CHAPTER 21
“WE HAVE TO WORK through the evidence,” Ursula told Abe, “and figure out what is really relevant, and what things are just coincidental.”
“There are no coincidences,” Abe protested. "It is all relevant.”
“You know that we don’t have enough for the police.”
“That doesn’t make it less important or real.”
“Well… let’s work on only the sort of evidence the police will accept; how about that?” Ursula suggested.
Abe shrugged grudgingly.
“They should accept it all,” he said.
“Of course… but they are only allowed to use certain kinds of evidence, right? So what do we have that’s indisputable?”
“I wasn’t the inside man,” Abe said.
Ursula grimaced.
“You and I know that, but for the police, it’s not a fact. It’s just a theory. So how do we prove that you were not the inside man?”
“Prove who was.”
“So what evidence have you found to show who was the inside man?”
Abe glanced around the room. He hesitated before speaking.
“At the locker, there are lots of interoffice memos in the files, people who had knowledge that was necessary for the thieves to have.”
“Okay. Does it point to any one person in particular?”
“Anyone with a system log-in could have given them information.”
“Right. But that’s pretty much anyone who worked at the airport. Who had the information that they needed? Or was in the right place? Or you know that they gave information to the thieves, or received a kick-back or something?”
“Someone was on my plane after the heist. No one went out onto the tarmac after the security alarms went off, so it had to be someone who was already on the tarmac.”
“Okay. Who was out of the terminal?”
“The police have a list.”
“And they will have interviewed everyone on that list. Do you know anyone who was out on the tarmac?”
Abe shrugged.
“I’m not sure. When I came in, they said that I was just one of the people who had been unaccounted for. But I really don’t know who was out… mechanics, luggage handlers, for lots of people it’s their job to be out there.”
Ursula nodded.
“Did the thieves need someone outside the hangar?” she questioned. “I thought they just drove through a perimeter fence.”
“They made a hole and drove through,” Abe agreed.
“Then why did someone have to be outside?”
Abe shook his head.
“The perimeter alarm didn’t go off. No one knew they were there, until they reached the plane and the shooting started. There was no fence alarm, so security didn’t know it had been breached. That means that someone disabled the alarm.”
“And can they do that by computer? Or does it have to be done physically, at the fence?”
“You need a code. At the fence.”
“Okay. So it wasn’t just someone who let them log into the computers, or who told them when the shipment was,” Ursula said slowly. “It had to be someone who physically disabled the fence alarm, from out on the tarmac.”
Abe nodded in agreement. His eyes were getting heavy. He blinked several times.
“Who knows those security codes?” Ursula questioned. "They’re not the same codes as the security doors inside the airport, are they?”
“No. Only security is supposed to know them.”
“So we know we’re looking for a security guard.”
“No.”
He was drifting off again, but this was important. Ursula shook Abe’s arm to wake him back up, and he tried to prop himself up to stay awake.
“What?”
“We’re looking for a security guard. Someone who knew the fence security code.”
“No. Because they hacked the computer to get it.”
“Who hacked it? Somebody inside the airport?”
Abe sighed. He rubbed his eyes, trying again to sit up a bit further. Ursula adjusted his pillows the best she could.
“Somebody gave the thieves their log-in. Then the thieves used that log-in to hack the system, to find out the security codes, or to change them, or something.”
“How do you know that?” Ursula demanded.
“Things people told me. Interoffice memos. E-mails. It’s in the files.”
“No wonder you’ve got them so worried. Do the police know those details?”
“I don’t know. They don’t talk to me.”
“If someone hacked the system, can’t they tell whose log-in was used?”
“No. Because they covered it back up. Changed records, deleted logs. Everything is too damaged to sort it out now. And even if they figured out whose log-in was used… the inside man could have given them someone else’s log-in.”
“How? How would they know someone else’s password.”
Abe chuckled, and quirked a crooked smile at Ursula.
“Really? People are predictable. They don’t change the default password, even though it’s required. Or they use the same password for everything. If they don’t use the same password for everything, then they have to record it somewhere. People like to use short passwords, so you can shoulder-surf and see what it is. Or they give it to someone else because they need help with something, or want their time card punched when they’re not there. Or give it to IT to fix their computer. Passwords are not secure.”
“This from the guy using 1234 as his phone lock code,” Ursula teased.
Abe looked pained.
“Crispin set that up,” he explained.
Ursula was making rough notes as she tried to unravel the clues that they knew so far. She jotted a couple more lines, and looked again at what she had written, touching a line with the back of her pen.
“So we can’t find out whose login was given to the thieves, and even if we did, it doesn’t prove anything. But the fence code had to be punched physically, from inside the tarmac. That limits who it could have been. It has to be someone who was out on the tarmac.”
