Page 121 of The Fourth Option
Icy’s eyes narrowed at him. “Prosecutors don’t believe in coincidences. You don’t believe in them, do you, Special Agent Stanton?”
“It’s not a matter of belief, ma’am,” he said. “Sometimes facts just coincide. Correlation is not causation.”
“In other words,Post hoc ergo propter hoc,” she replied.
“Exactly,” Stanton said. “?‘After this, therefore because of this.’ Logical fallacy. These are two events, not necessarily related.”
“Are you a lawyer?” Icy asked.
“Auburn Law.”
“All right, Counselor. Let’s review the facts. We have a lone wolf killer who has come out of nowhere, offing people connected with a drug ring associated with Connor Staub. We have a gunfight at the Staub home with four unidentified vics. That puts the Staubs at the center of this thing. Now, Agent Stanton, you’re the ASAC for the criminal.”
Lloyd cut in. “Actually, Special Agent Stanton is filling multiple ASAC roles.” He cast Stanton an appraising glance. “He’s running my criminal and national security branches, heading this investigation for the district precisely because of the dual roles. He was on the task force that investigated foreign links after the New Year’s Day terror attack in the Quarter.”
“Well, then,” Icy responded. “Sounds like you’re well equipped to check out foreign links here, Agent Stanton, and not just the narratives that the DEA might want to provide.”
Careful, Stanton thought, thinking of Alvaro Mendez’s take on Icy.Stick to the facts and data.
With his face neutral, he replied, “I will acknowledge it sounds like the work of a lone killer. But at this point, we don’t have enough indicators of a cartel infiltration. I’m on it, though, ma’am. And if that’s the case, we will liaise with DEA and NOPD to shut it down.”
“And you’ll keep this office informed,” she added. “This is sounding more and more like a federal case, but this office still has jurisdiction on the murders.”
Stanton nodded, realizing she had just maneuvered him into an accountabilitytrap. With a federal case he would either solve it or look incompetent. If he made arrests, the narrative would be that it was done in partnership with the DA and NOPD. If not, he would be hung out to dry. He could see Bates across the table, looking down, hiding a smirk.
“We know about the Staub son,” Lloyd offered, breaking the silence. “What’s the deal with the rest of that family. Father? Siblings?”
“Connor was an only child,” Bates reported, flipping through the files. “His father, John Staub, was killed in Afghanistan five years ago.”
“Was he in the Army or something?” Icy asked.
“Navy. SEAL Teams. Switched over to the CIA. Detective Gormley hit a wall looking any deeper into him.”
“Relevance?”
“It’s not beyond the realm of possibility for servicemen or contractors to smuggle drugs back into the U.S.,” Bates replied. “Brits have the same issue. It’s almost always heroin. Back when COPE was first cracking down on drug infiltration, we saw packages that originated from Afghanistan. DEA confirmed it.” He glanced at Stanton. “Did Mendez happen to mention the Central Asian angle?”
“No,” Stanton admitted.
“Well,” Bates continued, “could be that when Connor’s father was over there, he set up a drug ring. That’s how the kid got the heroin. Could be he recruited some of his operator buddies to work for the cartel. Maybe one of them is oursicario. Pays well enough, and God knows those boys got screwed working for Uncle Sam in that shithole. I’m surprised we don’t see more of them going rogue.”
Stanton looked at Bates in disbelief. “John Staub died in 2021.”
“Could be an associate. Why else would the killers at the Staub home have sacked the place the way they did? I’m just saying, seems like an angle FBI ought to pursue. Like you said, Jarrett, keep all angles open.Post hoc ergo propter hoc.” He smiled. “I never heard that one before, but I wrote it down.”
“Worth looking into,” Icy agreed.
“We’re on it,” Lloyd said quickly. He turned from Icy to Stanton. “Dust off your CIA contacts and see what you can find.”
Alma’s voice rattled through Jarrett’s head.You need to learn to play the game.
“I’ll circle up with the Agency and check on the Afghanistan angle,” he said.
“Thank you, Agent Stanton,” Icy replied, with a pleasant smile. “That will help the parish a great deal. Please make sure the Bureau keeps Lieutenant Bates informed.”
You need to learn to play the game.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
