by John Day
“That might tie in with an attack on my daughter and another guest at Gregor’s dinner party a couple of nights ago,” Paul explained, “At the end of the evening the girl, Jane Tyler followed Anna back to her room, tied her up and took her clothes. Tyler was with a man called Jack Stone, who did a similar thing. He attacked one of the staff, a Russian girl bodyguard, dumped her unconscious body in another guest’s room, a Bill Trumper, attacked him and took his clothes. The man and girl calmly walked out in disguise when the house lights failed and drove off casually in Trumper’s car. Gregor smoothed things over and said they were probably government spooks fishing for information. I tried to find out more, but as yet I have nothing new.”
Gregor’s attorney called Don Henderson, and arranged a meeting to discuss some facts that had come to light. Don agreed, and set a date two days later at 10 am. He wanted Mike Teal to be there, as well. Don was quite happy to have the FBI deal with Gregor and his party. Even if they slipped through the net, the three drug gangs were going down for a long time for sure, and the amount of cocaine recovered was making big news. For once in his life, Don was in favour with the mayor, big time, so even if the FBI took credit for Gregor, he still couldn’t lose.
Chapter - Swindler states his case.
The meeting was unlike anything the three experienced men had ever known before. The attorney, Ian Swindler had heard that Don was not overly interested in Gregor’s involvement, though did not understand why.
Mike was convinced Gregor was framed, but didn’t know how. He was prepared to go with anything that was legally sound to get the drug charges dropped against Gregor.
Don was aiming to swing the whole meeting in Mike’s direction if there was any risk of complications in convicting Gregor.
Don and Mike chatted about the case for five minutes until Swindler arrived. They made their introductions and seemed surprisingly welcoming towards Swindler under the circumstances, after all, they wanted to convict Gregor, and he wanted to get him off the rap. A confrontational meeting was par for the course, but not so, this time.
Ian Swindler went through the facts he had uncovered.
“About two weeks before the arrests were made at my client’s home his security guards spotted an unfamiliar car in the area and traced it back through the hire company to a Mr Jack Hoffer. Security followed it when it didn’t return and found a man and a young girl up in the woods, overlooking the house. Later, Mrs Yeltsin was approached by Jack Stone, a man claiming to be the father of Matt Stone, someone he thought my client had employed. Jack Stone or Hoffer as he is also known gave her a photo to look at and she gave it back. She was curious about his actions and invited him back to join in a party they were holding, and he agreed to come. When Mrs Yeltsin returned to her car, it was gone. As you know, a report was filed for the theft. Stone arrived at the party and brought with him a young girl, he introduced her as Jane Tyler. He spoke to my client and gave him a photo. My client returned the photo and told Stone alias Jack Hoffer, he had not employed his son and didn’t know where he was. At the end of the party, that evening, they left. Then, security reported a problem with the water supply. The utility Co. treated the water that night and no more was thought of it. The Water Utility Co. confirmed that no work was undertaken by them on the supply pipe. Then came the attack. Some lunatic crashes through the entrance gates in the utility van followed by my client’s car. Petrol is dumped at the entrance and around the house. Then, moments later a convoy of cars carrying men with guns burst onto the property and a gunfight ensued. The petrol was ignited trapping everyone on the property. By now, everyone was firing at everyone else.”
“The drinking water we have since found out was laced with cocaine and everyone at a house was under the influence of the drug, and judgement was obviously impaired. During the gunfight, the utility truck caught fire and crashed. The driver jumped out with his clothes alight, but he managed to put them out. He then climbed onto the parapet and with another person, and jumped off. Moments later two figures with Paragliding equipment flew around and then disappeared.”
Swindler paused for breath and reviewed what he just said. What a far-fetched story, they must have thought he was mad to tell a tale like that. They didn’t make any comment, so he continued.
