A Price for Balancing the Scales

by W Earl Daniels

  “You mean, to kill someone?” asked Cedric.

  “Yes. We were also told that the mission we were training for would not require more than two or three participants. Those not selected to participate in the mission would return to their home country for more in-depth training. They would leave Germany on a German passport and, upon reporting into their home intelligence agency, their country’s passport would be returned.”

  “Tell us a little about your training,” said Huck.

  “In the mornings, I was to read the books provided on international law. The afternoons were spent in weapons training. Again, the weapons I trained with were provided by Mr. S. Our training schedules were staggered so that we were never together for any training session. According to Mr. S., staggered schedules were for security reason.”

  “Describe a typical training day for you,” said Huck.

  “I would arrive at the suite around nine a.m. The secretary would tell me that Mr. S. had left books on the table in his office and that he wanted me to study the marked passages. I would leave for lunch around noon. On my departure, the secretary would tell me that my afternoon instructions were in the closet in her office. There I would find the name of the firing range I was to go to and the time I was to report. Inside a sealed box was the weapon I was to train with. It would be either a pistol or a rifle. Most of the time it was a pistol.”

  “How were you to be compensated?” asked Berger.

  Huck thought, Isn’t that just like an attorney? More interested in the compensation than in how Rouse got himself in this predicament.

  “I was told that it would take about thirty days for me to get onto the agency’s payroll system. I was to keep all receipts for travel, meals, and lodging, and I would be reimbursed when I returned to my home agency. He then jokingly said to me, ‘You do know your agency is located in Northern Virginia?’ He then asked if I needed an advance or if was I OK until the operation was finalized. I told him that I was OK.”

  Carl seemed calmer now. Huck surmised that talking out what had happened was helping him. He asked, “What caused you to leave when you did?”

  “Well,” said Carl, “two days before the training was scheduled to end, I was told that I was not selected to participate in the mission. I was then advised to pick up my airline ticket to Washington and my German passport from the secretary. I was scheduled to depart the first flight to Washington the following morning. After that, everything collapsed and I landed here in jail.”

  Looking first at he attorney and then at Carl, Huck said, “Tell us again why you have not revealed these details before now.”

  “I believed that I was under an oath administered by a duly appointed member of the CIA. Should I reveal any details, there would be very serious legal consequences. Furthermore, I expected that my country, the CIA, or the State Department would intervene and pluck me out of this situation.”

  At that moment, two uniformed policemen knocked on the door and entered. One said, “Gentlemen, your visitation time is over.”

  Huck, Cedric, and Berger stood up to leave. Knowing that he could not make contact with the suspect, Huck raised his hand as a casual salute. “We’ll remain in touch through your attorney. Know that you have done the right thing by sharing with us the details of your predicament.”

  Berger said, “Remember, Mr. Rouse, do not talk to anyone unless I am present. Detectives in this country can be persistent, and they don’t always comply with the letter of the law.”

  Chapter 13

  On the day that Wilhelm Manfred Schultz, a.k.a. Carl Edward Rouse, was arrested in Frankfurt, Mary Bernard Harris, a tall and fairly attractive long-haired brunette strolled aboard a train from Frankfurt to Nuremburg. Upon arrival in Nuremburg, she casually, with a swing in her hips, sauntered aboard a Viking River Cruise boat bound for Budapest, Hungary. Her previous passport reported her to be Lester Henry Storey, a.k.a. Mr. S.

  The other four applicants for the intelligence job immediately departed Frankfurt. The two Caucasians, the Middle Easterner, and the Asian left separately for other countries. One Caucasian drove to Paris, France; the other hopped a train to Calais, Belgium, and then boarded a hovercraft to the shores of England, with a final destination of Dublin, Ireland. The Middle Easterner boarded a nonstop flight from Frankfurt to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the Asian drove to Zurich, Switzerland, where he boarded a flight to Shanghai, China. In those locations, they would await their share of the payment for the elimination of the German politician.

  Just as they separated themselves from one another, Mary Harris separated herself from the money trail by having all payments wired to bank accounts in the Cayman Islands. As Harris reclined in the riverboat lounge, sipped her fine wine; and listened to the playing of soft piano music, her thoughts turned to the operation. She reflected that she’d never had an operation go so easily and so perfectly. The real icing on the cake was the gullible American who had signed on to an unknown job with no real questions and then had taken an oath not to reveal to anyone the nature of the operation without the expectation of going to jail. Now he’d be imprisoned for the rest of his life, wondering whatever happened to the rescue he was promised.

  Harris held her empty glass in the air to signal the barkeep that she was ready for a refill. “Life is good.”

  After assuring Berger that they would keep him informed of the progress they made on the Rouse case, Huck and Cedric decided to return to their hotel to map out a strategy to follow up on some of the leads Rouse had revealed in his unrealistic-sounding story. Curiously, it was so unrealistic that it was believable. Huck wondered, Do we have a case where evidence outweighs the truth? If so, how to we balance the scales?

