A Conspiracy Uncovered

by Lindsay Downs

  “You’re right about wanting to be able to trust who you hire. If we can break one that might be a start.”

  “The only problem with that, something tells me you won’t be able to.”

  “We might not have to go after them. What about the doctor who initially treated Walter? If anything, he’s a weak link. If Arron Hardy can get the original chart, we’ll have a name.”

  “Then I can have the agent from the Billings field office pick him up on falsifying medical records.”

  “How about intentionally endangering a federal witness?” I suggested.

  “Even better.”

  The phone rang and John took the call. He listened to the speaker then gave me the handset.

  “Yes?”

  “Junior, we have the name of the doctor in Roundup. He’s James Wallace. Can John have him arrested on some charge,”

  “He sure can. We’re about finished here then back to the house. What’s the word on Walter?”

  “Cancer free.”

  “Great.” I hung up.

  “James Wallace is the doctor. He works at the Roundup Memorial Hospital.”

  “Okay.”

  From the overflowing, with papers, bookcase behind him John dug out a phone directory and flipped through the pages until he found the one he wanted. He called the Billings, Montana field office and instructed the agent to go to the Roundup Medical Center and arrest the doctor on a federal murder charge. Then, with an agent fly him to Los Angeles.

  “You’ll have the warrant when you get back to the office and before leaving for here.”

  He made another call. This time, I knew, to Judge Milton so she can sign the warrant.

  “I can see you’re busy. We’re heading out. Don’t forget to stop by later.”

  “Yes, you’re right and I will.”

  Driving out to the house I thought back to the arraignment and how easily Attorney Milton and John’s word had been accepted. And with luck we will have a lead on one of the members of this organization.

  “Richard, do you think the agent in Montana will find the doctor?”

  “I’m not sure but let’s hope they do and he’s alive. The way these unknown people behave they wouldn’t think twice about killing him.”

  “No kidding. At least this time I trust the doctor’s diagnosis and Walter will live to a ripe old age.”

  “If the people trying to silence him don’t get to Walter first. What still has me confused, how easily Attorney Milton had accepted the so-called case?” Nancy said.

  “In a little while we’ll find out. One thing I do know, they have never met before. John could have mentioned us and as Steve said, his family is grateful for what Dad did years ago.”

  “That has to be the reason. Also, why the judge didn’t push John too hard when she questioned him.”

  “I hope none of this comes back to bite either of them in the butt. Walter should be at the main house.”

  Parking the car Nancy and I walked in, bringing the papers and tapes with us. Laughter coming from the office told us where everyone was. Even Mom and Dad were in the room.

  “Before you say anything, I called Steve Milton to see if he’d take the sort of case. I barely finished talking when he said yes, and his sister would be the arraigning judge. That’s when I knew Walter would be safe. That’s all I know,” Dad told us.

  “Everything worked out as planned. You should have seen John on the witness stand. He didn’t blink an eye when Judge Milton questioned him. By the way, the eight men are remanded until the trial and the doctor is about to be arrested then brought here.”

  When Dad mentioned Steve Milton’s name, I thought I noticed Walter try to hide a smile which had me wondering why, since as far as I knew, they had never met. Soon we’d find out.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Since part of the case has been solved prudence dictated that everything Walter had given us should remain in the safe at the main house. I was relieved when everyone, except Alice who wasn’t here, agreed with me. With all the tapes and our notes locked away all we had to do now was try to figure out who was behind the assassination of President Kennedy.

  “Where’s our sister? I thought she would be here?” I asked.

  Dad said she’d gotten up before the sun and borrowed Sally’s car and drove to the Watson Street office. What I couldn’t understand was why? He told me she’d said something about time changes and needed to contact people in Great Britain and the continent. I had always known when given a job Alice was like a dog with a meaty bone. She’d work around the clock if needed until she got the answers she was looking for. I’m guessing in this insistence the name of the group who had hired Walter.

  “I’m guessing Alice might have heard a little chatter about some super-secret organization when she was working for the State Department. She has probably locked herself in my office, which I don’t mind, so she won’t be disturbed. That way she can make the necessary calls.”

  “Once she gets the answers, she’ll look for confirmation then she’ll be back?” I replied.

  “Let’s hope today to go along with the two excellent pieces of news. Walter, you’re cancer free and this unknown group of people think you’re dead,” Nancy told him.

  “That is true. I wonder if I will get a choice where I can live, or will I have to go where the authorities tell me?”

  “Nancy and I invited John over so you can ask him then. Have you thought what you’ll do for a living? Or will you continue making furniture?”

  “I would like to continue in the same line of work. I find doing so is relaxing. When you take into consideration that I have been making reproductions of some of the most famous pieces of furnishings for over fifteen years learning a new trade might be difficult.”

  “Can you do a Louis XIV desk?”

