Fatal Dose

by K. J. Janssen

  “Well, I better get back to work. Buzz me if you hear anything.”

  “Wait, before you go. I saw a new face in Dennis’s office before. Do you have any idea who it might be?”

  “Not a clue. It could be someone from DOJ. We’ll just have to wait until Dennis is ready to tell us.”

  “Oh, okay. I was just wondering. I’ll let you know if I hear anything about tomorrow.”

  An hour later Dennis called Mark to confirm that the meeting at Paradigm was still on. He also told Mark about an emergency meeting of the PDS scheduled for three o’clock that afternoon.

  Dennis sounded very weary to Mark. The Atronen investigation was taking its toll on everyone.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Five members of the Pharmaceutical Drug Squad were settled into the Major Case Room when Dennis arrived with his three ASAC’s. They were accompanied by the man Mark saw earlier that day in Dennis’s office. While his four companions were seating themselves, Dennis went to the front of the room.

  “I forgot that Chuck is attending a seminar in San Francisco for the next two weeks. I’ll call him later to update him.” He hesitated for a moment, “I have some really devastating news to share with you. Agent Paschal, who you all know was killed in the explosion at the Lucky Food Mart was leaking information about our activities to an executive at Atronen.” He paused for a minute to let his announcement sink in.

  “I want to introduce Inspector Milton Bagnold, Special Investigator from the Justice Department, Office of Professional Responsibility,” he said with a gesture. “He’s here from Washington to investigate our information leak. I’ll let him tell you about his findings. Milt?”

  Milton Bagnold was a career investigator with the Justice Department with two years to go before his retirement. The assignment came directly from the FBI Director’s office. He made a name for himself with high profile cases involving criminal cover-ups by agents and one involving a murder-for-hire. What made Milton Bagnold special was his way of thinking. He had a uniquely disciplined mind and a photographic memory. If anyone could uncover the spy in the Cleveland office, he would be the one.

  “Hello, everyone! As Dennis said, I’ve been conducting an investigation for a few days. I hadn’t made much progress until today, when I got a big break. It’s normal practice for us to immediately seal the work area and home space when an agent is killed in the field. Today, when Special Agent Joan Paschal died in the explosion at the Lucky Food Mart, I gained access to her apartment and found enough evidence, including notes and bank records, to prove that for the past year she has been receiving money on a regular basis from a Marco Vennuti, Vice President of Security at Atronen Pharmaceuticals. This was not a part of any known undercover operation.”

  Vennuti again, Mark thought, we’ve got to stop this guy. He seems to be behind everything.

  Bagnold continued, “The last payment was several days ago. So far, Joan’s workspace is clean, but we will be checking her cell phone records to see if we can connect her directly to Vennuti. Dennis tells me that Agent Paschal was asked by her friend, Agent Nancy Walker, to accompany her when the two men at the Food Mart were arrested. It’s apparent, then, that she was unaware of the bomb, so it’s probable that the target was not the two agents. I can’t be sure who the target was. What I do know is that at least for now, Vennuti has lost a valuable informer from our ranks. I think that the PDS needs to take advantage of the temporary vacuum created by her untimely death and move as quickly as possible against Atronen and Vennuti before they can regroup.”

  He leaned over and grabbed a bottle of water, twisted the cap off and took a large gulp. Then he scanned the room to see how the agents were reacting to the disclosure he had just made. He saw a room full of surprised faces.

  “Are there any questions?”

  Wendy raised her hand and he gestured toward her.

  “Special Agent, Wendy Farrell. I knew Joan fairly well. I just don’t see her in the role of an informer. Are you absolutely certain that she was the one leaking information; that the evidence you found wasn’t planted or some other explanation?”

  “I can understand your surprise, Agent Farrell. Dennis reacted the same way when I first presented my findings. Believe me when I say that there is no tougher job for me than to expose someone who has betrayed the Bureau and their country. It is something that I don’t do lightly. I can assure you that I’ve checked and double-checked everything as much as I could in the short time that I’ve had. The evidence speaks for itself. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Agent Paschal was working for this man Vennuti. We don’t know as yet what leverage he had over her, but I am sure that that will be uncovered as part of our ongoing investigation. Keep in mind that we don’t level charges like this lightly.”

  Dennis rose and assumed control of the meeting.

  “Milt will want to speak with each of you over the next few days. Mark, since you will be out of town later in the week, perhaps you can spare him a few minutes later today. He may also want to use your vetting programs.”

  Looking directly at Milt, Mark said, “Sure. I’d be happy to work with you right after the meeting, if you’re free.”

  “That’s great, Mark,” Milt replied. “I’ll see you then.”

  Dennis looked solemnly at the group. “I hope you will understand what I’m about to tell you. I don’t want anyone getting their noses out of joint, but I haven’t exactly been straightforward with all of you, for what I think are rather obvious reasons. It’s been very apparent to me for some time that there was a leak in our office. We learned from the Hanssen case that people sell out their country for a myriad of reasons; some that make sense to us and others that have no credibility. I want to believe that Joan hadn’t connected the deaths of Brice Bennett and his family to Marco Vennuti. I want to believe that while she might have been motivated by greed or other reasons and that she would have drawn the line at working with a murderer, had she known.”

