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watchdog sent to keep the local cops reined in until the task force arrived.
    "When do your people get here?" he asked.
    "Before dawn. We'll be headquartered at the National Guard armory."
    "I'll let my people know."
    "We'll need full access to whatever information your detectives have gathered so far."
    Kerney smiled.
    "Of course, and I know you'll be equally forthcoming."
    "You'll have clearance for all unclassified information," Apple white replied.
    "Is the man you have in custody a possible suspect?"
    "He hasn't confessed to anything yet. Will the ambassador be willing to meet with my violent-crimes supervisor?"
    "In fact, he's asked to speak with you personally upon his arrival. His plane is due in at twenty-one hundred hours. But he may not have any information of value. For nearly the last two years the ambassador and his wife have maintained separate residences."
    "So I've heard. Has he been advised of the theory that his wife may have been murdered by a lover?"
    "I really don't know what Ambassador Terrell has been told."
    "Interesting," Kerney said, getting to his feet.
    "I take it the ambassador isn't the jealous type."
    "Ambassador Terrell can't possibly be a suspect. He was out of the country, meeting with twenty-five high-ranking foreign and domestic diplomats when his wife was murdered."
    "You couldn't ask for a better alibi, could you?"
    Applewhite gave Kerney an unfriendly look.
    "I wouldn't be thinking in that direction if I were you, Chief Kerney."
    "With national security involved I'll gladly let your people call the shots," Kerney said as he opened his office door.
    "My department isn't equipped to handle a case like this. I'm assuming your vacation is over."
    "For the duration," Applewhite said, holding out a business card as she approached him.
    "The phone number for my hotel is on the back. Can you hold off on any statements to the press?"
    "Whatever you say," Kerney replied.
    "It's your case."
    "We're here to work with you, Chief Kerney."
    "You'll have my full cooperation, Agent Applewhite."
    Kerney closed the door behind the departing Applewhite, picked up the telephone, dialed Helen Muiz's extension, and asked her to send somebody outside in a hurry to get a make, model, and license number on Applewhite's vehicle.
    "Have it done on the sly," he said, "and run a motor-vehicle check as soon as you have the information."
    He replaced the receiver and stared through the office window that gave a view across Cerrillos Road to the shopping mall. The dinner hour had arrived and most of the parked cars were clustered near the entrance closest to a family-style mall cafeteria.
    He'd tried to match Applewhite's low-key approach to the Bureau's taking over of the investigation, hoping that if he covered some of the basics but dumbed things down a bit he would be viewed as a hayseed police chief who wouldn't cause any problems. But Kerney had doubts about Applewhite's interrupted vacation story. He ran over the conversation in his mind. Aside from establishing FBI control over the case, Applewhite had laid out two key issues: focus on the victim not the husband, and beware the political and security minefields.
    Why?
    Kerney thought about sharing his suspicions with Sal Molina and dropped the idea. How did Applewhite know a suspect was in custody? Terjo hadn't been charged with a crime as of yet, and a simple wanted person computer check wouldn't flag him as a murder suspect.
    Kerney tapped his finger on the telephone, and checked the time. There was a chance that Andy Baca, chief of the New Mexico State Police and his ex-boss, might still be at work. He dialed Andy's direct, private office number and Baca picked up.
    "Working late?" Kerney asked.
    Andy answered lightheartedly.
    "I thought I got rid of you when you took the Santa Fe job, Kerney."
    "I need a favor, Andy."
    "What's up? Are you in trouble already?"
    Kerney summarized the facts of the Terrell murder and recounted his conversation with Special Agent