Risk

The Phone Call

Back at his desk, Martin organized his thoughts for the upcoming phone call. He even made some notes, planning the conversation in detail. None of this ‘see what happens.’ He liked to be prepared. He set out the business card and the book of matches George had given him. He thought about what he would say and how he would use the information he had. When he felt ready, he dialed the number.

“Good afternoon, Ultimate Diecasting.”

“Hello, may I speak to Tom, please?”

“Just a moment, please.”

“Thanks.” Martin tapped his pen on the pad of paper in front of him while he waited.

“Hello, Tom Peterson.”

“Hello, Mr. Peterson. My name is Martin Porchnik. I am an underwriter with the insurance company that is handling a claim for Ultimate Diecasting.”

“What’s an ‘underwriter?’”

“It’s a kind of company investigator.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, I’ve already talked to one of your investigators, so don’t bother. I don’t have anything else to say.”

“We know you set it all up, Mr. Peterson.” Martin held his breath.

“What?”

“It was you. You set it up.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I don’t have time for this kind of bullshit. I'm hanging up n—”

“We know you told them about the contract and where to find the plans.”

“What a load of crap. If you don’t stop harassing me, I’m going to call the police. I’ve had about as much as I’m going to take.”

“Go ahead. We’re working in conjunction with the police on this matter. It’s not you that we’re after. We want the big fish. If you help us catch them, the police don’t have to know about your involvement.”

“There is no involvement. I wasn’t involved in anything. Except answering stupid questions.”

“Mr. Peterson. It’s all going to come out. They’re going to be caught, and the whole story will come out. I don’t think your wife wants to see your name in the paper.”

Silence.

“You want to see your kids only on visiting days? Introduce them to your new friends in the slammer?”

Martin paused. Maybe ‘slammer’ was too old-fashioned. It was the term that Mickey Spillane used, and those books were pretty old. Oh, well. He’d get the gist of it.

“I don’t know anything about this. I’ll be calling my lawyer.”

“Tom, we know about you and Mr. Smith.”

Silence. Martin prayed he’d got it right. He could feel the pulsing of blood in his temples as he pressed the phone to his ear. Then he heard a sigh on the line like the wind slowly going out of a balloon.

“Oh, my god. I should’ve known it would come out. It was all going so well. But when I saw those FBI guys here yesterday, I knew the shit would hit the fan.”

“FBI?”

“Yeah, on account of the nuclear contract with the DOD. This is news to you?”

“No, of course not.”

Martin panicked. FBI? DOD? Nuclear? It didn’t matter. Just focus, push on through and think about it later. “Anyway, it doesn’t have to come out, if you co-operate.”