: : Summary : : Set just after TM, Rick�s past complicates his future.
Inside Colonel Matthew�s office Evelyn and Jonathan found an unexpected ally. Matthews didn�t believe Rick was guilty either.
�There isn�t much I can do �There isn�t much time,� said Matthews. �He�s scheduled to be transported to the States in three days. Has he told you anything at all?�
�No. Just that he�s done some things he isn�t proud of,� said Evelyn.
�Did he tell you he didn�t do this?� asked Matthews.
�I�m sure he didn�t�� asserted Evelyn.
�But did he tell you that?�
�I didn�t ask him,� she said. �I didn�t have to.�
�Well, the American military judges aren�t going to be so easily convinced. They have evidence and a witness,� Matthews told her.
�A witness who�s lying�� insisted Evelyn.
�Who is the witness?� asked Jonathan.
The Colonel sighed. �I don�t know. The Americans aren�t interested in helping; they�re convinced he�s guilty. I tried to talk to him myself, but the man has a clouded past and he wants to keep it that way.�
�Then we�ll just have to dig for answers ourselves,� said Evelyn.
�Are you sure you�ll like what you find?� Matthews asked her.
Evelyn met his eyes with a steady gaze. �Whatever happened in the past is past, Colonel. The present is all I care about. People can change.�
�Sometimes the change comes too late�� he warned her.
�It�s not too late until� well. It�s not too late yet,� said Jonathan. �We have three days. Let�s make good use of them. O�Connell said he was a Legionnaire� We should check with the French Embassy to see what they can tell us.�
�I have a friend there. I�ll make a call,� Matthews said.
�Jonathan, didn�t you date a woman from the American Consulate?� Evelyn asked.
�Well, that was a long time ago and...�
�And nothing. We are going to see her at once,� she said. �Thank you, Colonel Matthews, for everything. We�ll be in touch.�
�Good luck,� he told them.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Jonathan knew Lana wouldn�t be glad to see him. He was actually surprised that she deigned to speak to him at all, but with Evelyn�s insistence, she did. What they found was interesting, though vague. The office only had records of American�s comings and goings within Egypt. In 1908, a Richard Evan O�Connell had entered the country as a boy of ten, with his father, Reese Edward O�Connell. The elder O�Connell was employed sporadically as a carpenter/bricklayer but spent much of his time in and out of jail for public drinking and petty theft. The younger O�Connell seemed likely to follow in his father�s footsteps. In 1910, Reese O�Connell was killed in a knife fight and the boy was placed in Cairo Orphanage until family could be found to take him in. Evidently no family existed and Richard O�Connell remained in the orphanage until 1913 when he left on an errand and never returned.
�This has got to be him!� exclaimed Evelyn.
�I don�t know, Evy. Even if it is, what good does this information do?� Jonathan said.
�It gives us a place to start,� she said. �Let�s go back to the fort and see what the Colonel�s turned up.�
*~*~*~*~*~*
Matthews was impressed with Evelyn�s detective work, but, like Jonathan, wondered what good it would do. His contact at the French Embassy had provided similar ambiguous answers.
�In 1921, a Richard O�Connell joined the French Foreign Legion. He served for just over two years in North Africa until a disastrous expedition in Libya and Egypt wiped out his entire regimen. O�Connell applied for, and was granted and early release.� The Colonel handed the notes over to Jonathan and Evelyn.
�Just Richard, no Evan�� mused Jonathan.
�That doesn�t mean anything,� said Evelyn.
�She�s right,� said Matthews. �The FFL is not always particular about its recruit�s identities. It�s a good place to hide� If you�ve got something to hide.�
�Even if,� said Jonathan. �Even if all of this is him, it still doesn�t do anything to get him out of this mess. There�s a big whole in the story from 1913 to 1921. Anything could have happened in those eight years. We�re no further along than we were last night.�
�But we�re about to get there,� Evelyn said. �I want to talk to him again,� she told Matthews.
�Let me, this time, Evy.� Jonathan said. �We are men of similar character. I may have the advantage here.�
Occasionally, her brother�s dalliances on the darker side of life proved helpful. This just may be one of them, she thought. �Go ahead,� she told him, and settled down to wait in the Colonel�s office.