WASHINGTON DC: The Sadir Affair (The Puppets of Washington Book 1)

by Lavina Giamusso

  “And did you leave any other reports on Officer Laslo’s desk at the time?”

  “No, but I noticed that the report Dr Helldish had given me also contained a lab report.”

  “What was important about the lab report, do you think?”

  “I don’t readily know, sir, but there was a forensic report that said they analyzed the blood found on some rags near the transom and determined the blood belonged to Salaman Abib.”

  “And that confirmed what you found when you arrived on the scene?”

  “Yes, sir. The forensic guys and I found these rags and we’d seen the two bodies when they were fished out and we knew one of them had been knifed and the other had been strangled in a choke-hold.”

  Laslo approached the table, planted his hands on it. Verduccio looked up at him. Billycan was about to tell the officer to back off when Laslo asked, “Why did you tell me Al Nadir had been stabbed by Ms Kartz?”

  “Because that’s what I was told to say…”

  “Who told you to say that and when?” Billycan cut-in.

  “As soon as I got to the pier, I got a call from Special Agent Fillmore giving me the names of the victims and that the stabbing had been done by a woman named Kartz.”

  “I see, but did Agent Fillmore actually identify the stabbed victim by name?”

  “Yes, he said, “CIA Agent Nadir has been stabbed by Ms Kartz.” Those were his words, as I remember.”

  Laslo huffed and shrugged his shoulders as he retraced his steps to the back of the room and joined his colleague.

  “Thank you, Agent Verduccio.” Billycan opened the second folder. “Now, I’d like to go over something with you that needs clarification before I go into court this morning. So, please bear with me and try to answer my questions as quickly and as truthfully as you can, otherwise, I’ll have to leave you in the hands of the officers behind me, who will have all the time in the world to get the truth out of you. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, sir. Go ahead.”

  “The incident in question occurred the morning after the Marianne incident. Of course, at the time you were busy cleaning up at Jackson pier and nowhere near the scene of the second event. Yet, we believe that the FBI knew or was aware of a second trawler being sent to chase after Ms Kartz down the inlet while she and her companions were bringing back their launch to the boat rental shack. In the course of these events, Agent Gilford of CSIS was shot. So my question is this; do you have any knowledge of anyone being ordered to chase after Ms. Kartz’s launch while you were doing the clean-up of the Marianne?”

  “No, not specifically about that day, no.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Well…, we’d been on Ms. Kartz’s tail for weeks then, ever since she landed in Florida. Fillmore had received a call for assistance from the CIA—as you know these guys can’t operate in the States—they were asking that we tail her until she’d lead us to one of their agents, a guy by the name of Ben Slimane.”

  “Did you personally participate or were involved in the following of Ms. Kartz’s movements?”

  “Only once—me and another agent got to follow her to Atlanta, yes.”

  “But that was after the Marianne’s incident was it not?”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “And did you locate her then?”

  “No we didn’t—only the car Dr. Hendrix had rented in Jacksonville. Her trail ran cold after that.”

  “Thank you again. I’ve just got one more question—did you at any time while you were cleaning up the Marianne scene fished out a vacuum-packed crate of cocaine?”

  “No sir. All we got out of the water were the two victims, that’s all.”

  “Were you aware that such a crate had been found near the two bodies?”

  “No sir, and if it was I would have signed for it when we tagged the evidence.”

  “Did anyone ever accuse you of planting such evidence at or near the scene of the crime?”

  Verduccio hesitated. It was the first time Billycan noticed his reluctance to answer a question. He pulled his body up in the chair. “Yes…, sir. Special Agent Fillmore mentioned something about this crate when he interrogated me before I got suspended.”

  “Was that the reason for you being suspended?”

  “That and my being accused of falsifying the autopsy report, yes.”

  “Would you say then that someone is trying to pin these felonies on you?”

  “It appears that way, I guess.”

