Where's Ellen? (Mystery) (MPP A JOE MCFARLAND / GINNY HARRIS MYSTERY Book 1)

by Stuart Safft

  “On one of my last trips to Pakistan, one of the executives working for a weapons manufacturer owned by the Pakistani military and I spent an entire afternoon working on specs for a possible large order. He was actually a British citizen, but had lived in Pakistan for several years. We wound up going out to dinner together after our meeting. A combination of too much wine, me missing you, his flirting with me and his being tall, handsome and intelligent led to my spending the night with him in his hotel room.”

  “Shit! So much for you caring about me and worrying about our joke of a marriage!”

  “I do care. And our marriage isn’t a joke. I made one lousy mistake. I’m so, so sorry. I’d love to turn back the clock and undo it, but I can’t.”

  “Sure you don’t want to turn back the clock and do it a second time with him?”

  “Yes, dammit! I’m sure. In any event, it gets worse.”

  “Oh, wonderful. Let’s hear the rest.”

  “After Pakistan, my next stop was China. While there, one of the mid-level Chinese military officers handed me a sealed envelope. When I later opened the envelope back in my hotel room, I was shocked to see several photos of that British guy and me in bed together and to listen to a tape recording of the two of us. Jeez! The damn Chinese set the whole thing up to trap me.”

  “Right. They grabbed your arms and legs, tied you up and forced you to have sex with him.”

  “No. I’m not saying that. But they arranged for him to seduce me. And they somehow got the photos and tape to blackmail me.”

  “Yeah. What were they blackmailing you for? The threat to sell those photos to Playboy?”

  “No. The next day, that same Chinese officer told me that I had two weeks to deliver the drawings and specs for a new super-quiet submarine engine that we’ve been developing.”

  “And if you didn’t?”

  “He said he would see to it that both you and Tycon received copies of the photos and the tape. That would have devastated you and our marriage, not to mention my career and reputation.”

  “Well, I hope you enjoyed your orgasm or, I’m sure, orgasms.”

  “Steve, please. Try to understand. I made a mistake.”

  “Not quite being sure which things you told me are true, if any, and which are false, it’s difficult for me to even guess how many mistakes you’ve made.”

  “Despite the blackmail threat, I couldn’t get myself to even seriously contemplate turning over military secrets to the Chinese. Not in a million years. But I had to prevent the photos and recordings from being sent to you and Tycon. That’s when I came up with the fake kidnapping and disappearing plan. And it worked. The Chinese believed that I had been kidnapped and was either missing or possibly even dead. They clearly had more to gain by holding onto the photos and recordings in case I ever resurfaced. They had nothing to gain by distributing them while I was missing. But then, of course, I had to make up the part about Tycon getting ready to fire me because I couldn’t tell you the real reason and what the Chinese were holding over my head.”

  “Delighted to know that you’re a loyal patriot, Ellen, and that you wouldn’t disclose any national secrets. Jesus, you lied to me repeatedly, you worried the hell out of me for months, you had a nice little sex fling behind my back. Who knows what else you’ve done and haven’t yet told me? Breaking the law and totally destroying our marriage. Well done, Ellen!”

  “Steve. Please. Most of what I did was so that we could stay together.”

  “And now, thanks to you, we’ll spend a good part of our remaining lives not only separated, but behind bars. Talk about true love!” For the first time, despite still caring about Ellen, Steve no longer felt any guilt about his fax to Ginny leading to their capture. Ellen had lied to him so much; throw in some infidelity, and Steve was furious. Down deep he felt a satisfying sense of revenge for his fax having led to Ellen’s capture. He was nonetheless able to restrain himself from telling her about his involvement with their capture. He found himself actually looking forward to when she would soon find out in court that it was his fax, not simply their financial greed, that led to their arrest. Nothing like lying, even if it’s only a lie of omission, to the chief of all liars, thought Steve.

