The Chinese Woman: Mystery Assassin: A Spy Mystery Thriller: Li Mei Spy Action Series (The Chinese Woman: Li Mei Spy Action Series Book 3)

by Brian N. Cox

  “Diane,” Sean continued. “get some photos of the victim and see if she had frequented that Starbucks.”

  “I’ve already got some photos and Starbucks was my next stop. This building, the “Newbury Terrace” is within four or five blocks of one or two of the other apartment buildings. Do you think four offences are enough for geographic profiling?” asked Diane.

  “It could be; I’ve already contacted Terry Foster in GPU and got them working on it,” replied Sean.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Alistair Osborne was quite tall, approximately six foot, four inches, and stood very erect despite being two years beyond his sixtieth birthday. He was the darling of the Democratic Party in Minnesota and most people believed he would easily win the election for Governor over the incumbent Republican. Osborne was considered a champion of the middle-class and had a “one of the boys” image amongst the majority of Minnesota voters. Like most politicians trying to identify with the working class, he wore blue jeans and an open neck shirt.

  This was Alistair Osborne’s last public speech before the election and he had chosen as his venue, the Mall of the America’s as the ideal place to hold it. A small platform had been built to accommodate his speech and several hundred people gathered around to hear him talk. Many had come to the mall for this purpose, as it had been well publicized, while others were curious shoppers.

  Osborne was an economic isolationist, believing that America didn’t need to be part of the global economy. Jobs could be retained right here in the US with no need to be concerned about importing goods from countries with lower labour costs. He often claimed China had “stolen” US jobs and he was going to get them back. He realized most of those jobs that American companies took overseas had left China and gone to other countries with cheaper labour costs, but it was still most effective to blame China, as that country had generally been accepted by most Americans to be the cause of all America’s problems and their economic enemy. As an experienced politician, he was quite aware that you never accept blame for anything; always blame someone or something else.

  Osborne was about fifteen minutes into his speech when a female voice was heard to yell, “Liar, liar”, followed by two gunshots. Osborne was hit twice in the chest and was dead before he hit the floor of the small stage.

  A woman wearing a black ball cap, a green hip-length shirt and black pants was seen holding a gun in her left hand. Even though the woman was wearing sunglasses, it was evident that she was East Asian, and very attractive. She immediately turned and ran for the nearest exit, her long black hair flying behind her, as the crowd stampeded to get out of her way.

  A lone uniformed security guard stood his ground and raised his weapon, but was shot in the shoulder by the woman before he had a chance to discharge his firearm. He dropped his gun and slumped to the ground as the woman ran by him and out the door.

  Within ten minutes, the mall and the streets around the mall were swarming with police but there was no sign of the killer. Surveillance cameras outside the mall showed the East Asian woman jumping into the back seat of a grey, mid-size Ford with its license plates covered. Grey color mid-size Fords were very common in Minneapolis, and with no license plate number, it wouldn’t be easy to spot this vehicle before the killer and her accomplices switched cars and the killer changed clothes.

  FBI agents took over the investigation immediately and checked the Minneapolis airport security cameras. They saw a woman matching the killer’s description arriving that morning wearing the same clothes as the killer….black ball cap, black pants, green shirt and sunglasses. The plane she arrived on had originated in Denver, but the trail ended there. Although she was seen on video boarding the plane in Denver, it was not determined how or when she arrived in Denver.

  Further investigation identified the Denver to Minneapolis passenger as a person using the name “Lisa Zhang” with an American passport.

  Bulletins were relayed to every FBI Field Office in the country in an attempt to identify and locate the killer of Alistair Osborne. When this bulletin arrived at the Seattle FBI Field Office, it was immediately transferred to ASAC Sean McNamara, who commanded the Criminal Investigation Division. After reading it, Sean circulated the bulletin to all agents assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division, with copies to all other Divisions.

  The Minneapolis investigators were curious about one thing. The killer had double-tapped Osborne in the chest…the entry wounds were only two inches apart and the shooter had been at least thirty feet away….obviously an expert marksman. On the other hand, her shot at the security guard only hit the shoulder. It could be that was due to the fact she was shooting while running, or it could have been that she didn’t want to kill the guard.

  “Gary, I’m going to assign this Minneapolis assassination to you. I don’t know if it will have anything to do with Seattle, but check CCTV at the Seattle airport over the past few days and all the flight manifests.”

  “I’ll get on that right away, Sean,” replied Gary.

  It wasn’t long before Gary was in possession of the surveillance videos from the airport and copies of the flight manifests for people leaving and arriving in Seattle over the past week. Gary assigned two of his best agents, Arthur Morelli and Cynthia McDonald, to study the manifests while he viewed the videos along with Special Agent Tim Docker.

  “Sean, I’m coming up to see you. I’ll be there in about three minutes,” said Gary over the phone.

