In the Company of Liars

ONE DAY EARLIER
MONDAY, MAY 10

Ram Haroon already jogged today, so he is annoyed that he has to don the outfit and run again, at the ungodly hour of eleven at night. He is surprised to find that he’s not alone out here, that a few other lunatics are running in the cool air. There is a path that winds around a park near the university, a one-mile loop that begins-and ends-at a marker with a couple of benches and a drinking fountain made of stone.

A runner is kneeling near the fountain, tying a shoe. Ram can hardly make the runner out in the darkness but there’s no doubt. The runner stands and stretches, then starts down the path, presumably for another mile, though Ram is sure that his contact will veer off to a nearby car.

Left in the runner’s wake, on the grass, is an envelope. Ram does not immediately rush over to it, because as long as no other runner approaches, there is no need to act with such swiftness. After a moment of stretching, he makes his way over to the drinking fountain and takes a sip of the icy water. He bends down to tie a shoe that is not untied, and slips the envelope off the grass and into the pocket of his sweatpants.

He is in his student dormitory thirty minutes later. Student housing might not have been the wisest choice, because the courts in America have allowed law enforcement more freedom to search school-subsidized facilities, on the theory that students have a diminished expectation of privacy in government-provided housing. But it made sense, in the end. First, because he lacks the money for a nicer place in the city, but more importantly, because he wants to fit in. He wants nothing out of the ordinary. Besides, there’s nothing for them to find in this room.

Except this envelope. He opens it and reads:

Sorry for the short notice. We have had a tremendous break. The FBI is pressing her for information about Operation Public Trust. They want her to provide information that she very much does not want to provide. She is tough but not when it comes to her family. She is at the breaking point. No need to give too many details. The FBI has put her in a corner. I believe she is contemplating this herself. She will do anything to protect her family. I am sure of this. But we cannot assume she will save us the trouble and take her own life.

Do it Tuesday night. The FBI is coming back to her on Wednesday. MUST BE TUESDAY NIGHT. I have included two scripts. She should make these two phone calls. I leave it to you whether you can force her to do this. Your decision. If you can get her to cooperate, you will convince the whole world that she did this to herself. I think she will make these calls willingly, because she will want to say these things, anyway. I leave that to you.

I assume you have the trophy now. It might make sense for you to leave it at her house. People would see her guilt.

This has always been your idea, not mine. I still believe it is too risky. But if you insist on doing this, now is the time.

I must warn you, if there is the slightest hint that this has not worked out to our satisfaction, WE will be the ones who walk away.

Ram Haroon rereads the note, then looks at the other sheet of paper. It is a script of what Allison Pagone is supposed to say. The first phone call will be to Mateo, her ex-husband.Don’t say a word to the FBI and words to that effect.

The second phone call will be to an FBI agent named Jane McCoy. Haroon does not know all the details, but he can gather enough from the script:Your plan didn’t work. Live with that. Vague without more context, but Haroon understands well enough. The FBI is trying to make the ex-husband talk to save the ex-wife, and the ex-wife, by taking her own life, removes the FBI’s leverage.

Excellent. Better than a suicide note, especially the call to the agent, McCoy-blaming her for placing Allison in this corner. A plausible explanation for why Allison Pagone would choose to take her own life.

Yes. This is the perfect cross of the final t, the final jagged piece of a difficult puzzle. It must be a part of this plan.

And he has no doubt that he will be able to persuade Allison Pagone to go along.