by Dan Kelly
“You certainly did that my friend. I’m going to savor this moment for a very long time.”
Chapter 68
The first thing Friday morning Mickey calls Captain Hendrickson and asks how Kadden is doing. “He’s doing. He’s in a lot of pain, but he’ll survive the ordeal. We haven’t been able to question him much because he’s been out of it from the pain killer they’ve given him. Besides, we thought you’d like to have the honors of adding to his misery since you’ve been chasing him for over six months now.
“That I would, Captain, and thanks for giving me the opportunity. He’s your collar, but police all over the U. S. and in Europe would like to spend some time with this dirt bag. When do you think he’ll be up to some questioning?”
“Give him a few days. I don’t know if he’ll answer you. He’s not someone you can bully into anything. Hell, he elected to shoot it out with two of my men who had the drop on him instead of doing the smart thing by surrendering and avoiding getting hurt.”
“I’ll fly out from here on Sunday and be knocking on your door first thing Monday morning. Will your people be willing to wave jurisdiction and let me have him flown back here for prosecution. He’s done a lot of damage in Manhattan and other states and the Europeans have a few scores to settle also.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem. He did wound one of my men, but it wasn’t serious. The bullet just tore up some flesh on the top of his forearm. It didn’t break any bone and there was no muscle damage. By the time everyone else is through with him, he’ll be sitting on death row or in a cell for the rest of his life. We can live with that.”
“Thanks, Captain. Have a great weekend. Having this guy in custody is certainly going to make mine.”
Mickey calls Chuck and Vicki and makes their day too and then the good feeling starts to ebb away as he starts thinking about Felix Feldman and how he is going to pick up that dropped ball.
“The only way I’m going to have a chance of picking up his trail again is with the help of the Mexican police and I don’t have any contacts there. From what I’ve read, Mexico and most countries in Central and South America have signed extradition treaties with us, so if he’s arrested down there I’ll be able to get my hands on him. The challenge is finding him so someone can arrest him. Exploiting the Latin American media and the populace’s desire for money isn’t an option because I don’t know anyone that can open those doors like Terri Townsend did for us here. Unless I get another brainstorm I think he’s got me down for the count.”
Monday morning Mickey’s standing in Captain Hendrickson’s office doorway holding two cups of Starbucks breakfast blend coffee. “I don’t know about you, Captain, but my system needs a good jolt of caffeine in the morning or it spits and sputters all day long.”
Smiling in appreciation the Captain who is close to seven feet tall and built like a NFL lineman says, “Mine too, but where’s yours?”
Seeing the confused look he’s trying for he says, “I’m fooling with you. I get a lot of kidding because of my size, so I do my best to beat folks to the punch. Thanks for the thought. The swill they call coffee here deadens your taste buds for hours.”
Sipping on their go-go juice, they head outside to a border patrol car that’s parked right outside the captain’s office. “The hospital is about a fifteen minute drive, Lieutenant, so sit back and enjoy the ocean view, what you can see of it between the buildings.”
The captain drives like an NFL offensive lineman rushes the quarterback, fast and fearless. Mickey’s thinking, “At least if I’m in an accident, I’m already on the way to the hospital.”
The captain gets them to the hospital in one piece, probably setting a new land speed record in the process, and Mickey’s never been so glad to get out of a car in his life.
When they get to Kadden’s room, they find him sitting up watching a rerun of Happy Days on TV. Mickey says, “That’s hardly appropriate for the jam you’re in, Mr. Kadden.”
Looking over at the men who just walked into his room he says, “I always like to look on the bright side of things.” Looking at Mickey he says, “We finally get the chance to meet face-to –face, Lieutenant Morretti. I can’t say I’ve been looking forward to it, but one has to play the cards one’s dealt. What happens now?”
“You’ll be transported back to Manhattan to be tried for a long list of crimes you’ve participated in with your buddies, Jacob Kessner and Felix Feldman, over the past six months or so along with what you’ve done solo such as the use of forged documents, fleeing from the police and attempted murder of a police officer. I’m sure you’ll be charged with others. These are just the ones that immediately come to my mind.”
“I’ve been thinking about my plight, about what’s lying ahead for me. What do you think my chances are of getting some of those charges dropped, about getting the death penalty taken of the table if I open up and tell you everything you want to know, peoples’ names, what they did for us, where they can be found, things like that?”
“That’s up to the district attorney’s office. Not all canaries sing on key and have a repertoire pleasing to their ears. I have a sister who’s an ADA in Manhattan. She might be able to convince her boss to do some plea bargaining if what you have to say is worth it. ”
“Give her a call. I think she’ll like the songs I’ll sing.”
