The Attaché Case

by DeMaio, Harry;

“Herr Bear, Mr. Alex is waiting to see us. Major, can we get over to Alexandria before the traffic goes wild?”

  “I think so. We can talk on the way over. Did you have any luck, Colonel?”

  “Did I? This Faluj character is straight out of pulp fiction. He’s also not the brightest gem in the necklace. I recorded the call. Let’s get settled and I’ll play back my conversation. What happened with the lioness?”

  I replied, “Definitely not an Idi fan but she has a pretty good alibi for the time in question. You know, I’m beginning to lean a little more toward the accident theory. I think we’re going to discover that some jewelry smuggling was going on but it may not have been connected to Idi’s death.

  The Bear snorted, “I hate coincidences.”

  “Me too!” said the Colonel. “Wait till you hear this call. Idi was a smuggler or a courier.”

  He plugged his smart phone into the van’s speaker system.

  The conversation follows:

  Ringing phone.

  “Yeah!?”

  “Mr. Faluj?’

  “Who wants to know?”

  “My name is Marvin Wolf and I have some merchandise I think you might be interested in. I was referred to you by Idi at the Embassy.”

  “Oh yeah. How is Idi?”

  “Things are a bit quiet for him right now.”

  “Well, tell him I expect to hear from him. Tell him it’s that time of the month. Now what can I do for you?”

  “As I said, I have some uncut goods from Africa that I’m interested in selling. Twenty stones, to be exact.”

  “What about weight and quality?”

  “I’ll leave that up to you to decide”

  “Do they come from the same source as Idi’s shipments? Those are always first class.”

  “I have my own source. I lost my buyer and I’m looking for a new contact. Interested?”

  “Since you’re a friend of Idi’s, I’ll take a look at what you’ve got. They better be good. I don’t carry crap! When can you get here?”

  “Not until tomorrow.”

  “OK! Here’s my address.”

  The Colonel cut off the recording. “I hope he doesn’t wait for me tomorrow. Well, that sheds some light on our Attaché’s activities.”

  Octavius grunted, “It certainly ties him to the bag of diamonds but it still doesn’t explain his death. Are we getting anywhere near Mr. Alex’s establishment, Major?”

  “Just a few more minutes, Doctor Bear. I’m eager to find out if these stones are high quality and what they’re worth. Frau Schuylkill, what did you tell Mr. Alex?”

  “First, I dropped Chita’s name, sorry, Madame Catt’s name. He recognized it. It seems he has shops in several countries. He has done business with her in Paris and London. Then I told him who we were and that we were working on a hush-hush assignment for a foreign government involving diamonds. We needed an expert assessment for which we were willing to pay. But under no circumstances was he to reveal any of this to anyone. Was he willing to work with us on that basis? He was. He expects us right about now.” (Now being 4PM.)

  As she was speaking, the Major pulled up in front of a very fashionable boutique. Alex of Alexandria. He told us to go in and seek out Mr. Alex while he found a parking space.

  The four of us walked into a very well-appointed shop with display cases aglitter with jewelry in all shapes and sizes. Diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, pearls, bracelets, earrings, necklaces and a wild assortment of exotic pins. Tiny spotlights played on the sparkling gems. Frau Ilse looked very interested. What female wouldn’t be? Subdued music in the background. A fashionably dressed white Arctic Fox, wearing a few sparklers herself, approached us but seemed a bit taken aback by Octavius’ size and the fabulous coats of the two Wolves. She practically fell over me. (It happens a lot.)

  “Good afternoon, Lady and Gentlebeasts! Welcome to Alex of Alexandria’s. How may I be of service?”

  The Frau smiled, showing her hundred or so perfect teeth. “Good afternoon, I am Frau Ilse Schuylkill. We have an appointment with Mr. Alex.”

  “Mr. Alex will be with you in a moment. Is there anything I can do or show you?”

  “Thank you, no. Could you let him know we are here? Another member of our party, a Rhodesian Ridgeback Dog will be joining us as soon as he finds a parking space.

