Page 45 of So Sinister
The owner of the enthusiastic voice and even more enthusiastic handshake was Donald Portnoy, Executive Director of the Maryland Aviation Administration, the governing body that oversaw Thurgood Marshall Airport.He wore a bright smile underneath terrified eyes, their terror magnified by the enormous round glasses he wore.A healthy sheen glistened on a perfectly symmetrical U-shaped bald spot that extended from the top of his forehead to his crown.Thankfully, that sweat didn’t appear on his palms, which, though cold, were perfectly dry.
The investigators were here because after his firing from the airport, Robert Stevenson had disappeared.His vehicle registration lapsed nine months later, and his car was repossessed without incident.His apartment sat vacant for two months before the owners inspected it to find him gone.Attempts to find him to collect back rent were unsuccessful, and his social security number hadn’t been used.Faith hoped that talking to his former boss might help them get an idea of where he was.
And why he might have decided to start killing people.
Donald pushed open the door to his office in the administration building at Thurgood Marshall and waved them inside.“Come in!Come in!”
Faith had seen this behavior before from people who knew they’d been caught doing wrong but still clung to a thread of hope that this would all blow over.Hey!We’re excited to do this!This’ll be fun!We’ll get this unpleasant stuff out of the way, and then we’ll all be friends again!
The office was a typical unit, spacious, well-furnished, displaying a bookcase with titles such as7 Steps to Success, The Right Attitude,andThe Impactful Executive,a portrait of a woman Faith didn’t recognize but who she assumed was a former executive of MAA based on the maroon business suit with a small aviator’s pin over the breast pocket, and a modern minimalist desk with an enormous desk calendar-slash-placemat on one side and a desktop monitor on the other.An ergonomic, mid-backed office chair sat behind the desk, and two chairs, nicely upholstered but not overly luxurious, sat in front.
Donald gestured to these chairs, and Faith and Jessica took a seat.Turk sat in between them, regarding Donald with alert eyes and upraised ears.He clearly didn’t trust the gregarious executive.
Donald sat behind the desk, sighed pleasantly, and placed both hands palms down on the placemat calendar, fingers splayed.“Okay!Let’s get this show on the road!You guys are here to ask about the unfortunate security incident that took place five years ago.”
“Correct,” Faith said.
“Well, I assure you—”
Jessica lifted a hand.“Let’s assume the assurances for the sake of brevity.We’re here to ask about a specific employee of yours, Robert Stevenson?”
“Yes!Just like the author, ha ha!”He swallowed, but tried to hide it, which had the unfortunate effect of making his neck ripple like a lizard choking on a cricket too large to swallow.“Yes, he was let go shortly after the incident, unrelated reasons.”
“What reasons?”
"Uh, well…" He swallowed again, this time not trying to hide it, and chuckled nervously."Well, I can't disclose that."
“Any particular reason why not?”
He took a breath and started fiddling with his tie, another tell that the enthusiastic, overly friendly executive was struggling in the web.“Well, it’s MAA policy.We don’t disclose termination reasons.You understand, of course.People make mistakes, and we want them to have a chance to fix those mistakes.I mean to move on from them.Just because their employment here didn’t work out doesn’t mean it can’t work out elsewhere.Sometimes getting fired is the kick in the pants people need to do better next time.Sometimes…”
He seemed to realize he was talking too much and let his voice trail off.He smiled anxiously at the two agents.See?I’m a good guy.I tried tohelphim.
Faith twisted the screws a little more.“Mr.Portnoy, seven people died in that incident due to a failure of security—”
“Of the TSA,” he interrupted, lifting a pudgy finger.“Our security officers acted in exemplary fashion.”
“So why did you fire nine of them within six weeks of the incident?”
He took a deep breath, released it in a half-chuckle, and tapped his finger on the desk.“Well, for other reasons.”
“What reasons?”Jessica asked again.“The ones that required them to sign NDAs?”
“I can’t reveal them,” he said, not quite raising his voice.“Look, I can confirm dates of employment for Mr.Stevenson.That’s all.”He quickly added, “And I can confirm that no criminal activity took place while he was employed by MAA.”
Faith lifted an eyebrow.“Did criminal activity take place after his employment?”
Donald’s neck flushed as he realized his mistake.He swallowed again and said, “Look, I really…” He released another breathy chuckle, then finished, “I really don’t think I can help you.”
“You can answer the question,” Faith said.“Then we can tell people that you cooperated instead of impeding.”
The flush in Donald’s neck vanished.He took a shaky breath and said, “Okay.After Mr.Stevenson’s termination, there were letters—allegedly, letters—written to the supervisors involved in the incident.”
“What kind of letters?”
Donald’s fingers drummed on the desk again.“Threatening letters.”
“Can you be more specific?”
