Carat Capers

by Dan Kelly

  As they approach the Frenchman Felix says, “Pierre, you’re looking dapper as ever. Did you have a nice flight?”

  “Flying in a Gulfstream V Jet is always nice, Felix. How was your flight?”

  “Pleasant, but not as luxurious as yours was I’m sure, but I like my Beech Jet 400A for short trips. Our trip would have been a lot more pleasant, but for a phone call I received during our flight.”

  He tells Pierre about the phone call he received from his police contact and about what the three of them had decided to do with respect to their timetable.

  Pierre responds with, “That’s a call you people will have to make. I, however, don’t believe in taking chances I don’t have to take. Doing so just tempts fate. The more you tempt fate, the more apt you are to regret it. I want very much to remain a channel for you to move your goods to potential buyers, but I will do so only when I consider it safe to do so and on my schedule. I hope that works for you.”

  Felix is quick to reply with, “I did not mean to imply that we would expect you to comply with our time table. We also want you to remain an outlet for our goods, but we may have to use other resources in addition to you when the situation calls for it. Sitting on our inventory for a prolonged period of time would be very unwise. I hope this will not create any ill will between us.”

  “Rest assured, mon ami, there will be none on my part. Now, I’m looking forward to an enjoyable and relaxing weekend with the three of you, but before we get to that there is some business I’d like to get out of the way first. I want to change the way your merchandise is being delivered to me.

  “We’ve been using the current method for too long now and I want to employ a rotating process between several new means of delivery. As a result of your recent activities here and abroad, the authorities, customs officials as well as police at both local and national levels, are scrutinizing things a lot more closely now and becoming much more determined in their efforts to find out who is involved in these thefts. So far, my buyers haven’t shown any unusual trepidation over continuing to purchase the baubles they lust after, but I’m sure they will feel better if I can show them that we have taken additional steps to protect their privacy.”

  Felix agreed and said so. “That makes sense to me. What do you have in mind?”

  “First, I want to reduce the use of commercial carriers where the gems are hidden amongst or inside other more mundane merchandise. The import activity at all of the ports of entry throughout Europe is under increased scrutiny for all kinds of contraband, but since the volume of shipments coming into the major ports is enormous, not every shipment can be checked out properly. By reducing our use of these carriers, we reduce the risk of your shipments being discovered.

  “Second, I have a connection at the French Embassy in New York and have arranged to occasionally have some sealed packages concealed in diplomatic pouches destined for a specific government office in Paris, no questions asked. The sealed packages will be marked for delivery to another contact I have at that office. Of course, this service does not come cheap and I will expect you to share in that expense.

  “Third, I want to employ the use of private planes, subs and surface vessels to smuggle our merchandise into various locations in countries throughout Europe. These locations will be used on an alternating basis.

  “Now, you might think this is overkill because we won’t be moving a high volume of merchandise on a frequent basis even though in the short term you have plans to acquire some very impressive inventory. Well, my response to that is I am thinking of expanding my activities to other valuable collectibles for which there is a very lucrative market and these channels will be ideal for the movement of these items also. If you’re so inclined, I’d welcome you as partners in these endeavors as well.”

  Felix looked at Amos and Jacob for any indication of how they were reacting to what Pierre has said and not seeing anything he tries to buy some time with, “You’ve obviously done a lot of research, groundwork and thinking about these changes and on the surface they are appealing to me. I’d like to have a better idea of what the additional expense to us would be and some time to discuss the pros and cons with my colleagues.”

  “That’s understandable. Talk it over and get back to me by the end of next week at the latest. I’m very uncomfortable with the increased focus on operations such as ours and think we should take counter measures as quickly as possible.”

  “We will do as you ask, Pierre. Now, let’s get on with the enjoyment and relaxation.”

  As they head for their rooms to change into more casual clothes Felix’s insatiable greed has him thinking, “Hmm, expanding our operation to other valuable collectibles could grow our coffers considerably, but Amos and Jacob don’t seem to be turned on over the possibility of our getting involved with other merchandise. This definitely has a lot of potential for big bucks for us. I hope I can convince them to give it a try. If not, I might have to go it alone. Doing that could be real ticklish where Jacob is concerned. Shit! Sometimes friends can be a real pain in the ass.”

  Chapter 7

  nowhere in a hurry. It’s now mid-July and Mickey Morretti’s investigation into the precious gems robberies is going three thirty in the morning and sleep has been eluding him most of the night. No matter how many times he’s gone over the avenues he’s gone down and the interviews he’s had with everyone involved nothing helpful pops up to lead him in a new direction.