  “Of course! Please be seated! (She looked askance at Octavius’ girth.) Or feel free to wander about. I think you’ll be very impressed with our selections.”

  I was impressed. No wonder Chita dealt with him. Nothing second class for that cat. Speaking of cats, a Civet in a tail coat, emerged from behind a mirrored door and skittered toward us. (Cat is a misnomer. They are more like Racoons.) He bowed to the Frau. “Frau Schuylkill? Wonderful, wonderful! And these are your associates? Please come back with me to our workroom.”

  Once again through the mirrored door. The Frau made the introductions. There was an old German Shepherd wearing a loupe, seated on a workbench, carefully grinding a large ruby.

  The Civet went over to him and whispered in his ear. The dog nodded, took off his loupe, shut down the grinder and carefully placed the ruby in a sample box. He went over to a wall safe and deposited the box on a shelf, closed the door and spun the dials. He bowed and left the room.

  “Now we are alone,” said Mr. Alex. “Let us view these stones you want me to appraise.”

  At that moment, the door opened and the Major stepped in. The Frau introduced him without referencing his duties, profession or employer. The Embassy was not to be mentioned.

  The Civet climbed up on the workbench, took an empty sample box and put on his own personal, gem encrusted loupe. Octavius untied the bag and poured the stones into the box.

  “There are twenty in all. If you can also tell us their provenance, that would very helpful.”

  “Hmm, let us see. I have a diamond testing device here that will check their specific gravity and thermal conductance among other things. Yes, I’m pretty sure these are diamonds. Let me test the whole batch.”

  One after another, he zapped each stone. The indicators on the tester consistently rose and the device beeped. “Frau Schuylkill, you have twenty genuine diamonds. As to quality, their clarity is high and I can see no serious occlusions. Their color is very fine. Their ultimate value will be determined by how they are cut, of course. In the paws of a reliable and skilled jeweler, each stone of this size should bring in $5,000 to $10,000. Maybe more. Of course, in the rough, the price would be about a third to half of that number.”

  “As to provenance, it’s difficult to say. I have not seen these types of stones on the controlled market. I would be guessing, but there is a good chance these are blood diamonds. I wouldn’t touch them.”

  “Thank you very much, Mr. Alex. That was most helpful. Because of our confidential status, we will pay for your services in cash. Remember, please. This session did not take place.”

  “I was pleased to help. Please give Madame Catt my best regards and remind her that Mr. Alex is always at her disposal with new, exciting and legal offerings.”

  Chita would no doubt respond to the ‘new’ and ‘exciting.’ I’m not sure what she would think about ‘legal.’

  After making the confidential payment, we filed out to the van under the puzzled and watchful eye of the Arctic Fox.

  “Well, it would seem our friend Idi has been trading in contraband precious stones for a while, if Faluj is to be believed. Two Impalas. I wonder if they were related.”

  “They could well be, Maury, but all of this still doesn’t explain his violent death. Any theories? Although I hate theories. I much prefer facts. Why was this bag of stones poorly hidden in that empty room?”

  The Colonel growled. “I don’t think it was intentional. If it was Idi, he may have
been trying to get away from someone. Getting rid of evidence? That may also explain his fall. He was on the run. But why?”

  “Any thoughts, Major?”

  “I have always suspected Idi of playing fast and loose. He seemed to have more money than his diplomatic salary would provide. I don’t think all his trips were on Embassy business. He didn’t drink much. He may have been gambling, although I can’t prove it. Someone or something may have caught up with him.”

  “Let’s have one more look at his body when we get back to the Residence,” said the Bear.

  “What are we looking for?”

  “I don’t know, damn it.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  While the cubs run and frolic and play,

  Mlle Woof watches them night and day.

  But addressing her, please,

  Do not say Bichon Freeze!

  Her name’s French and its Bichon Free-zay!

