“What do you want to do about it, Merry? You could fire them.”
“I’d never want to do that. I don’t know a thing about running the company.”
“Well, in the next few months you could learn, and then fire them. Both of them will have big trouble taking orders from you, but you have the legal right to tell them what you want. From what you told me earlier both of them sound unscrupulous in different ways. The best advice I can give to you is be careful. In my mind both of them are candidates for having killed Billy.”
“I can see Fontaine wanting complete control, but you think also Austin could have done it?”
“The way to bedding you would be much easier with Billy out of the way.”
“That will never happen, but I see what you mean. I will be careful.”
“If either one of them ever comes close to threatening you, let me know. I can arrest them for harassment. I would ask one favor of you. These last few days I have been checking Billy’s work notes in his home office. He had notations regarding three clients who might be connected to that drug smuggling you mentioned to me. I’d like to look at the official records for these clients that are located in the corporate office.”
“Sure, anytime. I guess I’m really the boss, so just ask.”
“Also, don’t tell either Fontaine or Hyssop about my findings. One or both of them could be partners with the smugglers. Like you told me, don’t trust either of these two people.”
“Sure, mum’s the word. Actually, the two words are, I’M SCARED! However, I owe it to Billy to not mess up his company. I’m ready tomorrow to go into my first day of work there. Just to know I’m doing this for Billy gives me some courage. He was a good man.”
The three clients Todd had found alerts about in Billy’s notes were in three separate countries: Mexico, France, and Russia. Todd could see by Jessup’s notes that at times he flew to those countries to conduct fact-to-face business, but maybe those flights were for Billy’s own amusement. Each of the clients had representatives in the Philly area, and it looked like most of the real business was conducted here. Also there was some reference to SKYPE conferencing.
All of the clients that Billy had red-lined were selling pharmaceuticals. It was probably easier to pack illegal drugs in containers that were already marked as legal drugs. Also, no one would be checking short-distance deliveries.
After each of the clients, Billy had a notation which simply said, Drugs followed by the name of a criminal drug supplier in that country. There was nothing in Billy’s notes that said he had proven any connection between the client and that drug cartel. Todd felt Billy was just beginning his scrutiny. Possibly he found out too much and had to be silenced.
Billy’s notes first stated the client company name plus the name of the local Philly contact. For Mexico the client was Vista Pharmaceuticals with the local contact, Pablo Score; for France, Masters Pharma and Henri Binder; and for Russia Volga Health and Stefan Priori. Then in the far right column was the drug cartel that this client company might be involved with. For Mexico the cartel was Los Familias; France, Finis, and for Russia the cartel was listed as Rasputin. Apparently Jessup had done his research to establish these facts. Possibly he had gone further, but there were no notes to support any additional information. Now it was up to Todd to take up where Billy’s investigation had left off.
The surprises popped up immediately. The address for Vista Pharmaceuticals was to an empty lot where Todd found a beat-up trailer. Inside the trailer was a woman at least in her late fifties. Standing in front of the lady, Todd had to bend, or his head would hit the ceiling. “I’m looking for Pablo,” he said.
“You’re looking at him,” the white-haired lady replied.
“You’re Pablo Score from Vista Pharmaceuticals?”
“Correct.”
“What’s your real name?”
“You don’t need to know that. Do you have an order you want to place?”
“Actually I do have to know.” Todd pulled out his police I.D. “What kind of scam is this?”
“No scam at all. It’s a legitimate business. I receive emails and fill orders.”
“For what?”
“Our customers use only code numbers when ordering. It’s quicker that way.”
“What do those code numbers represent? What is the product?”
“I don’t know, but since it’s a pharmaceutical company I’ve always supposed it’s medicine for people’s health. What else would it be?”
“What else it could be would be illegal drugs like Cocaine, Heroin, OxyContin, and Marijuana to name a few.”
“I know nothing about that. Like I said, I used only numbers.”
“It is my understanding that you use the WE-PACK company for your shipping.”
“That is correct. They’re one of our larger distributors. Many of our orders do not travel long distances, and we have found it to be more efficient to use local carriers. That’s what I’ve been told.”
“Who told you?”
“I received phone messages when I first took this job. The person did not identify himself.”
“What is your name, ma’am?”
“Mildred. Mildred Cassidy.”
“Well, Mildred you may unwittingly be part of an illegal drug distribution scheme. You’ve replaced the street corner pusher selling his illegal wares.”
“That’s can’t be the truth.”
“There’s only one way to find out. When is your next shipment for the WE-PACK company?”
She clicked her computer keys. “They are delivering as we speak, mostly in the area of North Philly.”
Todd thought for a second. “Give me three consecutive addresses that the delivery truck will be at in thirty minutes.”
More computer clicking, and she gave Todd the addresses.
“Mildred, are you able to be in contact with the drivers of those trucks?”
