Diamond Run

by Michael Croucher

  Duggan slid his coffee cup over to make a space for taking notes, and pulled a fresh pad of foolscap from his case. He drew lines down the centre of the first dozen pages or so, top of the page to the bottom, effectively creating a split worksheet. It was a common procedure for investigators: discussion points and questions on the left, details and answers on the right.

  His pen poised, and his eyes on Miguel, Duggan leaned forward. “Okay, Miguel, this sheet is to help us keep track, it’s not a formal statement. Remember, we’re helping each other out here. If at any time, you start playing games or feeding us bullshit, the deal is off. Those gentlemen at the front will take over. They’ll interview you as an accessory.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Accessory to murder.”

  DeSousa’s eyes widened. He was listening.

  Jack continued. “Give us the straight goods, Miguel...straight goods only...you clear on that?”

  We weren’t risking much by going this route. We figured he’d engaged in some kind of fringe deal with Marco, and that might have lead to charges of some sort. But a case against this guy would likely be a tough sell to a prosecutor. As far as any accomplice charges on the murder and wounding counts, we could have filed them, but they probably wouldn’t make it to a preliminary hearing. But we knew that having him think the worst was our best shot at finding out what Marco had up his sleeve.

  “Yes, I understand.”

  I placed a mug shot of Marco Ranez on the table beside Duggan’s note pad. “Is this the man you met outside the Port Administration Building the other day?”

  “Yes, that’s him.”

  “What did you give him from your car?” I asked.

  “Travel documents. Proof of payment and a passenger ticket on a freighter to Portugal.”

  Duggan looked up. I met his gaze. Things were coming together.

  “Why didn’t he come up to your office?” I asked.

  “He said he wanted everything done on the street.”

  I took a sip of coffee. “How did he contact you, what did he say?”

  “He phoned. Said he wanted to sail on a specific freighter that was going to Portugal. He knew someone on the crew. When I had the package ready, he sent someone over with a four-hundred-dollar deposit. Said he’d get the tickets from me later.”

  “Who brought the deposit?”

  DeSousa fidgeted with his cup. “Some woman. I didn’t know who she was, never seen her before.”

  “Come on, Miguel. No bullshit, remember?”

  DeSousa brought a hand to his forehead. It trembled. “Just a lady...young... a girl.”

  I exchanged nods with Duggan. “You’d better tell us all about her Miguel.” said Jack.

  “Something happened, man...I’m scared. My wife could find out about it. I couldn’t handle that.”

  Duggan put down his pen. He reached over and gave DeSousa a pat on the back of his wrist. Time to change pace and remind DeSousa that we were investigating a major crime, not his home life. “Listen to me, we’ve got more to worry about than that. If you stick to our agreement, all that shit can be handled. Just don’t hold anything back. Are you clear?”

  The tears started flowing. His hands shook even more.

  “What was her name?” I asked.

  “She introduced herself as Tina. Then she said her customers called her Sugar.”

  “Tell us what happened.”

  Miguel let out a sigh.

  “She was pretty, very friendly. She flirted with me, said she really liked Hispanic guys. I told her I’ve lived here since I was a kid, that my family came from Portugal. She laughed. Said I was cute. Then she asked if there was a washroom in my office that she could use. I pointed to the back corner. She grabbed my hand and took me with her. When we got there...she...”

  “She what, Miguel?”

  “She... went down on me.”

  This story had a lot more legs, and whatever we found out would be a huge help to Jacobs in the investigation of Tina’s murder. It would be big for our cases as well. I knew in my gut, and by the look on Jack’s face what our next move should be. He nodded, didn’t need to say a thing. We had to get this guy a little more comfortable with us.

  “Good. Thanks for telling us that, Miguel,” I said. “Hey, we’re getting a little hungry. Let’s all have a bite. Then we just have a few more questions.”

  Jack excused himself, went to cut Logan and Jacobs loose. I called the waitress over and ordered three toasts and some jams. When Jack came back, I looked at DeSousa, sat back like we were having a chat “Did you see her again?”