  It was about six o’clock when we returned to the Residence. The Major let us off and drove around the back. The Colonel joined him. He wanted to look at the Impala’s car. As we came through the door, we were attacked by two high energy, brown and white, fur covered missiles. “Guess what! Guess what! We went to Washing-Tub! Ben and Gal hired a car and took us over there. Mlle Woof came too, didn’t you?”

  The Bichon nodded her head and gave a rapid wag of her tail.

  “We went to the Washing-Tub Monument. It’s a big basilisk.”

  “Non, mes petits. It is an obelisk. A basilisk is a mythical giant serpent. Don’t you remember you saw an obelisk when you were in Egypt?”

  “Yeah, but this one is way bigger. We couldn’t go up in it, though. The elevator is broke. But we saw the Capital and the White House. That’s where the President of America lives. Poppa, are we Americans?”

  Belinda laughed, “Poppa is American and I’m Canadian and Scottish so that makes you international stew.”

  Arabella giggled. McTavish was all seriousness. “And then we went to the Air and Space Museum. They had a whole lot of old airplanes and rockets. We saw The Spirit of St. Looie and the Wright Brothers’ Fryer. Ben and Gal knew all about them. Poppa, you and Momma have a lot of new airplanes and helicoppers and rockets. Why don’t you open a museum so everyone can see them?”

  “Afraid not, son. We use them too often. Museums are for valuable old things that are being saved and protected. Maybe someday, one of our planes will go on display but not yet. Now, it’s time for you two to get ready for dinner.”

  “What are we having?”

  The Bichon yipped at them. “Something good, but you’re not getting any unless your paws are nice and clean. Allons!”

  Belinda looked at us and said, “I have some news for you. While you were gone, the Impala’s body was removed and taken to a crematorium.”

  Octavius was not happy. He looked at me and said, “Find Joseph!”

  The Majordomo was in the dining room supervising dinner preparations. I asked him to come with me. He gave a few instructions to the servers and walked with me into the library where Octavius had taken over a large leather couch. The Wolves were seated across from him. The Bearoness had gone to supervise the ceremony of the washing of the paws.

  The Dromedary nodded and asked, “How may I assist?”

  Octavius said, “I thought we agreed to keep Idi’s body for one more day. We wanted to inspect it again. What happened?”

  “The Ambassador decided that we had kept it long enough and since we had nowhere to send it, he told Dr. Mopsi and me to find a cooperative crematorium who would dispose of the body without asking any questions. Dr. Mopsi knew of one here in Virginia. We had the body taken there this afternoon and the Doctor verified that it was incinerated. I am sorry that you weren’t consulted.”

  “Where is the Ambassador?”

  “Unfortunately, he is at a state reception and dinner at one of the DC hotels. He intends to stay there overnight.”

  “Please set up an appointment for me with him first thing in the morning. Very important.”

  “Certainly, Doctor Bear. Is there anything else I can do for any of you?”

  “Joseph, I just realized that you too were in the house when Idi met his fate. Can you tell us your whereabouts during the hours of ten and one AM?”

  ‘I was with Madame Leonie in the library planning next month’s events.”

  “Is it safe to say you did not take a liking to Idi?”

  “I had no real feelings about him one way or the other. Let’s just say he was not my type of animal. A little too flashy and loud for my taste.

  “Who assigned the rooms for the stay-over guests last evening?”

  “I did, with Housekeeping’s help.”

  “Did any of the support staff have any problems with him? Any grievances?”

  “None that I know of. He didn’t stay here that often.”

  “Is there anything you might want to add to help us sort this out?”

  “Nothing I can think of at the moment. If I remember anything I’ll be sure to tell you. Meanwhile, dinner will be served in an hour. Cocktails are available now.”

  That sounded good to me. It’d been a long, hard day. It looked like it was going to be an even harder night.

  The Colonel came into the room. “I just got finished looking at Idi’s car. A late model, high performance convertible. Way above his pay grade. Tucked away in the glove compartment, with the registration paperwork, were several receipts for electronic funds transfers. Never to the same address. Amounts in the thousands. Kind of stupid on his part if he was trying to hide a money laundering operation or blood diamond sales. Nobody said he was smart. Just too clever for his own good. I can’t believe the Ambassador or the Major knew nothing about this.

