CHAPTER 5
THE WOMAN SAID, “I’m Special Agent Margaret Chin with the ATF. People call me Maggie. And this is my crime scene.”
Before I could explain who I was and why I was at her crime scene, she continued: “I know who you are, Detective Bennett. I live on Staten Island. You seem to make the news enough that someone in my position pays attention.”
All I could say was “Gotcha. So did you hear about the bombing at a city office today?”
“I did. I would’ve responded there except I was already here. And I have no real answers for you about whether the incidents are connected.”
“I’m sure you have your hands full here.”
“You have no idea. The FBI sent two agents fresh out of the academy who’ve been absolutely useless and a veteran agent who showed up and tried to take over. I’ve dealt with him before.”
On cue, a tall man in his mid-forties stepped out of the low building and walked over to us.
“Maggie, I’m going to let you guys take the evidence. You’re in a better position to store anything that could be explosive,” he said.
Maggie didn’t hesitate. “And that way you don’t have to fill out any paperwork or take any of the evidence back to your office. Brilliant. That’s exactly the amount of cooperation I need from the FBI to work on this case.”
The FBI agent said, “I don’t give a shit what you need from the FBI to work on this case. We haven’t even decided if it rises to the level of our involvement.”
Maggie shook her head. And she said, “Josh, I envy people who don’t know you.”
I tried not to let out a laugh. It was as harshly as I’d seen anyone deal with an FBI agent in some time. I was thinking I might enjoy working with Maggie Chin.
When she was done with the FBI agent, she showed me around the crime scene. There were technicians from two different agencies snapping photographs and taking video.
“How long have you been with the ATF?” I asked Maggie.
“A little over four years.” She tried to read my expression.
“I know local cops joke about the feds having no experience. I was a combat engineer and used all type of explosives in the Army. I mean I’ve used explosives in real life as well as in Afghanistan and as an assist in Syria. ATF was an agency made for me.”
“Impressive.”
Maggie cocked her head and said, “Do you really mean that or is it sarcasm? I’m not fluent in NYPD speak.”
“No, really, those are impressive credentials. My partner, Rob Trilling, isn’t here due to a personal emergency, but he was an Army Ranger. And I’m not here to steal your thunder. I’m just curious if the cases are linked.”
Maggie said, “I’d be interested in working with you.
I’m assigned to the Newark field division, but my husband is an assistant US attorney for the Southern District of New York.
That’s why we live all the way over on Staten Island.
But it’s not that bad since most of my cases have connections to the city. ”
I nodded. When we walked to the rear of the building, Maggie showed me where someone had cut the rear chain-link fence and used a crowbar to pop an impressive lock off the rear door of the building.
I saw the door and paused, remembering how the door had been pried open at the Office of Technology.
Could it have been the same people who set the bomb at the Office of Technology?
I wondered about the timing. They couldn’t have been in two places at once, both in Manhattan, planting a bomb, and here, stealing supplies.
“You’re smarter than the average NYPD detective,” Maggie said with a smile.
“The theft wasn’t even reported until the bombing at the Office of Technology.
It prompted the arsenal’s security team to make a formal filing with outside law enforcement but at this point the best we can figure is that this occurred sometime three to five days ago,” she told me.
“There’s a blind spot in the video surveillance, and no one has any reason to come to this building often. ”
“You know exactly what was taken from here?”
“They’re doing a complete inventory now. But we know they took some C-4, a loose artillery round, and a keg of black powder.”
“Black powder?”
“The kind used for loading old-fashioned rifles. One of the officers stationed here used it for muzzleloader hunting.”
“What could someone who knew their shit be able to do with all that?”
“Everything.”