  Upon entering their hotel room, Huck took a seat at the desk. Cedric fell out on his back, in spread-eagle form, on the sofa. Experience dictated that if Huck didn’t capture on paper all that he’d learned from their interview with Carl, he would forget some key elements of the information.

  From the sofa came Cedric’s voice. “Huck, I feel like I’m beginning to come back to life. I really enjoy this work. The only thing I need to figure out is how to work in the afternoon without a nap.”

  Huck replied, “Yeah, I know what you mean.” He finished jotting down a few notes regarding Rouse’s statement. “I’m ready to discuss our next move. I’m really interested in what Carl said about…” Huck realized that he was talking to himself. From the sofa came the sound of deep snoring. Cedric was down for the count. What the heck? thought Huck. I might as well flop on the bed for a short nap.

  Approximately an hour later, Cedric, in somewhat of a stupor, said, “Hey, Huck. Why didn’t you wake me up? I must have been out for over an hour.”

  Huck stumbled through the door from his bedroom. “In spite of your snoring, I was able to outline a possible course of action for us and to take a little siesta. Are you awake enough to discuss?”

  “I’m all ears.”

  “OK. Here are my ideas. I want you on the first flight back to the States tomorrow morning to meet with your friends at the agency. I’ve written down the things I’d like for you to find out. First, have there been any other cases similar to this one? What I mean by similar is have there been other assassinations of high-profile individuals where there was no evidence of the assassin and the victim having ever known or seen each other before, where there is no apparent motive, where there is no evidence of an exchange of money between the assassin and the person hiring the hit, and where there is no direct evidence linking the assassin to the crime? In this case, the only evidence appears to be Carl’s passport at the scene of the crime. We both know that could have easily been a plant to frame Carl.”

  “You’re right,” Cedric agreed. “Unless the police are not revealing something, the only evidence they have is circumstantial. The connection between Carl being at a firing range and committing the murder is a st
retch. Furthermore, there is no connection between him having a false passport and the killing. That’s a completely different violation of law.”

  Huck nodded. “While you’re back at the agency determining whether there is a pattern for this crime, I’ll be burning shoe leather here. I’ll follow up on the location of Empire Enterprises to see if the police missed any evidence; to determine if there are any witnesses who might have seen any activity in the vicinity of suite 204; and, I hope, to interview some witnesses at the firing ranges. I’d like to know if there was anyone other than Carl who made regular visits to practice during that two-week period and then subsequently suspended their visits to the range.”

  “Another person for whom I think we need more information,” said Cedric, “is the state representative. From my limited research, the representative lived alone. He arrived at his house Friday afternoon and had dinner at a nearby restaurant around seven yet his body was discovered in sufficient time for the police to arrest Carl around nine the next morning. To me that means the murder had to occur shortly after the representative had dinner, and the body was discovered by someone, probably before midnight. Who discovered the body and alerted the police?”

  “Good question, Cedric. I’ll ask the attorney to see if he might have learned the answer. Oh. I’ve already made a reservation for you on a nine o’clock flight tomorrow morning.”

  “Thanks a lot. What do you say we now check out that restaurant where the rep had his last supper? I’m sure our concierge will be able to give us the location.”

  Chapter 14

  After breakfast and before Cedric departed for the States, Huck said, “Cedric, I have one more request of you. Would you call Frank Walton at State and ask him, since our last discussion, if he may have identified any other person who would have been a benefactor in the death of the Hesse representative? Generally, when one can’t find a definitive human trail, there is a financial one.”

  “Will do,” replied Cedric. “And Huck, don’t get yourself into anything that could put you in harm’s way. Wait for me to return here to back you up.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything that would preclude you from participating in the action.” With those words, the two men shook hands, and Cedric rushed to catch the U-Bahn train to the airport. Huck walked to the U-Bahn track that would take him within a couple of blocks of the street address where Empire Enterprises was alleged to have been located.

  Two blocks from the U-Bahn exit station, Huck stood in front of the building where, according to the business card Carl had been given, Empire Enterprises was housed. There was no Empire Enterprises listed on the menu board, but there was an office for the building manager in room 101.

  Huck entered without knocking. A rotund, balding man with a reddish complexion and glasses was sitting behind a desk. At Huck’s unannounced entrance, he stood up. Huck’s quick assessment of the manager was that he could not have been more than five feet tall. He looked like he had never broken a sweat in his lifetime.

  The man said, “Guten Morgen—”

  Before he could say anything else, Huck asked, “Sprichst du Englisch?”

  “Ya, ya. I speak English. How may I help you?”

  “I’m looking to rent a two-room suite with a toilette and a window view of the street. I would also like it to be near the elevator. I don’t want my clients to have to walk several flights of stairs when the elevator is not operational.”

  “Sir, you are in luck today. I think I may have exactly what you are looking for. The previous occupant moved out a couple of weeks ago and left it just perfect. Let me get the keys and I will show it to you. It is immaculate. It is ready for you to move in immediately.”

