The Grey Zone

by Easton, Don

  “I guess it doesn’t take a genius to figure out you’ve got heat,” Alicia said.

  “Exactly. You need to consider what you do through the criminal mindset.”

  “It doesn’t help that the car you gave me is so plain,” Alicia said, glancing at the hatchback.

  “That’s the idea,” Jack responded.

  “In MCU we had a station wagon with a toddler seat and a sign on the back window that said Baby on Board.”

  “That might be okay if it was only seen once,” Jack replied. “But the sign would stick in people’s minds. It’d be better without it.”

  Alicia thought for a moment, then looked at Jack. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. I feel stupid.”

  He saw her eyes water. “It’s no big deal,” he said gruffly. “Like I said, we’ll go back to the office and select a new target.” But he couldn’t help thinking that if she cried so easily over one little mistake, she probably shouldn’t be working with them.

  “You don’t understand,” Alicia sniffled. “Two years ago I blew another surveillance. Because of me, an eight-yearold kid had four of his fingers chopped off. That was the kidnapping I mentioned last night. The one that’s still unsolved.”

  Okay, maybe I was wrong. This is a big deal.

  “What happened?” Laura asked.

  Alicia’s voice was shaky as she outlined the Chung kidnapping, including how the kidnappers had identified her vehicle.

  “I’m sorry,” Jack said when she’d finished. “Until you mentioned it, I’d never heard about the kidnapping.”

  “It never made the news, and the parents didn’t want anyone to know. They were under enough stress.”

  “What a horrible thing for you to have to live with,” Laura said softly.

  “I think about it every day,” Alicia admitted. “I keep the file box under my desk and I’ve read the reports and statements so many times … but I always hit the same dead ends. Same thing for all the footage I obtained. Traffic cameras aren’t allowed to record because of privacy laws, but I was lucky enough to find a couple of businesses with CCTV cameras where the plates on passing cars were visible. We identified some drivers as having criminal records, but none of those leads panned out.”

  “During the kidnapping, didn’t you have Special O?” Jack asked. “They’re an elite unit that specializes in surveillance. Drug Section uses them a lot, so —”

  “Yes, I know what Special O is. We did use them that day, but even they didn’t have the resources to cover what we needed. It started off in Queen Elizabeth Park. There are at least thirty-two exits vehicles could take leaving the park, never mind places where you could walk out on foot. We ended up using air surveillance, so everyone stayed back.” Her face soured. “Including me … but it was my car the bad guys saw.”

  And you’ll live with that for the rest of your life. Jack changed the subject. “Last night when you were reading through our files, you looked like you were going to ask a question, but changed your mind. Was it about this case?”

  “Uh, yes, but I was afraid of overstepping my bounds.”

  “You want to compare the names you’ve collected to the names in our database?” Jack asked.

  “Right, but after what you told me about the special access security clearance and protecting informants, I didn’t want to come across as obtuse. I thought I’d wait until we knew each other a little better.”

  “My name’s Jack. My wife’s name is Natasha and we have two sons, Mike and Steve. If you feel you know me well enough, grab your file box and meet us at our office.”

  Forty-five minutes later, Alicia walked into the Intelligence Unit carrying two large file boxes.

  “Two?” Jack questioned. “I thought you said one.”

  “One is mostly reports, statements from possible suspects with alibis, and alphabetical lists of every name we could collect. The other is maps of the areas we were in, including the owners of nearby houses, and USB flash drives with CCTV footage, as well as comparison footage.”

  “Comparison footage?” Laura asked.

  “It was rush hour when they had Mr. Chung going through the hoops. I wanted to see which vehicles regularly appeared in the vicinity at around that time each day so I could identify any ones that only showed up on the day I was burned.”

  “Time consuming, but a good idea,” Jack said.

  “Good idea, maybe, but nothing came of it,” she responded.

  “I’ll sign in to a computer with my password to give you access to our database,” Jack said. “How many names do you have to check?”

  “About seven thousand.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Jack asked.

  “No. Like I said, it was rush hour. I found one camera that caught plates on cars heading east onto the Trans-Canada. Not only that, we had a lot of surveillance teams, and I wanted to check out the areas where they’d parked. That included houses and apartment buildings. And particularly the area I was detailed to watch from,” she added glumly. “When you think about it, seven thousand is only a fraction of the number of people who would’ve been in all the different areas.”

  Jack exhaled audibly. “Don’t get your hopes up. Odds are we’ll match some names, but they may not fit the profile you want.”

  “I’m used to that,” Alicia replied. “We’d already identified several dozen people with criminal records, and none of those checked out, either.”

  “One more reminder. If someone does match your list, you’ll still need to clear it with me before telling anyone or taking any action. Understood?”

  “I understand.”

  “You a good typist?”

  “I can hold my own.”

  “We should each be able to check about two names a minute, which works out to 360 names an hour. Divide that into seven thousand and it’ll take about twenty hours.”

  “Ouch. I hadn’t done the math,” Alicia responded.

  “You still have your day shifts to put in at MCU.” Jack paused. “Laura and I’ll keep working on it while you’re doing that. I’ll also have our secretary help.” He glanced around. “Let’s get started. We should be able to wrap it up by Thursday.”