  “Okay, Agent Verduccio, I have no more questions for you at this time. You’re now going to remain in protective custody for a while. We’ve got an assassin on the loose at the moment, and from your answers, I would have to conclude that you’re on his list of targets. I must point out that you’re not accused of any crimes at the moment and that your remaining in custody is for your protection only.”

  “Yes, sir, I understand. Thank you.”

  When Verduccio left the visitors’ room, Billycan looked up at the two officers who had come to join him at the table once again. “I’m sorry that you had to travel all this way for nothing, men, but now that you’re free to return to Florida, Ms Glenda Blake, your ADA, and your captain will make sure that you open a case file on the second incident.” The officers nodded in unison. “Keep me informed, okay?” Billycan got up.

  “We’ll do, sir.”

  As soon as the US Attorney left the detaining centre, he called Marcel.

  “Okay, Verduccio was made a scapegoat,” he told him when Marcel was on the line. “Get in touch with the Bureau and get Special Agent Fillmore in my office tonight.”

  “Okay, sir. No problem. I’ll see you in a half-an-hour then?”

  “Yes. Oh…, have you got a police escort for Talya and Samuel to accompany them to court this morning?”

  “Yes, it’s all arranged. They should be on their way right now.”

  “Good.”

  Chapter 83

  The courtroom was packed to the rim—standing room only. At 9:00AM precisely Judge Silverman stepped up to the bench, sat down and so did the audience. The bailiff then declared the court in session.

  Silverman focused on the jury. “Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, it is with profound sadness that I have to confirm Mr. Dietrich Van Dams’s passing last night. However, as a Deputy Director of the CIA, Mr. Van Dams would have been the first to suggest that we continue with this trial, so that we could arrive at the truth and that justice may finally be done in this case.” He paused and looked at the audience sitting in the front row, behind the prosecution table. “This court acknowledges the presence of His Highness, Prince Khalid Saif Al Fadir and his Excellency, Ambassador Ashram Muhammad Alasghar of Saudi Arabia, and we thank you both for attending these proceedings.” Silverman looked at Billycan then. “Mr. Billycan, your next witness, please.”

  “Thank you, Your Honour,” the U.S. Attorney said, standing up and turning brazenly to the defendant. Sadir looked up at him. Billycan then returned his attention to Silverman. “Your Honour, the Prosecution calls Ms. Talya Kartz to the stand.”

  The doors opened to let Talya enter the room. The silence was ominous. Dressed in a black tailored suit, she walked slowly with a cane—the very same cane that Mark had bought for her when he arrived in Vancouver. Samuel walked on her other side, holding her by the elbow. He, too, was dressed in a black suit, white shirt but no tie. He accompanied Talya to the stand and went to sit beside Khalid. The latter nodded.

  As soon as Talya was sworn in, she sat down. Her face was a perfect mask of calmness and determination. In a fleeting glance, she noticed Aziz sitting beside the Ambassador. Her eyes travelled to Sadir. He was staring. He had never met the woman, and now rued the day he ever made the first move to interfere with her quest to arrive at the truth. He shook his head slowly and slumped back in his seat.

  Billycan stepped toward her. “Ms Kartz, I will try to make this as short as possible. We know you are not well and these proceedings may b
e tiring for you.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Billycan, but I should be fine.”

  “All right then. I shall start by asking you to identify the person who accompanied you into the courtroom this morning, would you mind?”

  “Not at all. The man who walked at my side is Mr. Samuel Meshullam.”

  Gasps of surprise roamed through the audience and the jurors. People turned and stretched their necks to look at the Jewish man who was now sitting in the first row beside a Saudi Arabian prince.

  Billycan resumed once he felt that people were over the shock of seeing a Mossad assassin in the courtroom. “And could you tell this court how you know this man?”

  “I first knew Mr. Meshullam when we both lived in Australia.”

  “Did you have a chance to meet him again before today?”

  “Yes, Mr. Meshullam came to Bowen Island, near Vancouver in Canada, where I was recovering from my injuries.”

  “What was the reason for his visit, do you know?”

