Chapter 30
DARREN, THE SECURITY man who had grudgingly given us access to the recordings of the bombing, left us alone to review the hours and hours of video feed.
We were able to fast-forward through much of it, but it was still a tedious job, especially since we weren’t sure exactly what we were looking for.
I was impressed by Maggie’s focus and attention to detail. Her dark eyes were unblinking as she gazed at the computer screen, searching like she might find bigfoot if she looked closely enough.
I casually commented on how different it was to be working with an ATF agent. “I’ve never had an FBI agent sit with me while working on something so mundane,” I told Maggie. Then I caught myself. “No, that’s not true. There was one FBI agent who would do jobs like this with me all the time.”
Maggie immediately guessed, “Emily Parker?”
Hearing Emily’s name was jolting, an emotional punch right in my stomach. When my old friend, FBI agent Emily Parker, was murdered, I’d gone to Washington, DC, to chase down her killer. It took me a moment to respond to Maggie. “How’d you know that?”
Maggie looked down like she was embarrassed.
Finally, she said, “People talk. Everyone knows you caught her killer, even though you let the DC cops take the credit. They may have made the case, but you figured it out. You took the risks. That’s the sort of thing that gets talked about.
Especially if you’re like me and every party you go to is nothing but federal agents and prosecutors. ”
I don’t know why it surprised me. Every profession gossips about its own members. But somehow I’d never suspected that I might be a topic of conversation among the federal agents of New York. It was awkward, but I sat there in silence until I felt I could change the subject.
Maggie helped me out. She leaned back and said, “Sarah said she’ll ask Darren to make a DVD that highlights some of the crowds watching the rescue teams after the bombing.
I’m going to call in some favors at the FBI and see if they’ll run it through their facial-recognition software.
Maybe someone in one of their databases will pop up. ”
“Facial-recognition databases? That’s a little unsettling.”
“The FBI is pretty quiet about it. They don’t even use it in court. It’s mainly to help them keep track of suspected terrorists.”
“I didn’t realize exactly how far that technology had gone. That seems like serious Big Brother technology. It’s scary.”
“Maybe. But it feels positively benevolent compared to some of my parents’ stories.”
“I guess it’s all a matter of perspective.” After a moment, I added, “I was fascinated to hear some of your family’s story.”
“It’s not an unusual one for old-school Chinese immigrants.
The government was more open to moves for a while.
Now it’s getting tough again.” Maggie shrugged and changed the subject.
“My relatives back in China don’t know what to think about my job.
Most of them think I’m some sort of secret police.
It’s hard to explain to people who have spent their lives terrified of offending the government that my job here is to protect citizens. ”
I let out a laugh. “You know as well as I do that we can’t even convince people who’ve lived here their whole lives that most American police are interested in nothing more than protecting people.”
Maggie stretched in the chair. “We need to wrap this up. You need to get home to all those kids. If the younger ones turn out as well as Juliana, you should consider yourself blessed.”
I smiled and had to mumble, “I do.”