I suggested, "So he's nuts?",

"I prefer the clinical expression" she replied. "Completely bonkers." Which got a few chuckles. She then cautioned all of us, "The point is, whatever wobbly equilibrium existed inside Jason's head is totally gone. In Jason's mind his father was a towering, monumental figure. He believes we drove and hounded him to death, and he now intends to punish us."

I'd heard enough about Jason Barnes's loopiness and, thankfully, nobody asked another question.

So Jennie brought us back to the present, saying, "But at this point, Sean and I were confronted with a number of holes. We were forced to make some educated guesses about what happened here-in Washington." She looked at Townsend. "Sir, it's very important to confirm some of those deductions."

He nodded.

Jennie asked, "Was it Phillip Fineberg who provided the canceled checks?"

"It was."

"Could you explain what circumstances led to that?"

"Yes… well, Fineberg had been feeding me charges for weeks. Usually over the phone, and he requested anonymity, which is fairly common in background checks. He had many disparaging things to say about Calhoun Barnes, some of which might be factual, and some of which sounded frivolous, even questionable. Eventually I told him we needed evidence to corroborate his charges."

"And how did he respond?"

"He promised to get back to me."

"And he did."

"At a cocktail party in Georgetown about a week later, he pulled me aside and gave me the canceled checks. I handed them over to your office."

"That was before my time. Who in my office, and how did my office respond?"

Townsend thought about it a moment. "John Fisk, your predecessor. First, John assigned some agents to verify the authenticity of the checks."

"And the checks were verified?"

"That's correct."

"And the checks were drawn from Calhoun's family account?"

"Also correct. And with that to go on, a second team was assigned to run down the three judges whose names were on the checks. Two were dead, from natural causes. The third was found in a retirement community in Florida. Advanced Alzheimer's. Completely senile."

"Then you carried the packet to the White House?"

"No. I carried the evidence to the Attorney General. Meade Everhill from his office was present. We reviewed what we'd gathered, and it was Everhill's legal judgment that we had enough to at least proceed with a criminal probe."

"Then the White House?"

"Only then."

"In addition to the President, the President's legal adviser, the White House Chief of Staff, the Attorney General, Meade Everhill, and presumably the White House spokesman, who else was involved?"

Townsend pointed at Mrs. Hooper. "Her."

Mrs. Hooper squirmed in her seat. She insisted, "But my presence would be known only to the other people in that meeting. I… Jason Barnes would have no reason to target me."

To which Townsend replied, "Don't presume that." Turning to Mr. Wardell, he asked, "Your people know who accesses the Oval Office. Correct?"

"Of course."

"Is a written log kept?"

"Always, for scheduled meetings. Of course, during the day certain favored staffers, like Mrs. Hooper, pop in and out spontaneously."

"There, you see-" Mrs. Hooper was saying.

"However," Wardell spoke over her, "in those instances, the agent at the President's door notifies the operations center. Those names are also entered into the log."

"I thought they might be," Townsend commented. "Could Jason Barnes have accessed that log?"

"I can't rule it out. He had an ops center pass and plenty of friends who work there. He could have seen the log himself, or a friend could have checked it for him."

I had the impression Director Townsend and Chuck Wardell did not particularly care for Mrs. Hooper, and this exchange was curious. When the big bosses clash, it's never a good idea to step in the middle. But Townsend did not strike me as small-minded or vindictive, and something seemed to be going on here. Jennie looked at me, and I raised my eyebrows. Jennie asked Townsend, "Could you explain how the decision was made, for our benefit?"

Townsend said, "All right. In my view, the evidence against Calhoun Barnes was problematic and the case was flimsy There were no living-at least no sensible-witnesses. There was no other physical evidence except the three canceled checks, and the personal word of Phillip Fineberg, who insisted he didn't witness the exchanges and only learned of them recently"

Asserting my lawyerliness I said, "To admit otherwise would make him a party to the crime." I then suggested," I have the impression, sir, that you didn't trust Justice Fineberg."

"I did not. It was obvious he was carrying a bitter hatred toward Barnes. So I was… disturbed by his allegations."

"And about his motives?"

"In fact, yes. His initial claims were all over the map. Affairs with paralegals in their old firm, overbilling clients, and so on. It has been my experience with background checks, particularly for high-level positions, that some people use them as an opportunity to pursue private vendettas."

"So you thought Fineberg was trying to assassinate Barnes?"

"Well, only later did he assert that Barnes had bribed these three judges. I found that suspicious." He looked at our faces and added, "It makes sense now, but not then. Nor would he tell me how he came into possession of the checks, which created certain problems from a legal standpoint. There was the obvious chain of custody issues… but I suppose it was his motive that I questioned. So this was what I reported to the President."

Mrs. Hooper insisted, "There was enough there… Look, people, this is Washington. Reality check. Barnes was a big boy He was warned he'd better be whistle-clean. Well… he wasn't."

We all guessed there had been an argument in front of the President, and Mrs. Hooper had argued for the safer course, to immediately throw Barnes to the sharks. But at this stage it didn't matter whether Calhoun Barnes oozed with corruption or had the soul of a saint, though we now knew the latter was out of the question. What mattered-all that mattered-as Jennie knew, was who else had been involved in the decision, who else might be on Jason's list, and who might need a heavy dose of special protection.

Townsend of course appreciated this point and said to Jennie, "So I think for your short list, you should include me, Mrs. Hooper, the Attorney General, the White House legal adviser, and Meade Everhill. Also, check your office records and see which agents were involved in the investigation."

Jennie nodded.

Thinking two steps ahead, Phyllis said to Townsend, "Mark, should we still be concerned about the bounty issue?"

Interestingly, he turned to Jennie, who said, "We can't rule it out. We've confirmed that Barnes was informed of the bounty the morning after we discovered it. He had at least forty-eight hours to apply before the Internet site was shut down."

I said, "But he's acting out of rage, not greed. Right?"

"That's true. But why not kill two birds with one stone?" She added, "Also, consider the possibility that he recruited his coconspirators using the bounty. They're probably mercenaries, and this would certainly explain where he got at least the promise of money." She smiled at Phyllis and added, "I'm sorry. The Agency's not out of this thing yet."

Charles Wardell of the Secret Service announced, "I have to make some calls. The President and Attorney General are already apprised. But I didn't know about Clyde Burns-the legal adviser-or Everhill. Somebody better… check on them."

It was now 5:30 a.m. and we all wondered if the grim reaper had not already checked on Everhill and Burns. We'd been completely behind the curve, and it was a relief to play a little catchup. In fact, the mood in the room had begun to shift, and everybody thought we might even be getting a step ahead of Jason: We knew why and we knew who. What could go wrong?