“I conclude, two or more persons have faked my client’s fingerprints and planted incriminating evidence. To draw attention to it, three rival drug gangs were lured to the house and in the confusion, a gunfight took place, along with the fires. Perhaps the sound of gunfire might have alerted the police, but the fire certainly pinpointed the scene before anyone could get away.” Swindler looked at the two men, and they looked calmly back. There was no sign of incredulity in their faces just calm acceptance.
Mike Teal could have kissed Swindler when he concluded his account of the facts, though he hid his enthusiasm to accept the story. Apart from a string of grunts of understanding from Don, he contributed nothing to the meeting up to this point.
"OK," said Don loudly, “If Mr Swindler would kindly wait outside my office for a minute I want to discuss a few things with Mr Teal.”
Swindler stood up slowly, gathering his papers into his briefcase and went outside.
"Let Gregor go for now," said Teal “We will check out the story. I have always been suspicious of this case and what Swindler told us, makes better sense.”
"Fine by me," said Don, “But if you do turn up something we can use to convict Gregor Yeltsin then we want some credit, after all, we have played a material part in his arrest.”
“Agreed,” said Teal, “I will leave you to tell Swindler the good news.”
Mike left and told Swindler to go back in.
“For the moment, the department is releasing your client and his party until we can check out the facts, but between you and me, I think he is in the clear.”
Ian Swindler could hardly believe his good fortune, a nice easy case for a change and a happy client, all the ingredients for a fat success fee.
Chapter - Sam helps out.
Another desperate phone-call to Sam was more successful this time, after she mentioned the gel like clotting of blood around the wound. He provided the phone number of someone who could perform the necessary surgery on Max, without asking questions, or going through any formalities. Carla had to get Max back in the car and drive to a private hospital 60 miles away, out of the city. She was convinced Max would never survive the journey. Although there was no more blood loss, he was turning yellow with jaundice and had developed a high fever. He was now too weak to help himself into the car, so she had to drag him onto the parachute covering over the back seat.
The afternoon was sweltering outside their air-conditioned car, and the traffic through the city was painfully slow. She could hardly see Max’s face as he lay flat on his back in the black folds of the parachute, but she could sense he was slipping away. She resisted the urge to drive faster than the steady flow of the vehicles around her; she didn’t want to draw any unwelcome attention by driving recklessly.
Eventually, she reached the Douvane Private Hospital and called her contact in the hospital, by phone from the car. She was directed to a rear fire exit and was met by a woman doctor, and two orderlies with a gurney. When the woman saw Max’s condition Carla saw her face tense. The doctor could feel no pulse in his neck and backed out of the car. Turning to Carla she said grimly, “I think it’s too late.” The orderlies pulled the blood-soaked body out of the car and lifted it onto the gurney. The woman touched the jelly like blood, with a gloved finger and looked questioningly at Carla. Carla’s face gave no inkling of understanding.
“Let’s get him inside,” urged the woman, anxious to avoid prying eyes. Along the corridor, she stopped by a wall phone and told the orderly to take the body and the girl to O.R. 3. They rushed on as the doctor called ahead on the phone.
As the gurney entered the operating room, the surgical team hurried in. Carla stood back out of the way as a tall man checked ag
ain for a pulse and breathing. “Quick everyone, he is still with us, I need... ” And he listed the drugs, tests and equipment necessary to keep Max going a bit longer while they prepared to operate. Again, the jelly blood raised a few eyebrows, but the reason for that could wait.
Three hours later, surgery was complete. What happened next was down to Max and his maker.
Carla could have waited by Max’s bed, but she had that prickly, edgy feeling that had so often, rightly warned of big trouble looming. She had to tie up a lot of loose ends and quickly. The hospital also wanted $100,000 for their services. The amount was not a problem, but it had to be cash. Carla would need to draw small amounts each day over the next month to avoid raising questions with the authorities.
One of the orderlies disposed of the parachute and helped Carla clean up the car. The man assured her the cleaning fluid would destroy all traces of blood and sprayed Luminal all around, afterwards, to highlight any missed areas. The Luminal and special light he used, confirmed nothing was missed.