“And they didn’t get in until after me,” Abe pointed out.
“How do you know that?” Ursula questioned with a frown, chewing the top of the pen.
“Because they ate the curry.”
“They…?” Ursula trailed off, trying to remember what Abe had said before. “They sat on your plane and ate curry after you left the plane to go back into the hangar.”
Abe nodded.
“So they didn’t return until after I did. I was only one of the people that was unaccounted for. It had to be someone who was not accounted for until after I got in.”
“And do we know who that was?”
“The police have the lists. I know a few people who got in after I did, just from chatter. But nothing official.”
“Right.”
Ursula frowned. Abe looked at her through lowered lids.
“What?” he questioned. “What did you figure out?”
“You were worried about Dennis. Because he made comments about the curry.”
Abe nodded.
“He could only know about it if he was the one who was on the plane,” he said with a grimace. “I always thought he was my friend.”
“But didn’t you tell me that Dennis was there ahead of you? When the police brought you in, wasn’t he already there?”
Abe’s eyes snapped open.
“Yes!” he agreed, his voice excited, the weariness gone. "He was already in the bull-pen. Ahead of me. It wasn’t him!”
Ursula allowed herself to smile. She was glad that it couldn’t be Dennis. Dennis was a good family friend, and she couldn’t imagine that he would have been caught up in something like this.
“So then, how did he know how good the curry was?” Ursula asked.
“Because someone else told him,” Abe suggested.
“We need to find out who that was.”
Dennis looked up at Ursula
’s approach, smiling as always. He gestured to the visitor’s chair by his desk.
“Hey Urs,” he greeted. "How is Abe doing?”
Ursula wasn’t sure how much Dennis knew about the situation. Did he know that Dennis had been shot? Or just that he hadn’t been showing up to work because he was off his meds?
“About the same,” she said vaguely.
“Well, I hope he gets better quickly,” Dennis said sincerely.
“It’s going to be a long go,” Ursula said.
“I suppose so.”
Dennis shifted his position, looking a bit uncomfortable.
“So how can I help you, Ursula?” he questioned.
“I don’t really know what to say… I guess you know Abe has been… trying to figure out the jewel heist… who the inside man was, and everything.”
Dennis nodded.
“We’d all like to know. It’s not nice thinking there’s a traitor among us. I’ve tried to get Abe to pull back a bit, though. He’s a little… obsessive about it.”
“Nobody does obsessive quite like Abe. You can’t even imagine all of the material he has collected up until now.”
“I bet. So what does this have to do with me?”
“He even thought it might be you, for a while.”
“Me?” Dennis’ brows went up and he leaned forward. "Why would he think I was involved?”
“He notices little things, details you might not think he would.”
“Sure. He’s paranoid. And delusional if he thinks I had anything to do with the heist!”
“Not anymore. But he did.”
“Why? What ‘little thing’ made him think I was the inside man?”
“When I came over that day, and Abe made me lunch on the plane. And you came in to have some curry too.”
Dennis shook his head.
“What? Why?”
“Because you were talking about how good the curry was, but you hadn’t ever had the opportunity to eat any before.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Only one other person had tasted the curry, other than Abe, before that. Only one other person knew how good it was.”
“Why does that make me a suspect?”
“Because the only other person that had tasted it snuck on board the plane after Abe left the tarmac the day of the heist.”
“Snuck on board?” Dennis repeated. “Why would he do that?”
“Somebody was out on the tarmac to disable the security fence alarm. Abe thinks the inside man was the one who got on the plane and ate one of the plates of curry Abe had been making.”
“Why?”
Ursula shook her head.
“I guess they enjoyed sitting there, watching all of the police activity after the heist. Wanted to see the results of their handiwork.”
Dennis sat there for a moment, thinking, a frown creasing his forehead.
“Do you remember who it was that told you how good the curry was?” Ursula questioned softly.
“It was Mike,” Dennis said faintly. “Mike in maintenance.”
“So it wouldn’t have looked suspicious, him being out of the airport.”
“Of course not. He’s in an out of planes all the time. He doesn’t spend a lot of time inside the airport. It wouldn’t have been unusual at all for him to be out there.”
“But it is suspicious, him sitting on Abe’s plane eating the curry, watching the aftermath of the heist.”
Dennis rubbed his forehead.
“I can’t think of why he would do that. Anyone who was out there and saw the heist go down, or who saw all of the police activity out there, they would be scared and want to know what was going on. They wouldn’t just sit down for lunch and watch it happen.”
