Savich said quietly, "I find it curious that your wife, Nikki, has never managed to get through to me again, Senator."

Senator Hoffman shook his head as he said, "I've already told you, Agent Savich, that what you claim about Nikki is so beyond anything I could possibly accept, well, I-"

Savich said easily, "I understand it's hard to accept, Senator. Nonetheless, it is real, it did happen. It's like she had only so much opportunity to connect with someone, and then she had to leave. I honestly doubt she'll come again."

"So do you think God controls dead people? Lets them talk to us, then pulls them back?"

"I don't presume to know. It's just that in Nikki's case, she either couldn't connect with me anymore, or she wouldn't."

"That sounds ridiculous."

"It certainly makes you reexamine your beliefs."

"Did she ever tell you who is behind the attempts on my life?"

"No."

Senator Hoffman took a pen from its holder and began tapping it up and down. "It seems that is what people who claim to have psychic powers always say-the dead never quite get it done. They never show the psychic the one scene that would make sense of everything, they never convey the one critical fact that would solve the problem. Like Nikki. Life imitating art?"

He tapped his pen a half-dozen more times, frowned. "You would think that if indeed Nikki was really worried about me, she'd not only break through to communicate with you, she'd tell you exactly what you needed to know, but she's never managed to be helpful, has she? Don't you find that curious, Agent Savich?"

Savich said, "I did until I realized I needed to back up and do some thinking. Fact is, she did tell me exactly what I needed to know when she spoke to me that first time. I just didn't understand what she was saying."

"What, did she speak in tongues?"

Savich no longer had to pull out the paper from his wallet. "Perhaps you remember what she said, Senator. 'David's in such danger. He doesn't understand, doesn't realize what will happen to him. You've got to stop it, you've got to, he can't-' You're right, I wish she'd told me more, but we were interrupted. It's a pity, because a woman is dead and the vice president could easily have died as well."

The dark library was silent. Hoffman finally said, "I wish she could have finished it, wish she could have told you who has it in for me."

"She was very frightened for you, Senator, that came through loud and clear."

"So death doesn't brush away the emotions one felt while alive?"

"Not in my experience."

"Well, my wife loved me."

"Yes, she must still, since she wanted me to save you. I'm going to do my best to do that tonight, Senator. Now, let me be specific. I've spent many hours checking into people who know you socially, who work for and with you, all of your colleagues, your political and personal rivals. I realized there was no one who seemed to have enough of a motive to go to such complex lengths to kill you.

"After my interview with Benson and Aiden, I realized I was too close, and so I got rid of all my preconceptions and biases. And do you know what? I finally realized the truth, Senator. I saw clearly what I needed to see in what Aiden and Benson said, and finally, in what Nikki had said. Everything fell into place."

Hoffman nodded. "I too have found over the years that sometimes a bit of perspective is exactly what one needs. Tell me, what is it that fell into place, Agent Savich?"

Savich steepled his fingers and lightly tapped his fingertips together. "Would you like to tell me why you poisoned Dana Frobisher and tried to murder Vice President Valenti?"

Hoffman laughed, sat back in his beautiful Moroccan leather chair. "Your reevaluation led you to this? Come now, Agent Savich, I don't have any idea what you're talking about, but what you're implying is ludicrous. Why would I murder a woman I scarcely know over lunch? And Valenti, he's been one of my best friends for years. This is even greater nonsense than your claim about talking to Nikki."

Hoffman slowly rose. "I am more than disappointed in you, Agent Savich, not that you ever afforded me much protection or assistance. You are a disgrace to the FBI. I will be speaking to Director Mueller, and I promise you, sir, you will be reassigned to the Anchorage Field Office, if not kicked out of the Bureau altogether. You are a professional, you are supposed to be thorough, to be sure of your facts before you act. Let me ask you-do you have a shred of proof for your allegations against a United States senator?"