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Chapter 148: What Did the Director of the General Services Administration Do?
Edward walked them through the scoring system: ten frames per game, two balls per frame maximum, and the highest score wins.
The math was straightforward. Knock down all ten pins with the first ball, earn a strike, and two bonus throws, your frame score would be ten plus whatever the successive two balls knocked down.
Spare it with two balls, and you'd get one bonus throw, plus ten for the next ball. Fail to clear all ten pins in two tries, and your frame score was just the pins you'd managed to topple.
Not official professional rules, this was the socialized version, the one government employees used when they wanted to blow off steam without getting too competitive.
After the rules briefing, Edward and Thomas led them to rent shoes.
The bowling alley floor was waxed to a mirror shine. Leather-soled dress shoes were a one-way ticket to the emergency room.
Edward and Thomas were regulars here. The rental counter staff recognized them immediately, and when they spotted Thomas's cast, exclamations erupted.
"What happened to you?"
Thomas flushed. "Fell down some stairs."
The staff member's expression said he wasn't buying it, but Thomas grabbed his rental shoes and fled before more questions could follow.
It didn't help. Thomas kept running into acquaintances, staff, and colleagues alike, and the interrogation repeated itself with exhausting consistency.
Saturday afternoon at the DuPont Bowling Center meant wall-to-wall government employees. His coworkers from the Federal Bureau of Prisons knew he'd gotten into a fight and landed in the hospital, but details were scarce. Thomas had been out on leave for days, giving rumors time to metastasize.
Seeing him in person triggered a feeding frenzy of concern.
Thomas maintained his story on the staircase with forced cheerfulness.
After the nth interruption, the group lost all enthusiasm. They wrapped up early, having barely finished two games between bouts of running interference for Thomas's overly invested colleagues.
On the upside, the shared ordeal made them feel less like awkward acquaintances and more like actual friends.
Coming out of the bowling alley, they agreed to try again next time and went their separate ways.
Theodore thought the whole thing had been anticlimactic. He would've been better off writing reports at home.
Monday morning, they reported to Supervisor Rosen.
Rosen looked genuinely surprised they'd closed the case so fast.
Four days from murder to arrest. Three days from the moment they officially took over.
Solving a homicide in three days was remarkable efficiency by any standard.
Rosen listened to Bernie's debrief, his gaze drifting to Theodore.
Theodore's eyes were unfocused, staring at nothing.
He was drafting an article in his head.
Rosen watched him for a long moment, then sighed and returned his attention to Bernie.
He'd briefly regretted not fighting harder to keep Theodore and Bernie in the Investigation Department when he had the chance. Two agents this efficient shouldn't have slipped through his fingers.
Now? No regrets at all.
Bernie wrapped up his report. Theodore surfaced from his mental drafting session and placed a document on Rosen's desk, several dozen pages thick.
"Communication security report," Theodore said. "Inspired by the phone scam case."
The report detailed security vulnerabilities at every stage of telephone installation, from initial application through final hookup. Theodore watched Rosen flip through the first few pages with visible confusion and prepared to explain.
The report was highly technical. He didn't expect Rosen to understand it on his own.
He hadn't written it alone, either. Bernie had helped, and they'd consulted extensively with AT&T technical staff. Yesterday, Theodore had even brought in an AT&T technician to verify portions of the analysis.
He'd seriously asked that technician if he wanted credit as a co-author.
The technician had seriously declined.
Theodore found that regrettable.
Rosen didn't need the explanation. He skimmed a few more pages, formed his assessment, and closed the report.
He set it aside and looked at Theodore. "Anything else?"
Theodore pointed at the report. "You're not going to read it?"
Rosen laughed, not unkindly. "How could I? You think a layman can understand what you've written?"
He tapped the cover. "Experts will evaluate your report. That's how this works."
He wouldn't waste time struggling through highly technical material. He'd farm it out to three to five specialists in the relevant field for direct evaluation. If it passed muster, he'd listen to their recommendations for revisions. If it didn't...
Well, if an agent submitted a report that failed expert review, Rosen would have a conversation with them.
Theodore's disappointment was visible.
He'd spent yesterday going through the report point by point with that AT&T technician specifically to prepare for Rosen's questions, to ensure he could explain anything that confused the supervisor.
Now those preparations might be useless.
He tried one more angle. "Besides the technical sections, there's a management component."
Theodore leaned forward slightly. "The General Services Administration disbanded the Communication Technology Department. They outsourced a massive amount of government communication work to AT&T."
"AT&T subcontracted it to smaller communication companies."
"Those companies hired the same technical staff who used to work for the disbanded Communication Technology Department."
"These technicians can freely enter government buildings and access communication equipment without oversight. The communication infrastructure of various government departments is completely exposed to them."
Rosen's hand rested on the report. His gaze turned strange.
He was no longer certain this report represented Theodore's genuine intentions.
It sounded like a direct attack on the General Services Administration.
Rosen's thoughts pivoted. What had the GSA Director done recently to warrant this?
Now it was Rosen's turn to zone out while Theodore kept talking.
'He has a mistress in Bethesda.'
'His wife has a lover in Georgetown.'
'His son has blue eyes, just like his wife's lover.'
'He's accepted bribes from AT&T three times.'
'He's been privately meeting with a diplomat from a certain foreign country.'
'Heâ'
Rosen mentally reviewed the GSA Director's file and confirmed there were no red flags.
He exhaled quietly, relieved.
Director Hoover and Deputy Director Tolson were stretched thin lately. Their attention was focused on Europe, Asia, and South America. International tensions were high, domestic demands equally pressing. The Bureau was running lean, manpower already strained.
Rosen set the report down and waved them out.
[End of Chapter]