A Conspiracy Uncovered

by Lindsay Downs

  “What about Jamison Koker? Did he put up a fight about being arrested?”

  “Yes, according to John. The man totally denied being a member of the Illuminismo. Even when confronted with the evidence, specifically the lapel pin, he continued to say he didn’t know who they were. Getting him convicted is going to be hard so we are going to have to help John Wentworth and the federal prosecutor dig up the proof. Any ideas?” Edward said.

  “Yes, I might. The same way we found the other five men. The video tapes but this time focus on events on the east coast. After all, isn’t that were he is from even though born here?”

  “That’s an excellent idea. How can we narrow down the search?”

  I leaned back in the chair then dropped my head cupping my chin in my hand. Like what mom would do when she was thinking and didn’t want to be disturbed. After a few minutes I sat up straight.

  “Koker has to have a driver’s license, right? We need to find out where that was issued. Chances are he never strayed too far from home.”

  While Edward put a call into Agent Wentworth, I headed to the kitchen to find my wife. As expected, she was helping the other wives and Alice preparing lunch. Instead of hanging around I went back to the office. Dad and Thomas had joined us.

  “Okay, John says Koker’s license is from Virginia, Richmond, to be specific.”

  “Then I would suggest we get news footage for the last ten years from there.”

  “That shouldn’t be too hard since one of the reporters moved there from here a few years back. I knew him so I’ll call and ask if we can borrow the tapes specifically any parties or events the rich would have attended,” Thomas said.

  “Go ahead. Have him overnight the videos to us. Tell him we will reimburse him for the shipping,” Dad suggested.

  “That brings up another very important point. Edward, how long does the federal prosecutor have before Koker has to be released? If that happens, we may never find him again. The group he’s part of is very good at making or helping an individual disappear.”

  “This is just a guess, but I’d say by Monday.”

  “Edward, June and I can take the jet and be back tonight. That will give us more time to review them.”

  “Get ahold of your friend and have him meet you at the airport with the tapes.”

  While Thomas made the call and was told that wouldn’t be a problem, I went to let his wife know they were going to be flying to Virginia and back. When I got back to the office, he was on the phone to the hanger manager at the Santa Monica Airport to get the plane ready. I gave him a thumbs up.

  “Since the kids will be walking over when they get here, I’ll tell them they get to spend another night with us. You know they will be thrilled,” Mom said.

  Once Thomas and June headed for the airport, I mentally crossed my fingers that we would be able to locate footage of Koker at some event wearing the pin and talking with another member of the group.

  “Junior, Jamison Koker is about forty-five years old. That would have put him at twenty-five in 1963. Do you think there might be a picture or article mentioning him in The New York Times?” Dad asked.

  “There is a possibility you could be right. So far, we’ve gone through about half of the microfilm identifying individuals by the pin. We should keep going in the off chance he was photographed someplace. I’ll start in after lunch,” I replied.

  “While you and Nancy do that, we can continue with the video footage since we still have them,” Edward suggested.

  “Let’s not have Walter become involved or even know what we are doing. The man is finally looking forward and appears to be the most relaxed since my wife and I first met him.”

  “You do have a point, Junior. What would you suggest we say if he asks why we are continuing?”

  “We tell him we want to be sure about the men. If he pushes, which I doubt, we tell him the truth.”

  “Alright. Any idea if he will be looking at houses tomorrow as well?” Edward inquired.

  “Most likely but I can’t be sure. This afternoon when he gets back, I’ll ask.”

  “Okay.”

  Nancy and I continued with the microfilm while the others would get bored watching the film footage. This time, unlike the first go-through, we were searching for a specific person. Jamison Koker. That, I hope, will make going through the microfilm faster. Maybe later we might see about borrowing them and the equipment to hunt down other members but not now.

  As with last time Nancy and I would switch after finishing a roll. I was about halfway through the third strip when I saw a picture of Koker at an event in Washington. He looked to be about the projected age of twenty-five. On his lapel the group’s pin. I looked at the date. June 23, 1964. The party was another fundraiser for a politician. On a piece of paper, I wrote the date and page number.

  “You found him?”

  “Sure did.”

  I filled her in on what the event was and where.

  “Even though we have one we need to find more of him in the hopes of being sure where he lives. That will also be near to his work, which we have no idea what he does.”

  “Good point. Let me take over.”

  “I’ve got three more pages then you can.”

  I didn’t find any more until the last page of the June 28, 1964 edition. What made this one so interesting, not the location but who Koker was talking to.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  After showing the picture to my wife the film went straight into my pants pocket.

  “Whatever you do don’t tell anyone about this. We need to do a little research first.”

  “Okay, but if we take into consideration the date on the newspaper he was up north digging for gold at the Little Squaw and Mikado Mine.”

  “No kidding but there is one person we need to confide in. Special Agent John Wentworth. Only because we need to have someone check in and around that area for a body.”

  “You’re right about that. The big question, what do we do if he turns out to be not who he says he is?”