  “Yeah, she said she’d like to get me into bed, really get to know me. Asked me to come by her place after work. She had a room in a house on Hillyard Street.”

  “Did you go that same day?”

  “Right after I closed my office. There was nobody else in the house, we had a drink and she took me right to bed.” He wrung his hands again, grimaced. Another part of the story was about to unfold. Maybe the worst part for Miguel.

  Our toast arrived. The waitress poured more coffee. Jack and I finished our toast in about ten minutes. Miguel hardly touched his.

  Duggan took a sip of coffee. “That wasn’t the end of it, was it?”

  “No, it wasn’t.”

  “What happened next?”

  “The man called my office and told me he needed to make some more arrangements for his trip. We met on the street again.”

  “Tell us about the arrangement he wanted to make,” I said.

  “He said he had some personal property he wanted to take with him, the kind of property that customs people sometimes put a hold on. He wanted to make sure he had no hassles when he arrived in Portugal. He said he’d make it worthwhile for me and anyone who could help him over there.”

  Duggan had stopped taking notes. It’s hard for a guy to open up when you’re doing that. He put his pen down. I moved my plate aside, and patted my mouth with a napkin. “Did he say how he would sweeten the deal for you?’

  “He offered me three hundred bucks.”

  “How did you respond.”

  “I said I couldn’t do it, that I would lose my job if anyone found out. He got really pissed off. Then he showed me some photographs.”

  “You and Sugar, right?”

  “Me and Sugar doing things in her bed. There was no else there. I don’t know how these pictures were taken. I freaked out when he showed me those.”

  Duggan ran the back of his knuckles lightly across his chin. “I guess you played ball then. What arrangements did you make for him?”

  DeSousa looked at Jack and then turned to me. “Nothings changed in our deal right, officers? If I tell you everything, you’ll help me out with this.”

  “Same deal, Miguel,” said Duggan. “Just keep it coming.”

  “I’ve been to Portugal a few times on business for my company. Got some contacts in customs there, one’s a pretty good friend. It turns out I knew the first officer on the ship he was travelling on. His freighter was in town last year, he took me out to dinner. “DeSousa sighed. “I guess that wasn’t a coincidence, was it?”

  “Probably the way he builds contacts,” I said. “Keep going, Miguel.”

  DeSousa was struggling not to sob. When his nose started dripping I pulled a paper napkin out of the dispenser and handed it to him.

  Duggan leaned forward. He spoke almost in a whisper. “What else do you need to tell us, Miguel? There’s something important you’re holding back.”

  DeSousa stiffened. He sat straight, nodded, and dabbed his eyes with the napkin. “The man showed some more pictures to me. There was a picture of my house and my wife. Somebody must have taken them from a car. She was playing in the front yard with my little boy, Juan. I got the message. I had no choice, I agreed to make the arrangements.

  “I set everything up through my friend in Portugal. The guy told me he would look after my friend and anyone who helped him at the end of the voyage. When I told him it was done, he s
aid ‘good, let’s hope for your sake your contacts don’t fuck anything up.’ He tapped the picture of my wife and boy with his finger. I’m really scared of this guy. He’s crazy.” DeSousa shook his head. “Those assholes. This thing with me was all set up by him and his friend on the freighter.”

  Good for you, Miguel, you’re getting it. You were set up by some real scumbags.

  “Is he still in Hamilton?” I asked.

  “No, he’s gone. I booked him on the freighter, as a passenger. It’s a salty, heading for Portugal.”

  “What’s a salty?”

  “A lake freighter that’s fitted out for ocean travel. I booked him on the Arthur N McCaul. It sailed this morning at eight fifteen.”

  Duggan stood up. “Phil, let’s stretch our legs for a second. Miguel, stay put.”

  I walked with him about three tables away from where we were interviewing DeSousa. Duggan spoke softly. “The anonymous tip on that car was phoned in at five this morning. The prick set the car up as a diversion to cover his getting to the ship, then the explosion sealed the deal. Sure-fire ways to pull as many cops as possible out of the harbor area.”

