by Frank Perry
everything there is to know.”
Luke persisted, “For example?”
“Well, we track all transshipments from the point of entry to the point of final delivery. We track everything consigned to us by the importing company.”
“So, if I gave you the name of a company in New York, you could tell me what Seavans came into Chicago from them?”
Hank responded, “If they sent the goods to us for local handling, yes”
“Could you give me copies of everything they forwarded through MLC?”
“Well, ah, I would just need Mr. Curran to okay it.”
Luke said, “Listen Hank, I’m trying to prevent further grief for Mr. Curran. I could get a federal search warrant and force you to give the information, but I’d like to avoid all that if we can.”
“Okay, look, it’ll be all right, but I’ll still have to let him know I’m giving information to the FBI. What was the name of the New York company?”
Bombs in the Homeland
After another round of calls to the New Jersey office, Luke got the information to Henry Miller. He and Angela drove out to MLC in the afternoon to get copies of the shipping documents and manifests.
Hank met them when they entered the building, “Hey, my two favorite Fibbies!” Hank seemed to like a beer lunch. “I copied everything. There’s three Seavan shipments that came in from World Wide in the past eight weeks. I made copies of the shipping instructions and the shipper’s manifest. Nothing suspicious.”
After checking the photocopies, Luke instructed Hank and the office staff to retain all records, which they assured Luke was done in any event. En route to the office, Luke called Jim Freeman again and left a message that there were three shipments from New York to Chicago that should be investigated.
Arriving at the federal building at rush hour, Angela was eager to leave for the evening, prompting Luke to kid about a hot date. He was mildly envious; both that she might have a social life, and that someone was lucky to have her as a date.
Luke, on the other hand was prone to work excessively, and this case was the most important one at the bureau. He said, “Go ahead Angela, I’m just going to read the manifests and map out where these shipments went. Have a good time tonight...”
Her response was, “Luke, it’s not a date. I have a haircut appointment.”
“Oh, sorry, it’s really none of my business”
The following morning, Angela looked even better than usual. Luke commented, “Nice hair.”
She thanked him wondering if he was attracted to her, knowing it was a bad idea in a small office dominated by men.
Almost on cue, Agent Freeman called from New Jersey. He had copies of documents from World Wide Shipping. One container was exported from Sweden with spare automobile parts for distribution in Chicago. The other two were from China. One was filled with electrical fixtures. The other was laden with soft goods for retail distribution.
Luke commented, “Nothing obvious.”
“Yeah, that could be a clue--nothing suspicious.”
He went on to explain that containers from the European Union and Asian manufacturers seldom get searched.
Jim said, “With several ships off-loading each day, Customs looks mostly for shipments from higher threat areas. They can’t even inspect them all, but the chance of catching something bad improves. So, shipments from ‘friendly regions’ pass through un-inspected.”
Luke added, “We think the shipment went aboard a ship somewhere on the Black Sea, which should attract more attention.”
”Yeah, well, someone could have switched containers at the port.” Luke commented that it seemed a little far-fetched that someone would unpack and repack contraband on the wharf. “It doesn’t have to involve a physical movement. Someone could mislabel two of the containers, switching identities.”
“Aren’t they marked?”
Freedman answered, “Not like you might think. There’re no uniform rules for marking Seavans. They come from all over the world with different standards. One in Kenya last month could be in Scotland now, being loaded with sheepskins for the US.
“Luke, I hate to say it, but one of the vans in your area could be full of illegal stuff if our two boys played with the paperwork. I’ll keep looking on this end.”
Luke hung up and went to see Angela to explain how the customs process worked. That afternoon, they attempted to trace the three shipments that came to the Chicago area. Each took a manifest and started making phone calls. Luke got no answer at the destination company, while Angela made contact with an electronics distributor in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that received one of the Seavans from China. Luke called the third consignee and found another electronics distributor in Cicero, Illinois that received the second container from China. Both companies seemed to be legitimate. The first one from Scotland, was more difficult. The manifest had an address and phone number, but the phone wasn’t in service. Luke called the Kenosha Wisconsin Police Department, and asked if they would have a patrolman drive by the address. They agreed and then he called Jim Freeman in New Jersey.
