CHAPTER 65

TYSON LED HIM TO THE SECTOR where the employees were organized. They arrived at a place where there were lockers with the identification of each cleaning employee and the like. They wanted to investigate Allison's belongings and check all the possibilities that arose. If there was nothing there, the absence itself would help confirm her innocence in the case.

They opened her locker and began to rummage through the objects. There were books, photos of her children, some pieces of clothing and a school pencil case. They soon opened the pencil case, but there was nothing there except some pencils and pens.

Greg took the pieces of clothing to look and began to check his pockets, until, while fiddling with a pair of uniform pants, he felt a small volume in his pocket. He pulled it out to see and there it was! A very thin environmental listening device, similar to a bug, but a little bigger.

— This was in some plant, some pot in the room.

— How do you know? — Tyson asked.

— One of the ends is stained, opaque, apparently dirty with dirt.

— So we finally found the evidence... — Tyson commented, showing neither joy nor sadness at the discovery.

It would be a great relief for him to finish everything as quickly as possible and be free from the investigation, according to Gregory Evans' suspicions. The officer in charge made no effort to hide his discomfort with the presence of the two.

Greg held back, looked at the small device in his hand and asked:

— Tell me, Mr. Tyson, what time did the President receive the call from the intruder?

— A few minutes after the end of the meeting, according to his own report.

— And how long did that meeting last?

— You're asking too much, Agent Evans. I can't disclose so much confidential information.

Tyson Galloway's resistance was contradictory, since any and all information about the case should be handed over to the investigators. Even so, the man insisted on contradicting him. At this point, Greg began to get angry with the officer in charge:

— I need to know everything that is necessary for the investigation!

Still reluctant, Tyson gathered his thoughts a little and answered:

— The dome spoke for approximately two hours.

— That tells us something important... — Greg said thoughtfully. — If the dome lasted for two hours and the intruder took only minutes to get in touch, this means he was listening in real time...

— That is unlikely, at least theoretically impractical.

— For what reasons? — Gregory asked, although he already suspected what he would hear.

— For the intruder to hear everything in real time far from the building, the transfer would have to be done with strong wave radio transmission, but these waves would certainly be easily detected by our security system.

— Gregory showed him the device in his hand and said:

— This transmitter does not seem to be the size of something that emits strong waves, do you agree?

— I think so. — Tyson answered, with a raised eyebrow.

— — I imagine this is a device with very weak waves, so as not to be detected, but that would require the receiver to be very close to it, perhaps in a room next door...

— Are you suggesting that the receiver would be someone inside the White House? — Tyson Galloway asked.

Greg showed the device, it was irrefutable proof...

— That wouldn't make sense! Why would someone go to the trouble of setting up such a structure in order to spy on a room next door?

— As an ancient author said: after you eliminate the impossible, what remains, even if it is improbable... must be true...

— It doesn't make sense! — Tyson denied it exasperatedly.

WHILE THE OLD MAN IN CHARGE argued with himself, Greg continued rummaging through the woman's belongings. He finished with the rest of the clothes and began to pick up the books, leafing through them.

The titles were typically feminine, like sugary romances and also young adult literature, but his sense of touch sharpened when he pulled out an extremely thick, hardcover book titled War and Peace. In an almost sudden act, he opened it and began to leaf through it, having a big surprise right after that.