  “Have him arrested. That is the only thing we can do. When we talk to John, we shouldn’t do that here but either at his office or the agency’s. That is the only way to limit the number of people knowing what we found.”

  “I agree. Since we teach Monday morning, we can go over to the Federal Building afterward. But first, we need to get a print of the picture you found. That way we will have the proof for John.”

  The phone rang so I picked up the handset.

  “Dean & Dean Detective Agency.”

  “Junior, good. Can you and Nancy come over to the Federal Building. Your security clearances have come through. After signing a few forms and getting your pictures taken I can hand over your credentials and explain when you can and can’t use them.”

  “Sure, we can meet you in the lobby in about forty-five minutes.”

  I hung up, told my wife why we were going to see John then informed the others. This time we took Nancy’s car because I thought we’d stop at a dealer so I could start looking for a more modern vehicle.

  When we got to the Federal Building, we were met by John Wentworth.

  “Nancy and I need to speak with you in private, over and above the reason you asked us to stop by.”

  “Can you give me a hint what you want to discuss?”

  I took the roll of microfilm from my pocket. “A picture we found on this.”

  “Come on upstairs. We have a reader printer.”

  We took the elevator to the third floor then went to his office. In the corner was the machine he’d mentioned. He held his hand out.

  “You want the last frame,” I said.

  “Thanks.”

  In a few minutes John was staring, wide-eyed, at the print. I told him Nancy and I had the same reaction when we saw the two men talking.

  “Alice contacted a person she knows in Australia, but we haven’t heard back yet.”

  “Okay. We can contact the military through our
embassy to get a set of his fingerprints and have them faxed to us.”

  “Is there any way to find out if he has a twin? If so, that might explain who’s in the photograph. According to Walter at this time he was supposed to be in Alaska digging for gold.”

  “Were you able to corroborate that?”

  “No. We had no way to. He worked at the Little Squaw and Mikado Mine.”

  “Good, that’s something at least. I’ll have an agent from the Anchorage Field Office go over and find out if he can dig up any piece of evidence Walter was there. Now, let’s get the paperwork signed and your pictures taken.”

  With the forms taken care of and our headshots inserted on the identification cards, John handed over our credentials.

  “We can only use these when directed by you or another agent. Right?”

  “Yes, you are. When in doubt ask Edward. By the way, does he know about what you found?”

  “No, we wanted you to see the picture first. We also have to be careful that Walter doesn’t know about the photograph.”

  “I understand but knowing your family as I do you can trust them not to say anything or even hint to him about what you found. When I get reports back, I’ll call and speak only to either of you.”

  “We appreciate that. We’ll then fill the others in. We are going to head home. Talk to you later.” We returned to the lobby where we shook hands.

  Nancy and I walked out to her car while still looking around for danger. Namely in the form of an individual from the Illuminismo wanting to murder us for what information we know. Driving home, we went past a Chevy dealership, so I decided to pull in.

  “Looking to replace the Packard?” Nancy said.

  “Yes, possibly the same model you have but a different color.”

  “That’s a good idea, about the car that is.”

  Forty-five minutes later I pulled out of the dealership in my green Chevy Camaro and followed my wife home since her car had the electric gate opener.

  When we got to the compound we went to the main house to fill everyone in about what we had told John. That is if Walter hasn’t returned. We walked in and got lucky, he’d called and told Edward he wouldn’t be back until dinner.

  “Do you think he might have found a house?”

  “That would be our guess and he needs to take care of the paperwork. He’s probably paying cash also,” Edward replied, then added. “All set with the FBI?”

  We showed him our credentials.

  “But that’s not the only reason we went in. We learned something about Walter and wanted to speak first with my brother.”

  I took the picture of him talking to Koker out of my jacket pocket and showed Edward. The photograph was passed around to the others. They all had the same reaction that Nancy, myself and John had. Wide-eyed disbelief.

  “John is going to contact the United States Embassy in Australia and through them get Walter’s fingerprints. Also find out if he, by some miracle, has a twin.”

  “Wouldn’t he know that and would have told you at some point?”

  “Yes, if he knew about the brother. They might have been separated at birth, like your mother and I wanted to do with you and Thomas on many occasions.”

  “That is a very good possibility. What we can’t do is to say anything about this to Walter until we hear back from John.”

  “Son, the picture should stay in the safe but not the case file,” Mom suggested.

  “Good idea.”

  I put the print in an envelope then the safe.

  “Now, Junior, I’m happy that you have finally joined the 1980’s with the car. Good choice,” Alice said.

  “Yeah. We had talked about my choice of vehicle so on the way back from the Federal Building I got that.”

  “At least now you’ll blend in when following someone or on a stakeout.”

  “Son, you’re not going to sell my old car, are you?” Dad asked.

  “Of course not. I’m going to put her in storage either at our house or maybe Benny’s. I haven’t decided.”

  “I’m glad.”

  I answered the phone on the first ring.

