by Dan Kelly
“Damn, I never thought of that possibility. Okay, I’ll let them find out about the freeze on their Swiss accounts on their own. Hopefully, they’ll want to avoid any interaction with the Swiss to find out why for fear of exposing themselves to arrest from that quarter and they’ll be forced to speculate as to the reason why and maybe that will delay any killing spree reaction long enough for us to take them out of circulation.”
“I think that’s the best way to go. Let’s wait and see what the manhunt blitz produces. I think it will be enough to get them cornered and out of everyone’s hair for good. They’ve got to be feeling the pressure of discovery and are probably running for the hills somewhere right now as we speak, but they’re not going to find any holes to hide in. They’re going to have to become creative on the run and that’s when they’ll make their big mistake because they won’t have the time to weigh the pros and cons.”
“Okay, Chuck, you’re making a lot of sense. I’ll scrap the idea, at least for now.”
Chapter 64
It takes Felix the better part of four days to reach El Paso, but he hasn’t killed himself getting there and he has arrived without incident. He’s found a Motel 6 that suits his purposes nicely. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s clean and located within walking distance of a supermarket, a place to do his laundry and a cleaners. He bought a microwave so he can cook and eat his meals in his room. He is using the same ID he used in Plattsburg, but soon after he registered at the motel he bleached his hair almost white and started wearing grey contact lenses he picked up at a Lens Crafters. Even in this disguise, he isn’t planning to go out anywhere unless he absolutely has to for fear he will be recognized. His face and name are all over the news and the rewards being offered for him and Amos have the masses closely scrutinizing every stranger they meet. He’s well rested and ready to give Ramon a call about the Chilean documents and figures he can lay low here until he’s ready to head for Chili.
Driving 16 hours a day with eight hours of naps mixed in helter skelter per day, it takes Amos the better part of three days to reach San Diego. He had several close calls along the way. Somebody at a gas station started to take too much of an interest in him and he had to leave without getting his tank more than half filled although he had paid enough cash to fill it up. When he was paying an employee at a McDonalds’ drive-in the kid said he looked a lot like the guy whose picture is being shown on the news. Amos did his best to act nonchalant and said that he is always being mistaken for someone else, that he had that kind of face. This seemed to satisfy the kid, but Amos took no chances and got the hell out of there as fast as the traffic would allow. The most recent incident and the most nerve racking was an encounter with a CHP officer at one of those impromptu check points for drunk drivers soon after he arrived in San Diego. It was around ten at night and Amos escaped a close up look from the officer because some kids didn’t pull over when another officer directed them to and started laughing as they took off. The officers took off after them in their patrol car and Amos was free to go.
He’ s renting a room in a boarding house near the beach and is also wearing a disguise, a wig of brown wavy hair he picked up at a wig shop and a beard to match that he found in a theatrical supply store. To really change his appearance he’s also wearing wire rimmed glasses with clear glass lenses at the suggestion of the sales gal at the theatrical supply store. He also used the ID he used in Plattsburg to register for the room in the boarding house and started wearing the disguise after he registered. There’s a coin laundry in a building adjacent to the boarding house and all the fast food he can eat is just a few blocks away. The room has a TV and he plans to buy some books to read to help pass the time away. He’s planning to call Ramon about his Chilean documents after he gets some much needed uninterrupted sleep and rents a mail box. He shouldn’t have to stay here more than a couple of weeks.
Felix is the first to call Ramon about expediting the delivery of the Chilean documents. “Boy, you guys really got yourselves in the limelight. Your names are on the lips of everyone around here.”
“So then you understand why I cannot wait much longer for those documents. Every day I remain in the U. S. the greater my chances are of being recognized and arrested. How soon can you get them to me?”
“I think I can get them to you by this coming Wednesday. That’s the best I can do.”
“Then that will have to do.” He gives Ramon the address of the post office and his box number and adds, “If somehow you can get them to me sooner, I’ll pay you extra for your trouble.”
“Felix, I don’t put my customers in a vice to squeeze every last penny out of them for my services. When I say Wednesday is the best I can do, Wednesday is the best I can do. What about Amos’s docs?”
“We’ve had a falling out and are going our separate ways. I’m sure he’ll be calling you soon to ask you to expedite things for him as well. I’ll wire the money I owe you first thing Monday morning. Thanks for everything, Ramon.”
“Good luck, Felix.”
All Felix can do now is sit back and wait for the docs and avoid people as much as possible.
Later that same day Ramon has a similar conversation with Amos, gets his mailing instructions and also wishes him good luck.