  “I — I don’t know what to say,” Alicia said. “Thank you.”

  “You don’t need to thank us for trying to put bad guys away,” Laura said. “It’s our job, same as yours. We’re on the same team.”

  And a monster who chops off a kid’s fingers … I really want to put him away. Away someplace deep underground.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The next two days went as planned; on Thursday at 11:00 p.m., they finished checking all the names. There were a few matches, but none were viable suspects.

  Alicia threw up her hands angrily. “Nothing works out. It never does,” she fumed.

  Jack leaned back in his chair and flexed his fingers. “I suggest we approach this from another angle.”

  “Tell me something we haven’t already tried,” Alicia replied skeptically.

  “I reviewed the file,” Jack said, pausing as his mind flashed to Tommy’s statement. Bound and blindfolded in a trunk. No food or water for two days. Lying in his own excrement. Then hauled out to have his fingers — this isn’t helping. I need to focus.

  “Do you think we missed something?” Alicia prodded.

  “I’ve got a couple of questions and observations to make first.”

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  Jack knew she would have rehashed the case countless times, and he appreciated that she at least tried to sound upbeat. “Your car was spotted, but you weren’t. They presumed you were a man. That indicates to me that there’s a good chance you were seen from above. When you were on surveillance by QE Park, did you park near any tall buildings?”

  “I’ve thought of that,” Alicia replied. “Near the park, I was in a strictly residential area — there were only houses. Anyone watching from a house would likely have identified me as a woman, especially if they were close enough t
o see the sign in the back window.”

  “The park was remote as far as people go. That’s where they had the best opportunity to look for heat.”

  “Downtown Vancouver, on the other hand, is all tall buildings,” Alicia reflected.

  “And crowded,” Jack noted. “You could’ve had a dozen members blending in on the crowded sidewalk without being made. These people did a lot of planning; they’d have known that.”

  “So if not to check for police surveillance, why did they send Chung downtown during rush hour?” Alicia asked.

  “Good question. Worth giving it some thought.”

  “I have footage from a couple of cameras that picked up David Chung walking past carrying the ransom. One was on his way to the corner of Robson and Richards. I also have footage of him waiting there, as well as from another camera close to Nelson Park, where he was sent next. I didn’t identify anyone who may’ve been following him.”

  “Too bad, but as I said, if they had him walking around in a crowd, I doubt they were doing countersurveillance. I have another question. Mr. Chung is the CEO of a computer software company. How closely have you looked at his associates and perhaps competitors?”

  “Very close. Under a microscope, you might say.”

  “Okay, then I’ll continue. In Chung’s statement he says the last thing the kidnapper said to him was something about making him an example.”

  “Yes, right after he said that I should go for a doughnut,” Alicia said, irate.

  “He didn’t mention you specifically,” Laura noted. “He made a presumption that you were male.”

  “Whatever,” Alicia replied. “He still meant me.”

  “Enough of that,” Jack said, not hiding his irritation. “Saying they’d make an example of David suggests to me they were planning to do more kidnappings.”

  “Everyone is concerned about that,” Alicia said, “but we’ve never received any indication that it has happened again.”

  “Is it possible that David and Jia Chung have been contacted by other victims since then? Have you spoken to them?”

  “No, the Chungs hate the police now. Me in particular since I was the one who blew it. There’s no way they’d co-operate or tell us.”

  “It’s clear from everything you’ve said that you didn’t blow it,” Jack said. “You did what you were told, so quit blaming yourself.” Easier said than done, of course. Alicia looked down, avoiding his eyes. “Believe me when I say I’ve played the self-blame game myself. But it doesn’t help.”

  Alicia swallowed. “Sorry.”

  “Being sorry doesn’t help, either.”

  From the corner of his eye, he noticed Laura frowning at him, but didn’t relent. If she isn’t tough enough to handle the kind of stuff we’ve been through, we better find out — for her sake as well as ours.

  “As a matter of fact, the Chungs can’t be approached,” Alicia said, getting back on the subject. “They’re suing the Force for what happened, and I’ve been named personally. I’m not even allowed in the same neighbourhood as them.”

  “That’s awful,” Laura said, “and a bit unfair.”

  “Personally, I think it’s justified,” Alicia said. “What happened to Tommy was …” She trailed off, unable to finish.

  Jack looked at Laura. “Justified or not, I think we should do a quick undercover sting on the Chungs.”

  She shrugged. “Might work. Sure, why not?”

  “Why not?” Alicia exclaimed. “Weren’t you listening? There’s no way an undercover operational plan would be approved. I was already warned by Internal Affairs to back off. Nobody’s allowed to talk to them.”

  Jack brushed off her concern with a wave of his hand as he continued to talk to Laura. “Is their ethnicity significant? Perhaps Chinese Canadian couples are being specifically targeted. Chinese investors have bought up a lot of expensive homes in Vancouver. People tend to generalize. Maybe they went looking for a wealthy Chinese family. And if they thought the Chungs were recent immigrants, they might have assumed they’d be more likely to comply without contacting police.”

