Free Fate (Wilton's Gold #3) by Craig W. Turner

stepped away from the screen so that everyone around the table could see it clearly.
    He brought up his first slide. It was a headshot of a man labeled “Benjamin Kane” and a bulleted list of information. “I thought it would be appropriate to give you some of the background on Benjamin Kane and his time travel request,” he said, pointing for no reason at the screen with laser pointer in his hand. “Kane was a third-generation industrialist, with his family in the milling business. They’ve milled and distributed flour through the Northeast United States since World War II, and shipped grain prior to that. Kane, himself, was married to his wife, Angela, for forty-one years, and they had two boys, Simon and Sylvester. Simon, the eldest, had left the family business behind to become a fairly successful screenwriter; Sylvester was in the process of taking over the company. Kane’s retirement was imminent.”
    Jeff watched him take a deep breath and look around the room. He wondered what was going through his mind. Everything seemed pretty straightforward. From Jeff’s chair, there wasn’t really much cause for Dexter to be anxious.
    He continued, “Benjamin Kane was sick. He’d been told he was dying of pancreatic cancer – he had an estimated six to twelve months to live. His time travel mission was billed as a last hurrah of sorts for him. His desire was to see the Empire State Building while it was still under construction. It was a reasonable request, and not particularly abnormal considering the fourteen other requests we’d already facilitated, which included Stiletto, New Mexico, an Old Western town, in 1871; Colonial Williamsburg in 1754; and the Cardinals-Tigers World Series in 1934.”
    “That the game with the big brawl?” someone asked from the shadows. Jeff couldn’t tell who’d said it.
    Dexter nodded. “Game seven, yes. Medwick starts the fight and the Detroit fans throw garbage at him in the outfield. It was a great game to watch. Anyway, extensive research through the various channels set up by the Time Program, including Kane’s PCS, showed no conflict of interest for him relative to his requested time and place. It was supposed to be an easy trip – drop in, spend a half-hour walking around Fifth Avenue and taking in old New York, and then head back.
    “Through family history, however, Kane must have known that a key competitor – or, more precisely, the ancestor of that key competitor – had a daily morning routine. He caught up to the man and murdered him on the street as he bought his morning paper. The man’s name was George Mellen, who I found out at the scene of the crime was well-known and was in a related industry to Kane’s family – manufacturing breakfast cereal in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, since the system hadn’t red flagged any connections between Kane and Mellen before the murder, there was no reason for me to collect data. Obviously, once I returned, there was very little information available on Mellen other than the news surrounding the famous murder. The Brooklyn Milling Company sank without his leadership, and was ultimately purchased by… Any guesses?”
    “Kane,” Bremner said.
    “Yes. Well, Kane’s father.”
    “Wow,” said Bremner. “Didn’t see that coming.”
    “No one did, sir.”
    “How was Kane’s company doing at the time of the mission?” Dr. Schmidt asked from across the table.
    “Actually, it was doing quite well, though, as Kane had divulged to me during our interview process, the writing was on the wall. With his impending departure and the industry very much changing to get away from old school, gravity-driven methods toward advanced manufacturing techniques, Kane Industries was in a predicament. They would either need to make heavy capital investments or risk falling behind.”
    “No chance this Mellen fellow was making a move on Kane’s company?” Schmidt asked.
    “It wasn’t anything he mentioned. I suppose anything’s