An extremely popular, positively and deliciously brutal magazine writer has decided that the Bureau bungled three murder cases nine years ago, and has been granted access to everything related to the cases, promised special treatment, and full cooperation during research for a ten-year anniversary story for the magazine. The problem with this story is that the writer thinks the three cold-homicide cases are connected: One& 014;Bertram Godfrey, a notoriously rich, successful, and nasty Hollywood movie mogul, is blown to pieces on board his yacht off the California coast. No accident, because a college kid accidentally overheard a call to the boat telling Godfrey he would soon be confetti. Two& 014;exactly three weeks later, to the day, Isadore Strange, a controversial Federal judge in Rapid City, is the target of a poison dart delivered in a crowd of people celebrating some damned annual law event. Nobody sees anything. Third& 014;three weeks, again to the day, an enormously popular television evangelist and self-proclaimed prophet is very neatly shot in a Georgetown restaurant parking lot, lured to the scene by the promise of a large contribution. Nobody saw anything; one bullet was recovered, which didn& 019;t match anything. Just from reading material in the public domain, the writer is convinced that three apparent strangers were victims of a single plot, an evil conspiracy.

& ; ***************& ; There is nothing more troublesome in the FBI& 019;s line of work than wild-eyed conspiracy theorists. An agent is dedicated to fighting terrorism at home and abroad. This is going to be a one-man operation, like James Bond or Charley Chan or& 026; Miss Marple.& ; & 01C;Oh, not to worry,& 01D; he assured, & 01C;I will supervise you every step of the way. That is, if this circus actually comes to our town, which I strongly hope it will not.& 01D; Another spin of the chair. & 01C;We have to strategize at eight on Monday. One of us must carefully review at least one of the cases before then.

By default, you get the job, Maggie.& 01D;.