by Steve Levi
“He might have been able to load that much if the Jacksons helped him at the Swensen garage.” Edison smiled. “Which could have happened because the armored truck Steigle drove in was not checked on its way out of the armored-car garage.”
“Good for you!” Noonan was ecstatic. “It’s what I’ve been thinking. I think the missing armored truck was here the whole time. Earlier today Steigle drove the missing truck back to the Swensen garage with the Jacksons inside the back. When he got to the garage, the Jacksons slipped into another armored truck, the one Steigle was going to use on his scheduled run. Just before he left on the run, Steigle turned on the GPS in the missing truck. Then whatever organization there was, went south. The missing truck was hauled down to the police forensic yard along with John Swensen and the logbooks.”
“But how did the Jacksons get whatever money there was out of the vault?”
“Steigle had access to the vault. Or, more likely, Steigle gave the Jacksons access to the vault.”
“If true, there was a lot of paper to load.”
“I don’t think so. I think the Jacksons and Steigle only went after the RMD, LLC money. It was on a palette near the door. I figure it to be about one thousand pounds. Half a ton. At fifty pounds per trip, they could load the entire half ton in twenty trips, ten per man. Remember, you said the Jacksons had been working out with weights. Fifty pounds is not much for a man in shape. The distance from the vault to the back of the armored is less than a dozen feet. They could have taken half ton of cash in ten to fifteen minutes.”
“Then Steigle simply drove out the front gate with the Jacksons in the back with the money!”
“The trucks aren’t stopped on the way out. They just go. Steigle just went. He came directly here, and all three of them unloaded the money. I’m betting there wasn’t a lot of trust, so they divvied up the cash right here. One thousand pounds divided by three is about three hundred fifty pounds per person. At, say, fifty pounds per package, it’s only seven packages apiece. Then they scattered. I’m betting there were two trucks here. The Jackson wives showed up in a vehicle. One of the Jacksons and his wife took one of the vehicles from here.” Noonan indicated the garage. “The other Jackson and his wife used the car the Jackson wives came in. The second vehicle here was for Steigle to make it to the airport after he hid the armored truck.”
Edison smiled. “When you think like a crook, all things are possible. Let me see if I can put the rest of this together. The Jacksons had to use FedEx and UPS because those delivery services delivered quickly. The Jacksons had to be in Freeport, physically in Freeport, to get the packages. This meant they had to have already reserved the hotel room.”
“My guess too,” Noonan replied. “They had to have a place certain to receive the packages. They didn’t have a mail box in Freeport, so they had to use FedEx and UPS.”
“And,” Edison was now beginning to like thinking like a criminal, “FedEx and UPS move fast. The delivery was going to be a matter of hours, not days. Once the Jacksons got the packages, they took the money to a bank. Even if we get a court order to see if packages were delivered to the Jacksons in Freeport—”
Noonan finished her thought. “We’ll still have squat. All the Jacksons have to do is keep their mouths shut. We can’t prove anything.”
Edison shook her head. “Worse than that. If the Jacksons and the money are in the Bahamas, why should they come back at all?”
“If they’re smart, they won’t. Now Steigle had a different problem—two of them, actually. First, he had two names on two passports. He’s not stupid. He knows we’ll be on to him fairly quickly. He had to get out of the country as fast as possible and stay well below the radar. He would not be able to do that with FedEx and UPS shipments. We could trace him. Or at least know where he was. But there is no record of the packages he sent by the US Postal Service. Even moving at top speed, it will take the United States Postal Service weeks to identify the packages he sent—assuming Steigle only used one of the two names we already have. He may very well have a third or fourth name and have a third or fourth passport. Steigle had to use the United States Post Service because he did not want to have to be someplace specific where he could get the packages. He also needed to be able to mail packages after business hours, and the United States Post Office was his only option. He did not have to appear before, say, six p.m. All he had to do was drop the prepaid If it fits, it ships box into the deposit slot.”
“So Steigle could be anywhere in the world.”
“I doubt it. Anywhere in the European Union, yes. There are no more border checks. Once he left Heathrow, there was no way to track him. Even if we know where the three hundred pounds of American dollars went, he’s long gone from there now.”