  Mark glanced at Wendy and saw her head nod affirmatively. She was obviously tossed between her memories of Joan and the unforgivable conduct that she was being accused of.

  Dennis continued, “On the supposition that Joan was the leak, I’ll try to be more open about what is going on. I’ve deliberately withheld some information from most of you for some time now. I’ve been disseminating information on a strict need-to-know basis. I can’t afford to do that any longer, nor do I really want to. I agree with Milt that the time is ripe for us to move forward boldly on every leg of our probe into Atronen. Vennuti will no doubt try to fill the vacancy caused by Joan’s untimely death. It will take him time, so we need to act quickly.”

  He took a swig of water before continuing. “Right now I’m going to divulge some information about a special investigation that is in progress. I needed to keep this information close-to-the-vest because I didn’t want to expose the person involved or any of you to unnecessary risk. But, if we are going to accelerate our investigation, you will have to have a full picture about what is going on. It is essential that what I’m about to tell you not be discussed with anyone outside of this room. Is that understood?”

  He quickly scanned the room and was satisfied with the affirmative nods from everyone. He continued, “The investigation I’m referring to resulted from Agent Matthew’s background checks. It turns out that one of Atronen’s employees is a bigamist. We’re betting that the person will not want to be exposed and will feed us information on the after-hour production runs that take place on some Fridays. Justice is willing to give this person immunity from prosecution in return for his full cooperation. We will be meeting with him this week. He thinks he’s meeting with a prospective employer. If all goes well, we will finally have some critical evidence of Atronen’s ‘thinning’ operation, including their distribution network. With any luck this information will not only lead us to the people responsible for the murders of the Bennett family, the victims at Lucky Food, but also give us the evidence we need
to shut Atronen down. If anyone sees how this operation can be of help in their current assignments, or if you have something else to contribute, stop by my office.”

  Mark noticed that Dennis didn’t use Paul’s name or say where or when they were going to meet Snyder. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was an oversight, or if Dennis was unsure of the squad members or his ASAC’s?

  Wendy stopped Mark on the way out of the conference room. “I still can’t believe that Joan did those things. I won’t be surprised if they find out that she was part of a top secret sting operation by Washington, which they even kept from Dennis for some reason.”

  “I don’t know what to say about it. I’ve never met her.”

  “She was very sweet. I considered her a close friend. She always dressed low key. She was very frugal when we went out for lunch. I’ve been to her apartment a few times. There was nothing there to indicate that she was living above her means. She didn’t travel, spent her vacations at home and drove a six-year old compact car. It just doesn’t fit the profile.”

  “Sometimes people on the take are very careful not to tip anyone off. She had a sizeable bank account according to Bagnold.”

  “He didn’t say anything about it being sizeable,” she retorted defensively. “Anyway, it could have been money she inherited, or her lifetime savings. There are a lot of reasons people have big bank accounts. That’s no reason to suspect them of treason.”

  Wendy was getting argumentative, so Mark decided to back out of the conversation as gracefully as he could. “You’re right. He just said the money was somehow linked to Marco Vennuti. Probably it would be best to wait until all the facts are in before making any judgments.”

  Wendy looked penitent. “I guess you are right. I’m sorry I snapped, Mark. When you talk to Bagnold, though, see if you can get him to clarify her alleged connection to Vennuti.”

  “I’ll do the best I can. I’ll call you tonight if I find out anything.”

  “Talk to you later, Mark.”

  Inspector Bagnold caught up with Mark at the door. “Let’s go back to the Major Case Room.”

  They walked in silence. As soon as he closed the door of the MCR he said, “I guess that was quite a bombshell for most of you.”

  “It sure caught me off guard,” Mark replied. “I think that everyone was genuinely surprised when Dennis told us.”

  “It’s a good thing I’ve got thick skin, Mark. My job is akin to Internal Affairs at the police department level and often the only information I can gather is what I drag out of people. I never could understand why career public servants at any level of government take part in a cover-up of the most heinous crimes, including treason, out of a thin blue line of loyalty.”

  “It’s a very individual thing. As for me I have no sympathy for anyone who betrays the oath they took when they joined the Bureau. Now, how can I be of help to you?”

  “Dennis tells me you have some special programs that might help me link Joan Paschal to Marco Vennuti or to Atronen Pharmaceutical.”

  “He told you right. I’ll give you some discs that you can use to trace payments into Agent Paschal’s accounts. You can also use them to link those payments to activities in Vennuti’s or Atronen’s bank records. One of the programs will speed up your tracing of phone records. I’ll also give you the name and number of a good friend at Quantico who will be able to shave days off your searches of the harder to find phone records.”

  “I certainly appreciate your help, Mark.”

  “I can do one more thing for you, unless Dennis has already taken care of it and that is to introduce you to Marcia Maxon. She’s very familiar with the programs I’m giving you and can also save you more hours. She’s been an enormous help to me.”

  “That would be great. Dennis mentioned her name a few times. I look forward to working with her. Thanks again, Mark.”