  At that point, Joe, Ginny and the prosecutor had heard all that they needed to. The prosecutor had the sheriff’s deputies enter the room and take Steve and Ellen back to their separate cells to await the continuation of the trial the next morning.

  Still standing by the one-way mirror outside the interrogation room, Joe stated, “Her story sounds like it could be true, but so did her earlier story.”

  “Yes,” agreed Ginny. “She is such a good and habitual liar, it’s tough to know which parts, if any, of her story to believe.”

  “Hell,” said the prosecutor, “she might not even know what’s true and what isn’t. Assuming this latest story is true, I can understand the need for the ransom money to make the kidnapping appear genuine. But I can’t understand why they tried to collect on her life insurance policies. They had more than enough to live well, especially in that rural area in Italy, for the rest of their lives.”

  “Well, greed surely is part of it,” said Ginny. “No matter how much you have, more is always better. But I think there’s more to it than that. As a very successful executive, and a woman executive to boot, she’s an extreme case of a Type A personality — very competitive, very self-critical, always in a rush. Those insurance policies existed. She had to win and beat the system by squeezing every available penny out of them, regardless of whether they needed more money.”

  “Very astute. I think you’re right, Herr Doktor Sigmund Harris.”

  “Makes sense to me,” said the prosecutor.

  “And I’m glad that her husband didn’t tell her the role he played in their capture,” added Joe. “I think this represents a new low in trust and honesty between marriage partners. I can’t wait to see her reaction when it comes out in court.”

  “Yes,” said Ginny. “To slightly modify a well-known saying, ‘With spouses like these, who needs enemies?’ ”

  “In fact,” recalled Joe, “remember how she tried to say that the whole attempted life insurance scam was done by her husband and that she was not involved?”

  “Well, the one thing that is true,” concluded the prosecutor, “is that she’ll be going away for a long time, no matter what her true reasons were.”

  “Yup, Joe and I can agree with that. Score one for the good guys.”

  “If this is what a so-called happy marriage is like and how the husband and wife wind up trying to screw — in a nonsexual sense — each other, marriage may not be all it’s cracked up to be,” said Joe.

  “This is an abnormal case,” countered Ginny. “And, in fact, it does show that love, or at least caring for one’s spouse, can survive a lot of things. Through all that Mrs. Sanders did, and how she lied to, cheated on and drew her husband into this whole set of crimes, he’s continued to refuse to say or admit anything that the prosecutor could use against her. Call me a romantic if you want, but, in a certain way, love did prevail.”

  “OK, Ginny. I’ll call you a romantic,” concluded Joe.

  CHAPTER 37

  The next morning, the prosecutor first called Gladys Harding to the stand. It took only a few minutes for her to reiterate that they were thinking of promoting, not firing, Ellen and to describe the company benefits that Ellen was entitled to, the fact that Steve was her beneficiary for all of it, and the existence of the kidnap insurance policy. Neither Ellen’s nor Steve’s attorneys asked any questions on cross-examination. They also asked no questions when the prosecutor had Charlie Hawkins, the CFO of Tycon, testify about the kidnap insurance policy and the $5 million ransom payment.

  Florio was the next prosecution witness.

  After a review of his background and
experience with the FBI, the prosecutor asked, “Special Agent Florio, was the FBI investigating Mrs. Sanders’ disappearance as a possible case of espionage?”

  “Yes, we were. Especially early on, that was one of the first theories we focused on.”

  “And why was that?”

  “Well, we knew that some of the divisions which Mrs. Sanders ran did top secret work for the military. As head of those divisions, and with the proper security clearance, Mrs. Sanders had access to all that confidential information.”

  “And did you reach any conclusion about the espionage possibility?”

  “With her extensive international business contacts and travel, she surely had opportunity, but we were unable to find any evidence supporting this theory. Once her husband received the ransom demand, we switched our thinking to this being a kidnapping.”