“Exactly,” Ursula agreed. “That’s the behavior of someone who knows what is going on and is enjoying it.”
“That’s just… bizarre.”
“You wouldn’t have pinned it on Mike?”
“Well, no. I wouldn’t think he had it in him. I mean, he’s great with his hands and all, but planning and directing and operation like that, or hacking the computer or security system, he couldn’t do it.”
“I don’t think he did. He wasn’t the planner or the hacker. He just had to give them a computer login, and turn off the security fence. He could do that, right?”
“Sure. That’s not hard. Man, Ursula, you really think it was him? Mike?”
“I don’t know Mike. But he’s the one who ate the curry, right?”
“Yes.”
“And you can’t think of anything else to explain his behavior.”
“Huh,” Dennis sat back, shaking his head. “That’s just weird, Ursula. So are you going to report it to that Agent Lovett?”
“I will… I’m not sure I’m going to yet, but soon. Once I have things sorted out a bit better, and all of the evidence ready for them. They’re pretty… skeptical of anything that we bring forward.”
“I would guess so,” Dennis agreed. "What you really need is hard evidence, not circumstantial stuff like half-eaten curries.”
Ursula nodded.
“There’s some stuff that Abe has locked up in a safe. I haven’t been able to find out what’s in it yet. But it’s more than just papers, something in there rattles.”
Dennis’ eyes narrowed.
“Rattles?”
“Like gemstones. I’m sure that’s not what it is, but that’s what it sounds like.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Dennis said. "Abe wouldn’t have any gems from the heist, unless he was involved.”
“He’s not involved. But maybe… maybe he found somebody’s stash or something. Maybe there were still some hidden here, or dropped by accident somewhere he searched… or something.”
“The cops would have found anything around here. They had search dogs and everything.”
“Well, I don’t know what’s in there. Like I said, I can only guess.”
“What does Abe say? Didn’t you ask him?”
Ursula sighed.
“He won’t tell me. I guess… because of the paranoia. He thinks that I’ll take it, or show it to someone, or something. He says it’s important, but he won’t show it to anyone until we have all the proof that we need to convince the police.”
Dennis nodded.
“But you know you’re never going to have enough evidence, right? He’s just going to keep collecting, and collecting, and collecting. Everything will be evidence, one way or another. He’ll just hoard every piece of paper he finds.”
“Well… I’m working on it now. I’ll sort out what’s real evidence and what’s not.”
Dennis raised his eyebrows, shaking his head.
“Well, good luck with that.”
Jesse Cairns handed Ursula a cup of coffee.
“Baxter shouldn’t be too long,” he said. "He knows you’re waiting.”
“Thanks.”
She glanced at Cairns as he watched her. She was familiar with him, he was usually around when she talked to Lovett, but she didn’t really know much about him. He was in the background, taking notes and orders from Lovett.
“You, uh, have you worked with Agent Lovett for long?” Ursula questioned.
“Yeah, we’ve been together for a few years. Have a good rhythm.”
Ursula nodded.
“You seem to work together well. Read each other.”
He smiled slightly and nodded. “Some people you never really get that with, but Baxter and me have a sort of telepathy going. When he looks at me, I know what he wants before he ever says anything. Good quality to have in a partnership; sometimes words can take too long. You need to act right away, without having to sort it out first.”
“Neat,” Ursula said. “Like an old married couple.”
He chuckled lowly.
“Yeah, you could say that,” he agreed. “Like you and Mr. VanRam?”
“Well… technically, we’re not even married anymore.”
He raised h
is eyebrows at this, and Ursula realized it wasn’t something she had shared with them.
“Well… it’s just for convenience,” she said. "For protection, so that he can’t access joint funds, or take off with the kids or something. I had to do something, you know.”
“Sure,” he agreed. "You can’t leave yourself legally exposed that way.”
But she could tell from the glitter of his black eyes that he was filing this information away for future use. Somehow it made a difference to them. Did that mean that she couldn’t deal with them on Abe’s behalf now? That her motives were more suspect? Less?
Lovett came into the room, nodded to Cairns, and pulled out the chair opposite to Ursula.
“I take it you have more information for us?” he questioned.
“I have the name of the inside man.”
“You do.” Lovett’s eyebrows went way up, and he puffed out his breath. “Well,” he continued in a calm, even voice. "Let’s hear it.”
“Michael Briggs.”
“Michael Briggs. Aircraft mechanic. And why do you think he did it?”
Ursula took a deep breath, and tried to coherently explain about the timeline, and about the curry on Abe’s plane. Lovett sat back in his chair, studying Ursula intently. He pulled out a mint tin and popped one in his mouth, offering Ursula one silently. She shook her head.
