Page 15 of Caught
Slidell looked around the empty park and gestured to the three benches just feet away. “Let’s sit and talk.”
He took a seat on the center bench, and Ryan and Jake joined him. Without discussion, Omar and Trent flanked the benches and stood guard.
“To answer your question, Mr. Hayes, I know you want to talk about the death of one of your former colleagues. But I don’t know details.”
“You must know some of the details. You requested Omar’s presence.”
Slidell raised an eyebrow and conceded, “That’s true. As you know, the DoD handled Mr. Ito’s autopsy. That’s not standard procedure.”
“So why do it?”
“Because the DEA contacted us with evidence that he’d gotten mixed up in an active joint investigation between DCIS and the DEA.”
“What kind of investigation?” Ryan pressed.
“I’m not at liberty to say. But we were concerned a blood toxicology report would reveal the presence of certain substances that would be difficult to explain, so we stepped in.”
“Wait. You thought Natsuo would have ketamine in his system?”
A flash of surprise crossed Slidell’s face before he smoothed his expression. “I didn’t mention ketamine, but now that you have, yes. Folks rarely overdose on ketamine, but, as I’m sure Agent Khan can confirm, accidental deaths by falling or drowning while high on special K are common.”
“I’m not an agent anymore,” Omar corrected him. “But it’s true. Although a user can OD, especially if they’re mixing ketamine and booze. Of course, Natsuo Ito wasn’t on ketamine when he died. In fact, as we understand it, he was stone-cold sober.”
Slidell grimaced. “That’s correct.”
“So how do you explain the fact that his death has been attributed to a drunken tumble down the stairs?” Ryan asked.
Slidell raised both hands as if he were warding off an attack. “That wasn’t us.”
“Who was it?”
Slidell said nothing.
“The DEA,” Ryan guessed.
Slidell shrugged. “I can’t say.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Jake wanted to know.
“Am not at liberty to say,” he clarified.
Trent made a low sound in his throat. “What’s the point of this meeting if you’re not going to share information.”
“The deputy inspector general wants me to convey a message, and I personally want to offer a word of caution.”
“A message and a warning? This oughta be good,” Trent cracked.
Jake shot him a warning look and turned to Slidell. “We’re all ears.”
“DCIS understands that Mr. Ito was running down a wild theory about one of his cases.” He locked eyes with Ryan. “You know it, Mr. Hayes. You worked on it before you left Justice.”
“Cortez.”
“Correct. Mr. Ito invented a story that Mr. Cortez, a low-level drug dealer with his own addiction, managed to somehow fraudulently redirect or remove from inventory thousands of vials of ketamine destined for military medical operations. It’s preposterous.”
Jake shot Ryan a look. He chose to interpret it as an invitation to go after Reggie Slidell. “My understanding is that thousands of vials of ketamine did go missing and that Army Medical Logistics Command investigated the issue. Am I wrong?”
Slidell’s expression was perfectly flat and unreadable. “If AMLC believed thousands of vials had been stolen, they would have looped in my office. They did not, so I can only assume they resolved the discrepancy.” He gave a half-shrug. “Likely a clerical error.”