When the phone was answered, Luke said, “Jim?”
Freedman said, “Yeah Luke, wazzup?”
“You know that van from Scotland that came to Chicago?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s beginning to look suspicious. Is there any way to tell if it was swapped with one from Eastern Europe, Georgia or Russia?”
Freedman answered, “I can check ship inventories to see if they were together.”
About twenty minutes later, the Kenosha PD reported that the address for the Seavan delivery was an abandoned building. It was located in a depressed part of the city and looked like it had been closed for years. Then there was one more detail; the loading dock had a cargo van on a trailer backed into it.
Luke put the police on hold, and told Angela to expedite a federal search warrant for the property. He handed her the shipping manifest for the address then he returned to the PD call. “Hello, I’m sorry, what is your name.”
“This is Sergeant Elsworth, I’m the desk officer.”
“Okay Sergeant, I can’t explain much except that we are investigating a possible terror threat, which could involve that container. We’re getting a warrant and want to investigate the scene today.”
”What support do you need from us?”
Luke answered, “This is a national security matter and we would like as much support as possible in the next several hours. Oh, and yeah, keep it quiet. Treat it as classified.”
Elsworth started to talk, but Luke interrupted, “Sergeant, we’ll need as much logistical support as possible. It will be dark when we get there, can you provide high-power lighting?”
”We can make a call to the highway maintenance guys, when will you come?”
Luke answered, “Probably in two to three hours, depending on the warrant. Also, do you have any radiation detection gear?”
”Geez, I don’t think we have anything, but the National Guard has all kinds of stuff. We can call them if you think it’s necessary.”
Luke said, “Okay, I think you better call them. We’ll come to your office and will need an escort to the location.”
”No problem!” When the call ended, Elsworth noted his action items. Then it hit him--Nukes!
Forty-five minutes later, the warrant was approved. There was an advantage to the Patriot Act when it came to expediting warrants. A few minutes later, Luke had briefed the staff, and then he and Angela drove north across the Wisconsin border. With rush hour traffic, it took them almost two hours to reach Kenosha, about ten miles north of the Illinois line. The Police station was easy to find on the South end of the city.
Sergeant Elsworth met them at the door, “Hi I’m Les Elsworth, please come in.” He was a lot more personable than his phone mannerisms had indicated, “The Chief wants to meet you. Also, I called the Guard, and their Civil Support Team, should be at the scene. T
he Chief wants to see the warrant.”
Luke sensed that Elsworth felt awkward asking for the warrant, but it was a good decision in case some attorney tried to mess up the investigation.
They passed down a hallway to an office at the end where Elsworth announced, “Chief, this is Agent Gallagher and Agent Kerr of the FBI.”
The Chief extended his hand. “Hello, I’m Dan Hoover, can we get you something to drink?”
Luke said “No thanks,” and extended the warrant to the Chief who reviewed it for a few seconds.
Chief Hoover said, “What can you tell me about this?”
“Actually, we can’t say much. We’re following leads that might include nuclear weapons smuggled into the US.” Luke responded.
“You think it’s at this place?”
Angela inserted, “We have to check all leads.”
The Chief responded, “All right, let’s role. Les, you lead the way. I don’t think we need lights and sirens to draw attention.”
Luke and Angela drove their car, while the Chief and Elsworth each drove separate vehicles.
The location was ten minutes away in a dilapidated section of town. They parked on a narrow street, probably paved in the 1950’s judging by the potholes and weeds. The building was a single story concrete structure that looked abandoned. Window glass was covered with filth, and many panes were broken. Maintenance was years behind. There was a long loading dock along with a large dilapidated parking lot full of weeds. The dock had doors for a dozen trucks. One trailer was backed to the dock, with no tractor