  The Bear harrumphed. “I agree! We’d better get ourselves freshened up for dinner. Frau Ilse, did you bring the mead in from the Ursa Minor?”

  “Of course, Herr Bear. As soon as you landed.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The Great Bear mounts a hostile onslaught,

  And the Ridgeback resists, as we thought.

  It is not a surprise

  That he keeps telling lies.

  In a web of untruths, he is caught.

  Another delicious meal proceeded on schedule. The cubs were being their riotous selves despite Mlle Woof’s best efforts. The Flying Tigers had joined us.

  Belinda looked over at them and said, “Ben and Gal, thanks so much for taking the little ones in paw. They really enjoyed themselves in Washing-Tub.”

  Galatea growled, “So did we, Bearoness. They are so smart. It’s really scary. But I guess that comes from their parental genes. By the way, we were really impressed with the way you managed the Ursa Minor.”

  “Don’t be. That ship really flies itself. It’s a wonder. But I hogged the controls. On the way back, I’ll turn the cyclic and collective joysticks over to the two of you. Octavius and I want you both to be proficient in every one of our aircraft.”

  The Embassy Deputy had been at the Residence during the day and had stayed for the meal, sharply curtailing any discussion of the case. He looked at Octavius. “Any progress?”

  “None we can rejoice about. Still fact finding.”

  “Please keep me posted.”

  The Major sat down with us.

  Octavius leaned over to him. “Major, do you plan to stay over?”

  “No, but I can be available if you wish.”

  “I want to spend a little time with my team immediately after dinner but then we’d like to have a discussion with you. Is 8:30 OK?”

  “Fine!”

  We waited while Octavius polished off a mini-keg of mead and looked hopefully at Frau Ilse. She disappeared and returned with a refill. We headed up to his r
oom and spread ourselves around on the opulent furniture. Belinda joined us.

  “Tavi”, she said, “I know you wanted to keep it a secret but it might help if we knew what you did for the Ambassador earlier on.”

  The Great Bear shifted in his seat, looked up at the ceiling and grunted. “This is very confidential. You asked about his mate. Unfortunately, she committed suicide or so it appeared. It was never fully confirmed. He called me in to investigate under a cloak of secrecy. I was reasonably sure she had taken her own life and told him so. That was the end of it. Now he has me assessing another mysterious death. I’m not the least bit comfortable with this. I plan to face down the Major when he joins us. He and the Ambassador have not been playing straight with us. I’m going to reel out a scenario for him and see how he reacts.”

  “In fact, I have all but decided to withdraw from this case. Frau and Colonel, prepare to go to the airport and take the Twin Otter back to Cincinnati tomorrow morning. Same with the Ursa Minor, Bel. Alert the Flying Tigers and get the cubs and Mlle Woof on standby. Maury, fly back with us on the helicopter.”

  That was fine with me. A little aeronautical luxury is right up my alley.

  “Maury, let’s discuss the diplomatic pouch. I think that’s the way those diamonds made their way to the Embassy and to Idi. He would then dispose of them, probably with Faluj, take a commission and send back the proceeds, probably to someone in Gotu but we can’t be sure. I think the money makes its way back a different way. Probably electronically. I don’t know to whom. Let’s see what the Major has to say about that.”

  There was a knock on the door and the Rhodesian Ridgeback shoved his snout in the opening. He looked around at the assemblage and said, “It’s 8:30. Are we meeting?”

  Octavius boomed, “Yes. We are! Come in, Major. Would you like a drink?” He gestured toward the Colonel who was seated next to the beverages table. Wyatt held up a bowl and a bottle of Scotch. The Major nodded. Refills all around. Octavius took a healthy slug from his mead keg. “Wonderful stuff, mead. Do you like it?

  “I don’t think I’ve ever tried it.”