“Yes, please.”
The view from a camera inside the rear door. “As you see, the steel security doors are opened to admit the shipment. The driver is now in a room built of reinforced concrete with steel doors that we consider bombproof.”
“Unless the bomb is inside the room,” Holly said. “Amend the protocol to check with the shipping company and the putative sender before admitting any package to the building.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Holly will do, for all of you. Continue, please.”
“Here’s a view of Tom entering the room, looking curious. He takes the clipboard from the driver and examines it.” The audio came on.
“Get this crate out of here and secure the room!” Tom shouted.
“The dog had not signaled, but apparently something about the clipboard aroused Tom’s suspicions, and he acted without delay. We see the rear doors opening, and then …”
The video went to one frame at a time: Tom turned and shouted at the Marines, the crate exploded, and both video and audio ended.
“Tom was seconds away from having the crate outside and the room secured when the bomb detonated. There was no action on the part of the deliveryman, so it would have been detonated by cell phone or radio,” Ann said. “Now we see the explosion from outside, from a camera on the State Department building across Upper Grosvenor Street, in slow motion.”
The force of the blast blew a police constable out of the building and across Burnes Street, where his body collided with a neighboring building. A Metropolitan Police car parked in Burnes Street was blown into that building, as well.
“Now we switch to another camera in Upper Grosvenor three minutes and twelve seconds later,” Ann said.
The DSL van exploded with a ferocity as great as the first bomb. Cars and pedestrians were blown about and shattered.
“Jesus Christ,” Holly said involuntarily. “What was the death toll?”
“In the downstairs room, Tom, the police constable, two Marines who were there to examine the crate, plus another Marine at the desk, and the Labrador retriever sniffer dog were killed instantly. The room contained the blast, as it was designed to do, but the doors were open, so there was residual damage outside. A police constable in the patrol car was killed, and four people in the building across Burnes Street were seriously injured. Thirty-two other people were killed when the second bomb detonated—pedestrians, people in passing cars. The van partially blocked Upper Grosvenor, so traffic was bumper to bumper. Four of the dead were in the State Department personnel office across Upper Grosvenor. Eighteen other people either in the street, in cars, or in that building were injured, four of them seriously. The rest was from flying glass and shrapnel. That’s it.”
Holly heaved a deep sigh. “All right. I have to report to the director now, and after that I’ll see the desk chiefs, one at a time, please, in Tom’s office, to get an overview of current operations in your various purviews.”
Ann Tinney stood up. “I’ll show you to Tom’s office.” They left the conference room and started down the hall. “All of Tom’s personal effects have been cleared from the room, so you needn’t worry about disturbing anything there. It will be your office while you’re here.”
“Thank you,” Holly said. She was shown into a large corner office with unremarkable furniture, including a round conference table in a corner. Opaque window shades prevented photographing from outside. “Please excuse me, Ann, while I phone the director.”
“Of course.” Ann left the room and closed the door behind her.
Holly picked up the phone, then put it down again. She had never seen anything so horrific, and she needed a minute or two and some deep breaths to get control of herself. She looked at her watch, which displayed the two relevant time zones: it was four A.M. in Washington. She dialed Kate Lee’s cell number.
Kate answered on the second ring. “Holly? I’ve been expecting your call.”
“I’m sorry to wake you. I’ve just had a full briefing on the two bombs, with both video and audio.” She recounted what she had seen.
“Have them transfer that presentation to both the White House situation room and to my office at Langley,” Kate said calmly.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Can you explain to me why Tom went down to sign for the crate?”
“He thought it was from you. The security protocol doesn’t cover such an incident, and I’ve instructed that it be amended immediately.”
“It was a stupid mistake,” Kate said.
“From what I’ve seen, it was the only mistake anyone made, and even that wasn’t against protocol. The room where the bomb went off performed as designed.”
“It’s a very great disaster,” Kate said.
“How long do you think it’s going to take to get a new station chief in place?” Holly asked.