  “The people behind these robberies know what they’re doing. They’ve left nothing behind that might lead us to them, no prints, no snagged clothing, no pictures caught on security cameras, nothing. Damn!”

  His conundrum is about to get worse as the phone on his nightstand starts ringing. It’s his long time buddy Tony Appecelli in dispatch at his precinct. “Mickey, we’ve got another one, Tiffany’s over on 5th Avenue. Two male passersby in a car were shot, the driver was killed, the passenger is in critical condition and on the way to Mt. Sinai. Apparently, they spotted something they shouldn’t have. The security people were gassed with something and are still groggy as we speak.”

  “Has Clancy been notified?”

  ‘That’s my next call.” Chuckling he added, “I guess this means our bocce game this afternoon is off, huh?”

  “If I don’t come up with something soon to lead me in the right direction to catch these bastards, I’m going to have all the time in the world to play games and stand in the unemployment line or, at the very best, I’ll be handing out parking tickets in Hell’s Kitchen.”

  Slamming the phone down, he heads for the bathroom and a walk through the shower. Fifteen minutes later he’s in his car and heading for Tiffany’s. When he arrives, the place is as busy as a beehive, patrol cars and news vans everywhere he looks. “This is going to be the lead story on every TV station in the area and the newspapers are going to have a field day as well. Something had better come to light soon or there’s going to be hell to pay from the top on down.”

  Two hours later, he’s sitting in his car shaking his head and mumbling to himself. “Millions of dollars of pink and yellow diamonds taken and nothing else touched. It looks like we’re dealing with some kind of order taking operation. State-of-the-art security systems and top secrecy procedures are no deterrent to these people whatsoever. They seem to have a master key to every building and a combination to every safe where precious gems might be found in quantity. The safes in all of the robberies to date are the best burglar proof safes money can buy, containing four plates of wrought iron, crystalized iron, steels bars and a fourth plate of steel bars at right angles to those in the third plate. No rivet, bolt or screw goes entirely through from outside to inside. Consequently, in any attempt to drill or force out the bolts from the outside, they are only more strongly riveted, by being driven firmly against the solid body next within. Anybody owning one of these safes would think they were protected from these kinds of thefts. Somehow combinations to these safes are being obtained, either by some
one on the inside passing that info on to the robbers or by some technical means. I’ll have to wait until the techs are finished processing the scene and hope that this time a mistake was made and something was left behind to help me get a bead on these people.”

  Sitting there and fuming over his lack of any clue to point him somewhere, his frustration clearly showing on his face, his mumblings are interrupted by a uniform who yells over to him that one of the techs wants to talk to him.

  “Maybe, just maybe Lady Luck is going to give me a break.”

  When the tech spots him he comes over and says, “These guys are extremely cautious. They’re wearing gloves and booties so they won’t leave any prints, but this time they might have left something else.” Holding up a swab he pointed to a small red spot and said, “Someone cut themselves on something and left some blood on a felt box in the safe. It could be an employee’s blood or it could belong to one of the robbers. We can get DNA, blood type, etc. and it might come in handy down the road in your investigation.”

  “Good work, guy. Thanks.”

  “Well, Lady Luck didn’t cast down a blinding flash of light, but at least she provided a glimmer of hope.”

  The techs finished doing their thing and nothing else helpful was found. Out of the blue, Chuck Ferguson’s name popped into his head. “Maybe I should reconsider taking him up on his offer. I’m certainly not making much headway going at it alone.”

  On his way to the office, he continues to weigh the possible consequences of bringing Ferguson on board. By the time he reaches his cubicle it’s a little after 8:00 a.m. and he has decided to take the plunge, but then realizes he doesn’t have the guy’s number. Hot shot detective that he is, he determines that 411 should be able to help him and sure enough there was a listing for Ferguson Investigations. “Sometimes all those years of sleuthing pay off.”

  When Ferguson comes on the line, he manages to swallow the last vestiges of his pride and says, “Mr. Ferguson, Detective Morretti here. Is your offer to work with me on these recent gem robberies still open? I’m accomplishing nothing but getting headaches from running into dead ends. I’m thinking that perhaps the best way to go about getting to the bottom of this mess is to combine our resources to try to identify who the players are in the channels of distribution.”

  “It is. When can we get together to compare notes and devise a strategy?”

  “Unless something else goes down, I should be in my office for the rest of the day writing up reports and making phone calls. Pick a time if your schedule has any openings.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there in about an hour. Does that work for you?”

  “It does.”