“No, thank you.”
Lovett didn’t say anything for a long time, sucking on the tiny mint and staring off into space. Ursula left him to his mental machinations, trying to be patient.
“We searched the plane,” he said eventually.
Ursula nodded.
“No one made any note of a dish of curry that had been eaten.”
Her heart dropped somewhere into her stomach. Heartburn started to burn at her esophagus.
“But it was,” she insisted. "Abe said when he went back, after the crime scene was opened up again, one of the plates of curry was partially eaten.”
“Where is it? Where’s the proof?”
“He didn’t keep it… he just threw it out.”
“Destruction of evidence is a problem. We can’t use it in court.”
“But it’s enough to question him on, isn’t it? I mean, if Mike told Dennis the curry was good, and he’d never had a chance to taste it at any other time, can’t you ask him about that?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure it would do any good. Other than tipping him off that we were looking at him.”
“Well… I suppose. But will you look at him?”
“What you describe, if it is true and Dennis Mitchell backs it up, is at least suspicious. Michael Briggs has not been eliminated as a suspect, and this moves him up the list a little bit. But it’s not much to go on, Mrs. VanRam. I can’t arrest someone based on this. As I said, even questioning Mr. Briggs based on unfounded accusations would damage our case more than help it.”
Ursula grunted in dissatisfaction.
“Should I have not even bothered to come in?”
“Of course you should. Every little bit of information you can provide… you never know what will be the key. I would demand you give us everything you have, but I’m afraid we’d just drown in Mr. VanRam’s paper. I’ll leave that to you to filter. But things like this… yeah, let us know. It is important, even if it’s not proof. It gives us a direction to look, where to do a bit of digging. I’m sorry I can’t be more positive about it, but we will squeeze every bit of mileage out of it that we can.”
“Okay,” Ursula agreed, slightly mollified. “Thank you. I really need the encouragement right now. Even getting Abe to cooperate fully…”
“He’s holding back?” Lovett suggested.
“Well, he’s paranoid. That doesn’t stop just because I’m his wife,” she caught Cairns’ look, but didn’t modify it to ‘ex-wife’. “Even with me… he has a hard time trusting. He doesn’t tell me everything or give me access to everything.”
“But you don’t think he’s covering up his own involvement.”
“No. I don’t.”
“Okay.”
They were all silent for a few minutes. Ursula shifted to get up.
“This phone call that Abe says he got,” Lovett said suddenly.
“What?”
“The phone call that mentioned Mary Margaret.”
“Oh, yes. What about it?”
“Who was it from?”
“I don’t know. Abe said it was a pocket-dial.”
“No caller I.D.?”
“No, it was blocked.”
“And he didn’t recognize any voices?”
“No, not that he said. I can ask him more about it.”
“When was it?”
“I don’t know the date. If you knew the date, could you trace it? Even though the caller I.D. was blocked?”
“Just because you can’t see that information, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. If we get Mr. VanRam’s permission, we can see who it was that placed that call.”
Ursula’s arm hairs suddenly stood up with goose bumps. She rubbed her arms, trying to brush them away.
“That would really help, wouldn’t it?” she said.
“It might help us pinpoint who hired Mary Margaret. And that could help unravel everything. But one thing concerns me if this was a real call, and not just something that he imagined.”
“What’s that?”
“For someone to pocket dial you, they have to have your number on speed dial or favorites. Or recent calls. Random number pocket dials… well, if it was a random number, then the name Mary Margaret is quite the coincidence, isn’t it?”
“You mean that someone he knows hired the jewel thieves.”
“Not just someone he knows. Someone quite close to him.”
Ursula wriggled uncomfortably in her chair. That wasn’t a nice idea. But it made sense. And if it was someone close to them, someone close like Dennis, then it made sense that they knew so much about Abe and his habits, where he lived, his family, and how close he was getting to the thieves. Someone close to them, who was watching them, paying attention to what was going on.
Lovett watched these ideas chase over Ursula’s face.
“Who?” he asked softly.
Ursula tried to shrug off the feeling.
“Nobody. Abe thought maybe Dennis at one point, but Dennis was in the airport, not outside. He was in the bull pen ahead of Abe.”
“There’s no one else?” he pressed.
“Well… no. It doesn’t make sense. It’s too far-fetched.”
Lovett just waited, and the silence grew. Ursula knew she had to tell Lovett what she knew. Or suspected.
“My daughter is dating this fellow,” she said slowly. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“What is it about him that makes you worried?”
“Well, Abe’s been para- suspicious of him from the start. He thinks Theo is intentionally hurting Juneau.”
“Hurting her how? He’s abusive?”