Next, she went back to her hotel, cleaned up and changed into fresh clothes. She blew talcum powder over every surface of the room so the cleaner would have to wipe everything down and vacuum the whole room. Then she packed and checked out, paying her bill in cash.
The bank agreed a wire transfer of funds to a new account from her bank in the Cayman Islands, cash being available later that day. She then picked up the bill at Max’s boarding-house and cleared out his things. There was no point in wiping down for prints, the place hadn’t been cleaned for months.
Carla told the car hire company Max had finished with the car, and took back the deposit. She then bought a very cheap Honda with cash, from another firm close by, in the name of Jane Tyler. Carla had bad vibes about continuing to use this name, but it was preferable to using her own. There was no good reason for her to be edgy, she thought there were no clues to link them to Gregor, and the police were bound to accept the convincing evidence they had planted. Still, best to be on the safe side, and break any trail.
The lock up was the final problem, the rent expired today, and there was a lot of forensic evidence there. The only way to destroy it was a good fire; however, this would draw attention to the place, and the owner had Max’s description. She phoned the owner and asked if he could extend the rental for a month and she would drop the cash round later. The man agreed but insisted he could collect the cash from her there and check the place at the same time. Carla did not want this, but had to agree, so she bought a baseball cap some overalls and a yard brush and swept up the dusty floor. By the time a man called, the air was thick with choking dust and Carla’s face was grimy and running with sweat. The man grabbed the cash and cleared off, not wanting to become filthy himself.
Carla cleaned herself up as best she could and drove back to the hospital. She showered and changed in Max’s private room. The staff didn’t mind her staying in the room, but as it was so small, she had to sleep on a Gurney. Having made herself respectable again, the surgeon, Rodney and Kate the doctor came in. The test results of Max’s bodily processes and functions had just been sent back by pathology. No one had seen anything like them before, so they wanted Carla to explain them. She answered without hesitation having anticipated this scenario.
“Your patient, my boss is a genetic physicist. He has been working on a project in Africa. The work is illegal here and having reached the final stage of his experiments he foolishly carried out a test on himself to prove the process worked on the human body, without harmful side effects.”
“What exactly was he trying to achieve,” asked Rodney?
“How old do you think your patient is?” Asked Carla boldly. “Late thirties, I would guess” replied Rodney. “Well, he is in his late Fifties, 57 to be precise.” Their jaws dropped in amazement as Rodney and Kate looked at each other. “So how did he get shot?” Kate asked. “It was someone he worked with, who wanted the process for himself.” Carla lied.
“It is vital my boss remains alive so he can perfect his process.”
“What do you mean by perfect the process?” Queried Rodney.
“Well, at the moment there appears to be no halting of the regenerative process so it may reduce him to a child or even a foetus eventually.”
Silence followed as Rodney and Kate considered the implications of what they had heard. Carla had expected this and deliberately steered the lie this way. Firstly, to make the two want the secret for themselves, this way they wouldn’t tell anyone else. Then to place this final stumbling block of unfinished work in the way, so they would have to string along and co-operate, if they were ever to gain from the discovery. Carla had them in the palm of her hand; she knew that their greed would be the only way to keep Max’s injury from getting out, and also ensure their safety, until Max got better, that is.
"Well," said Rodney, “Perhaps we can talk again about this; in the meantime, we must keep him alive at all costs.
A Freudian slip thought Carla; still it works for me, she smiled to herself.
Rodney and Kate checked Max thoroughly, and from the smiles on their faces, the prognosis looked good.
Chapter - FBI figures things out.
