by Dan Kelly
The next thing they hear from the tail is, “Shots have been fired, but I can’t see if anyone’s been hit.” A few seconds later they hear, “Oh my god, the officer’s been shot and is trying to get behind some parked cars for cover. What the hell? One of these guys is nuts. He’s charging at the officer and firing some automatic weapon at him. The officer has been hit several times in his legs, but he’s still standing and firing back.” After some agonizing seconds go by they hear, “I don’t believe this. The nut has fallen to the ground and isn’t moving. One of the officer’s rounds must have hit the target, but the officer is still standing. He’s leaning on one of the cars, but he’s still standing. I sure hope some back up is on the way. I don’t see any sign of the other two, but they still might be around somewhere and they’re probably armed as well.”
The line goes dead and they both are hoping it isn’t because the tail is dead. A few minutes later the tail calls back and tells them that back up has arrived and there are cops all over the place, but there is no sign of the other men. “Andre, let’s get over there and see if the gendarmes will talk with us.”
While they are enroute to the business park, Felix, Amos and Pierre are hiding in Pierre’s warehouse hoping not to be found. Pierre is beside himself. Fleeing from the police is a new experience for him. “What the hell got into Jacob? Why did he try to outrun the police?”
Felix responds with, “Pierre, the take from the bank robbery is sitting in the trunk of the Renault. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think Jacob wanted to be wearing prison garb for the rest of his life.”
“So wearing his best suit in a coffin is a good alternative? The cop could have just wanted to pull him over for the busted tail light.”
“It’s obvious Jacob didn’t want to gamble on that and I agreed with him.”
“Do you think he’s dead?”
Amos answers with, “I took a last look before we slipped into here and saw him take one in the head. When he hit the ground he didn’t move. He’s bought it.”
Pierre asks, “Do you think the police will be able to connect him with us?
Felix answers with, “I don’t see how. We’re all traveling under false IDs.”
Pierre then says, “Well, all we can do now is sit tight in here until the cops finish up out there. When they leave, we should part company for a while.”
Felix and Amos nod their heads in agreement and then Amos starts to shake his and says, “After all of our planning and everything we’ve done, we’re going to be walking away with nothing. I should have stayed with my gut feeling and called it quits in New York. I sure would like to know though why that cop zeroed in on us like he did.”
They all withdraw into themselves and silently thank providence for sparing them Jacob’s fate.
When the police finish up outside, Felix and Amos make their way back to the States via Montreal, Canada using false papers and Pierre returns to his chateau and some intense interrogation by la Sûreté and other French authorities.
Pierre is able to avoid arrest because they have no hard evidence that links him to the other three other than a couple of clandestinely observed social gatherings and some illegally obtained recordings of some innocent business phone conversations. When he finds out during his interrogation that he had people following him for quite a while it isn’t too much of a leap for him to assume that his chateau phone has been tapped as well.
Pierre is a pretty bright guy and is able to recall his previous phone conversations with the New Yorkers and is satisfied that nothing incriminating was said. He remembers he used Jacob’s name when he called Felix and Amos at their hotel in Paris, so when he is asked who the men in the car with him were he uses Jacob’s real first name and a phony last name and makes up names for Felix and Amos as well. As for what his relationship is with the three men, he explains that they are business associates who deal in precious gems and other rare collectibles and unusual artifacts.
He also had a plausible explanation for why he was in the Renault when the police car attempted to pull them over. He said that he owns a jewelry store in the city, which he knows can be verified, and they were headed there so his manager could appraise some merchandise the men had just acquired. He said he hadn’t seen any of it and had no idea what was in the trunk of the car.
When asked why he fled from the business park with the other two men his response was they had taken him hostage for leverage if they were cornered by the police. When they got out of the business park they called a cab and dropped him off a few blocks from his chateau and then took off in the cab. The cab part of his story is true. He said he walked home and hoped by keeping his mouth shut and going about his normal routine he could avoid getting involved in what had happened.
In the end, the only thing he had to contend with was the additional suspicion tacked on to his reputation for occasionally participating in shady activities.
As details of the police pursuit are made known, they reveal that Pierre was right on when he said that the reason the officer wanted to pull them over might have been because of the broken tail light. The officer hadn’t been aware of the BOLO. The police officer survived his wounds and will be commended for his bravery under fire.
The bank’s safe deposit box holders are going to get their valuables back, but how what belongs to whom is going to be determined is someone else’s problem. Mickey is thankful it isn’t his.
A week after arriving in Paris, on a dismal cloudy Saturday morning, a very disappointed Morretti has said his thank yous and good byes to the Gauthiers and is hopping an Air France flight back to New York and an uncertain reception by his boss.