“No, he’s always gentle around her. But Juneau has very severe allergies. She’s had several life-threatening reactions around Theo, and Abe… Abe thinks Theo is triggering her on purpose, or something.”
Lovett nodded.
“That would make sense to a paranoid schizophrenic,” he said. “It’s an easy leap to make. Is there anything that makes you think it could be true?”
“Well, that’s not the only thing.”
“What else?”
“He drives a delivery van, and Abe always thinks that Theo is following him or watching him. Whenever he sees a delivery van of any kind. It doesn’t even have to be the same company.”
“It’s a common delusion among paranoiacs. And even just conspiracy theorists.”
“And Theo gave Juneau a ring. He called it a promise ring, since she’s too young to get married yet. But it was obviously made to be an engagement ring. And… the stone is huge. Honestly, I’ve never seen one that big.”
“And you’re sure it’s not a z
ircon?”
“No, of course I’m not sure. I asked him if it was, and he denied it, said it was real. But that could be a lie. It looks high quality, but I’m no expert.”
Lovett nodded, rubbing his chin.
“And he doesn’t normally have a lot of money?”
“No. I mean… he’s a delivery driver. They don’t make that kind of money. The guideline for how much to spend on an engagement ring - and it’s only supposed to be a promise ring - is two months’ salary. A delivery driver’s salary isn’t that big. There’s no way.”
“Did he say where he got the money to buy such an expensive ring?”
“No, I don’t think so… just that he came into money or something vague like that.” Ursula wrinkled her forehead. "You don’t think he is really connected, do you?”
“Well, I’m interested enough to look him up. What’s his name?”
“Theo Rottman. I don’t really know anything about him. He’s older than Juneau, early twenties. A nice looking boy, brown hair, brown eyes, open face. Very charming.”
Lovett and Cairns were both writing in their notepads.
“Great. We’ll check into him. You never know, he could be connected, and Juneau was just an easy way to hang around and keep track of what was going on. Giving away expensive jewelry beyond his pay grade… we like to keep up on these things. You never know where the money might have come from.”
“I mean, for all I know, he had a grandma that died or something.”
“But he didn’t say so.”
“No. No, I’m pretty sure he didn’t say anything about where the money came from.”
“No problem. We’ll see if there’s anything suspicious.”
Ursula usually looked forward to meeting with Eleena for lunch or a drink. But she’d been dreading this meeting, knowing that she was in for a lecture from her girlfriend. They exchanged smiles, greetings, and air kisses, and sat down at the bar. Ursula usually stuck with an iced tea or spritzer, but this time she ordered a glass of wine. She was going to need the fortification if she was going to get through this visit.
“So what’s been going on?” Eleena questioned. "I thought you got rid of him, and now what, you’re back together again?”
Ursula hesitated, trying to figure out how to explain the situation.
“We’re not exactly back together,” she said. “We’re still divorced…”
“But he gets himself shot, and that’s it, you’re back taking care of him again.”
“Well, yes,” Ursula agreed. “Who else is going to take care of him? He’s the father of my children, Eleena, even if he isn’t my husband any more. I still lo- care about him deeply. You can’t just turn that off.”
“You know that he put your children at risk, put them in danger. I told you that was going to happen. But now that doesn’t matter, he gets himself shot, and you’re right back in his life again.”
“He’s not a danger to the kids lying in a hospital bed.”
Eleena studied Ursula.
“What’s going on that you’re not telling me?” she questioned. “Going back to him is bad enough. What else?”
Ursula looked up at the ceiling. Her eyes were tearing up, and she tried to keep them under control.
“Eleena… I believe him.”
“What do you mean you believe him?” the words came out of Eleena’s mouth with a screech, making people turn and look at her. “You believe him,” Eleena repeated, lowering her voice. "You believe what? His paranoia?”
Ursula nodded.
“Yes, I believe that someone is trying to kill him. Wouldn’t you believe that? He got shot three times in the chest!”
“I wouldn’t go back to him, and I wouldn’t help him, and I wouldn’t believe a word of his hallucinations. I was so glad when you finally got some sense and kicked him out and got him away from the kids. Well, a lot of good that did. Now you’re right back in the middle again.”
Ursula took a deep breath, and another swallow of her drink.
“This is hard enough without your judgment,” she said.
“I’m not judging you, Urs… well, maybe I am. You’re right. I should mind my own business and be supportive instead of getting after you. I just hate to see you ruining your life like this. Banking on him telling you anything worthwhile, chasing down his phantoms… it’s just not going to get you anywhere, you know?”
“Maybe not. Maybe it is just a wild goose chase. But I have to try.”