  “Yes, Mr. Meshullam wanted to explain why he had fired the shot that landed me in a wheelchair for almost a year.”

  “Could you tell this court what his explanation entailed?”

  “Yes. Mr. Ishmael Assor and I had been accused of treason against the State of Israel, and Mr. Meshullam had been ordered to kill Mr. Assor and to wound me in order ‘to teach me a lesson I would never forget’.”

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Kartz, but it was this court’s understanding that Mr. Meshullam had been ordered to kill both of you. Are you saying we drew the wrong conclusion?”

  “Yes, sir, I am. You see, Mr. Assor was labelled a traitor, and so was I. However, in my case, I had been acquainted with Mr. Meshullam for many years, and Mossad had reason to believe that perhaps Mr. Meshullam had participated in the alleged conspiracy. They wanted to test his loyalty. If he had killed me, it would have demonstrated to the agency that he had yet eliminated another witness to his own treason. Therefore, he had to shoot me but only wound me in order to save both our lives.”

  “Thank you, Ms Kartz. That has cleared a few things for us. Now, I’d like to go back to the time you were aboard the Marianne—a fishing trawler registered in Jacksonville, Florida. Could you describe for the court what happened the night you boarded the vessel?”

  “Yes. Dr. Hendrix, Agent Gilford of CSIS and I were looking for proof—evidence—of drug trafficking on the part of Mr. Slimane, I mean Mr. Ishmael Assor. We had been looking for two trawlers, one of which was the Marianne.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt you here, Ms. Kartz, but could you explain—as briefly as you can—why you thought you would find drugs on these trawlers?”

  Talya smiled. “I’ll try, Mr. Billycan, but this goes back a long way…”

  “As I said, just make it as brief as you possibly can, Ms. Kartz.”

  “Okay... Three years ago, Prince Khalid and I discovered a large shipment of cocaine stashed in a container that had been delivered in Senegal where I was working at the time, and we noticed that the container had been shipped from Nassau in Florida. When we arrived in Miami, we realized that empty containers from everywhere along the East Coast are used in Miami to be shipped all over the world. We also thought the drugs had arrived by train to Nassau from somewhere else, yet, since our container came from Nassau, which is a train terminal, and should have been emptied before it was used in Miami, we wondered how the drugs made it from Nassau to Miami. The answer came when we discovered that two trawlers made regular trips from the fishing harbour in Jacksonville to the shipping port in Miami. That’s why Dr. Hendrix, Agent Gilford and I were in Jacksonville. We were hoping to find the trawlers and maybe something to show that they were used for shipping the drugs from the Nassau train terminals to Miami.”

  “And did you find the evidence of such shipment?”

  “Yes, once we boarded the Marianne, I found bills of lading showing frozen crates being shipped from Nassau to Miami on two corresponding dates.”

  “But you didn’t find these bills of lading right away, did you?”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “What happened in the meantime, when you found the trawler?”

  Talya used her cane to lift her body slightly and change her position in the chair. She grimaced before she answered, “We had been looking for the trawlers all day. At sunset, we finally found the Marianne moored against some old pier on the Jackson River. We were waiting until dark, so that we could maybe board the vessel unnoticed. We knew there were people on board and really didn’t know how we were going to remain unseen. As we were waiting and wondering if we shouldn’t call the authorities to help us out, I noticed a man coming out of the wheelhouse and lighting a cigarette. As soon as the flame of the lighter lit his face, I recognized him. He was the man who had abducted me and tortured me in Paris—Mr. Al Nadir. When I told Mark Gilford who the man was, he boarded the trawler and attacked Mr. Nadir. Dr. Hendrix and I rushed after him, but we were too late to stop Agent Gilford from killing Mr. Nadir. Seconds later, another man came out of the wheelhouse, but Mark had his back turned to him. I didn’t think... I took my knife out of my sling and stabbed Mr. Salaman Abib in the stomach.”

  “Did you also know Mr. Abib?”

  “Yes, he was the second man who participated in my abduction in Paris.”

  “And what happened then?”