As they walk out of the room and head for the hospital cafeteria Hendrickson says, “I’ll be damned. I never thought he’d turn stoolie. Do you think your DA will be willing to make a deal with this guy?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to do my damndest to see that he has a nice clean cage to perform in and give him the appropriate accompaniment to inspire him. If we can get him to sing the right tunes, we could bag a lot of miscreants both here in the states and in Europe. Let’s sample the hospital’s coffee while I try to get a hold of my sister.”
They do and he does. “Hi, Cheryl. I’m out in San Diego and I’m with Captain Hendrickson of the Border Patrol. I’ve got you on the speaker. We’ve just had an interesting discussion with Amos Kadden and I need those persuasive powers of yours to put a feather in a lot of caps.”
He gives his sister a brief summary of what has been going on the last few days and finishes with, “The captain doesn’t think we’ll get any static from the powers that be out here over jurisdictional issues, so the ball’s in our court to make this guy pay for what he’s done. Kadden’s willing to roll over on everyone involved in their robberies if the DA is willing to negotiate.”
“That’s going to be a tough sell, Mickey. There’s been an awful lot of bad publicity surrounding these robberies and killings because no arrests have been made for over six months until now. The pressure on the political hierarchy and the NYPD has been enormous and no one’s going to want to give this guy a break no matter what the reward.”
“Cheryl, it’s not just New York involved here. These guys have created havoc in a lot of other states as well as in cities in France, Switzerland, Belgium, South Africa and who knows where else. If we can be instrumental in bringing a lot of other people to justice and be willing to share the credit for doing so, what a PR coop that would be for a lot of folks who have been under the gun to produce and it would certainly make us some new friends to boot. It’s always nice to have friends in the right places when you need someone to open some doors for you.”
“You’ve scored some points with me, Mickey. I’ll have a go at my boss when court recesses for the day. How long are you going to be out there?”
“That depends on the outcome of your discussion with your boss and when it will be safe to fly Kadden back with me if you get the answer I’m hoping for.”
“Okay, I should be able to get back to you with an answer around 1:30 this afternoon PST. Captain Hendrickson, please watch his back. These creeps have already tried once to cancel his ticket. Whatever the answer is, I would like to have him home for Christmas alive and in one piece.”
; “He’ll be there, Ms. Morretti. Don’t you give it a second thought.”
Walking to the parking lot Hendrickson asks, “What do you think your chances are?”
“With anyone else fifty-fifty, with my sister ninety-eight to two my favor. If given enough time, she could talk the staunchest conservative republican into becoming the most liberal democrat ever to set foot in D. C.”
Mickey now has time to kill and doesn’t have a clue as to how he’s going to do that. Captain Hendrickson takes care of that problem by offering him the use of a phone and a desk in his office to work from and Mickey jumps at the offer.
He calls Captain Clancy, Chuck and Vicki to apprise them of the latest developments and then he calls the members of the joint task force to bring them up to date. Between the phone calls, he’s wracking his brain trying to come up with a plan to give Feldman his comeuppance. One-thirty comes and goes and there’s no phone call form Cheryl. As two o’clock approaches, he’s figuring the DA shot them down and there’s now no chance of finding and pressuring others involved in the crime spree to cooperate in locating the whereabouts of the stolen gems.
At a quarter after two, his faith in his sister is restored. “Mickey, it took a little longer than I thought it would, but it’s a go. At first, the boss wanted to hold off on making a deal and you questioning him until you got him back here so he could sit on the interviews, but I convinced him to let you start the ball rolling out there before Kadden changes his mind for some reason or starts asking for a lawyer. You know the procedure. Make sure he’s given his rights, everything is recorded and hard copies of the interviews are prepared and signed by Kadden and witnesses.”
“Thanks for going to bat for me, sis. We now have the leverage to pry the lids off a lot of dishonest people and reveal them for what they are.”
“You’re welcome, bro. Go get ‘em.”
Hendrickson and Mickey go back to the hospital and tell Kadden he has a deal, but it depends on the information he has to share and on what he is willing to testify to in court.
Hendrickson has brought a recorder with him and as soon as he hits the record button Kadden lets forth with an aria that would make Pavarotti jealous. He spills the beans on Kessner, Feldman, Lavelle, Ramon, Abraham Elliott and a lot of other people whose names never came up during the investigation.
Mickey finally gets an answer to something that has been bothering him ever since the Tiffany robbery. Where did they get the sleeping gas? Mickey never would have found it the way he started to look for the source because it was not developed by any known research facility, medical, military or college/university.