Chapter 42
At eight o’clock the following Monday morning, with more than a little trepidation over what Captain Clancy is going to say to him, Mickey settles in to his cubicle and starts to check his voice mail and email messages. His nervousness over confronting Clancy regarding his unauthorized trip to Paris is somewhat mitigated by his expectation of receiving copies of the fingerprints of the guy who was killed by the gendarme. He’s thinking that he’ll now have what he needs to uncover the true identity of the man and that might very well lead him to the identities of the other two.
After checking his messages and emails and finding nothing from the French police, he’s about to call Andre to ask him to follow up with them when Clancy taps him on the shoulder and says, “In my office now!”
“Oh shit!”
Entering Clancy’s office with the Captain close behind, Mickey’s feeling like he’s on his way to the gallows and the employment ax is about to fall. He walks over to the Captain’s desk as the Captain quietly closes the office door and walks around his desk and takes his seat.
Looking at Mickey without a trace of any kind of emotion that would give him some idea of how much trouble he was in Clancy says, “Sit.”
Then, for the next thirty seconds or so, Clancy shuffles around some papers on his desk without looking at him.
Suddenly, he looks up at him and with the same blank look asks, “How was Paris? I have to ask this now because you didn’t have the professionalism or the courtesy to call me with progress reports the whole time you were there.”
Before Mickey can respond, Clancy’s blank face turns a deep red and the ass chewing of all ass chewings commences. “Who the hell gave you the authority to make decisions like the one you made to go to Paris? Did I somehow get demoted and no one told me about it? You left me in the dark for a whole week and I had to come up with bull shit answers as to where you were and why and what the latest was as to your progress with the investigation. The voice mail message you left me saying you were on your way to Paris to follow up on some leads and would call me when you had something substantial to report just didn’t hack it, Morretti.”
The tirade continues for another ten minutes until Clancy has to stop to catch his breath. Mickey takes advantage of the temporary respite and states the reasons for his actions, including a summary of what h
ad transpired while he was away. Fifteen minutes later the verbal fray is beginning to wind down and comes to a total halt when Clancy’s desk phone rings. Both had made their points, but Mickey isn’t sure if he still has a job.
The phone call is from the mayor wanting to know where the investigation into the robberies stands. At least Clancy now has some progress to report. “My man has just returned from Paris and has informed me that information he was able to provide the authorities over there was instrumental in making one of the robbers pay for his crimes. The man was shot and killed during a shootout with the French police and we’re currently waiting for fingerprint information to help us uncover his true identity and that could lead us to the identities of the others.”
Clancy answers a few more of the mayor’s questions and then the call is ended. Both of them are quiet for a minute or so and then Clancy says, “Don’t ever put me in a bind like you did last week again. You’ve made some good decisions during this investigation, developing a working relationship with Ferguson Investigations being the best of the lot, but your decision to go to Paris without my permission wasn’t one of them. Now, get out of here and keep me in the loop no matter how insignificant you think the information you might have is, even when you have nothing new to report.”
Mickey stands, says, “Yes sir.” and heads for the door. Before he has the chance to open it Clancy has one more thing to say.
“I want your expense report on my desk before you leave for the day. When the Chief sees it he’s going to have conniptions, but at least we finally have some meaningful progress to report. I’d better do that right away before he gets blindsided by the mayor. That definitely wouldn’t be a good career move. Damn it, Morretti, even the Chief of Police would have to get permission to fly to Paris on police business.” Shaking his head and then smiling he asks, “Is the French food as good as everyone says it is?”
“Better.”
“Beat it. Go catch some bad guys.”
When Mickey gets back to his desk, he realizes he’s soaked with perspiration. “Whew, that was too damn close for comfort. Am I ever going to learn to play things strictly by the book? ….. Shaking his head resignedly he finishes the thought with, “Probably not.”
Chapter 43
When Mickey arrives at his office on Tuesday morning the fingerprint information he is waiting for is on his desk. The FBI has millions of fingerprints on file from people who have been arrested, served in the military, work for the government, etc. and Mickey’s hoping to find a match for those taken from the man killed in Paris.
Once he has a name, he can tap other resources and start pounding on doors to learn more about the man, where he lived, where he worked and who his friends were. He immediately submits the info to the Bureau, but an hour later his hopes are squashed when they tell him that they can’t come up with a match.
He gives Clancy the bad news and tells him the only arrow he has left in his quiver is the trap they are planning in Montreal at the end of the month. “And, Captain, after what’s happened to one of the trio in Paris, I don’t know if the bait exists to tempt them into lifting another precious gem. If they’ve gone to ground and intend to stay there, I think we’ve lost the ball game.”