“He’s a clever boy. We may never catch him.” Edison shook her head.
“That’s not the half of it. You are correct he’s a very clever boy. I’ll make you a bet.”
“Do I want to take this bet?” Edison was pleasantly suspicious.
“At this stage in your career, yeah. If you want to be a great cop, you must be a creative thinker. You must think forward. Don’t just draw conclusions from what you see, anticipate. Using this case as an example, Steigle is a very clever man. He’s been planning this heist for years. There are a lot of moving parts here, and right now we’ve just seen a few of them. As we get deeper into the crime, more twists and turns are going to appear. But there is one thing Steigle is counting on.”
“Which is?”
“We are not going to go looking for him.”
This took Edison by surprise. “I . . . I . . . I don’t see that as possible. He robbed—”
Noonan cut her off. “Stop thinking like a cop. What do we have now? Do you know if any money is missing from Swensen’s vault?”
“Well, no, but there has to be.”
“There is only money missing when we’re told by John Swensen money is missing. I think I know where Steigle and the Jacksons got the cash. But there is a very good chance no one is going to admit it is gone. It is going to be a quiet robbery; it happens, and no one admits it has happened.”
“I’ve never heard of a quiet robbery.”
“You will as you get deeper into your career. A lot of jewelry heists are quiet robberies. The thieves contact the insurance company and say they will sell the stolen jewels back at, say, fifteen percent. Then the insurance company pays the thieves and retrieves the stolen merchandise. It’s cheaper for the insurance companies to pay fifteen percent to the thieves rather than one hundred percent to the insured. Then the insurance company pays for any damages, and everyone goes away happy.”
“Is that legal?”
Noonan shrugged his shoulders. “If no one complains, there is no case. Legal is what a court of law says it is. If the case never makes it to court, who knows?”
“What does it have to do with this case, this quiet robbery?”
“I think I know what money Steigle and the Jacksons stole. Thinking like a crook, I’m betting that’s all they stole.”
“What? Why?”
“If they only stole from one source, the source I am thinking of, it will be a quiet robbery. It will be quietly settled, and the three will walk away clean. But if they took cash from another source, the other client might file a charge. Then it is a police matter. Steigle is too smart for that. He’s not going to risk three million dollars by getting greedy for the, what, fifteen thousand dollars or twenty thousand dollars that was in that armored car.” Noonan pointed to the armored truck where John Swensen was standing. “I’ll bet all the money Steigle was supposed to pick up yesterday is still in the truck. Every penny of it. The only money that will be missing is from the one source in the vault.”
“I find that hard to believe. We’re talking about criminals here. They’ll take your dime on the table.”
“Stop thinking like a cop, Chelsea! Think like a criminal. And a very clever one like Steigle.”
“Yo
u really think he’s going to walk?”
Noonan shrugged his shoulders as John Swensen came over to Noonan and Edison.
“Strange,” Swensen said to the pair when he arrived. “There are delivery sacks and packages in the truck. I won’t be able to tell if anything is missing until I check the logbooks. Why would someone steal an armored truck with money and then leave the money?”
“That,” said Noonan, giving Edison an I-told-you-so look, “is a very interesting question.”
THURSDAY
Chapter 37
“You nuts-and-bolts people are a pain in the lumbar region, you know.” Cookie-Cutter one was leaning against the door to the vault in the Swensen Armored Car Company warehouse. “Everything here is under control.”
Noonan shook his head softly. “That’s not what I was told yesterday. That was when you asked me to verify RMD, LLC had money here. Money as in cash.”
“That was yesterday,” snapped Cookie-Cutter two. “This is today.”
Noonan looked sideways at Chelsie Edison with a I-told-you-so look. “That’s not the point. The point is there is a very good chance money from RMD, LLC is missing. Gone. Stolen. I need to verify the money is still in the vault.”
“Well,” said Cookie-Cutter one—and it was a long, drawn-out well—followed by “that is not going to be possible. The vault is in lockdown until we get clearance from FinCEN.”
