Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.
—Jonas Salk
Harry conferred again with the Boston field office. Since their face-to-face meeting almost a month ago, Agent Baldwin was, again, fully assigned to the Sherman Nichols/Anthony Rawlings case; however, now it had the added dimension of Catherine Marie London Rawls. As much as Harry personally hated to admit that Rawlings’ cooperation and confessions fit perfectly into the Harry’s timeline, gaps still existed.
During his confessions, Rawlings recalled the death of his parents. He claimed an irrational commitment to his grandfather, as his reason for protecting Catherine London Rawls. His parents were gone; therefore, as a tribute to his grandfather, he did what he could do to save London from a life in prison. At the time, he believed his parents’ deaths were the result of an accident—a discussion that became heated and grew out of control. He knew at the time, there was a history of bad blood between Catherine and his parents. After his father, Samuel, had successfully voided Nathaniel and Catherine’s marriage, she’d been pushed to her limit. Rawlings tried to reach his parents first, hoping to utilize his stellar negotiation skills. He failed—not in the negotiation—in reaching his parents before Catherine.
Rawlings recounted personal knowledge of his grandfather’s mission—to make the people responsible for his incarceration and their families pay. The first person on their list was Sherman Nichols; however, by the time Rawlings had the money to fulfill Nathaniel’s vendetta, Sherman and his wife had already passed. The next person was Jordon Nichols—Sherman’s son. According to Rawlings, there was a network of connections which when utilized, and well compensated, would provide any target with an untraceable deadly accident. He didn’t know the details, didn’t have time for them, but agreed to supply the money. Rawlings and Catherine discussed the plan ad nauseam. Rawlings willingly admitted a sense of obligation to fulfill his grandfather’s agenda. As an entrepreneur and businessman, he would and could affect the lives of others; however, giving the order to take a life was significant—even for him. Rawlings claimed to have procrastinated with that order, making London wait—even though she protested.
According to his confession, Rawlings claimed there were other parts to the plan which he told Catherine needed to be confirmed before he’d authorize the Nichols’ demise. One such task was securing the scholarship for Valparaiso University. Before Rawlings finally agreed to the deal, fate stepped in—the Nichols car crashed in a true accident.
The other family that was unknowingly involved in the vendetta was that of Jonathon Burke, the securities officer who helped build the FBI case on Nathaniel. During the span of time between Nathaniel’s death and Rawlings ability to financially fulfill the vendetta, Burke also died of natural causes. The next in line was Allison Mason, Burke’s only child. Certain that fate wouldn’t be as kind as to help their cause again—Rawlings agreed to pay the money to ensure her demise—the network was utilized. Rawlings claimed that he didn’t know the details of the impending accident until after it occurred. Both, Allison and her husband perished.
These were people completely off the FBI’s radar. Upon further investigation, Harry learned the Mason’s deaths had been officially ruled accidental—a tragic fall from a trail, while hiking in the Grand Teton National Park. If Rawlings hadn’t admitted to knowledge of this incident, it would never have been found. Each year, about 150 people die in national parks. Most went under reported; some visitors slipped on wet trails or leaned too far over guard rails. Regardless of the incident, they made poor publicity for the nation’s national parks and received little attention. Up until that moment, no one suspected that the death of Jonathon Burke’s only daughter, Allison, and her husband were anything other than a true accident.
Soon, the FBI would contact their niece—their only surviving relative—and seek permission to exhume their graves. Tissue samples were needed to confirm the presence of actaea pachypoda.
The next people on Rawlings’ and London’s list were Emily and Claire Nichols. This was the next generation—children of children of children. Rawlings admitted to watching Claire off and on for years. He didn’t know why he was obsessed—but he was. Although a fatal accident had always been the plan, Rawlings found it unacceptable. He told Catherine that there were some fates worse than death and created the perfect storm of events for what he assumed would be Claire’s worse fate. It involved orchestrating circumstances in her life which would lead to Claire’s need for money—his one expendable asset. He coordinated her disappearance, with the intent to allow Claire to work-off her family’s debt while discrediting her credibility at the same time. When he was done, her arrest, humiliation, and incarceration would secure the payment of her debt and allow her to live. He didn’t foresee emotions derailing his plan.