  Huck thought, A couple of weeks doesn’t reconcile with the six months the police were told. But he said nothing.

  The man got up and waddled over to a board containing a row of keys. He selected a key from which the lettering above it read 204.

  Huck thought, This is my lucky day.

  On the way to the elevator, the manager said, “Sir, we haven’t had any problems with our elevator, but I understand your concern.”

  The manager unlocked and opened the door as wide as possible to suite 204. He wanted Huck to get the full view. As the manager said, the suite was indeed immaculate.

  The manager walked across the room and swung open the door to the second room.

  Huck walked in and around the second room; he peered out the window to the street below; he opened a door, which turned out to be a closet that could also be used as a small room. The second door opened into the toilette. Turning to the manager, Huck said, “Could you leave me alone to visualize the placement of the furnishings? I think I can do it better without any distractions.”

  “Yes, sir. I will await your decision in the hallway.” When the manager had departed, Huck began a more detailed examination of the space for any missed clues. He looked in every nook and corner as well as where the molding connected with the floor. Sometimes paper items got swept there in a manner not noticeable by a cleaning team. Much to Huck’s disappointment, he found nothing.

  Huck then moved to the outer office, giving it the same examination as the other room. He opened the small closet, which had a round rod across it for hanging coats; approximately five and half feet from the floor was a shelf for hats, purses, and other small items. Just as he was about to close the door, his eye caught what appeared to be a crumpled piece of light-blue paper in the rear right corner of the shelf. He started not to bother with it, then thought, There just might be some writing on it that will be a clue.

  To his surprise, when he withdrew it, it was not paper but a small silk neck scarf very similar to those Rose wore to work or when they went out to dinner. He could not help but smell it. It still held the odor of a woman’s perfume. This was further evidence that the suite had not been vacated long.

  Huck called out, “Sir, could you please come in here?”

  Smiling, the manager returned. “Sir, I hope all meets your needs. If there is some minor adjustment we can make, we will be glad to do it.”

  “Just a point of clarification. I understood you to say that the previous occupant departed a couple of weeks ago?”

  The expression on the manager’s face changed to a more serious one when he answered. “Well, it may have been as long as a month ago.”

  Huck gave the manager one of his dart stares. “How does a couple of weeks or even a month ago reconcile to the six months you told the police?”

  The manager’s previously reddish face turned almost ashen. “We rent for no less than six months. Who are you, and what difference does it make?”

  “Who I am is irrelevant. What difference it makes is your inconsistency with regard to when the last tenant departed. To the police your inconsistency might be viewed as obstruction of justice, accessory after the fact in a case of murder, or even conspiracy. Do you have any idea how much time you could spend in your national gefängnis?”

  “Prison? No prison. Please, sir, I can’t go to jail.”

  “Then you might want to answer some questions for me. You see, I know why you told the police six months. It was because you were paid to say six months of nonreportable rent.”

  “I wasn’t paid. I was given the balance of the six months’ rent. I was told that I could consider it to be for any inconvenience caused by the tenant’s unexpected departure and that I could rent the suite to another.”

  “Pocketing unearned rent is the same as being paid. Now stop trying to justify what you have done and answer my questions. Once you comply, you won’t see me again, unless you lie to me.”

  “What are your questions?”

  “First, I want to know who rented the suite. Second, I want to know how long the suite was occupied. And finally, I want to know the day the suite was vacated.”

  The manager though
t for a moment. “The suite was rented by a woman. I will have to go to my office to get her name. It was occupied for about three weeks and was vacated on a Saturday. I think it was the same day that the Hesse representative was found dead. That was also the day I was given the balance of the six months’ rent. On Monday, all furniture was removed and the suite was cleaned.”

  “OK. Now let me see the name of the woman who rented the suite.” Huck thought, The blue scarf may belong to the woman.

  The manager withdrew a journal from a bookshelf in his office. He scanned through it, apparently looking for a date. He stopped and pointed to a name at the top of a page: Fräulein Lanna Walker. The date of her signature appeared to be about a week before Carl arrived in Germany.

  “What is her address?”

  “An address was not required because a one-month deposit was paid at the time of the rental.”

  “A contract is not required?”

  “The contract only stipulates the length of the contract, which was six months, and that all rent must be paid thirty days in advance or the tenant will be evicted.”

  “Are you telling me that you do not know how to locate Fräulein Walker?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Just a reminder: If I find out that you are lying to me, I’ll be back with the police. And don’t think they’ll not have cuffs that will fit around your fat wrists.” Huck departed the manager’s office.

  Once back on the sidewalk in front of the office building, Huck withdrew the scarf from his pocket. Upon close examination, he saw a small white tag sewn into one corner. On it was the name of the boutique and an address from which the scarf was purchased. The address was along the same street he was currently on, about two blocks farther south. He started to walk in that direction.