  They hang up and Mickey is about to start writing up his reports when he senses someone standing behind him. He turns to find Chief Clancy standing there with an inquisitive look on his face. “What was that all about, Detective?”

  “Oh shit!”

  “That was a private investigator I’ve come across who has contacts in the precious gems arena that I’m hoping can help me come up with something to get me off this dime I’m squatting on.”

  The chief just nodded his head and walked away and then started to shake his head almost imperceptibly. “Well, that went better than expected. I thought he was going to blow his top over me sharing info on an ongoing investigation with an outsider. He’s probably getting desperate too.”

  Chapter 8

  Chuck shows up at the precinct about a quarter after nine when Mickey is about to attack his fourth cup of caffeine to keep his engine going. Three hours of sleep just doesn’t get the job done. After the handshake and the not so subtle checking each other out process, Mickey offers Chuck a cup.

  “Thanks, but no thanks. The last time I had a cup of cop coffee it took two days for my stomach to recover. I’ll never understand how you guys can drink so much of that stuff without any side effects.”

  “It’s definitely an acquired taste I’ll grant you that. One of the local TV anchorman who was doing a documentary on the history of New York City’s police department recently jibed that he thinks it’s what makes us so surly. Who knows? In my case, it’s an effective substitute for the cancer sticks.”

  Pausing for a brief moment while he goes through a stack of files on his desk and locates what he is looking for he then continues with, “So, thanks for your willingness to team up on the gem robberies. I’m getting nowhere in a hurry. Every road I’ve gone down has been a dead end. These people are good, very good.

  “I was hoping the security guard that was critically injured during the American Museum of Natural History robbery would be able to give me something when he was stabilized, but he never regained consciousness and passed away last night. The woman passenger in the car that was riddled with bullets from the robbers at the Tiffany scene is on life support at Mt. Sinai and it could go either way with her according to the emergency room doctor.”

  “Well, I think putting our heads together is a smart move on both of our parts. As sure as the sun is going to shine tomorrow, I believe there are going to be more robberies committed by these same people. I believe they have an agenda, a game plan, and these robberies are tailored to meet the demands of their clientele. Why else would they steal some precious gems and leave a fortune in other gems untouched? It seems to me that they are filling orders or are anticipating the demands of their buyers.

  “The next robbery may not be in New York. It could be elsewhere in the States or in some other country, but as a law enforcement officer you will be able to interact with the authorities wherever the next robbery takes place. I, on the other hand, have resources that you don’t have access to, some legitimate in the precious jewels market and some not so legitimate. By sharing whatever we uncover, pooling our resources if you will, we’ll be greatly improving our odds of catching these people.”

  “Okay, let me get the ball rolling by sharing with you what we’ve found at the scenes of the robberies, the observations of the people interviewed and our conclusions to date. I’m sorry to say not much was helpful from my perspective except perhaps for one discovery at the Tiffany scene.”

  He tells Chuck about the blood they found on the jewelry box and recounts everything they have been able to ascertain from the crime scenes and the questioning of the people involved.

  “In short, these guys are pros. They are extremely careful, wearing gloves and booties so as not to leave any prints, and they do their homework before they make a move on their targets. Their reconnaissance is thorough judging from the fact that they seem to know in advance the number of guards they will have to deal with and the details of their rounds. They have the knowledge required to pick locks and open safes without damaging anything. They know where the gems they want are located. I think it’s safe to assume that they have people inside that are giving them information and/or they have sophisticated, state-of- the- art equipment to help them determine the combinations of the safes.”

  “Another assumption we can make is that they have no qualms about killing people to get what they’re after, so they shouldn’t be taken lightly.” Chuck tells Mickey about the feelers he’s put out regarding people looking to buy on the sly precious gems and any rumors that might be floating about concerning clandestine movement of unusually large amounts of precious gems in below the radar channels. He also tells him about the tourmaline heist in Paris and the diamond robbery in South Africa.

  “Mickey, these guys are pros, but they’re human and sooner or later they’re going to slip up and leave a clue or clues that will lead to their undoing. For our part, we’ve got to keep on listening and watching closely so we don’t miss their foul up when it occurs. I’ll stay in close touch with my contacts and keep the pressure on them to continue to probe their resources. As a detective, I’m sure you have street resources that may not make ideal witnesses in a court of law, but are worth their weight in gold when it comes to knowing things no one on the straight and narrow does. Putting some pressur
e on them might generate some helpful leads. Bribes are also an effective motivator. Whatever it takes, we’ve got to take some initiative or we’re left with spinning our wheels in a pile of nothing.”