Noonan pointed at the two men. “You are FinCEN! The same two who demanded I look over the cash alleged to be from RMD, LLC to verify it was here. Yesterday. You could not even get into the vault because you had a bad warrant. Now, today, you won’t let me go into the vault and verify the money is there? The same money you wanted me to verify yesterday.”
“Oh, you want to see if the money is there? Why didn’t you say so? Sure, you can go in and check on the money. Except it’s not there. It’s been moved.”
“Moved?” Edison cut in. “You can’t move money from a vault that’s been locked down. Do you have a warrant to move the money?”
“Who the Sam Hill are you?” snapped Cookie-Cutter two.
Those were the wrong words to say to a cop. Edison had no problem dealing with MCPs and knuckle-draggers. “Who am I?” She pointed to her badge. “I am the Pamlico City Police Department on loan to the Sandersonville Police Department. You are in Sandersonville, and this facility is in Sandersonville. I don’t need a warrant for a look-see. All I have to do is assert I have probable cause to believe a crime has been committed. If you don’t let me in to do a search, I will run your sorry a—”
Noonan cut her off. To the two Cookie-Cutters he said, “Look. There’s no reason to get snippy about this. Officer Edison has every legal right to look in the vault. You don’t even have a warrant to let you in the vault. Now, Office Edison wants to see the money. To verify it is there. But you are blocking her entrance into the vault. If you will not let her into the vault to verify the money is there, well, sadly, she can arrest you for hindering a legal search. How’s that going to look on your résumé at FinCEN?”
There was a long moment of silence and then Cookie-Cutter two looked at Edison and said, “The money is not there. It has been moved.”
“I know that,” snapped Edison. “It’s been moved to the Bahamas and Europe.”
The statement took the Cookie-Cutters by surprise.
“That’s . . . that’s not true,” Cookie-Cutter one finally said. “The money is in the possession of North Carolina Mutual Indemnity.”
“So North Carolina Mutual Indemnity is involved with the theft as well?” That was a good shot across the bow, and Noonan smiled at the overreach.
Again, the Cookie-Cutters fell silent.
“Not exactly,” one of the Cookie-Cutters said.
“Look,” Noonan cut in again. “Let’s make this as easy as possible. You say the money isn’t here. Fine. Then you say it’s in the possession of North Carolina Mutual Indemnity. Fine. We need proof the money still exists.”
After a moment of silence, Cookie-Cutter one relented. “It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
“Not really,” snapped Edison. “You, FinCEN, or North Carolina Mutual Indemnity or both either has the money or not. Which is it?”
“A bit of both,” said Cookie-Cutter two reluctantly. “The actual cash, the money, has been relocated.”
“For examination,” said Cookie-Cutter one, quickly cutting in. “So there is nothing you can look at here.”
“I find it hard to believe,” Noonan said in a been-there-done-that tone. “And this is only the beginning of the problem. If the cash has been relocated, as you say, it is still the possession of RMD, LLC. RMD, LLC still owns the money. So, in this case, relocating is the same as stealing. You did not have a warrant to look at the money, much less relocate it. Now RMD, LLC has no money. No cash. That’s called theft. Unless you have some paperwork to verify you—”
This time Cookie-Cutter one cut Noonan off. “Oh, RMD, LLC is not out of any money. No, no, no. You misunderstand us. FinCEN relocated the cash, the actual dollars. But RMD, LLC is not out a dime because the money is insured. FinCEN has the cash, and North Carolina Mutual Indemnity has been given the authority to issue an insurance check for the same amount. Yes, the cash is gone, but the value of the cash is in the possession of RMD, LLC. It’s in the form of an insurance check from North Carolina Mutual Indemnity.”
“So RMC, LLC has this check as we speak?” Edison was law-and-order suspicious.
Cookie-Cutter two tried to wade out of the rhetorical swamp he and Cookie-Cutter one had wandered into. “Look, people. We’re all on the same side here. Checks take time. North Carolina Mutual Indemnity has agreed to cut RMD, LLC a check for the total amount of the . . . the relocated moneys. It’s just going to take some time for the actual check, the physical piece of paper, to arrive.”