“No, that’s handled by the WE-PACK company. I just send them the addresses by email and they schedule their trucks.”
“Have you ever had contact with their owner, Billy Jessup?”
“Yes, but only by email if there was glitch in the itinerary, or one of their trucks would go to the wrong address he would email me. Most of the email I would get from that company were from a Mr. Hyssop.”
“So no one from that company ever physically came to see you here?”
“That’s right everything was done on-line. Like I said, I don’t know how their company was picked to be our distributor. I just do what the phone calls and emails tell me.”
Todd had gotten the picture. Whoever was responsible for all this had hidden himself or herself behind the technology communications.
His last instruction to Mildred Cassidy was to not change the current truck route in the next half hour. Todd made good time to North Philly, and when he got to the first address Mildred had given him there was no WE-PACK truck. He hoped the driver wasn’t ahead of schedule, but three minutes later there came the truck. The driver stopped at the curb, got out and went to the back cargo space. He was carrying a carton labeled, Aspirin, up to a run-down house when he was intercepted by Todd.
“Hold it there a minute, sir. I have to inspect that package.”
“Who the hell are you? Is this a robbery? It’s only aspirin as you can see by the labeling. Don’t shoot me. I don’t carry a gun. Here, go ahead and take it.”
To relieve the driver’s fears, Todd again showed his police I.D.
The box of so-called aspirin contained ten packages of cocaine. Todd spent the next half hour opening other boxes from the truck. Some of them contained legal medicine, but at least half contained illegal drugs. From what Todd could figure the entire truck could have been carrying at least $50,000 of illegal drugs. He told the driver that he was confiscating the truck itself, and that he would have to find another way home. To allay the driver’s fears about getting fired, Todd also told him he would contact the new owner of the company and m
ake it right with her.
“With her? A woman owns this company?”
“Yes, about forty-eight hours ago she legally took over whether she knew it or not.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to. Just go home and report back to work tomorrow. You will still have a job.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The next three days Todd discovered that the two other pharmaceutical companies, Masters Pharma from France and Volga Health from Russia were engaged in a similar distribution of illegal drugs. It seemed that Billy Jessup’s delivery company WE-PACK were an unwitting pawn in the operation. At least it seemed so. Todd wanted to make sure that no one in the company knew about these shenanigans, so first he went back to talk to the managing director, Austin Hyssop.
Hyssop immediately got his back up. “I don’t like what you’re accusing me of. Of course I had no knowledge that we were aiding in the shipping of those drugs. We can’t check every package that goes into our trucks. We have 12,000 of them world-wide. If in our regular moving van operation for families, what if someone put some cocaine in a package labeled sugar. How would we know? There’s an element of trust here.”
“Well, maybe you’d better begin to find some way to check what you’re delivering. Next there could be explosives or bombs. At least you should check the people you’re dealing with. Who were you in contact with regarding these pharmaceutical companies?”
“We thought we were connected with the people named in the contracts. I have their names right here after you phoned me. Pablo Score, Henri Binder, and Stefan Priori.”
“Pablo is a sixty year old spinster named Mildred; Henri, is a twenty year old college senior, and Stefan is a thirty-year-old business school dropout who bartends in the evenings when he isn’t processing illegal drug orders to set up your company’s deliveries. Each one of them was just trying to make a little extra money on the side and seemed to have no idea what they were involved in. I’m sure you never met those people in person, or you would have known the names were fake.”
“It was Billy’s job to oversee all that. He was the one who messed up, not paying attention to the details. He ran this business like a hobby.”
“Well, I think your new boss, Ms. Krismas, is not going to be as easy-going.”
“I was outraged when I heard she had been given everything in Jessup’s will. After all my years of toil for the company, I’m given nothing.”
“That’s probably what he thought of you.”
“I can tell you this, Detective, even in the grave Jessup is not going to get away with this. Fontaine and I have already contacted our company lawyer to try to declare that will null and void. Neither one of us are going to take orders from that. . .that WOMAN!”
“On what grounds are you filing that lawsuit?”
“On the grounds that Billy wasn’t in his right mind when he signed that document. I’ve already heard of him trying to live like a homeless person. I think Jessup went crazy.”
When Todd talked with Gregory Fontaine he was even more adamant. “I’m the person who is still running this company. Billy’s girlfriend is not going to enter this building. I’ve put our Security on alert if she shows up, to escort her back outside. She doesn’t know a thing about how this company is run.”
“Possibly you don’t either if you allowed your trucks to be carrying and distributing all those illegal drugs. Have you seen this morning’s paper?”
“You’re damn right, I have. The whole story is splashed over the front page. It’s embarrassing.”
“The buck always stops with the CEO, and that’s you.”
“I know. The article already blames me.”
“And from what I heard your drivers world-wide are angry that you put them in that kind of jeopardy for possible arrests. There’s another article on page three of the paper that talks about a movement among the drivers to not work for you and Hyssop. Maybe you’re still the head of this company, but there no longer will be a company. Most of the drivers are talking about walking out.”