“Mickey, from their past behavior we know these bastards are greedy, daring and extremely confident in their ability to steal anything they want without getting caught. It’s impossible for a leopard to change its spots and I believe anyone with these character traits will find it impossible to ignore them when an unusual opportunity presents itself. If the publicity you’re planning reaches them, I think they’ll be hot to trot and go all out to make that jewel theirs. They may be a little apprehensive because of the failure of their last outing due to some bad luck, but I’ll be very surprised if they let an opportunity like this pass them by. Besides, as you’ve stated, we don’t have any other options.”
When he gets back to his desk, he calls Chuck and Vicki to let them know it’s a go on setting the trap in Montreal and arranges a meeting for tomorrow afternoon in his office to do a final review of what’s been done and has to be done to set the ball in motion.
The rest of his day is spent on routine matters and writing a report on his activities in Paris. As five o’clock rolls around, his stomach starts telling him it is not going to be ignored any longer by loudly rumbling. He calls his sister, Cheryl, and invites her to dinner at Luigi’s.
“Over dinner, I’ll tell you all about my trip to Paris and bring you up to date on the precious gem investigation.”
“YOU WENT TO PARIS???
“What so surprising about that. That’s where all the true bon vivants go.”
“Mickey, remember, this is your sister you’re talking to. Your idea of top drawer cuisine is spaghetti and meatballs.”
“Does six work for you?”
“I’ll be there with bated breath.”
Laughing, they both hang up, Mickey to head out to his car with brief case in hand and Cheryl to the Ladies Room with purse in hand to primp for Giuseppe.
The traffic is unusually light on the route to Luigi’s, so Mickey arrives at the restaurant a half hour early. He decides to spend the time waiting for Cheryl by reviewing his file on the precious gem robberies. He becomes so engrossed in what he is doing that he doesn’t realize his sister is standing alongside the booth he is sitting in, looking over his shoulder as he is staring at the picture of the three suspects that Chuck’s investigator had taken.
He almost knocks over his glass of wine when she startles him by saying, “I’ve seen those guys before, but I don’t remember where.”
“This can’t be happening. After all I’ve been through trying to ID these people; I now find out that my kid sister thinks she knows who they are. This has got to be a nightmare. Someone pinch me and wake me up.”
“I’m serious. I’ve seen them somewhere before. Let me think on it over a glass of whatever you’re drinking and maybe it will come to me. Oh, Giuseppe. May I have a glass of whatever my brother’s drinking?”
“If you don’t stop flashing that dazzling smile at the man, the poor guy is going to go blind.”
“I’m just being friendly.”
“Uh huh.”
Over dinner, Mickey tells his sister all about what happened when he was in Paris and what is being set up in Montreal. “Boy, you’ve been a busy beaver haven’t you?”
“Oh I’ve been busy alright, but I haven’t accomplished a hell of a lot. I now know one of the channels of distribution for the stolen goods has been Pierre Lavelle, but from what I’m hearing from Andre he was able to talk his way out of going to jail and will probably clean up his act for a while until the dust settles.
“I now know who the people behind all of the robberies are, at least I know what they look like, but so what. They’re out there somewhere free to do whatever their hearts desire and I’m sitting here completely befuddled. If the trap we’re laying for the remaining two doesn’t get sprung successfully, I’m at a dead end and will have to put the investigation in the cold case file and move on and that definitely isn’t going to sit well with the powers that be.”
“All you can do is your best big brother and let the chips fall where they may. Let’s talk about something else and get your mind off the investigation for a while. What are you giving mom for her birthday?”
“Oh boy, I forgot all about that. It’s this Friday isn’t it? Do you want to buy separate gifts or go in on something like we did last year on that Brighton purse and gold and topaz necklace you hid in one of its pockets?”
Like someone flicked a switch, instead of answering him Cheryl gets a faraway look on her face which seconds later is replaced with a big smile.
“What are you smiling at? Giuseppe’s in the kitchen so he can’t see you.”
“Don’t be a wiseass. I just remembered where I saw the men in the picture you were looking at before.”
“Where?”
“Do you remember me te
lling you about this boutique jewelry store one of the ladies in my office suggested I check out for mom’s birthday present last year? It has an unusual name. It’s on the tip of my tongue. Hmm….. I got it. The Paragon. They had on display some of the most beautiful jewelry I have ever seen, but I soon realized it was way above what we could afford yet I decided to just spend a few minutes browsing and envying the folks who could afford such trinkets.