Based on what Swindler had said, Mike Teal directed his investigation along those lines. Firstly he checked out Jack Hoffer, Jack Stone and Jane Tyler. A Jack Hoffer and Jane Tyler had just returned from Italy, independently, they were the only persons of that name and matched the suspect’s description exactly. However, they could not be the persons the FBI was looking for. The name Jack Stone did not throw up any worthwhile leads. Conclusion, the suspects were extremely well organised and professional, having stolen the identities of this unfortunate couple.
Routine inquiries at hotels and boarding houses in the area showed the suspects had just checked out. The girl’s room had been thoroughly cleaned, and the man’s room was totally contaminated. No forensic leads there.
From Gregor’s security camera tapes the car registration was traced back to the hire company, again the FBI drew a blank. The car had been so well cleaned that it was obvious the reason was to hide evidence. Again, a good lead came to a dead end.
Mike Teal considered the facts so far. One of the two suspects was badly wounded; this is also supported by the cleaned car. “These people are very smart and probably have a major organisation behind them,” he muttered. “If their target was Gregor, then it must be something that he is involved with and it's gone wrong in some way. This is probably some sort of scheme to get him out of the way or possibly a takeover.”
“You mean the Mafia have fallen out with him,” said Mike’s partner Steve Wilcox.
“Most likely I would say, but why have they relied on planted evidence when a bullet would be more efficient.”
"Yes," said Wilcox thoughtfully “I see what you mean. Anyway, where was I, oh yes! If one of them is wounded, then medical help would be needed, fast. If dead, then the body will turn up soon, and may tell its own story. Better check out all the medical facilities first,” Mike commanded.
“Having returned the hire car, do they still need one or have they left the area? My guess is they are still here, probably having medical treatment and therefore still need transport. Check out the other car hire people in walking distance. No, check if any taxis picked up from the hire company and where did they drop their passengers off, these creeps are just too smart to walk into the hire place next door, that’s too obvious.”
“I’m on it,” Wilcox replied, not wanting to wait around for the list of jobs to grow.
Chapter - Gregor figures things out.
The phone rang, and Gregor Yeltsin aggressively snatched it up. “Yes, ” he said impatiently.
The voice at the other end reported the latest developments from his contact in the police department. “It seems the FBI has only two possible leads to follow, one is to find out if any medical facility is treating the wounded person, and the other is to find out if they have hired another car.”
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"OK," said Gregor, “Concentrate on the medical option; we stand a better chance of finding them that way than the FBI. Also, I have been looking into the personnel files of those employed on the mineral survey, the one Matt Stone messed up. There was a girl there and an old man, who suddenly arrived out of the blue, to do administrative work. They match the descriptions of Jane Tyler and Jack Hoffer, who came to see me claiming to be Stone’s father. I’ll fax you the details now, check them out, trace their immediate family and deal with them in your usual efficient way. Keep me informed. Goodbye, ” he said smartly and hung up.
He called his secretary to come into his office, “Fax these two documents to this number, and I am flying up to the Florida base on Monday” he stated “Set it up for me Natasha.”
“At once,” she said, “I’ll give you the schedule directly.” She turned and left his office.
The next day, Gregor was brought up to date with the family connections of Max and Carla.
The voice on the phone said, “The girl appeared to have no family and practically did not exist two years ago. She worked for a shadowy concern in Italy during the last two years, possibly longer. Apart from being incredibly wealthy, there is nothing more to tell. The man is a different story. He is a retired businessman and has a son in the UK. Rumour has it that he and the girl have a sort of relationship and have known each other for about nine months. He has received money from the concern in Italy, and he also has suddenly become exceedingly wealthy.”
“His son has developed some revolutionary software and has been peddling it on the Internet. It made me wonder if somehow he had got hold of Project Oracle.”
“Yes, I remember,” said Gregor thoughtfully. “A guy called Philippe something or other was selling it, but suddenly he and Oracle vanished off the face of the Earth. I thought some government must have bought it and shut it down. If it could do just a fraction of what was claimed the whole industrialised world would be in jeopardy. Follow up on the Son and find out if he has Oracle, then let me know before you do anything.”