  “Yes, but considering the style of this house, that of an English manor, an Edwardian desk would be a much better choice. I have made several. I would need about three months and the price would be in the vicinity of ten-thousand dollars.”

  “Then I hope you can continue with your business because I will be your first customer.”

  “Thank you. I do appreciate the patronage.”

  I happened to glance out the office window and saw Sally’s car coming up the drive. Maybe we’ll get the answer to the question. What is the organization’s name and purpose? That is other than assassinating people. Behind her I spotted John’s vehicle and one I didn’t recognize which had to be Steve Milton’s otherwise either my sister or agent wouldn’t have let him onto the property.

  Except for Mom and Dad, we all went out to meet our guests.

  When Alice got out, she was smiling brightly enough to light up a pitch-black room. John and Steve walked up together. Since Nancy and I were the only ones who had met Attorney Milton I handled the introductions.

  “Steve, let’s start with your client. This is Walter Johnson.”

  “So, I finally meet the creator of a few pieces of furniture you made for my parents. This is truly a pleasure,” Steve said. The two men shook hands.

  “Thank you and I feel the same way.”

  Looking at the others they were as surprised as I was at what he said, which had me wondering when and where FBI Special Agent John Milton and Walter had met. I decided to save that question for later. I finished the introductions and we all went inside to the office.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, to answer your question of how I know Walter as a client, so to speak. While I was at law school here Dad was transferred to the Billings, Montana field office for six months before coming home. While there my mother went to a home show were Walter was exhibiting some of his pieces.”

  “I knew being out in public was a risk, but I had grown a beard and used a fake name to protect myself. She asked me to make a Japanese screen which I did. When I learned her husband was an FBI special agent, I gave him my real name knowing he wouldn’t be able to find out anything about me. I am guessing becaus
e of the people who had hired me. Over the years I made several more pieces for them. They included a chest with drawers and a side table for the dining room.”

  “As my father was transferred to different posts the items remained at our home here. That’s one of several reasons my parents decided to make LA their final post and he’s retiring at the end of this year.”

  “I do appreciate you taking on my case. What was the outcome in court?”

  “My sister, the federal judge, tacked on a murder charge to the others. For obvious reasons you won’t be testifying.”

  “All we have to do is come up with a body, yours Walter, showing the gunshot to the head. Don’t worry, I’ve already taken care of that. I have a movie makeup artist already lined up. Tomorrow morning we’ll handle the photographs along with the requisite autopsy.”

  “But, how can you do all of that?”

  “Walter, soon after Maggie and I married we had a case where one of the suspects was an actress. To make a long story short, she and our head of security at the time got married. One of their children became an actor while another a director and the third went into makeup. Of course, June can do the necessary maquillage as well but not this time because of the bullet hole.”

  “You and the agency really do have a lot of different connections.”

  “Both here and in Europe. That was why I wanted to go into the office. I was able to learn the name of the organization who hired Walter.”

  “Well, are you going to keep us in suspense?”

  “They are called Illuminismo. That means Enlightenment. The scary thing about them, they’ve been around for about four hundred years. They have been behind almost every major political or religious upheaval ever since they were founded.”

  “You mean like the American and French Revolutions, the American and English Civil Wars, even the downfall of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II?” I said.

  “That’s just a few of them. These people are all over the world but have a central council who listens to a chapter’s proposal then says yea or nay.”

  “How were you able to find out about them?” Edward asked.

  “If you were thinking the State Department you would have been partially correct. Through a connection in Italy I was able to learn their name and what they do but that’s all. As for who the members are, there’s no way of learning that since there’s nothing written down. Everything is word of mouth.”

  “John, do you think that’s how Dr. Wallace knew about Walter and contacted someone who then sent a hit team after him?”

  “Most likely and that shows us how deep and widespread this organization is. Now, I don’t blame you for limiting the number of people who know about him,” John explained.

  “Alice were you able to learn what types of people are members?” Mother asked.

  “Not specifically, only that if a person wants to see change of some kind these individuals learn of your desire and approach you. To facilitate that they search for people who might be willing to handle a specific job. In your case, Walter, assassinate President Kennedy. Then, once the task is completed the Illuminismo remove the people so they can’t come forward later and tell the authorities what they did.”

  Hearing what she was saying got me thinking about a few other assassinations. In particularly Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968 and Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968? As with President Kennedy the shooter, or so the world was made to believed, had been captured as were James Earl Ray and Sirhan Bishara Sirhan. I asked Alice if she thought those were the work of the Illuminismo?

  “I would have to say yes and because of their mistakes, the shooters got caught, the planners never lived to talk about their mistakes.” Alice

  “Alice, hypothetical question, could those individuals have been eliminated in the same cities where the shootings occurred? Memphis for Martin Luther King and here in LA for Robert Kennedy? The reason I’m asking is because in the case of John Kennedy three of the participants died under mysterious circumstances in three different countries. I have received word the bodies have been exhumed and are being returned here for autopsies.”

