the look; he’d seen it a thousand times before. “Spit it out.”
“So these guys fly into Nashville on Tuesday night. They have a casual steak dinner, go back to the hotel and have a couple of drinks. Then the next day they get up and start heading up into Kentucky, towards Cadiz. So far, it’s your standard business trip, right?”
Lich nodded.
“So what happens on Wednesday night that causes these guys to all of the sudden drive to St. Louis this morning?”
“Did they have return flights to Washington out of Nashville?”
“Yes,” Mac answered. “They were scheduled to fly out this morning at 10:22, both of them. They would have been back in DC in a little under two hours. We know where Stroudt ended up going. He purchases a plane ticket this morning to come up to the Twin Cities. Montgomery did not make that flight in Nashville and I haven’t tracked him down to any other flight. So again, what happens last night that causes them to change their plans?” Mac flipped through several pages of his notes. He stopped on a page. “Hmpf.”
“Hmpf what?”
“You know what these guys do?”
Lich shook his head.
“They’re political writers.”
“Reporters?”
“Kind of. I traced the corporate name on the credit card used for the flight to Nashville to their business which is TCP Enterprises. TCP stands for The Congressional Page. That’s a political blog that Stroudt and Montgomery operate. They write some articles, a few of which I found with an Internet search. It’s mostly on stuff happening on Capitol Hill and some campaign finance reform stuff.”
“Interesting,” Lich said. “Given we’re in the height of the silly season.”
“Exactly,” Mac answered, walking up to the board, looking at the timeline. “So these guys are into politics and a week before the election they are flying into Nashville and the next night they’re driving through the Kentucky countryside and this morning they split up, one comes up here and the other one makes like a submarine and runs silent and deep.”
“When did they purchase the tickets to Nashville to begin with?”
“That’s not a bad question, partner,” Mac responded and flipped through his notes. “The tickets to Nashville were purchased on …” McRyan’s eyes lit up, “Tuesday morning.”
“So in other words,” Lich speculated, “If I’m catching your drift, you’re thinking that these guys might have got onto something.”
“Might have,” Mac nodded. “It’s at least a theory that would explain the timeline and behavior. It’s a normal trip until last night and then something suddenly causes them to change their itinerary. The original plan was not to end up in St. Louis this morning. They had tickets back to DC. Another thing that’s odd, if you decide you need to fly up here to the Twin Cities, why not just go back to Nashville and see if you could change the ticket?”
“Maybe there wasn’t a flight here from Nashville as quickly as they wanted and there was from St. Louis.”
“That’s possible,” Mac answered. “We should check that out. Of course, another possibility might be they were trying to avoid someone.”
“That’s a bit of an intuitive leap, don’t you think?” Lich said skeptically.
“I have Stroudt’s dead body that says otherwise,” Mac retorted. “And why is Montgomery so hard to find now? His cell phone isn’t turned on or he certainly isn’t answering it. He wasn’t on the flight back from Nashville. No record of him being on a flight anywhere and he dumped the rental car in St. Louis. It’s as if he literally disappeared.”
“Or given how you’re suddenly thinking,” Lich replied, “he figuratively disappeared. Maybe he’s dead too?”
Mac raised his eyebrow. “Might explain why he’s not reachable. Why we can’t get a sniff of this guy. Or …”
“Or …”
“Montgomery is scared of what they saw last night and he’s hiding. If Stroudt gets to St. Louis to take
“So these guys fly into Nashville on Tuesday night. They have a casual steak dinner, go back to the hotel and have a couple of drinks. Then the next day they get up and start heading up into Kentucky, towards Cadiz. So far, it’s your standard business trip, right?”
Lich nodded.
“So what happens on Wednesday night that causes these guys to all of the sudden drive to St. Louis this morning?”
“Did they have return flights to Washington out of Nashville?”
“Yes,” Mac answered. “They were scheduled to fly out this morning at 10:22, both of them. They would have been back in DC in a little under two hours. We know where Stroudt ended up going. He purchases a plane ticket this morning to come up to the Twin Cities. Montgomery did not make that flight in Nashville and I haven’t tracked him down to any other flight. So again, what happens last night that causes them to change their plans?” Mac flipped through several pages of his notes. He stopped on a page. “Hmpf.”
“Hmpf what?”
“You know what these guys do?”
Lich shook his head.
“They’re political writers.”
“Reporters?”
“Kind of. I traced the corporate name on the credit card used for the flight to Nashville to their business which is TCP Enterprises. TCP stands for The Congressional Page. That’s a political blog that Stroudt and Montgomery operate. They write some articles, a few of which I found with an Internet search. It’s mostly on stuff happening on Capitol Hill and some campaign finance reform stuff.”
“Interesting,” Lich said. “Given we’re in the height of the silly season.”
“Exactly,” Mac answered, walking up to the board, looking at the timeline. “So these guys are into politics and a week before the election they are flying into Nashville and the next night they’re driving through the Kentucky countryside and this morning they split up, one comes up here and the other one makes like a submarine and runs silent and deep.”
“When did they purchase the tickets to Nashville to begin with?”
“That’s not a bad question, partner,” Mac responded and flipped through his notes. “The tickets to Nashville were purchased on …” McRyan’s eyes lit up, “Tuesday morning.”
“So in other words,” Lich speculated, “If I’m catching your drift, you’re thinking that these guys might have got onto something.”
“Might have,” Mac nodded. “It’s at least a theory that would explain the timeline and behavior. It’s a normal trip until last night and then something suddenly causes them to change their itinerary. The original plan was not to end up in St. Louis this morning. They had tickets back to DC. Another thing that’s odd, if you decide you need to fly up here to the Twin Cities, why not just go back to Nashville and see if you could change the ticket?”
“Maybe there wasn’t a flight here from Nashville as quickly as they wanted and there was from St. Louis.”
“That’s possible,” Mac answered. “We should check that out. Of course, another possibility might be they were trying to avoid someone.”
“That’s a bit of an intuitive leap, don’t you think?” Lich said skeptically.
“I have Stroudt’s dead body that says otherwise,” Mac retorted. “And why is Montgomery so hard to find now? His cell phone isn’t turned on or he certainly isn’t answering it. He wasn’t on the flight back from Nashville. No record of him being on a flight anywhere and he dumped the rental car in St. Louis. It’s as if he literally disappeared.”
“Or given how you’re suddenly thinking,” Lich replied, “he figuratively disappeared. Maybe he’s dead too?”
Mac raised his eyebrow. “Might explain why he’s not reachable. Why we can’t get a sniff of this guy. Or …”
“Or …”
“Montgomery is scared of what they saw last night and he’s hiding. If Stroudt gets to St. Louis to take
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