  The prosecutor then began asking Florio about the FBI’s tracing of the money transfers. It was long, slow and boring testimony, but all the details of the money transfers, bank accounts and shell corporations and the tedious FBI tracking of the wire transfers came out. Ellen’s attorney effectively cross-examined Florio, who had no choice in the end but to admit that they had no hard evidence tying any of the money or the money transfers to either defendant.

  After a short lunch break, the prosecutor began questioning Steve in front of the judge. Steve’s willingness to testify was one of the prerequisites for the prosecutor to recommend leniency in sentencing in exchange for Steve’s cooperation with the police and the prosecutor.

  “Mr. Sanders, were you a knowing and willing participant to this crime from the very beginning?”

  “No, sir, I wasn’t.”

  “Please explain when you first became aware of the crime and when you began to participate in it.”

  Steve’s testimony was interrupted several times by Ellen’s attorney objecting to Steve saying anything in conflict with spousal privilege, dealing with one spouse not testifying against the other or not repeating what was believed to be confidential communications between the spouses. Despite these numerous interruptions and objections from Ellen’s attorney, the prosecutor carefully phrased each of his questions to Steve, ensuring that Steve was able to get the essence of his story out about the extent and timing of his involvement without directly accusing Ellen of any crime or describing any discussions that had taken place between Ellen and him.

  “Mr. Sanders, do you know what led to your and Mrs. Sanders’ capture?”

  “Yes, sir, I do.”

  “Please inform the court,” directed the prosecutor.

  “After more than a year of living in Italy, and feeling more and more guilty and afraid of getting caught with each passing day, I decided to end it all.”

  “What exactly did you do?”

  “I sent a fax to Detective Harris of the Jasper Creek Police Department telling her where I was hiding.”

  “What! You stupid bastard!” bellowed Ellen.

  “Please instruct your client to remain quiet,” said the judge to Ellen’s lawyer. “Or I’ll have her removed from the courtroom.”

  “Yes, your Honor.”

  Ellen was shaking with rage. If glares could kill, Steve would have died then and there. Steve felt as if he had just gotten his revenge.

  Ginny was the prosecutor’s final witness. The only topic of her testimony was the receipt of the fax Steve had sent to her, followed by the plans for and the actual trip to Italy to bring the defendants back to Ohio.

  “The prosecution rests, your Honor.”

  Neither Ellen’s nor Steve’s attorneys called any witnesses. In their closing statements, Ellen’s lawyer focused on the fact that the prosecution had presented only circumstantial evidence and had not offered any proof of Ellen’s guilt. Steve’s attorney, on the other hand, readily admitted Steve’s guilty actions, but focused on Steve’s only secondary involvement in the crime, his total lack of involvement in its planning and his voluntary role in helping the police locate them.

  CHAPTER 38

  A week later, Joe and Ginny were at headquarters cleaning up some overdue paper work when Ginny got a call from her friend, Amy, in the prosecutor’s office.

  “Ginny, get on over to the courthouse. The judge is about to release his finding.”

  “OK. Thanks, Amy. Joe and I are on our way”. She turned to Joe at the next desk, “Let’s go. The judge is reconvening everyone.”

  “I’m right on your tail.”

  Joe and Ginny got into the courtroom just as Steve and Ellen, each with their own attorney, were standing up. The judge did his standard song and dance about the American justice system and then read his finding. Ellen was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in state prison. Following the prosecutor’s recommendation, Steve was sentenced to time already served in jail and placed on five years’ probation with a mandated 40 hours per month of community service.

  It was good that Ellen and Steve each had their own attorney. Steve’s hateful glares were aimed directly at Ellen. Ellen tried to look only at the table in front of her, but she couldn’t prevent herself from alternating hateful glares at Steve, the judge and her own attorney. Although Ellen’s lawyer was certain to file appeals, they were not expected to be successful. And, although Ellen would probably be released early, she would spend several years in prison. Following the criminal case sentencing, almost certain civil suits from Tycon Technologies and the insurer that had provided the kidnap insurance, coupled with their large income tax liability, plus related interest and penalties, would leave both Steve and Ellen penniless.