  “For the members of the Illuminismo I don’t believe failure is an option. So yes, they would have been killed or made to disappear. Why?”

  “If that’s the case then I can do a search for mysterious deaths in both cities after those dates to find out if there’s a pattern. As you all know, except maybe Walter, that’s how we sometimes can catch the criminal, which is exactly what this group is,” John explained.

  “That’s worth a shot, no pun intended,” Alice replied.

  “Okay, if I understand you, Alice, these people are behind all the major events in the world since around the 1500’s. Assassinations. Wars. Even elections or coups. Right?”

  “You are. The problem is, there are so many members, I’m guessing, there’s no way to take them all down. The good news, I have several contacts from Europe to the Far East looking into them. Their goal, besides staying alive, is to find the most important people. When they do, that information will be passed along to Interpol. Speaking of them, they’ve barely heard of the Illuminismo and what their hands are in until I told them.”

  “Daughter, in your educated opinion is there any way to bring them down or have they been around so long they’re well insulated?”

  “There might be. If two or three of the key leaders can be identified, then we might be able to. Doing that is a long shot though.”

  “What would you say if I told you we have put a name to one of the six men who visited Walter and his team at the deserted army base in Texas?”

  “And we are going to be looking through old newspapers to put names to two more.”

  “Then you’re on the right track. Who?”

  “Jeffrey Timon. He was involved in a Ponzi scheme ten years ago. The FBI was closing in on him when he committed suicide. That reminds me, I’ve got the evidence box and case file in the car. Let me go get them.”

  “Before you go, he didn’t kill himself but was murdered and made to look like he did. From what I’ve learned so far, the Illuminismo would not tolerate that kind of behavior,” Alice said.

  “Junior, while I get the stuff why don’t you dig out the other photographs.”

  I went over to the safe, got the manila envelope and found the two pictures then gave them to my sister. She studied them then reached for the magnifying glass on Edward’s desk. John returned.

  “This is everything that was on him when Timon’s body was found.”

  Alice investigated the contents of box. “Can I see that?” She then took the evidence bag in her hand.

  Carefully she examined a small cloisonné pin then the photograph again.

  Alice pointed to the lapel in the photo of the man then set the evidence bag down beside the picture. The pin was a disembodied hand holding the tipped scale of justice.

  “Yes. Now we have a way to identify them because of their ego. They have to always wear that pin,” I informed everyone. I then showed them what Alice had found.

  “I suspect only when they are wearing a suit or sport coat as the men in these pictures are,” Nancy added.

  Even without the names of the two men we are now one step closer to identifying them. That brought up another question.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Alice, from what little you know of this group are women followers ? If so, would membership pass from father or mother to the children?”

  “Considering when and where the Illuminismo was founded I don’t think so but that’s not saying considering the world we live in now anything is possible. As for membership being passed to the children that would be very improbable but not impossible.”

  “I would suggest for the time being we only worry about the individuals we know of. That being the men in the photos,” John recommended.

  For me, at least, that makes a great deal of sense. What I do find curious, to the best of my knowledge, no one in the histor
y department, including me, had ever heard of the group. Not even a whisper. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We need to put names to the faces of the ones we have identified.

  “Folks, I’m going into the university and get the microfilm. With luck they will let me borrow a reader as well.”

  “If not, we have one at the Federal Building you can bring here.”

  “While you do that, Edward, do you mind if I interview my client?” Steve Milton inquired.

  “Sure. If you want to you can use the library for privacy?”

  “Thanks, we will.”

  Nancy and I headed to the university library after calling to make sure we could take the film with us. They even offered the use of the reader which I told John so he wouldn’t have to bring the bureau’s out.

  An hour and a half later we returned and set the equipment up in the office so everyone could help. We started with the roll dated January 1960. Beside the machine were the two pictures. By the time we got to August neither Nancy nor I had spotted the men until the obit page. I found not the one we were searching for but a picture of a man wearing the pin. Jason Benson and he had made his money in steel. At least now we know another name which might help in finding more of them.

  I showed the story to Nancy then Alice and wrote down his address. He had left a wife and three grown children. This information I’d pass along to John so he can have them investigated in case the men belong to the Illuminismo.

  “Junior, let me take over for a little while. You’ve been staring at the screen for an hour.”

  “Let me finish this one then you can. I’m just about at the end of the December 1960 film,” I replied. “Wait, I think I found one of the men.”

  Picking up one of the pictures I carefully examined the photo then the person on the projector screen. They were one and the same. Reading the caption, I got a name. Jonathan Benson. Because of the last name, I doublechecked my notes from the obit. He was the son of the late Jason Benson. The picture was taken at a fund raiser for a humanitarian organization. Talk about hypocrisy.