Carat Capers

by Dan Kelly

  Turning to Vicki Mickey says, “I don’t know how deep your pockets are, Vicki, but if things start to get tight let me know and I’ll run it up the flag pole to get the attention of the appropriate people in my department to see if I can get some financial assistance.”

  “Will do, Mickey. I haven’t reached a bind yet and if we can nail these guys sooner rather than later that might not become a problem.”

  “Okay then, let me have at some of that wine and other goodies you’ve got set out there.”

  An hour later they part company, Vicki has her car in the underground garage to drive home and Mickey’s going to drop Chuck off at his place. They’re all thinking that maybe things are about to start going their way.

  Chapter 35

  Jacob is sitting in the First Class section in a window seat looking out the window, but he’s not enjoying the view. He’s going over in his mind what he has to do when he arrives in Zurich.

  “The first thing I’ve got to do is get a room at a hotel close to the bank. I’ll register under the name of Paul Petersen, using the ID I have with that name. Percy Andersen will disappear like a morning fog. Next, I’ll notify Arnie as to where I’m staying so he can send me the wheelchair and Felix so he can send me the rest of the required equipment. Then I’ll start casing the bank and its surrounds until I’m thoroughly familiar with the bank’s layout, security system, personnel and their functions, hours of operation and the best routes available to make a clean getaway and get back to my hotel safely. I’ll use the Paul Petersen ID and the hotel as a temporary address to establish an account relationship. Next, I’ll have to locate the office and home of Herr Durrenberger and case them out. This is going to be the hardest part of this heist, getting a look at his key for the box number without him being aware of it.

  “If I decide to go ahead with this, if the robbery goes without a hitch and I get back to the hotel safely, I’ll check out and rent a car still using the Paul Petersen ID and drive to Paris where I’ll return the car to the car rental agency and hook up with Pierre Lavelle and pass on the take to him. Using the last ID I have with me, David Speilman, I’ll then catch a flight from Paris to JFK.

  “Felix and Amos can fly over two days before I do the deed so I can brief them on what’s going to happen, the timing, the escape routes and where I want them to position themselves.

  “I should be ready to go in a week to ten days, maybe sooner if I get lucky getting my hands on Herr Durrenberger’s safe deposit box key.”

  After going over everything a couple more times, Jacob is finally able to lie back and relax and even manage to get some sleep. This wouldn’t have been the case if he knew what Chuck and Vicki had discovered in Paris.

  Chapter 36

  A week goes by without any more precious gem robberies to add to Mickey’s frustration. Chuck’s people were able to find out that Pierre is a silent partner in the jewelry store and is never seen in the store during normal business hours.

  Alim Bukhari appears to spend his time doing nothing but enjoying the good life. He’s done nothing to indicate he’s directly involved in the gem thefts except his association with Pierre makes him an ideal candidate for the purchase of some of the loot. If he is a buyer, the required secrecy attached to such a purchase has to make him aware that he’s buying stolen goods.

  After several attempts to contact Mr. Graff, the London police were finally able to reach him and he readily agreed to go along with the ruse if he is waylaid by anyone in the media or elsewhere concerning the showing of the ruby at the trade show. He gave the police his personal phone number and told them to have Mickey or Vicki call him to give him the information he would need to carry that off. He even suggested to the police that he have his picture taken with the ruby for the ads to be run in the media and on the internet.

  Vicki was able to find a trade show scheduled for the end of the month in Montreal and the promoter agreed to participate in the sting but had concerns about the safety of the participants and the attendees if things got out of hand.

  Mickey flies up there to check out the location where the trade show is to be held to familiarize himself with the layout and to make sure it provides places for police officers to observe the crowd without being seen. He assumes the promoter will have security cameras in all the vulnerable locations and wants to make sure he will have access to one to be concealed in the area where the ruby will be on display. While he is there he addresses the promoter’s concerns.

  “Mr. Girard, I’ve seen the men we’re after and know what they look like. I’ve had our police artist draw up sketches, copies of which will be given to everyone participating in this sting and if these men are spotted in the crowd, we’ll be closing in and following them like ants zeroing in on a donut at a picnic.

  “If they’re wearing disguises, it won’t matter because we’ll have a security camera concealed in the display area which we’ll be monitoring from a position close by and as soon as these people make a move on the ruby my people will take them down quicker than a blink.

  “The stand-in ruby for the real McCoy will be in a clear, locked, Plexiglas box, its bottom bolted to the top of a display case and that will be secured to the floor. That ruby is going nowhere and before they can react and get their hands on their weapons, which if they stay true to form they’ll be carrying, the show will be over and they’ll be hauled off to the local clink.