  “Since the man was only injured, he rushed me against the door of the wheelhouse and then Mark turned him around and punched him senseless. After that, Agent Gilford dragged both victims and heaved them over the railing.”

  “Did you know that Mr. Abib was not dead when Agent Gilford threw both men overboard?”

  “I suspected it, yes.”

  “Did you try stopping Agent Gilford from throwing the men over the railing?”

  “Yes, but neither Dr. Hendrix nor I could convince him to leave them alone.”

  “Why was that, do you think?”

  “Because, we were quite sure that Mr. Slimane was intent on finding us—at least me. We suspected that by the time the police would have arrived on the scene, we would have been arrested, and if that happened, the people who held my colleagues hostage in Guyana would probably have killed them, blaming the killings on a guerrilla attack. We needed to stay free until we were sure Prince Khalid and everybody was safe.”

  “And could you remind the court why your colleagues were held hostage in Guyana?”

  “Once again, someone was trying to stop me in my investigation of Ben Slimane’s activity. And locating me was part of the abductors’ ransom demands.

  “Besides, the authorities, including the CIA and the FBI, didn’t seem to believe what we had tried to demonstrate to them on many occasions. Only the Canadian Intelligence Service in Ottawa had followed our trail from day one and was convinced that we were on the right track.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Kartz, for being very honest and forthcoming with your answers. Let’s go back to a minor point; you said that you pulled your knife out of your sling—why were you wearing a sling at the time?”

  “I had been shot a couple of days earlier by yet another sniper who was trying to stop me. I had fallen into a trap at the time and escaped with only a gash on my left arm.”

  “So, if we understand you correctly, it has been three years now since this affair started and three years since you have been chased and targeted at various times by person or persons yet unknown, is that correct?”

  “Not quite, Mr. Billycan.” Talya paused, seeing an expression of surprise register on Billycan’s face. “Yes, it’s been about three years now since this whole thing started, but I know the people who have tried to see me through my next life more rapidly than I’d like…” When Silverman heard the first series of titters in the audience, he just glared. Talya went on. “You see, Mr. Nadir and Mr. Abib were employed by Mr. Osnoir in Paris...”

  Simmons held up a hand. “Objection, Your Honour. I’d like to know if my colleague has forgotten the word foundation
from his vocabulary by any chance.”

  Silverman was visibly annoyed. He didn’t like anyone sneering and Simmons had clearly mocked the U.S. Attorney. Moreover, he didn’t want to appear as if his courtroom was the place for playing legal (and not so legal) games between attorneys. The media as well as foreign dignitaries were observing these proceedings closely.

  “Objection sustained, Mr. Simmons. However, your comments regarding your colleague’s vocabulary or omission thereof should remain unheard in this courtroom. Thank you.” He peered down at Billycan. “Would you mind establishing foundation, or rephrasing your question, Counsel?”

  “Not at all, Your Honour, thank you.” Billycan turned to Talya. “Ms Kartz, you mentioned the name Osnoir—could you tell the court who this person is?”

  “Yes, Mr. Billycan, I can. Mr. Osnoir was a renowned drug lord in West Africa and was responsible for ordering my abduction and injuries in Paris.”

  “Thank you.” He turned to Simmons a smirk on his face. “Now then, Ms. Kartz, who is the next responsible party for your injuries?”

  “Well…, when I left Africa I assumed that Mr. Slimane—or Assor—was at the origin of my other injuries, until it became clear that Mr. Assor was acting on someone else’s orders, possibly a CIA agent. And lastly, Mr. Meshullam has acted under the order of Mossad that was ultimately misinformed that I was a traitor along with Mr. Assor.”

  “Do you have any knowledge—personal knowledge that is—of the identity of the party who misinformed Mossad?”

  “Yes, I do!”

  From the corner of her eye, Talya saw Sadir literally shrink in his seat. Simmons hung his head in defeat. They both knew the game was up. Billycan turned to them; he was gloating. He quickly pivoted on his heels and took a few steps toward the witness stand again.