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The EMTs had to sedate Martha, and an ambulance took her away, with a police cruiser following. Detective Berniski and Lili were in the kitchen. He said, “I was told to just secure the scene and wait for the FBI. They’ve got the ball now, and I think that makes sense for a change. I don’t think this is a local crime. What do you think is going on?”
“I think somebody is still trying to kill Martha. Barbara came in the back door with some quiches this morning. Whoever the sniper was, they wouldn’t have seen her enter the house. When she stepped out the front door, the sniper thought it was Martha.”
“I think you’re right. Barbara was wearing a white turtleneck under her coat which would have looked like Martha’s bandage. We think the shooter was probably in a tree in the woods behind the houses across the street. We’re taping the woods off now, so the FBI techs can search.”
“Thanks for putting up that screen so passers-by can’t see poor Barbara. We’ll have to figure out what to do with Martha. She can’t stay here. I hope the FBI will be able to hide her.”
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GIL WAS CRUISING ALONG I-78, making good time. Pretty soon he’d enter New Jersey and take the exit for I-287 and head north. His phone rang on his dash-screen. Detective Karen Tindall? He hit the touchscreen to accept her call. “Hi Karen!”
“Hi Gil, how are you doing?”
“I’m fine, how are you?”
“I’m good. We’re wondering if you could help us on another case. It’s a really weird one and we could use a robot. Are you in your car?”
“Yeah, I’m in Pennsylvania, driving home from Florida.”
“Oh, is Lili with you?”
“No, she had to fly home early to help a friend. So, you need a robot? I’m interested.”
“Well, the short version is that someone broke into a few buildings and broke through their cellar walls to build some tunnels. As far as we know, there’s no rhyme nor reason for these tunnels. They aren’t safe for us to go looking around in there. The robots that the bomb squad and the fire station have are too big to fit. We put a fiber optic scope in there, but it didn’t give us a good picture of what might be going on. What do you think?”
“Maybe people are desperately trying to escape from Greenfield.”
“Oh brother.”
Gil’s mind was going a mile a minute with ideas for tunnel-exploring robots. “This sounds like fun! I know I can help you with this. I’m going to need a break for a few days after driving home. Can it wait until Monday?”
“Monday would be great. This has been going on for at least six months. There haven’t been any confrontations or anything violent and no amorous fish involved, so you shouldn’t get hurt this time, I hope.
“Word gets around.”
“Have a good drive home.” She clicked off.
Gil’s newfound excitement seemed to accelerate his need for a rest-room break.
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SPECIAL AGENT MAYET Elsayed, Detective Jim Berniski, and Lili sat in Martha’s living room to discuss the case. Mayet listened as Lili described the shooting and Jim explained what he found when he arrived. He said, “I firmly believe that this isn’t a local issue and that the FBI should have the lead on this, overall. We’ll help you in any way you need.”
Mayet raised her eyebrows at Berniski’s unexpected cooperation. “Thanks, Jim. At this point, since the crime scenes are limited to the forest and the house, and my crime-scene technicians are here, I think you can re-open the road. It would be good if your guys would complete canvassing the neighbors to see if there were any witnesses. Also, you guys can guard Martha at the hospital. Also, could you track down next of kin and notify them? Is that okay?”
Jim was pleasantly surprised that Mayet was freely delegating the local part of the investigation to him. “Sure. I’ll let you know who they are and what they say. Also, I think we should pursue the angle that Barbara LeClerc might have been the target. I doubt it, but it should be looked at.”
“Good point. Good idea. You go ahead and pursue that.”
“I’ll get this stuff going now.” He got up and went out the back door.
“Um, Special Agent Elsayed, there’s something else you should know about,” said Lili.
“Please call me Mayet. May I call you Lili?”
“Sure, of course. Last night I found out that Martha’s involved in an underground railroad.”
Mayet looked confused. “You mean like the ones that helped slaves escape?”
“Yes, except this one is helping gay and transgender kids escape from states where their lives are in danger. Pregnant girls, too. Last night, just after midnight, a woman showed up and dropped off three kids. The kids stayed the night, had breakfast, and then moved on with a different woman. Last night’s woman said that they’re trained not to transport the kids across state borders, so they have them walk across the border and they’re picked up by a different person.”
“And you think this could be why Martha’s being targeted?”
“I don’t know. The motive isn’t clear, but it’s certainly worth looking into. The woman said that Martha is just a ‘SAW,’ a Stop Along the Way. These kids are eventually brought to supervised housing or churches, and they find jobs for them and keep them safe. Anyway, Martha and the other woman were worried that telling the Police or the FBI about this underground railroad would threaten their network. The woman said they already have thousands of kids in their network.”
“Wow, thousands of kids?” Mayet thought for a few seconds. “There are huge political ramifications with this underground railroad. I agree that it must be protected. I will discuss this discreetly up the chain. You know that I’m going to have to arrange to put Martha into the Witness Security Program, right?”
“I know you’ll probably do some Federal kind of thing, but one idea I have is to offer to take her to my boyfriend’s house in upstate New York and stay with her there. It would be difficult for her to be tracked down there, as long as she has no contact with her friends and no electronic traceability.”
“Well, I don’t think that’ll fly, but I’ll consider it.”
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AFTER THE POLICE AND the FBI left, Lili spent an hour cleaning up the blood from the front porch. She called Detective Berniski and asked if she could visit Martha in the hospital. He told her that she was in a hospital in Dover, since whoever is after her probably wouldn’t think to look for her there. Lili called Gil to tell him what had happened. He was stunned. He said he was passing Poughkeepsie, just a couple of hours from his house, and that he had a request from Karen to consult on a case.
At the Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, Lili was allowed access to Martha’s room. Martha was dozing, so Lili just sat there for a while, trying to calm herself down. After a while, Martha’s eyes opened and blinked a few times. She glanced over at Lili and tears just started to roll down her face.