  “I’m glad to help in any way I can, Milt.”

  They went back to Mark’s cubicle. He gave Milt a stack of discs and an intro to Marcia.

  * * *

  In another part of town, Marco Vennuti was pacing the floor of his office. He had just gotten a call from a confederate informing him about the death of his primary FBI spy, Joan Paschal. How the hell could that be? Who the fuck blew up that place? He wondered to himself. Now how am I going to know what’s going on? I guess that Marcia is just going to have to play a bigger role, whether she is willing to or not.

  He picked up the phone and called a private detective to set up surveillance of Marcia. He needed to eliminate any excuses she may have about stepping up her involvement with him. With the right leverage, he would bend her to his will as he had previously done with Joan Paschal.

  * * *

  In still another part of town, a call was placed to Clifford Melbourne’s secret number by his informer at the FBI.

  “I just heard that the PDS met today. The SAC introduced an inspector from Washington who’s here to look into leaks in the office. He reported that two agents died in the explosion at the Lucky Food Mart today. It turns out that one of the agents, Joan Paschal, was a spy for Vennuti. He also divulged that they’re doing a sting on someone at Atronen and they expect him to give them information about the special shipments.”

  “That’s interesting. Thanks for the update. Oh, by the way, thanks also for the heads-up on the Lucky Food Mart sting. That worked out perfectly for us. Keep me informed.”

  “I will. Have a good day, sir.”

  Melbourne sat back in his chair and ran this latest information over in his mind. Things couldn’t be better. So Vennuti was holding out on me by having a Special Agent on his payroll. He must really be sweating the situation. I’ll keep holding his feet to the fire as we approach the big shipment day. Then it’s bye bye Marco Vennuti. The authorities will step in the minute we move the merchandise. John Pierce will be history and I will pick up the pieces. Machiavelli couldn’t have planned this any better.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Dennis, Wendy and Mark arrived at the storefront office of Paradigm, Inc. an hour before their scheduled meeting with Paul Snyder. Wendy immediately went to work setting up a laptop, hooking up a telephone, an intercom and placing correspondence in the in/out letter boxes

  Dennis and Mark went into the office and arranged the chairs so that Mark would be sitting between Snyder and the door. The plan was for Dennis to play the role of the prospective employer and sit behind the desk. Paul had been excited when Mark called him about the meeting so they expected him to arrive at least ten to fifteen minutes early. There would be a little play acting to start, but the minute the door to the office was closed and he was seated they planned to “drop the bomb” on him.

  A cell phone chimed. Mark’s was on “vibe” so he gestured to Dennis.

  Dennis reached in his pocket, retrieved his cell phone and pressed the talk button. “Peterson!” He listened for about a minute before he spoke. “Thanks for calling, Milt. I’ll see you at two.”

  He turned to Mark and said, “That was Inspector Bagnold. He just received a report from the ME that Joan Paschal had numerous lash marks on her buttocks. They weren’t visible because the epidermal layer was severely damaged by the explosion. At first the ME was unsure of their origin, but now she is positive that they were there before the explosion. Milt used one of your programs to trace a call on Joan’s cell to the All Sports Club in Cleveland Heights. They’ve been in trouble a lot with the police department over the years for allowing betting and unauthorized fights and other questionable activities to go on at their facility. It’s suspected that their private rooms may be used for sadomasochistic activities. That’s perfectly legal as long as it’s consensual. From the looks of things, it appears that Agent Paschal may have had a dark side that may explain her connection with Vennuti.”

  “Are you saying that she was involved in some sort of a bondage thing?”

  “Milt thinks that may be the case.” Dennis hesitated for a minute, and added, �
��I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything to anyone about our suspicions, especially to Wendy. It’s only speculation right now and she’s so sensitive about the situation.”

  “I understand. My lips are sealed.”

  They used the balance of the time they had to arrange the documents that they would present to Snyder. All were certified legal documents so there would be no way he could deny that they were authentic. Their only concern was that he would either lawyer-up or call their bluff and decide to take his chances with exposure; either decision would throw a monkey wrench into their plans. They just didn’t know enough about his character to predict how he would react.

  At ten minutes to eight a dapper Paul Snyder opened the door to Paradigm, Inc. He was dressed in a custom-made blue silk suit, soft-pink shirt and red and blue silk tie. A pale-pink pocket handkerchief peeked out of the breast pocket. The cuff-less trousers were sharply creased down to his Prada loafers.

  “Good morning, I’m Paul Snyder. I have an eight o’clock meeting with Mister Samuelson,” he announced to Wendy.

  “Good morning, Mister Snyder. Mister Samuelson will be right with you. Please have a seat.”

  Wendy pressed the intercom button. “Mister Snyder is here for your eight o’clock.”

  Mark replied, “Thank you, Ms. Farrell. I’ll be right out.” It was a voice that Snyder recognized as that of Peter Samuelson.

  A minute later, Mark opened the office door, walked over to where Paul was sitting and extended his hand. “I’m so glad you could make it, Paul. Please come in.”

  They walked into the office and Mark closed the door behind him. “Please have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the chair by the far wall. Mark sat down in the chair next to the door.