“They can’t do that, and even if they do I’ll hire new ones. Ms. Krismas is going to remain at her art gallery, not here. And that’s final.”
As it turned out that wasn’t the final word. Two days later, 80% of the drivers walked away from their job. Also the company’s lawyer told both Fontaine and Hyssop that they had no case declaring the will null and void. There were two witnesses that Billy had at the signing of the will—two maintenance men—who would testify that Billy was in complete control of his faculties during the procedure. In fact, Billy made a statement to the effect that he did not want skunks and snakes running the place, and that was why he was having Merry be the new boss whenever he stepped down.
A week later Merry Krismas moved into Gregory Fontaine office and took over as leader of WE-PACK. Fontaine and Hyssop now had much smaller offices down the hall.
That morning as Merry was getting herself settled in the office, Todd was meeting with her.
“How does it feel, Merry, to be the new boss of this company?”
“Is there a word beyond overwhelming? However, the last couple of days when I was thinking about all of this, I recalled a few things Billy said about his business. I remembered more than I thought I would, and so yes, basically I think I can keep things running smoothly. You might notice, though, two very unhappy people down the hall.”
“You’re right. I talked to the both of them. They are breathing fire. Watch your back.”
“They’re both too weak to do anything. With the drug scandal, all three of us, and the entire company is now in the public eye. Any false move by those two would be noticed immediately. Perhaps Billy had some premonition that he would not survive a long time because a day before he left for his homeless experiment, he gave me a thick notebook. When I asked him what was in it, he said he’d been keeping track of his business transactions the last five years. He wasn’t as detached from here as he let on. I’ve already looked over a few pages of the notebook, and it reflects some very conscious business decisions by Billy. I’m already forming some strategy for this next month.”
“Did the notebook have any of his personal life in there?”
“Yes, at times it was almost like a diary of the last five years of Billy’s life. It wasn’t all just about the company.”
“From time to time could I borrow it and browse through it? There could be clues in there as to who might have killed your boyfriend.”
“Every day when I wake up and he’s not next to me, the day starts out rotten. I very much want you to find his killer. I want to keep the notebook for a few days. It will help me get through this first week. But after that, for sure, borrow it and bring down that rat who killed Billy.”
“When Billy told you he suspected foul play regarding his business, especially with illegal drugs, did he tell you anything more about whom he was going to contact about it?”
“I remember him telling me he didn’t suspect Fontaine or Hyssop because they weren’t clever enough to think up any kind of criminal scheme. But, no, that’s all he said.”
“I’ll keep in touch, Merry. We’ll find Billy’s killer.”
Todd started to move away from the desk, when Merry stopped him.
“Detective, wait, I thought of something. I guess when he told it to me I thought it was so preposterous that Billy must have gotten it wrong.”
“What did he tell you?”
“He said the first thing he was going to do was talk to Pete Basil.”
“Pete Basil, the assistant to the Mayor?”
“Yep, Tom McGovern’s campaign manager for the last election, and supposedly again for the next one in a year. I remember McGovern stating he owed his entire political success to Basil his high school friend. He talked as if Basil was some kind of mentor for him. I couldn’t imagine anyone that high up the political ladder having anything to do with illegal drugs, so I dismissed Billy’s comment.”
“I think I’d better have a talk with Pete Basil.”
CHAPTER SIX
When Todd called the Mayor’s office, he was told that Pete Basil was hosting a fund-raising luncheon for McGovern at the Four Seasons restaurant.
Walking into the main dining area, Todd immediately recognized some local TV personalities, plus a couple big-name actors possibly down from New York City. This get-together seemed to be an effort to get celebrities backing McGovern who himself was as good-looking as any actor Todd had seen on the screen.
Basil was a different story, not a person Hollywood would hire unless they wanted a villain. His pitted rough face and long slicked-back black hair gave me the appearance of a mobster. To further push that image he was wearing a striped sport coat. However, Pete had made use of his off-putting looks to constantly talk about himself as a man of the people with his grandfather’s coal mining background, and his dad growing up in the steel mill around Pittsburgh.
Hard work is what made America great was one of his constant slogans, and at the moment he was working hard himself to persuade the audience that Tom McGovern should be their mayor for another term. The words honesty and integrity rolled off his tongue like McGovern was born with those qualities. He finished his speech by saying, “Corruption has crept into every phase of our society. Trust has been replaced by deception. This year’s Super Bowl might have been won because of slightly deflated footballs. Tom McGovern will never lie to you. He has shown that in his past two years in office. You news people out there have not had one story where this administration was under fire for shady practices.” He then went on to talk about McGovern’s accomplishments so far, ending with the words, “Tom is like a longtime family member you’ve grown up with and can put your faith in. Let’s go out and elect him for another term.”
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