  “Junior, I’m sending you a fax.”

  “Okay, John.” I hung up since we didn’t have a separate line for the machine.

  Our fax came to life spitting out a document along with a piece of paper from a fingerprint card. I leaned over and took them.

  December 2, 1983

  Junior,

  This is Walter Johnson’s prints from when he was in the Australian Army. He does have a twin. They were separated at birth. The brother is William. The parents had no choice but to give up one. No reason was given. The onsite agent will follow up with the agency to find out who and where William was adopted.

  As I learn more, I’ll pass the information along to you.

  Hospital records state they both have brown hair and green eyes with no distinguishing marks.

  Special Agent John Wentworth

  “I’ll bet Walter doesn’t even know he has a brother, much less a twin.” I handed Edward the fax.

  “Most likely otherwise he would have said something. We still need to keep this between us.”

  “At least until we hear back from the agent John is sending to the gold mine. If we learn Walter did spend two years there, then we know for certain the man in the paper is his twin. Then we will tell and show him the picture.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Speaking of twins, did you hear from mine yet?”

  “Yes, right before you returned. They picked up the video tapes and are on their way back. If they catch a good tailwind, they should be touching down at around nine pm,” Alice told me.

  I quickly calculated how long the drive from the Santa Monica Airport to here was. An hour.

  “We’re going to head home. Give us a call when Thomas and June get here. We’ll come back and help view the tapes,” I said.

  When we got back to our place, I parked my new car outside but made sure to get the gate opener from the Packard. Walking in I went upstairs and changed into jeans and sweater for comfort then to the kitchen to help with dinner.

  “Good idea. I’m going to put on comfortable clothes as well.”

  “What needs to be done?”

  “The salad.”

  “Not a problem.”

  Walter came home smiling which told me he might not be staying here much longer.

  “Yes, I bought a house about an hour from here. It’s located in the mountains. The area looks a little like my place in Montana. The reason I’m so late, I had to sign all the papers. I take possession tomorrow, so this is my last night here. I’ve enjoyed my stay but now I need to move on and start living my life.”

  “Not to mention get back into making furniture. Have you thought about how to get your tools here?”

  “No, but I’m open for suggestions. I also have the furniture in the house that I would like since they were all made by me.”

  “Is there one person in Lavina who you trust?”

  “The sheriff. Why?”

  “Have him oversee movers to pack up your tools and furniture. What about selling the place?” I told him.

  “My agent here asked the same question. She said she’ll take care of contacting someone in the area to put the house on the market. She’ll make sure I get a fair price.”

  “That’s good. Later we’re going back to the main house to watch some videos and we’d like you to join us in case you spot the lapel pin before we do.”

  “Okay. Besides the house I also need to tell Edward a truck is being brought over for me in the morning.”

  “Right. Otherwise he won’t let the vehicle on the property.”

  And with luck you will see yourself or more precisely, maybe, your brother on the screen.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “As with the earlier videos we watched, if you spot a person who looks familiar tell Edward and he’ll stop the tape so we can get a photo of him or her,” I inst
ructed Walter.

  “Not a problem. What is the time frame for these? Last time they were in the early to mid-60’s?”

  “The last ten years.”

  “Good, that means color. Not that I am complaining about the others but black and white does get boring after a while.”

  “My sentiments exactly. We’re all set up in the living room,” Richard, Sr. announced.

  “And no popcorn,” Maggie specified.

  Which I could understand because the last time we had a family movie night the Persian rug had to be sent to a special cleaner to get the butter stains out. Several padded chairs had been added so we all would be comfortable.

  “As with the last time we’ll watch them by date starting with the oldest. I’m not sure how many we can get through tonight considering we’re starting so late,” Edward explained.

  Sally turned on the VCR. The scene was outside a granite building but there wasn’t any way to tell where. Cars, limousines to be exact, pulled up and disgorged their passengers at the beginning of a red carpet. The men wore tuxedos while the ladies were in evening gowns. Looking around at the family and Walter, as with me, they didn’t recognize anyone.

  Finally, the last vehicle pulled up and out climbed Jamison Koker. Sally paused the recording so a picture could be taken then restarted film. We watched the camera follow him up the carpet and to the door of the building. Now I recognized where the event was taking place. The Watergate Complex.

  “Sally, can you rewind the tape to where he got out? I want to see if Koker is wearing the Illuminismo pin.”

  “I agree with you brother even though we have a photo of him.”

  The scene was replayed until Koker was directly opposite the camera then Sally paused the video. Yes, on his lapel was the pin.

  “Junior, do you think some of the other men were wearing the pin as well?” Thomas said.

  “Possibly but I couldn’t tell, they were walking by quickly.”

  “Sally replay the video again but in slow motion,” Edward requested.

  This time we were better able to see if the men were wearing the pin. Several did which had Sally stopping the VCR so a photo could be taken for later identification by someone other than us. When Koker entered the building, the camera was turned off.