“Okay,” said my daughter, and went to sleep.

Chapter 13 — The Woman in the Scarlet Dress

Vanessa Cole served five years and has been on supervised release for two.

She contacted me in February. Not directly — she is not permitted to contact me directly and she knew it. She called her probation officer, who called the U.S. Attorney’s office, who called Nandakumar, who called Kessler, who called me at ten at night and said, “Do not say yes until I’ve finished the sentence.”

Vanessa was being approached. Someone had turned up at her job twice — a man, polite, an offer of money, a suggestion that her original statement had been coerced and that she might reconsider it under oath.

She wanted to talk. She had asked for me specifically.

The meeting happened in a Bureau conference room in Manassas with Nandakumar at the head of the table, Kessler beside me, an AUSA on the phone, and a court reporter.