  “Jack,” I said. “Let’s wrap this up. Any other details, we can get off De Sousa later.”

  We went back to the booth. I sat opposite DeSousa this time. “What name is he travelling under, Miguel?”

  “He had a Canadian passport and an Ontario driver’s license for Roberto Montoya. I booked the ticket under that name.”

  “What’s the name of his first officer friend?” asked Jack.

  “I don’t want any of these people coming after me or my family, man.”

  “We’ve got your back, Miguel. And, we’re putting these people away for a lot of other counts. They’ll have a lot more to worry about than you. You’ll be okay, and so will your family. What can you tell us about the customs officer in Portugal?”

  “His name is D’Angelo, Carlos D’Angelo.”

  Jack kept the thread of questions going. “What’s the ships travel itinerary? Does it stop on the way to Portugal, if so, what for?”

  “It stops in Halifax for an engine part replacement, and to pick up crew members who are rejoining the ship after leave. It will be docking there on Saturday.”

  “Does the passenger know about this?”

  “I told him. He didn’t like it, but there were no other options.”

  Duggan collected his notes. He would make the arrangements for the protection of DeSousa and his family. He laid out the ground rules. “Okay, Miguel, as part of our deal, you’ll be staying away from your office until we tell you otherwise. You’ll be at home. We’ll have police officers watching your house around the clock.

  “If you try to contact anyone connected with the ship, or this passenger, the deal is off, and the police will come in and arrest you as an accomplice to murder. Is that clear?”

  DeSousa nodded.

  “If you do what we say, you’ll be fine. We’ll square things away with your company. Leave your car at the Port Administration Building, you won’t be needing it for a few days anyway. We’re taking you home now. Keep your wife and boy at home too. Understand?”

  We left DeSousa’s place an hour later and headed for Hamilton Police Headquarters.

  Jack looked over at me as we entered the building. “Has Marco Ranez ever seen you?”

  “If he has, it’s from a distance, when he’s been watching Sue. Never face to face.”

  “Good, he’s never seen me either. Sometime tomorrow, you and I are flying to Halifax to prepare a take-down. In the meantime, let’s get someone from the unit to work up an application to tap DeSousa’s phone, just in case someone presses him.”

  Chapter 53

  Duggan and I were staying at the Lord Nelson Hotel in Halifax. We’d had an early breakfast. It was still a few hours until the McCaul was due to dock at the Richmond Terminals. We went down to a conference room to meet with senior members of the assigned take-down team.

  Having Marco Ranez in the harbor and confined to a freighter was one thing, getting to him without a high casualty rate was another. The meeting had been called to assess the situation and develop a strategy. There were two senior officers from the RCMP and a man from the Halifax Port Corporation already in the room. Just after we walked in, two members from the Halifax Police and a Coast Guard official arrived. A flip chart had been set up at the front of the room, the podium was pushed to the side wall, coats and jackets draped over it. A tray of soft drinks, pitchers of water, carafes of coffee, glasses and cups sat on a table against the same wall.

  One of the city cops, a thickly built man settled into a chair and pointed to the flip chart. “Who put that thing there? Let’s just get a loudspeaker and announce our plans to the whole friggin’ harbor.” He had an easy grin and a down home accent that would be pure gold to a stand-up comic. The resulting chuckle lightened the mood in the room, brief cases were popped open and note pads brought out. Everyone but Duggan and I knew the city cops. The others in the room seemed to know each other as well.

  The jokester put out his hand. “Charlie Hackett, Halifax PD, this is my partner Pete Stewart. Duggan and I reached across the table and shook their hands, then we introduced ourselves to the others assigned to the group.

  Jack Duggan opened things up by giving a brief overview of the CFSEU and Project Zephyr, a background and profile of Marco Ranez, and the list of charges he was facing. He described how Ranez had become a passenger on the Arthur N. McCaul. His review of the international body count in Marco’s wake got the room’s attention in a hurry.