  When he arrived, he sat opposite Sean’s desk, looking quite serious, which was quite unusual for Gary Webster who usually took everything in stride.

  “Nothing on the airport videos nor the manifests,” said Gary “but I also checked the train station CCTV. A woman wearing clothes matching the killer’s description boarded the train for Portland the evening before. I hate to say it, but it looked an awful lot like Li Mei. I couldn’t be sure because of the ball cap blocking the top half of her face, and the sunglasses, but it sure looked like her. No manifests used on trains, as you know, so I can’t match the person to a name.”

  “Shit; I hope it’s not her,” replied Sean. “Fly down to Portland and get the videos from the Portland airport in case whoever it is flew out from there. Phone first and tell them to get the videos for you. The local office probably won’t want to give them to you, but tell them we have a lead. Go by yourself.”

  “Gotcha,” said Gary as he left the office to arrange an immediate flight to Portland.

  Li Mei sat in the hotel bar in Madison, Wisconsin, eating a sandwich when her attention was drawn to the television news that everyone in the bar seemed interested in. She was alone as her friends had decided to gather in a room to drink beer and play poker, neither of which interested Li Mei. She was actually an excellent poker player but she never played with friends; taking someone’s money was a good way to lose friends. She saw a video clip of the assassination of the Minnesota politician and clearly saw the killer. If she hadn’t been in Wisconsin at the time, she would have believed she was watching herself on the news…same height, body type, hair and the clothing she wore when leaving Seattle.

  It was immediately apparent to Li Mei that she was being framed. She didn’t know exactly what individual was orchestrating this frame up, but she knew who and why….the Mei Hua Triad. It was now time for their revenge for abducting their leader, Wu Xing, and taking him back to China to stand trial and his eventual execution.

  Li Mei was quite certain the Mei Hua wouldn’t do anything so unsophisticated as shooting her down in the street. The Mei Hua did not want to become the target of the Chinese Ministry of State Security…the Mei Hua was powerful but the CMSS was not an organization to be at war with. There was nowhere in the world you could go where Second Bureau agents couldn’t find you, and it was not their policy or custom to return people to China for trial. Her abduction of Wu Xing was not a State Security operation but rather a “favour” to the Shanghai Police.

  She had to admit the Mei Hua Tri
ad had created a good plan and she was sure there was more to come in the near future. If she was arrested by the FBI and convicted in Federal Court, she would face the death penalty under Federal Law.

  Did she dare return home to Seattle? Would Sean arrest her? She was in love with Sean but he was a man of integrity and he had his duty to perform. That was one of the things she loved about him, but it may not be in her best interest at this time.

  Li Mei had a lot of thinking to do. Doing nothing was not an option.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Gord, you’ve got to come here and meet me ASAP,” said Vince Marino on his secure phone line.

  “I don’t know if I can get away for a few days, can you tell me what it’s about?” replied Special Agent Gordon Paquette.

  “No, but it’s much more important than whatever else you are doing,” said Marino emphatically.

  “OK. I’ll take the Red Eye and see you tomorrow morning at your office,” replied Gordon Paquette, realizing he had no choice. When Vince Marino said something was urgent or important, you had better take him seriously….dead seriously. Vince Marino was not a person prone to exaggeration.

  “Older Brother,” said Li Mei to Chin Tai, the senior Fourth Bureau agent at the CAC in Seattle.

  “I want you to go to my apartment as soon as possible and set up surveillance cameras so you can observe every part of the apartment. They must be well hidden and activated if a door or window is opened. Check them a least twice daily.”

  “Consider it done Little Sister. We can check them remotely, so after the installation, we won’t have to visit your apartment.”

  While the Second Bureau of the Chinese Ministry of State Security are the intelligence officers, i.e., those agents who might be described as spies or secret agents, the Fourth Bureau are the members of State Security who are experts in all things technical. They not only install electronic and technological surveillance equipment, they are also involved in the research and development of this equipment. Some of the devices they have developed are unknown to the outside world, even to the Chinese Police.

  Vince Marino looked very nervous as he sat at his desk looking at his long-time friend, Gordon Paquette of the FBI.

  “You remember our house, Gord?” asked Marino.

  “Are you absolutely sure this office is secure?” asked Paquette before answering the question.

  “Yes, absolutely,” replied Marino.

  “OK, of course I remember it.”

  “I just received information from a contact at City Hall that they are going to raze that line of houses, including mine, and build a strip mall.”

  “Oh shit,” replied Paquette.

  “They’ll find the body for sure. Will there be any DNA evidence available after all these years?”

  “Most of it will be degraded, but I don’t know,” replied Paquette. “We were so stoned and drunk we didn’t even give a second thought to evidence.”

  “We’ve never talked about this since that day,” said Marino “but we have to talk about it now.”

  “I have good friends, top guys in the local mob, who could have the body dug up and disposed of,” continued Marino.

