Chapter 16
Detective Spencer was seated at his desk looking over the Williams’s file. The swivel chair he sat in was older than he was and it showed. The lights in the office were flickering again. An ash tray sat on the corner of his desk, next to his elbow.
Larry Spencer started to wonder if he could get the lights fixed today and then quickly realized that it was a hopeless dream. Things don’t work like that in the city.
The unions have their way of doing things and only big money ever changes that. He didn’t have that kind of spare cash on his salary. No one around here did as far as he could tell, so the lights just had kept blinking on and off for months.
A tall, lean, man walked into the office. He had a small spot on his jacket from lunch. “Hey boss, Chad and his wife are on their way to La Guardia. What’s our next move?” “Well Richard, here’s what were going to do.”
Richard Ames had been married for ten years and had a six year old daughter. He had gone to Columbia on a wrestling scholarship. He worked hard at his studies and did very well. He graduated in the top third of his Criminology courses. His wife was now a stay at home wife and mom.
Detective Spencer had been married once, but that had fallen apart years ago. The hours often needed at work kill those marriages not destined to survive. Larry’s daughter had been six once, a very long time ago. She had gone to Columbia as well. He didn’t see much of her anymore since the divorce, sadly.
Detective Spencer looked up with a smile. “I’ll alert Interpol about Chad’s flight in London and their Kigali Rwanda office as well.” “Aren’t we gonna arrest them before they leave the country?”
“No Ames, we know where they’re going and when they’re coming back. The wife isn’t mixed up in this as far as we can tell, so let them have a great honeymoon and then will step in when they arrive back here. Between the time change and the vacation, they’ll be easy prey when they arrive back home. Maybe by then some of Chad’s secrets will have slipped out. Maybe the wife will tell us what she might know after the trip with just the right amount of pressure applied.
We’ll use this time that they are away to question all those around him at work and in his social network. We’ll approach his parents, as well. Surely they don’t want to spend their golden years in the slam. Chad will be in the middle of the Serengeti on safari and out of reach of everyone who might try to give him a heads up. There is a method to my madness here, Ames.”
“I see sir, but it’s too bad we can’t just grab him now and get it over with.” “We could, but we need to get our ducks in a row. There’s a lot more info to gather and while he’s gone will be the perfect opportunity for us to do that. He’ll be out of reach and if we do this thing right we can make this investigation look like it’s just a simple matter over one client and not about their whole business model.”
“I guess your right sir, but this has been a long investigation and the team is looking forward to some arrests soon. Some of the guys are getting frustrated.”
“All of us are Richard, but this investigation has to be done right to make it stick. These are crafty fellows we’re dealing with here and they have the best attorneys in town working for them. It’s not going to be easy to get convictions on all the charges so we have to make sure we have done everything we can to make them stand up in court.
There are hundreds of victims and millions of dollars at stake. We might get some of the spoils back if we do this thing correctly.”
Spencer’s phone rang and he pulled his cigarette from his mouth, laid it in the ash tray and picked it up. Ames looked at him intently, as he listened. “Hello. Yes, I know. Yes, I’m glad to hear that. That’s what we wanted. Yes, thanks so much.”
Detective Spencer looked up from his desk and into the eyes of Richard Ames.
“Chad’s brother’s attorney has just reached out to us. He took the bait. Tommy wants to come in for an informal meeting to discuss a few things along with his attorney.”
“Chad isn’t even on the plane yet. Why did this happen all of a sudden?”
“We put a little bug in someone’s ear and they listened to that small voice of reason. This might be the big break we’ve been waiting for. His brother must know what’s going on. He’s right in the middle of all of it.”
“Maybe we can get him to do a plea deal?” “That’s the plan Ames, divide and conquer. Just like the big boys have done throughout history.”
More in a few days.
I’m off to Palm Springs for a little R and R or tennis and dinner out.
Don’t forget to have a look at my new Facebook page at Cowboyproductions52
“Atlanta,” “Sunrise, Sunset” and “Kazu, son of Osheda kamasaki” are still waiting for you on Audible.
More travel photos are going up all the time on TikTok at R.C. Hand22252.