Edison softened a bit. “Well, if that’s the case, you won’t object if I get North Carolina Mutual Indemnity on the phone and ask a representative of the company when the check will be coming.” She paused for a moment. “I just want to make sure this banana has ears.”
“Pardon?” Both Cookie-Cutters looked at Edison as if she were daft. “Bananas?”
“It’s an expression my nephew, Jeremy, uses when he thinks something is unlikely. He says, ‘Yeah, and bananas have ears.’ It’s now a family expression.”
“Well,” one of the Cookie-Cutters said. “In this case, the banana does have ears. Why don’t you call North Carolina Mutual Indemnity right now?”
Edison did.
Harry Sandusky confirmed that a check in the amount “matching the certified deposit slips for RMD, LLC in the Swensen Armored Car Company vault” would be delivered within about thirty days.
Edison was not going to let anyone off the hook so easily. “What does ‘about thirty days’ mean?”
“Thirty days is thirty days, Officer.” Sandusky’s voice was as bland as his industry. “In thirty days the check will be delivered.”
“To RMD, LLC?”
“Yes, Officer. To a Joseph Richiamo who is the legal representative of RMD, LLC.”
“I see,” Edison said. She paused for so long Sandusky had to ask if she was still there.
“Yes, I am still here. This is extremely important, Mr. Sandusky. I want to make sure I know, officially, that the money, the cash, which was in the Swensen Armored Car Company vault, the cash owned by RMD, LLC, has not been stolen.”
“Oh no, no, no, Officer. Who told you that? Never mind. No, the money, cash, has not been stolen. It has been relocated. North Carolina Mutual Indemnity is cooperating with FinCEN and has issued, will issue, a check to RMD, LLC for the amount of the relocated money.”
“What I am asking, officially,” Edison pressed Sandusky, “is for you to say the money Captain Noonan saw the other day has not been stolen.”
“Correct, it has not been stolen.”
“Let me make sure I understand the situation perfectly. If there is
an audit of the vault, there will be no RMD, LLC money missing. The money, as in the physical cash, has been relocated and is in the possession of FinCEN? And a check from North Carolina Mutual Indemnity for the same amount will be delivered to RMD, LLC. Is that correct?”
“Correct. A check in the amount of the relocated moneys will be delivered to RMD, LLC in thirty days.”
Chelsea gave a “Well, that takes care of that” look, to which Cookie-Cutter one, quite relieved, said, “Happy?”
Chelsea gave a grunt that passed for an affirmative. She took a step to leave, but Noonan stopped her.
“One more thing,” Noonan said as he held Chelsea by her forearm. “There are security tapes to monitor all the activity leading into the vault and in the vault itself. Will those tapes verify FinCEN actually took physical control of the dollars?”
There was a long moment of silence. The Cookie-Cutters looked at each other. Finally, Cookie-Cutter one said, “That tape is missing.”
Chapter 38
Lenny Rusnak got the call well after midnight on his disposable cell phone, the number only the most important people in his life knew. He did not recognize the voice. He did not recognize the number. He did not recognize the area code either: 252.
“Yeah?” He tried not to sound sleepy.
“Lenny. Joe Richiamo. Just a quick call to let you know the First Sandersonville Bank of Trust is going to honor the incoming insurance check immediately.”
“Joe, yeah, Joe. Sure. Say that again.”
“Sorry to call so late, but I thought you’d like to know. The . . . uh . . . deposits you and your associates have been making has been relocated to a federal facility. In place of the cash, North Carolina Mutual Indemnity is issuing an insurance check.”
“The feds took our money?!” Now Lenny was wide awake.
“That is incorrect,” said Richiamo in a soft professional tone. “What the feds have done is allowed an insurance company to compensate RMD, LLC for the relocated money. The feds got the cash, and RMC, LLC will receive an insurance check. I am calling to let you know the First Sandersonville Bank of Trust is accepting the anticipated insurance check as a bona fide document. What this means is, the land deal you and your associates were anticipating will be consummated within the week.”