Page 9 of So Sinister
“That’s an important distinction,” Faith said.
“It really is, though.He ran a tight ship, but it wasn’t like he was rude to anyone.”
Harry Grisham folded skinny arms across an equally skinny chest and shook his head.The young agent seemed to be taking his supervisor’s death to heart.Faith felt a touch of sympathy for the kid.Her own boss, SAC Grant Monroe, had been murdered by a serial killer trying to get Faith’s attention.She looked up to him a lot, and his death had been devastating to her.
She held onto that thought.The Messenger had killed Grant to get Faith’s attention.Whose attention did this killer hope to gain by killing Entwhistle?
Jessica entered the small TSA office they were using to conduct interviews.She handed Faith and Harry cups of coffee.Harry looked at Jessica the way a lot of young men looked at her, and she gave him a smile that would no doubt fuel Harry’s fantasies for years to come.
“Can you think of a time when Entwhistle’s actions might have been interpreted as unnecessarily strict or harsh?”Faith asked.That didn’t quite answer the attention question, but Faith still wasn’t sure how to pursue that yet.
Harry sucked in a breath and tilted his head.“I guess, maybe one time.”
Faith raised an eyebrow.“All ears.”
“I’ve been with TSA two years,” Harry said.“When I started, there was a guy named Craig.He was a senior agent.Not a supervisor, but he had ten years of experience with the TSA.He was a K9 handler, so he reported directly to Entwhistle.His K9 failed to detect a bomb during a training exercise, and Craig was fired.”
Jessica whistled.“Harsh.”
Harry shrugged.“I mean… If you miss a bomb, it’s really bad.”
Yeah, but the dog missed the bomb.I mean, it’s not like the handler’s using his nose.”
“True,” Harry agreed, “but the handler’s supposed to know their dog.The dog is the tool.You don’t blame a hammer if it slips out of a carpenter’s hand and beans someone in the head.”
“I’m guessing Craig Daniels didn’t feel that way,” Faith said.
“No, he didn’t.He was pissed.When he found out he was being fired, he found Entwhistle and started screaming at him, telling him it was his fault, and he should have supported Craig during the HR investigation.Said it was bullshit, and Entwhistle was just a bitter prick who was threatened by him.”
“Was there an altercation?”Faith asked.
Harry chuckled.“No, no one messed with Entwhistle.”
“Why’s that?”Jessica asked.
“He just had a presence,” Harry said.“Like yesterday, there was this passenger who gave him shit about missing his flight, and he just stood there and looked at him, and the guy backed down.He wasn’t an especially big guy, Entwhistle, but there was something in his eyes that made it clear that if you messed with him, you were going to regret it.”
Faith and Jessica shared a look.“Do you remember this passenger’s name?”
“I do, but he’s not the killer.He ended up taking a later flight to Dallas.I know because we watched him the entire time he was here after he got into it with Entwhistle.”
Faith nodded.“Fair enough.So who do I talk to to find out where Craig Daniels lives?”
“That’s probably our big boss, Chief Rosenberg.She’s not usually here until seven or so.You can try calling her if you want, but she usually turns her cell phone off.She’s… Well, don’t tell her I said this, but she kind ofisa prick.”
“Fair enough,” Faith said.“We’ll wait.In the meantime, we’ll talk to the K9 agents and hear what they have to say.”
“Sure thing,” Harry said.He looked at Jessica, flushed beet red, then looked quickly away and practically ran out of the office.
Jessica laughed.“He was cute.”
Faith raised an eyebrow.“I thought you and Jon were dating.”
Jon was a construction worker the two of them had met during their previous investigation.Jessica was instantly smitten with the sculpted, handsome laborer and had given him her number in a not entirely professional capacity.Jon, of course, leaped at that opportunity.
“We’ve had one date,” Jessica said.“And I’m not saying I would go out with Harry.I just thought he was cute.”Her smile dropped in favor of a professional look.“So, do we like this as a revenge story?”
“Maybe,” Faith said, rubbing her lower lip.