  “Many immigrants come from countries where the police are poorly trained and corrupt, and still carry a mistrust of them,” Laura agreed. “It obviously didn’t work with the Chungs, because they did call the police.” She looked at Alicia. “They’ve been Canadian citizens for over twelve years, is that right?”

  “Yes, but —”

  “But the kidnappers might now be hoping that word of what happened to Tommy Chung will spread through the Chinese Canadian community, or something like that.”

  “Right,” Jack said, still mainly addressing Laura. “I think it’d be better if I made the approach alone and portrayed the upset father. Sorry to cut you out, but I think I should use a little Asian heat for the role of mother.”

  “Asian heat? You mean Tina Chan on Drug Section.”

  “She speaks Cantonese, and I trust her to go along with it and keeper her mouth shut. She could play the terrorstricken mother waiting at home for a phone call, or for her husband to return.”

  “That makes sense. Don’t be sorry, Jack. That doesn’t help.”

  Nice dig.

  “You guys!” Alicia cut in, perturbed. “You’re not listening! It’ll never be approved. They’re suing us. There’s no way —”

  “I told you she was young,” Laura said to Jack.

  Alicia stopped talking and angrily folded her arms across her chest.

  Jack eyed her for a moment before speaking. “That big picture you want to learn about often has a grey border around it. The scenario I’m suggesting could take place without the Chungs ever finding out my real identity. If you want to solve this case, I recommend we enter that grey zone. That means that nobody except the three of us and Tina will know about it.”

  “But it’s not right. We could all get in trouble,” Alicia replied.

  Jack saw Laura roll her eyes, no doubt thinking the same thing he was. Trouble? Hell, this is nothing.

  “I guess you’d have to weigh the risk against how badly you want to solve the case. If you have any other ideas, speak up now.”

  “You know I don’t,” Alicia replied, making a face. She appeared to be thinking it over.

  “I don’t think either of you would get in trouble, anyway,” Jack said. “This is something I’d do alone. You and Laura could honestly deny ever seeing me go to the Chung home.”

  Alicia looked at him curiously. “So you’re willing to risk getting into trouble alone just to help me?”

  “You?” Jack was surprised, then angry. “This has nothing to do with you!” he said, pointing at her. “Your ego may be bruised over what happened, but that’s nothing compared to how Tommy and his parents feel. I want justice for Tommy and I want to ensure that this vile, horrific act isn’t done to anyone else.” He paused to calm down. “In my opinion, that far outweighs a civil suit or any other trouble — so tomorrow night, I suggest you keep clear of what I plan to do.”

  “What if someone else finds out and questions me?” Alicia said. “Have you thought about that?”

  “I presume you’ll spill your guts, but I think it’s worth the risk for what we might learn. Besides, how angry could the brass get with me?”

  “Actually quite a bit,” Laura noted. “You’ve been warned by Lexton before about not having an op plan. She doesn’t strike me as the type to give repeated warnings. Also, if you did get sued, the Force wouldn’t back you. Could cost you plenty.”

  That hurts, especially coming from you. “Et tu, Brute?”

  Laura was grave. “You know I’m right.”

  “I know, but we’re good at what we do. What are the chances of getting caught?”

  Laura glanced at Alicia. “I’d say the chances are good.”

  “Let’s get something straight!” Alicia snapped. “I know people think I was sent in here to rat, but that’s not why I came. Two days with you two and I understand why, though,” she seethed, glaring at J
ack. “How dare you presume that I’d spill my guts if questioned!”

  “Wouldn’t you?” Jack asked. “I thought you were implying that you would. I’m a little curious — no, a lot curious — about who exactly thinks you were sent in here to inform?”

  “So am I,” Laura added tersely.

  Alicia took a deep breath to compose herself. “Okay, maybe I exaggerated when I said people, but maybe not.”

  “We’re listening,” Jack said.

  “Inspector Crimmins told me that Staffing wanted someone with a reputation for honesty and going by the book. At the time I thought it odd. After all, it should be taken for granted that all members do.”

  Good point.

  “Then I thought he meant there was more opportunity for corruption when working on organized crime.” Alicia looked at him for verification.

  “The more money involved, the more risk there is,” Jack replied.

  Something stinks. First Quaile had tried to screw them by transferring in unfit constables, then Lexton appeared on the scene and suddenly there were new qualifications. Had Vath’s murder pushed her over the edge? He glanced at Laura. You thinking what I’m thinking?

  Laura gave a slight nod.

  “After that I spoke with Connie,” Alicia continued. “When I mentioned the bit about complete honesty and going by the book, she said maybe I was being offered my first UC assignment. I didn’t get the connection at the time; I thought she just meant that you do a lot of UC work. But now I think she was suggesting that I was being transferred in to keep an eye on you guys.”

  “I suspect you were,” Jack said. “I think Assistant Commissioner Lexton was behind the selection process. She’s made it clear that she’s had some doubts about me concerning previous cases. I thought it was all water under the bridge … but maybe it isn’t. I’m guessing Crimmins isn’t aware of what’s going on, otherwise he wouldn’t have mentioned it at all. Maybe he thought the same as you, that the concern was about negating the possibility of corruption.”