—Jonas Salk
Harry conferred again with the Boston field office. Since their face-to-face meeting almost a month ago, Agent Baldwin was, again, fully assigned to the Sherman Nichols/Anthony Rawlings case; however, now it had the added dimension of Catherine Marie London Rawls. As much as Harry personally hated to admit that Rawlings’ cooperation and confessions fit perfectly into the Harry’s timeline, gaps still existed.
During his confessions, Rawlings recalled the death of his parents. He claimed an irrational commitment to his grandfather, as his reason for protecting Catherine London Rawls. His parents were gone; therefore, as a tribute to his grandfather, he did what he could do to save London from a life in prison. At the time, he believed his parents’ deaths were the result of an accident—a discussion that became heated and grew out of control. He knew at the time, there was a history of bad blood between Catherine and his parents. After his father, Samuel, had successfully voided Nathaniel and Catherine’s marriage, she’d been pushed to her limit. Rawlings tried to reach his parents first, hoping to utilize his stellar negotiation skills. He failed—not in the negotiation—in reaching his parents before Catherine.
Rawlings recounted personal knowledge of his grandfather’s mission—to make the people responsible for his incarceration and their families pay. The first person on their list was Sherman Nichols; however, by the time Rawlings had the money to fulfill Nathaniel’s vendetta, Sherman and his wife had already passed. The next person was Jordon Nichols—Sherman’s son. According to Rawlings, there was a network of connections which when utilized, and well compensated, would provide any target with an untraceable deadly accident. He didn’t know the details, didn’t have time for them, but agreed to supply the money. Rawlings and Catherine discussed the plan ad nauseam. Rawlings willingly admitted a sense of obligation to fulfill his grandfather’s agenda. As an entrepreneur and businessman, he would and could affect the lives of others; however, giving the order to take a life was significant—even for him. Rawlings claimed to have procrastinated with that order, making London wait—even though she protested.
According to his confession, Rawlings claimed there were other parts to the plan which he told Catherine needed to be confirmed before he’d authorize the Nichols’ demise. One such task was securing the scholarship for Valparaiso University. Before Rawlings finally agreed to the deal, fate stepped in—the Nichols car crashed in a true accident.
The other family that was unknowingly involved in the vendetta was that of Jonathon Burke, the securities officer who helped build the FBI case on Nathaniel. During the span of time between Nathaniel’s death and Rawlings ability to financially fulfill the vendetta, Burke also died of natural causes. The next in line was Allison Mason, Burke’s only child. Certain that fate wouldn’t be as kind as to help their cause again—Rawlings agreed to pay the money to ensure her demise—the network was utilized. Rawlings claimed that he didn’t know the details of the impending accident until after it occurred. Both, Allison and her husband perished.
These were people completely off the FBI’s radar. Upon further investigation, Harry learned the Mason’s deaths had been officially ruled accidental—a tragic fall from a trail, while hiking in the Grand Teton National Park. If Rawlings hadn’t admitted to knowledge of this incident, it would never have been found. Each year, about 150 people die in national parks. Most went under reported; some visitors slipped on wet trails or leaned too far over guard rails. Regardless of the incident, they made poor publicity for the nation’s national parks and received little attention. Up until that moment, no one suspected that the death of Jonathon Burke’s only daughter, Allison, and her husband were anything other than a true accident.
Soon, the FBI would contact their niece—their only surviving relative—and seek permission to exhume their graves. Tissue samples were needed to confirm the presence of actaea pachypoda.
The next people on Rawlings’ and London’s list were Emily and Claire Nichols. This was the next generation—children of children of children. Rawlings admitted to watching Claire off and on for years. He didn’t know why he was obsessed—but he was. Although a fatal accident had always been the plan, Rawlings found it unacceptable. He told Catherine that there were some fates worse than death and created the perfect storm of events for what he assumed would be Claire’s worse fate. It involved orchestrating circumstances in her life which would lead to Claire’s need for money—his one expendable asset. He coordinated her disappearance, with the intent to allow Claire to work-off her family’s debt while discrediting her credibility at the same time. When he was done, her arrest, humiliation, and incarceration would secure the payment of her debt and allow her to live. He didn’t foresee emotions derailing his plan.