  “This will be the riskiest thing they’ve ever done because we’re only going to put the word out about the ruby’s appearance three days before the show and the ruby is only going to be on display for one day, on the day it arrives. This won’t give them enough time to do their usual preparation. They won’t be able to get knowledge in advance about where the ruby is being kept before it goes on display, about what security is in place re: the number of guards and their location and about the electronic gear and types of locks they might have to deal, etc. They like to steal at night when there are less people around to get in the way, but they won’t be able to do that this time around. They like to use a special gas to knock out anyone who might be a problem, but there will be too many people at the trade show for that to work effectively.

  “We’ll post extra guards at the entrances to the building beginning the day we start publicizing the appearance of the ruby at the trade show. This will discourage any B & E ideas our targets might entertain to get a lay of the land when few people are around.

  “When these men show up at the trade show, they’ll see your security guards roaming around and cameras mounted in all of the vulnerable places, so they won’t get suspicious and beat it. They’ll immediately head for the display because that’s the only reason they’re there. When they see no security guard in the immediate vicinity and no camera covering the display that will be the nudge that gets the ball rolling.”

  Mr. Girard has listened very carefully to what Mickey is saying and when Mickey is through making his case Mr. Girard gives him his okay to go ahead and then expresses another concern he has. “People will be paying money to see something that isn’t what it’s purported to be. Won’t we be committing fraud?”

  “We’ll take the names and contact information of the contributors under the guise of being able to provide them with proof of their donations for tax purposes. When the trap has been sprung, we’ll notify them about what went down and return their money.”

  Mr. Girard is satisfied with this and says he will make himself available to work with Mickey and his people to set up the trap.

  Before he heads back to New York, Mickey pays a visit to the local constabulary and is pleasantly surprised when the Montreal police immediately jumps on board and agrees to let Mickey participate in the surveillance and intended takedown of the low lifes. They said they would provide the needed manpower which takes a load off Mickey’s mind because he was worrying about how he was going to get Clancy to sign off on the expense of sending some of New York’s finest to Montreal.

  Vic
ki is now in the process of locating a gem that can be used in their little flimflam. She’s hoping to find a synthetic ruby to fill the bill. It’s impossible to tell the difference between a real ruby and a synthetic one with the naked eye. A chemical analysis is the only way to know for sure, so it will fool anyone who just looks at it.

  Because rubies have qualities that enable them to be used in a broad variety of industries, there are numerous manufacturers of synthetic rubies that grow them in labs. In addition to their decorative functions, because rubies are even harder than steel they make long-lasting thread guides for textile machines and excellent bearing material for metal shafts in devices like watches, compasses, and electric meters. Rubies also have exceptional wave-transmitting properties covering the range from short, ultraviolet wavelengths through the visible light spectrum to long, infrared wavelengths. This makes them ideal for use in lasers and masers as well.

  Her internet search has taught her that most of the manufacturers of synthetic gems are located outside of the U. S. The few she’s managed to find in the U. S. aren’t sophisticated enough to provide what she needs. She needs a synthetic ruby as big as Mr. Graff’s 8.62 ct. ruby and she needs it quickly. She has to find a manufacturer that can grow one in a few days.

  Stubbornly continuing to surf the internet she finally comes across a company in Minneapolis, Minnesota that can give her what she’s looking for at a nominal cost. She’s going to send them a picture of the real thing so they know what the goal is. She didn’t go into why she needs it. One less person to spill the beans.

  Vicki calls Mickey to let him know she’s found the bait and will now concentrate on how to get the word out. “Mickey, my best friend works at an advertising agency here in Manhattan who’s helped me with several of my marketing programs. She’ll know what sites to hit on the internet and who to approach for some free air time on the local TV and radio stations from a community service standpoint based on the viewing fees going to a charitable cause. I would like to ask her to help us out. She’ll know how to word the ads to get the attention of these crooks. Of course, I’ll have to tell her what we’re up to, but I trust her to keep her mouth shut. Do you have a problem with that?”

  “If you’re comfortable with confiding in her and with her ability to get these guys drooling, don’t waste any more time talking to me, do it.”

  Leaning back in his chair with his hand behind his head and his eyes closed Mickey’s thinking, “The pieces are falling into place nicely. We’ve recruited everyone we need to build the trap, we have an ideal location to set the trap and we have the perfect bait to lure the rodents into the trap. All we can do now is hope that these vermin are hungry enough, greedy enough, to take the bait.”

  Tuning out the background noise of the office, Mickey’s enjoying the satisfaction from seeing his plan coming together, so much so that he is unaware of Clancy approaching. When Clancy gets in his face and says, “You better be thinking about work or your ass is grass. We’re not paying you to daydream.” Mickey is so startled he sits up with such speed and force he almost head butts the man.

  It’s now Clancy’s turn to be startled. “Damn it, Morretti, rest on your own time. Where are you on this latest brainstorm of yours?”

  Mickey brings him up to date and Clancy says, “I sure hope this works, Mickey. I’m too young to retire and too uncoordinated to be flipping hamburgers at an IN and OUT Burger joint.”

