Chapter 94
MAGGIE SAID, “DEVON GREEN, an old classmate of mine from the academy, should be calling us any minute, and we’ll FaceTime with Thomas Owens’s brother.
I have his identifiers listed somewhere.
His name is Spencer, and I think he’s thirty-six or thirty-seven, a little older than his brother.
He’s some kind of financial analyst for a hedge fund based in Chicago. ”
I pulled out my notebook and jotted down a few quick thoughts and questions. This could be a really big break in this case. I hoped it would lead somewhere.
Maggie’s iPhone was about five generations newer than mine. The screen on it looked like the screen of a NASA computer. When it rang, she tapped the screen and the image of a young, good-looking Black man appeared.
Maggie said, “Hey, Devon, thanks again for doing this.”
“You owe me, Maggie. You really think an ATF agent in Chicago isn’t already busy twenty three and a half hours a day?”
We all laughed. Maggie tilted the phone toward me and took a second to introduce me to Devon Green.
After we got the basics out of the way, Devon said, “I’m here with Spencer Owens in downtown Chicago.
His office has generously given us a conference room.
Now that I’ve set it up, I’m gonna let you guys take it away.
” Devon moved his own phone, and our view was now of a pudgy white guy with thinning hair.
We introduced ourselves and got a little more information from Spencer, such as his current address and phone number.
I did my best to make an assessment of the man over FaceTime.
Usually during in-person interviews, I could pick up on everything from nervous tics to fidgety feet.
It took a lot of information to make a judgment about someone’s veracity. Much of that information was nonverbal.
“Did they explain why we wanted to speak to you, Spencer?” I asked.
“Agent Green told me that my brother might be involved in a bombing and that you wanted to talk to him.”
“That’s a pretty simplified version but right to the point.
Yes, there have been at least two fatal bombings here that we think your brother might have been complicit in.
We don’t know for sure who made the latest bombs or who planted them, but we do know there’s a group of individuals who claimed responsibility for the bombing of a police sergeant’s car.
They said it was a way to bring attention to tech overreach and the tyranny of local governments.
We think the other recent attacks in New York City may be the same group, but there’s been no public statement like what followed the first bombing. ”
Spencer looked concerned but didn’t say anything.
I continued: “We don’t know anything for certain. But we have several dead victims and we sure would like to talk to your brother to see what’s going on. I’m sure you’ve seen his YouTube videos.”
Spencer began slowly. “Tom has always had a… different view of things. The whole thing with tech companies and government overreach or whatever… that’s exactly the sort of issue that Tom latches onto.
And he is smart. Really, really smart. But his social skills don’t match his practical mathematics and engineering skills in any way. I had to look after him in school.”
“That’s good background, Spencer. We visited the cabin near Millwood. It didn’t look like anyone had lived there in a couple of months.”
I could see the wheels turning as Spencer tried to figure out if he was doing the right thing. Then he said, “I just don’t want anything bad to happen to him. I’ve tried to get him help several times. He always avoids it.”
“You’re a good brother. You seem like a reasonable person as well.
You have to decide if you could live with yourself if Tom is the person making these bombs, and if the next one he makes kills even more people.
Maybe it kills some kids. Maybe he didn’t mean to but they’re collateral damage.
Is that the sort of thing you want hanging over your head? ”
It took a while before Spencer said, “No, that’s not something I’d like hanging over my head. I have daughters. I’d never be able to look at them again without thinking about letting that happen to someone else’s kids. You’ve made your point.”
“I’m not trying to upset you. I only want to talk to your brother.” This was a moment of truth. Had I really made my point? Was he as reasonable as he sounded? I was about to find out.
Spencer Owens let out a sigh. He nodded his head. “I’ve seen the videos. I know what he’s capable of doing.”
I asked, “How do you contact your brother when you need to talk to him?”
“He usually calls me. I have to answer every phone call I get, no matter the area code, because I never know what number Tom might be calling me from. If I want to get ahold of him, I write a letter. That’s about the only way I’ve found that works.”
“Where do you write to him? Do you know where he’s living these days?”
Spencer nodded. “I sent him a money order last week. It went to a house in Yonkers. I think it was an Airbnb.” He pulled up his phone and searched for a moment, then gave us the address.
I hit him with a few more questions. Nothing too serious. Then, like in almost every interview I did, I asked Spencer Owens if there was anything I was missing, anything that I’d forgotten to ask about.
I could tell by the look on Spencer’s face that he was thinking hard.
It was almost as if he forgot he was on FaceTime with me.
“Look, I don’t want anything to happen to my brother.
But I have to be realistic. Nothing you’ve told me has surprised me.
I just ask that you treat him carefully.
One thing Tom doesn’t do is back down. He may seem like he’s giving up or giving in to someone else’s pressure.
I can tell you from personal experience, all he does is use that time to figure out how to get the upper hand.
He’s got issues. He doesn’t deal with them well. ”
“I promise we’ll do everything we can. But first of all I have to sit down and talk to him. I promise we’ll keep you informed during the whole process.”
“That’s all that I can ask.”
I was glad Spencer Owens said that, because it was all I could offer at the moment.