It was developed by a veterinarian who was experimenting with different chemicals to come up with a cheaper but better tool for euthanasia and for performing surgery on a variety of different animals. Apparently, the criteria for effectiveness and safety varies depending on the kind, size, age and breed of the animal and the vet was trying to find a combination that could be used on if not all animals a greater majority of them. This would remove a lot of the guess work involved in selecting the right gas for a given situation. The vet found out by accident that it worked real well on humans when one of his employees inadvertently activated a tank of his concoction and put himself to sleep. Fortunately, the tank was almost empty, so there were no serious consequences and the vet discovered the employee on the floor seconds after the incident occurred.
The employee was a friend of Jacob Kessner’s and he told Kessner what had happened to him. Jacob quickly realized the potential of the gas and one night broke into the vet’s clinic and stole a tank of it. It was easy to identify as it had an EXPERIMENTAL ANESTHESIA label on it.
There is something else that he is hoping Kadden can shed some light on. How did they get ahold of Israeli machine pistols? Unfortunately, the answer to that question died with Jacob Kessner. He was the only one that new who the supplier was and he never told Felix or Amos who that was.
Mickey ends the session on a high note of his own. He drops the bomb on Kadden about the true value of the ruby. Kadden is speechless for several minutes unless you consider grunting and growling a form of speech. Then he bursts out laughing. “I wish I could see Felix when he gets this news. He’s going to lose it big time. He always thinks he knows better than anyone else. I told him we should forget about that ruby, but he wouldn’t listen and greedy me went along with his scheme. I hope the know-it-all goes into cardiac arrest.”
This brings a smile to Mickey’s face, one that’s not going to quickly fade away. It’s the highlight of his day.
Chapter 69
In the ensuing days, a lot of arrests are made. The people from Chuck’s Paris office who were tailing Pierre intercepted the exchange of the ruby with one of the French diplomats based in Paris and Pierre was arrested and convinced to tell all or suffer the most severe consequences for the part he’s played in selling the stolen gems. He’s made a deal for leniency in exchange for holding nothing back and he’s still talking. His revelations have put some very prominent members of European society in a very bad light and the scandal sheets are having a ball putting all kinds of twists on the truth which is fascinating all by itself. It’s going to take a while, but the chances of recovering a lot of the stolen gems look pretty good.
It’s now two days before Christmas and Kadden is still recovering from his wounds, but is now domiciled in the infirmary at Attica State Prison waiting for the litigation process to begin. There have been no further sightings on Feldman and this is putting a damper on the holiday spirit for Mickey. Amos told him that it was Felix that set up the hit on him and that was the reason that he and Felix went their separate ways and Mickey believes him. Amos has no reason to lie about it. He already has the best deal he’s going to get from the DA. Mickey wants Feldman more than ever now. He hasn’t been able to come up with anything to draw Feldman out and this is really bugging him.
Mickey’s siting at his desk catching up on the paperwork associated with the precious gems robberies and the killings connected to them. Mickey’s thinking, “If I can catch Feldman, I have a shot at putting the cuffs on the guy he hired to kill me as well. I’m really looking forward to talking with that guy.”
His thoughts are interrupted by his phone ringing. It’s his sister, Cheryl. “Hi, Mickey, it just occurred to me that you’ve been so busy with these precious gems robbers that you might not have had any time to do any Christmas shopping. Would you like me to help you out with that if you haven’t? You wouldn’t have to worry about trying to come up with stuff people like. I’ve been giving everybody the third degree for weeks now and know just about everything everybody has on their Christmas wish list. Take me for instance. I know exactly what I want and can guarantee it would thrill me to death if I found the keys to a new Beemer under the tree at mom and dad’s house on Christmas Eve.”
“Cheryl, how many times do I have to tell you? All my money is tied up in medical research that’s seeking a cure for airheads like you who insist on drinking the cheap stuff to save a few bucks. Does your boss know that you had a liquid lunch to day?”
They both start to laugh and Mickey begins to relax and put Feldman on the back burner for a while. “Mickey, tomorrow’s Christmas Eve in case you’ve forgotten. Will you be able to get away from there at a decent hour tomorrow so we can drive out to mom and dad’s together or will you be coming out solo later?”
“I’m finishing up on my reports right now, so unless something new develops with Felix Feldman or some new maniac invades the city I should be able to get out of here by three. I’ll pick you up at your place say around three-thirty okay?”
“That works for me. Oh, by the way, we’ll have some company. I’ve invited Giuseppe to join us.”
“Well, well, it looks like little sister already got one of the presents on her wish list.”
“You behave yourself, Mickey, or I’ll tell everybody about that fling you had with that Radio City Music Hall chorus girl who turn
ed out to be an undercover FBI agent who was investigating some shenanigans going on within the NYPD and thought you were a dirty cop.”
“You wouldn’t. That wasn’t one of my brighter moments. She sure had me fooled and I spent a small fortune trying to impress her with the dating ritual.”
Laughing she says, “Be on your best behavior, bro, or you’re going to be razzed for months.”