  The frustration from the lack of progress in solving the string of robberies has him shaking his head as he walks away.

  Mickey’s thinking, “There’s not enough big bucks to get me to be a boss. From where I’m sitting, it looks like that’s a fast track to a rubber room or the cemetery.”

  Chapter 37

  Jacob Kessner’s plane arrives in Zurich on schedule, but Chuck’s man is late due to a delay in traffic caused by a three car pile-up on the N1 highway. By the time Max Schmidt a transplanted New Yorker because of his ethnic background and one of Chuck’s best investigators in Zurich gets to the airport, the passengers on Jake’s flight are already being processed through customs and Max thinks he’s blown his assignment. Fortunately, the flight attendant who was to point out Jake to him while he was leaving the aircraft is still on the plane and she says, “If we hurry, we might catch him before he gets through customs.”

  At first there’s no sign of him, but after an exceptionally big guy moves into another line she spots him. He was hidden by the giant. “There he is. I’m as curious as a puppy on a fresh scent.

  Who is this guy and what has he done?”

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t go into that and I’d appreciate you not telling anyone about what you’ve been asked you to do. If things go as planned, you’ll hear all about it on the news. Thanks for your help. You’ve played a key role in bringing the curtain down on some very nasty people.”

  Seeing that Jake has just cleared customs and is heading toward the taxi exit Max say, “I’ve got to go. Thanks again.”

  Max’s car is parked a good distance away from the taxi stand, so he hops in a cab behind the one Jake is taking and tells the driver to follow the cab in front of him, but not too close. The driver says in a perfect Brooklyn accent, “I’ve been waiting for someone to say that to me for years. I was beginning to think that only happens in the movies.”

  Max decides not to become distracted by asking the obvious question, “What’s a New Yorker doing driving a cab in Switzerland when there are loads of opportunities to drive one in the Big Apple?”

  Jake is dropped off at the Park Hyatt and Max pays his cabbie and hops out before a bellhop can get to his door. He doesn’t want to draw any attention to himself and wants to keep Jake in his sights. “Man, this guy must have some serious bread to stay at this place.”

  Jake’s not interested in the amenities or in being pampered by its staff. He’s staying at the hotel because he thinks no one would ever suspect a bank robber would be staying in such a place.

  For the next several days, Max follows Jake around the city and doesn’t pick up on anything out of the ordinary. He appears to be doing the usual tourist type of things, familiarizing himself with the city, sampling the fare at the upscale restaurants, doing some shopping at the better stores, etc. He does do one thing that is kind of unexpected. He stops at a branch of the Union Bank of Switzerland and is in there for a good half hour, but when he comes back out he is counting some Swiss Franc bank notes and what looks like travelers checks, so Max dismisses the stop as nothing to be concerned about.

  On the fourth day of the tail, Max sees Kessner meeting with two other men in the hotel lounge. The three could pass for fraternal triplets they look so similar in appearance. Max is able to take a picture of the three of them with his camera equipped with a telephoto lens from his car as they leave the hotel. “Hmm, this could be getting interesting. Chuck said that three people were thought to be behind all of these gem robberies. Maybe these are the three being sought.”

  Max takes a picture of the picture with his cell phone and sends it to his boss’s cell and then follows that up with a phone call to him. “I think I’m on to something here. Send this picture to Chuck and he can pass it on to Lieutenant Morretti for confirmation that these are the guys he was telling Chuck he saw in that restaurant. It also might be a good idea to have a couple more of our people tail these new players. Right now they’re all getting into the car I’ve been tailing, but they might split up later.”

  “Okay, Max. Good work. If they split up before help arrives, stay with the guy you’ve been tailing. Keep me informed as to your location so our people will know where to meet up with you.”

  The information is immediately passed on to Chuck who immediately passes it on to Mickey along with the text message, “Are these the guys you saw in Antonelli’s?”

  Mickey’s so excited it takes him three tries to punch in Chuck’s number correctly. “Those are the guys I saw at Antonelli’s. Where are they?”

 
; “The picture was taken just moment’s ago by my man as they were leaving the Park Hyatt in Zurich. They’re now heading someplace else in Andersen’s or whatever his real name is car. We’re sending two other people to assist him with the tail if the three split up.”

  “Thanks for the heads up, Chuck. Now might be a good time to bring the Zurich police into the loop. You know that old saying, ‘Forewarned is forearmed’. They’re going to be the ones to do the dirty work if things go down like we think they will. I’ll ask Interpol at tomorrow’s joint task force meeting to run interference for us in bringing the Swiss authorities into the fold. Maybe we won’t need this trap we’re building in Montreal. These people are up to something in Zurich, Chuck. Nothing could make me a happier camper than to foil whatever they’re plotting and catching them in the act. These pricks are long overdue for payback.”