Free The Brea File by Louis Charbonneau

file and… the nature of the theft. It couldn’t have been premeditated. Agent Stearns’s decision to stop at that particular store at that hour that night was pure happenstance—that he would have stopped at all could not have been anticipated. My assumption is that this was a random auto theft, spur-of-the-moment, amateurish. That’s also the opinion of the two agents in the Stolen Vehicle Unit at the Washington Field Office who are investigating. I have copies of their initial reports if you’d like to see them. The thief’s prints are all over the car but there’s nothing on record in Ident. Either he has no criminal record, which corroborates the amateur theory, or any record he has was as a juvenile and his records are frozen.”
    “But his prints are on the Brea folder?”
    “Yes, sir, on that and a number of other files. But he had no way of knowing the Brea file was important. What I cannot explain, Director, is why he would take
that particular file
.”
    Landers grunted, the expression noncommittal. “You have to allow for chance sometimes,” he said reflectively. “The random auto theft, the file opened at random, the random witness…”
    “Unfortunately we have none of those.”
    Landers didn’t smile and Halbig regretted the weak attempt at humor. “Your memo recommends a special investigation with the cooperation of the OPR.”
    Halbig nodded. The Office of Professional Responsibility, created in the aftermath of the Watergate scandals, came under Halbig’s direction as part of the Inspection and Planning Division. The OPR was charged with responsibility for investigating any accusations of misconduct or impropriety by an FBI agent or agents.
    “The OPR should receive complete reports, of course. And the Attorney General’s OPR should also be kept informed. But I think we should put someone in charge of the field investigation of the Brea file who is familiar with that situation and with terrorist activities generally.”
    “You have someone in mind?”
    “The man I’m thinking of headed up Jim’s Internal Security Branch before his present assignment.” Halbig smiled at James Caughey, who returned a frown. “He also worked under you, Director, as part of the PRC Task Force. And he’s the man who recovered those stolen files ten days ago. I’m sure you remember him”—Landers had a legendary reputation for his photographic memory of names and faces—“the SAC of the Washington Field Office, Paul Macimer.”
    “Do you have any other reason for suggesting Macimer?” Was there something suspicious in the question? In Landers’ tone?
    “Yes, sir, I do. There’s a possibility that Macimer himself stole the contents of that file.”
    There was another shocked stillness in the room. Halbig fancied that it was reflected even in the eyes of the three men whose portraits were mounted side by side on one walnut-paneled wall—J. Edgar Hoover, Clarence M. Kelley and William H. Webster. L. Patrick Gray, who had resigned in disgrace before his appointment as Acting Director was confirmed, and William Ruchelshaus, who had served as Acting Director for only seventy-five days in 1973, were not present on the wall.
    James Caughey exploded. “That’s cow flop!” His circumlocutions for strong four-letter words were Bureau legend. “I know Macimer. He wouldn’t do it.”
    “I don’t say he did,” Halbig answered calmly. “I merely pointed out the possibility. After all, he did have possession of those stolen files before they reached Headquarters—and no one else other than the car thief did. Moreover, he reported that he had not examined or disturbed any of the files. Yet his thumbprint was found on one edge of the Brea file—
and on no other file
.” Halbig let the significance of that finding sink in before he added, “Macimer was also part of the PRC Task Force in California at the time Brea was there.”
    “So were about two hundred other agents, including myself,” Landers