  As they heard the final words from the judge, Joe started to high-five Ginny, but quickly saw from her look that she wanted to act, and wanted Joe to act, more professional than that. So he settled for a smile and a handshake. They both walked up front and shook hands with and congratulated the prosecutor. After a brief discussion with Florio, during which everyone was thanking and congratulating everyone else, Joe and Ginny were almost alone in the rear corner of the courtroom.

  As Ellen was led away in handcuffs and the courtroom further emptied out, Steve walked up to Joe and Ginny.

  “We want to thank you again for your help, Mr. Sanders,” said Ginny.

  “You’re welcome. But I did it for my sanity, not for you.”

  “We understand,” said Ginny. “Nonetheless, it was extremely helpful to us, and it did prove to be quite useful in minimizing your sentence.”

  “Even though you avoided prison,” interjected Joe, “it appears that you’ll wind up broke and unable to practice law. So you’ll be paying a steep price for your involvement, just not as steep as it could have been.”

  “Yes, I agree. I knew I’d be disbarred even before I sent that fax. I know the rules, federal and Ohio’s, so I knew I’d not be practicing law anywhere in the U.S.”

  “Well, Mr. Sand….” started Ginny.

  “No need to say anything. I’d rather be an honest but broke hamburger flipper at McDonald’s than a dishonest but wealthy ex-patriot in Italy or a dishonest but successful attorney back here in Ohio.”

  “Well, best of luck to you,” concluded Ginny.

  Steve shook hands with each of them, and then headed outside and down the sidewalk.

  Joe turned to Ginny, “Well done, partner.”

  “You, too, Joe.”

  “Not really. It was that fax that broke the case. And it was you who had built up the rapport with Sanders. It was you whom he most trusted. Could you see him having sent that fax to me? Or to the Feebies? Not in a million years.”

  “That’s why you and I are such a great team together,” concluded Ginny. “Now, how about some lunch?”

  “Great idea. I’m starved.”

  They once again debated the advantages and disadvantages of pizza vs. Chinese before going ar
ound the corner to the local taco shop. But this day was going to prove really different.

  As they settled into their regular booth at Sancho’s, Ginny said, “I can’t believe how Ellen’s one night of indiscretion led to such a convoluted set of plans and layers of lies.”

  “Yeah. And how innocent Steve got sucked into going along with it after the fact.”

  “This whole case says a lot about human nature.”

  “Sure does. And fortunately for us. If everyone were as good and pure as you and me, there’d be no need for police and we’d be out of work.”

  “Yes, Joe. That’s one way to look at it.”

  “Well the good news is that, even though it took quite a while, we arrested the perps and helped them both get what they deserved. Let’s enjoy our success. In fact, despite being on duty, in order to celebrate, today I’m having a beer instead of a Diet Coke with my tacos.”

  “Amazing,” responded Ginny. “You do have some ability within you to change.” While concluding with “There may be hope after all,” Ginny thought to herself. Maybe there is some eventual chance of our partnership blossoming into something more than just a close working relationship. So far, Joe appeared to remain oblivious to Ginny as anything other than a good friend and his partner on the police force, but Ginny was quite certain that Joe had feelings beyond that, no matter how deeply they might be buried. And his ordering the beer did show that he was somewhat capable of change. Ginny was hopeful. And patient.

  Born in Brooklyn, NY, Stuart has lived in 7 states and 4 European countries. He and his wife now live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Stuart earned an engineering degree from Swarthmore College and an MBA from Harvard University. His career has included work for large multinational firms, small startups and management consulting firms. Stuart and his wife are instrument-rated private pilots and Stuart is a volunteer firefighter & EMT and a Red Cross Disaster Responder.

  See what Stuart Safft is up to at his blog:

  https://stuartsafft.wordpress.com.