  Charlie Hackett whistled and scratched his chin, a toughness developed over years of policing a seaport town reflecting from the same face that moments ago produced an impish grin. “We’d better give this one a ton of thought, men. This boy’s not going to give up to a little knock on the cabin door.”

  Ralston, the man from the Halifax Port Corporation, loosened his tie, his face pallid. “And this creep’s hunkered down in our harbor... Jesus Christ.”

  “Hackett is right,” I said. “Ranez will be heavily armed, and as Inspector Duggan just outlined, he’s no stranger to explosives. Two dead Hamilton cops and two of our men being hospitalized attest to that. We have to consider all possible outcomes before we decide on a strategy. Even then, we’ll have to adapt quickly to circumstances.”

  Ralston referred to a teletyped list of the ships in his port. “The McCall is doing a quick in-and-out. She’s picking up crew members and having an engine part replaced, nothing too complicated. If there are no problems, she’ll be sailing for Portugal first thing tomorrow, seven thirty.”

  “Taking Ranez in port is the best outcome,” I said. “But it’s also the most dangerous. He’ll be freaked out by this stop, even though he knew about it. If he could have found a direct passage from Hamilton he would have taken it. This was his only option.

  “The last thing he wants is to be in a North American port. He’ll be watching and listening for anything unusual. If he sniffs anything, he’ll pull out all the stops.”

  “Still,” said Pete Stewart, “he wouldn’t hold out long against a full SWAT team. And we could have ours in place in a matter of minutes.”

  Duggan leaned back in his chair and held up his hand. “If we charge in, we’re going to lose some good men. We need to find a way to get our people aboard quickly, and get most of the non-essential crew off. Ranez will not give up without a shootout or a big fucking bang... he could blow himself up and take half the ship with him.

  “Let’s get our teams aboard, and those people off...without Ranez knowing.”

  “The first officer is watching out for him,” I said. “His name is Eduardo Bautista. We need to isolate him.”

  “We’ll grab him first,” said Duggan, “but there could be others. I want every crew member screened and interviewed when we get them ashore. We’ll assess the remaining crew when we meet the captain.”

  “I’ll make some calls to ro
und up help with the onshore interviews,” said Hackett.

  Ralston referred to his notes. “Two crew members are rejoining the ship. We should hold them back.”

  “Tell us the deal on the engine-part replacement, and who’s going to do that,” said Duggan.

  “It’s contract work by a local company, not a complicated job, but there are no crew members qualified to handle it. It’s a scheduled procedure. There are a couple of engineers coming aboard to do it,” said Ralston.

  Duggan leaned forward in his chair. “Okay then. That’s two more people we don’t let on board...I think we might have to get this done at sea, in port there’s a high risk to other vessels and port personnel. We’ll see how everything unfolds, if it’s not done by sailing time, we stay with the ship.”

  Ralston looked at me and Jack. “Agreed...The McCaul will be docking shortly. Your man Ranez, using the name Montoya, is the only listed passenger. The passenger cabins on that freighter are forward on the port side. The suspect’s view from his cabin would be forward along the cargo deck, and over it to the pier. He would see most movement in those areas.

  “Once you are aboard and have assessed the situation, we board and evacuate people by the starboard stern. If we keep a vessel tight to the hull, it wouldn’t be visible from his cabin... If that’s where he is.”

  The Coast Guard officer spoke up. “A Coast Guard vessel is not an option. Its presence would get the crew buzzing in a hurry. I recommend a maintenance vessel.”

  “No problem,” said Rolston. “Hackett, if you and Stewart could assemble the boarding team, I’ll board the McCall and prepare the captain.

  “Duggan, you and Mahood board normally, ten minutes after me as if you were the returning crew members.”

  Up to this point, the two RCMP officials had said very little, they seemed content to let Duggan represent the federal force. The senior of the two, an Inspector named Quinn stood up. “We have four members from our take down unit standing by. We’ll advise them to hook up with the Halifax PD team.”