When he breaks the connection Ramon’s thinking, “I don’t think I’ll be doing any more business with those fellows. They’re either going to get away to enjoy the good life or wind up in jail or dead. They’ve had a whale of a run, but nothing lasts forever.”
Chapter 65
It’s now been a week since the blitz began and so far nothing helpful has turned up. The precinct has returned to a more normal environment since the volume of phone calls has dropped off considerably. It’s nine-thirty on Monday morning and a phone call is coming through to Mickey’s desk that is going to stir things up again.
“Good morning, Lieutenant Morretti speaking.”
“Lieutenant, my name is Ezra Goldberg and I’m calling from Plattsburgh, New York. I have some information on the men you’re looking for that might be of some help to you.”
“Fire away, Mr. Goldberg.”
“I’m a real estate agent and I’ve leased a house to these men on a short term basis. The lease expires in March. They paid up front so there’s been no contact between us since they picked up the keys to the house. I drove over there yesterday just to see if they were satisfied with everything and to find out if anything needed fixing. No one was home, but I got the feeling that something wasn’t kosher so I went in to check things out. The men have moved out. The closets are empty and there are no signs of recent occupancy anywhere. You know, dirty dishes left on the counter or in the sink, beds unmade, clothes on the floor, that sort of thing. Then last night I caught the seven o’clock news and their pictures were staring back at me. When I heard why you are looking for them, I had trouble believing it at first. These guys come across as real nice neighborly people with the entrepreneurial bent that made this country what it is today. I sensed nothing out of whack with either of them.”
“Mr. Goldberg, I’d like to come up there along with some technical folks to check the place out. They might have left something that could give us an idea where they went.”
“I thought the same thing and that’s why I’m calling.”
Mickey gets Mr. Goldberg’s phone number and office address and says, “We’ll be on the next flight out of LaGuardia. Thanks for the call, Mr. Goldberg. This is a perfect example of what we’re hoping to accomplish with these news stories.”
Mickey runs this latest development by Clancy and gets his permission to fly up to Plattsburgh and bring two crime scene techs along with him. At two-thirty that afternoon the three of them are waiting for Mr. Goldberg to finish up with a young couple looking for a house to buy.
Walking the couple to the door the receptionist tells him he has people waiting to talk with him. Glancing over at Mickey he smiles and says, “You’ve got to be Lieutenant Morretti. Everyth
ing about you screams cop. It must be that aura of authority that surrounds you guys. I’ll be with you in a minute.”
Looking at the techs he asks, “Am I that obvious?”
One of the techs says, “Well, Lieutenant, it might have something to do with that badge you’ve got clipped to your jacket pocket.”
Mickey looks down and is surprised to see his badge clipped to the breast pocket of his jacket that for some reason he had put there when he got dressed to go to work this morning. He normally carries it in his inside jacket pocket. He forgot all about it when he left the office to head for La Guardia.
“Maybe I should forget undercover work, huh?”
As he’s putting the badge in his inside jacket pocket Mr. Goldberg returns and says, “I apologize for having some fun with you. Sometimes I get this irresistible urge to be a smart ass.”
They all laugh and Mickey’s thinking, “I like this guy already.”
“Let’s talk in the conference room where we’ll have more privacy.”
The real estate office must be doing pretty well judging from the furnishings and paintings in the conference room. Nodding his head approvingly Mickey asks, “Mr. Goldberg, you mentioned when you phoned me that these men took out a short term lease on this house and that it expires in March. What did they say was the reason for leasing the house?”
“They told me they were doing research on possible tourist attractions for a new travel agency venture they were putting together and were staying in different areas for several months at a time to get acquainted with what each location has to offer. Leasing a furnished house was cheaper than staying in a hotel or motel. They said an added advantage was a house would provide a more comfortable atmosphere for meetings with local business people and potential partners.”
“Did they ever mention any other areas they were interested in?”
“Not that I recall.”
“What names were they using?”
“Felix Feldman said his name was David Parnell and Amos Kadden said his name was
Benjamin Kramer. They both had ID in those names, driver’s licenses, credit cards, etc.”
“You said they paid you in advance. That had to be a nice chunk of change. How did they pay you? With a credit card? Travelers Checks? Cash? How?
“By electronic funds transfer.”
“Do you know what kind of car they were driving?”
“A dark gray Kia Optima. It looked brand new. I saw it when they first came to the office.”
“Was it a rental?”
“Now that you mention it, I remember seeing an Avis sticker on the rear bumper.”
“Can you take us to the house now? If there’s something there that can point us in the right direction, the sooner we find it the better our chances are of catching up with them.”
