arrange for him to cater the Greek food at the reception. It will be no problem. We will attend you as my guest. You get your surprise meeting with him on neutral ground. What do you think? Are you up to it?" Her face was glowing. He could smell her perfume, even over the cigarette smoke. He had underestimated her.

"I love Greek food," he said.

ELEVEN.

"WHERE'S CARRIE?" DUNCAN asked his father, wheeling his way to the kitchen table. The question interrupted Daggett's current train of thought, which didn't involve Carrie.

It bothered him that in this era of moon shots and microchips, bullet trains and automatic tellers, there were so few wheelchair-accessible dwellings available within commuting distance of the nation's capital. He didn't like this house much. The floor plan was strangely cut up "for heating reasons," Carrie had explained when leasing him the place the rooms too small, the floor plan a rat's maze. The house had been remodeled by an elderly couple, the wife chair-bound with arthritis, a pair who evidently found it difficult to stay warm and to pay the electric bills, thus the small rooms. But the light switches were set appropriately low, as were the room thermostats; the halls and pa.s.sageways were four feet wide, the doors three feet six, and there were ramps where needed. It made life easier for Duncan of primary importance to his father.

The outside of the house was white aluminum siding with fake black shutters that, if you came too close, looked cheap. The fake chimney, a poorly built chase of faux-brick vinyl and wallboard, really irritated him. Of all things! Why such pretense? The only explanation seemed to be that every other house on the block had a chimney. Despite his problems with the place, he knew Carrie was right: a house is made a home by the people in it, its personality determined by the inhabitants.

"She didn't stay over," Daggett answered.

"How come?"

"You want to know why?" Daggett asked. He and Duncan were always honest with each other. "Because she's mad at me for working so much. For promising I'll do things and then not following through. For leaving you alone so much of the time."

"Like Mom," the son said. It was an observation for him a memory nothing more, but it devastated his father.

Daggett suddenly saw himself as a man doomed to repeat his mistakes, despite his better intentions. He wanted to blame fate, but knew better. He admitted, "She thinks you spend too much time with Mrs. Kiyak and not enough with me or actually the other way around, that I don't spend enough time with you."

"Sometimes you do," Duncan said, and the truth again stung Daggett. Carrie was right. That hurt him even more.

"Mrs. Kiyak's okay," his son said lamely, his lack of enthusiasm driving yet another spike through Daggett's heart. "Sometimes she smells really weird. Old people smell weird."

"You like her, don't you?" Daggett asked in a tone that forced the boy to agree. Patterns. He used the same technique with Carrie, though with less effect. He was thinking about Lynn, again. Wondering how much she had to do with Carrie's absence. Wondering why she dominated his thoughts. Could he use the investigation as an excuse to call? Did he dare tell her that since their reunion he had heard her voice behind him, had seen a piece of her in every woman he pa.s.sed on the street? That he was haunted by the memory of a few fleeting hours of happiness, and that he laughed aloud when he recalled the image of the fireman being knocked down by the horse?

"School starts in a couple days," Duncan said, avoiding an answer.

When they had both finished breakfast, Duncan backed up the chair Daggett's cue to open the back door. The two went outside into the small backyard and the chin-up bar.

Duncan urged, "All you have to do is sign the form. Couldn't you lie, just once?"

"You're making headway, Dune. You're doing just fine."

Duncan clasped the bar tightly and pulled with all his strength, arms quivering. He made two pull-ups easily, but trembled at the third. He needed five to qualify for the canoe trip. Daggett wanted to shove his hands beneath the boy's arms and cheat him up. But only if requested that was the rule. After several long seconds, Duncan said, "Okay."

Daggett felt the warmth of his son between his hands. He a.s.sisted, but avoided doing the work for him, feeding him the cold steel bar gradually until it graced the fine hairs of his chin. It would not be too many years before those hairs would be whiskers. Time, the common enemy. The last tryout for the Indian summer canoe trip would be held in just three weeks. By then they needed all five pull-ups. It wasn't much time. Daggett hoisted the boy again, and again. He'd give anything to see the boy qualify. Duncan's arms shook like rubber but he managed six in a row a.s.sisted.

"That's good work," Daggett said.

Duncan slapped down into the chair, smiling.

Daggett wanted to hug him. He said, "Weights and push-ups will help."

"We're getting there, Dad. I know I can do this."

"d.a.m.n right."

"Have another cup of coffee," the boy instructed. "I'll try some on my own."

"Just holler," Daggett said, hesitating before heading inside, preparing himself to sit by the window and pray for miracles.

The same every morning.

Just before lunch, Daggett and Bradley Levin took the FBI shuttle van to the Hoover Building, where they were briefed by a lab technician on the variety of trace evidence discovered inside the Dodge Caravan that had been rented by Maryanne Lyttle in Los Angeles on the day of the crash. As occasionally happened, the results of that work had been erroneously sent to the lab at the Hoover Building rather than directly to Daggett at Buzzard Point. This time the error happened to yield some benefits. Daggett and Levin received a full, expert briefing. As predicted, the van had not been cleaned very thoroughly, which meant that the scientific scrutiny undergone by the LAFO forensics squad had reaped a good deal of microscopic evidence. "You play racquetball, Ohio?" Daggett asked as the two entered the bas.e.m.e.nt corridor in the Hoover Building that led to the loading bay where they would wait for the return shuttle.

"You bet."

"You doing anything for lunch?"

"Whipping your a.s.s."

Twenty minutes later they were suited up. Daggett stuffed his briefcase into a crammed locker and forced the door closed, then locked it.

Levin said, "You sleep with that thing, Michigan?"

"Backman had a slight problem of confusing authors.h.i.+p of good ideas. He seemed to think they were all his." He pointed to the locker. "Conditioning, I'm afraid."

The back wall of the court facing the viewing seats was sealed in heavy Plexiglas, which Daggett appreciated because you could talk in here without concern of being overheard. Early on in the game, as his blood began to circulate, his brain came alive again. Meetings tended to numb him.

Levin proved a good player. The shots came fast and hard. Levin served the first game and was winning four to one when Daggett reviewed the case, hoping to distract him. "We're a.s.suming Ward's killer took a train from Portland to L.A. Not a plane. What's it tell us about him?"