  “No,” said Special Agent Paquette emphatically. “There are too many things that could go wrong. Whoever digs up the body, and it will take more than one, will know about the body and we don’t know what will become of it; it will be out of our control. We could be blackmailed for the rest of our lives. Besides, a passing patrol car could spot something. Also, that girl was a university student from a prominent family so the case remains open. If she was just some drifter or hooker, it would probably be forgotten.”

  “But if they find a body, that had obviously been murdered, the case would be reopened,” interjected Marino.

  “Exactly,” replied Paquette. “Here is what we can do. Tell your mob friends that you want all those vacant houses blown up, not just ours. Tell them you are competing in a bid for that land which you want to develop, and the opposing bidder wants the houses…say he wants to rebuild them or something.”

  “Yes, that should work,” said Marino. “The other bidder will withdraw his bid if the houses are destroyed. We need big bangs so not a stick is left.”

  “Perfect. Even if a partial human bone is found, it couldn’t be tied to our house. If the guys do a good job, nothing will be found.”

  “OK, Gord. I feel a lot better now. Let me meet with my friends after which we can get together for lunch and treat ourselves to a good steak.”

  “Sounds good to me, Vince; your treat. I’ll see you later.”

  “I’ve looked at the videos from the Portland airport,” said Gary as he met with Sean in the ASAC office.

  “A Chinese woman took a flight to Denver, but she is dressed differently….plaid over-shirt, tan camping hat blocking the top part of her face, blue jeans and her hair in a ponytail. Can’t tell if it is Li Mei or not. The name on the passport was “Jade Gong”.

  “There’s something strange here,” said Sean. “If Li Mei is the assassin, she’s not going to go somewhere she knows she’ll be on a surveillance camera in the same clothes she’s going to wear when she shoots someone. Furthermore, if she changes clothes, she’s not going to change back to the same clothes she started her journey in to shoot someone. The name doesn’t mean much; I assume she has five or ten passports.”

  “It would appear that she changed clothes sometime between being seen boarding the train to Portland and boarding the aircraft to Denver…if it is actually Li Mei. She obviously is trying to avoid surveillance so she can’t be traced to her final destination,” said Gary.

  “But she shows up again in the green shirt at the Minneapolis airport and then shoots the politician wearing the same clothes. It doesn’t make sense,” said Sean.

  “We’ve got to find her and talk to her, Sean.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “Where are you Diane?” asked Sean over his secure cellphone.

  “We’re all still looking for witnesses around the Newbury Terrace,” replied Diane Swanson. “Tess took the Starbucks video to the Seattle Homicide office where those Acting Detectives have been scrutinizing all the videos for a couple of days. They are pretty sure the fourth victim, Matthews, has been at the Starbucks but her hair color is different than in the photos.”

  “OK. I just got a call from Seattle Homicide. There’s been another killing which looks like the same MO. The patrol officers are guarding the crime scene and are waiting for you. This apartment building is called the Haida Towers and is not near the other blocks. It’s apartment 710. I’ve already sent the ERTU.”

  “I know the place. We’re on our way,” replied Diane.

  Within a few minutes, the JTF members were enroute to the Haida Towers. They all found it strange that this homicide occurred only two days after the last one. Up until now, the killer had spaced his offences three to four weeks apart. Now it seems like he was going on a rampage.

  As Swanson and her team arrived in two cars, they saw the FBI Evidence Response Team Unit van already parked in front of the building. They identified themselves to the Seattle PD uniform officers at the door and proceeded up to the seventh floor where they met Derek Lucan of the ERTU.

  “In my opinion,” said Agent Lucan “this is a copycat killing. The rope is hemp and there is no bowline on one wrist. There is a liquor bottle on the floor on its side, with the contents spilled on the floor. There are dirt scuff marks on the tile floor and rug. Since the victim seems to leave her shoes at the door and change to slippers when she gets home, I assume the perp didn’t use foot covers. Could be the same guy, of course, but I doubt it, unless he was stoned or drunk and became very careless.”

  “Sounds like a copycat to me,” said Rick Gonzalez.

  “But details have never been released to the press,” said Agent Dibotsky, saying something that all of the investigators were thinking. “How could there be a copycat?”

  “There were a coupl
e of Seattle Homicide detectives here. They went down to see the manager and look at the CCTV video about a half hour ago,” said Lucan

  “What were their names?” asked Rita.

  “One was McDonald. I didn’t get his partner’s name. A big guy with a shaven head.”

  “We know them,” said Rick. “The big guy is Dave Elstrom….a good detective. He’s the junior partner on the team, but a lot brighter than McDonald in my opinion.”

  “Well we had better go down to the manager’s office and see what happened. It will have to remain a FBI case until it can definitely be said it’s not the same guy. Call me, Derek, as soon as you decide for sure.”