“Sure. Let me tell our receptionist where I’ll be. I’m driving a black BMW SAV. You can follow me over there and I’ll give you the keys to the house which you can return to the office when you’re through there. If the office is closed, just drop them through the mail slot in the door.”
A half hour later Mickey and company are scouring the house looking for something that will give them an inkling of where these guys went. There are no obvious clues like travel brochures or pads of paper with notes or impressions of notes on them lying around in the open. The trash can under the sink and the wastepaper baskets in the bathrooms are empty. The laundry basket is empty and the washer and dryer are empty also. The kitchen counters are spotless and nothing but appliances sits on them. They’ve looked in every drawer in the house and found nothing that shouldn’t be there. They’ve tossed the cushions on every piece of furniture in the house and found zip. These guys would make Mr. Clean look like a slob.
An hour later Mickey’s ready to give it up as a lost cause. He says, “There’s nothing here to help us. Let’s split.”
As they all head for the front door one of the techs spots a paper napkin that has fallen behind the couch in the living room. If he hadn’t wanted to take one last look at a beautiful oriental vase setting on the end table by the arm of the couch, he never would have seen it. When he picked it up he saw some writing on it, the word Hertz and a phone number.
When Mickey see it he says, “Hmm. This is interesting. Why should they change car rental companies? Let’s go pay Avis and Hertz a visit. I was going to talk with the people at Avis anyway to get a license plate number for an APB.”
They first go to Avis and speak with the manager there. Mickey shows him pictures of Feldman and Kadden and asks, “Do you remember seeing either one of these men in here recently. They probably are using the names David Parnell and Benjamin Kramer.”
“Hey, these are the guys on TV the cops are looking for. Are you a cop?”
“I am.” Mickey showed him his ID and badge and then continues with his questions. “These guys are or were driving an Avis rental, a dark gray Kia Optima, probably a 2013 model. I need you to check your records to see if one of these men still has the car and if so tell us what the license plate number is. If it has been returned, I need the date that took place. Can you do that for me?”
“I can do that, but it might take me a half hour or so to find what you need.”
“That’s okay. We don’t mind waiting.”
About twenty minutes later the manager has what Mickey is looking for. “A Mr. Benjamin Kramer returned a car with the description you gave me this past Tuesday.”
“How did he pay for the rental?”
“He paid with cash.”
“Did he rent another car?”
“Not with us.”
“Okay, that’s all the questions I have for you. Thanks for helping us out, Mr. Peterson.”
Hertz is equally accommodating and tells them that a David Parnell rented a red Ford fiesta from them this past Tuesday and gave Mickey the license plate number. The man they were speaking with was the man that handled Feldman’s rental and he remembers that Feldman was concerned about gas consumption and asked a lot of questions about what cars would give the most miles per gallon of gas. Feldman mentioned he was headed for El Paso and didn’t want a gas guzzler. Feldman (Parnell) was the only driver listed on the rental agreement.
“Hmm. That’s interesting. I wonder what that’s all about.”
One of the techs asks, “What’s got you wondering, Mick?”
“It looks like our quarry has decided to split up and go their separate ways.”
He asks the Hertz guy, “Are there other car rental agencies nearby?”
“There’s a National down a block and across the street.”
“Thanks.”
Heading for the door Mickey says, “I’ve got a hunch. I’ll bet you guys a beer that Kadden has rented a car from National and is headed in a different direction from Feldman. Either these two have had a falling out or they figure splitting up is the smart thing to do.”
One of the techs says, “Do we look like suckers to you? Driving out of here is the only safe way to leave if these guys have an ounce of common sense and you keep telling us how smart these guys are.”
Smiling he replies, “It was worth a shot. You guys might have been caught off guard.”
National confirms Mickey’s hunch. A Mr. Benjamin Kramer rented a green Chevy Impala this past Tuesday and said he was headed to Southern California to get out of the cold weather for a while. Mickey gets the license plate of this car as well and now has something concrete to work with to track these guys down.
He calls Clancy and asks him to get the word out to the Texas and California state police along with local law enforcement in El Paso and San Diego to be on the lookout for these cars with these license plates.
He then calls Ezra Goldberg and finds him still in his office. He clues Goldberg in on what they have found out and then asks him, “Tomorrow morning will you please call your bank and ask them to tell you who the paying bank was on the EFT for the payment of the lease and who it was by order
of? I’ve been trying to identify the banking relationships of these two men here in the States so I can get a court order to freeze the balances and up to now have not been able to do so. Without money it’s very hard to run and hide. If I can freeze their U. S. balances, that will really turn the heart up on them and panic them even more than they are already.”