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“But what about Ashburn? Isn’t she on the case now?”

“I’d prefer to handle it”

“Just in case we lose another agent?” she said quietly

Stone didn’t answer

An hour later they were standing in front of George Sykes, earing the uniform of the National Park Service He was the supervisor previously identified by Tom Gross who’d overseen the installation of the tree Sykes was a fit rip Chap the man’s hand

“The ns of disease or any other proble and found that it was nearly dead No way to save it Broketime”

Chapman said, “So you pulled it out, ordered a new one and installed it?”

“Right,” replied Sykes “We’re very careful about the o into the park They have to be historically accurate”

“So we understand And the tree farm in Pennsylvania was one of your vetted suppliers?” said Stone

“Yes I told all this to Agent Gross”

“We understand But in light of what happened to hio back over this”

“Absolutely,” said Sykes quickly “What a nightmare And they think one of the men at the tree farm was involved?”

“Apparently,” said Chapuely “What can you tell us about when the tree was delivered?”

“We kept it in a secure staging area a few blocks from the White House”

“And then you had it craned in here?” asked Stone

“That’s right,” said Sykes

“And the tree was installed but the hole remained uncovered?” said Chapman

“That’s right,” said Sykes

Stone said, “Why not cover it up right away? In fact it was a hazard, wasn’t it? You had to put tape around it to keep people away”

And keep the boht

“Transplanting a tree of that size creates a lot of stress for the species and check the health of the tree along the way Craning it in and putting it in the hole was only one step in a series of the up at the farm in Pennsylvania The key is to take it slow and easy We put it in the hole and left it uncovered toive us a report and tell us the correct mixture of fill dirt and nutrients the tree would need for this transition period”

“Sounds complicated,” said Chapman

“It can be You’re talking about a living thing that weighs tons And proper watering is very important to help establish the roots”

“Okay,” Stone said slowly “But you still don’t knohat killed the first tree?”

Sykes shrugged “It could be a nue to see it die so quickly, it’s not unheard of”

“Could it have been deliberately sabotaged?” asked Chapman

Sykes looked at her in amazement “Why would someone want to kill that tree?”

Stone explained, “Well, if the tree didn’t die, there would have been no need to replace it No new tree, no bomb in the tree”

“Oh,” said Sykes, looking thoroughly appalled “You mean they killed the first tree and then blew up the second? Those bastards”

Stone could sense he was farwho had been blown up

“Well, thank you for your help,” Stone said

Chapman and Stone walked back to her car She said, “Clearly the boot here And the fact that the hole wasn’t covered up isn’t that significant Even with dirt in there the renals can certainly penetrate a few feet of dirt”

“So it sees, that the tree farm was the key and any connection there was lost when Kravitz died”

“They’ve certainly tidied up the trail behind thes found at Kravitz’s trailer?”

“Not to e, no”