The Benefactor

by Don Easton

  “What are you getting at?” Jack asked.

  Nancy looked at him and shook her head. “God, you kids are so naive. Is it because you think I am old and feeble? I said I believed in judicial process, but I’m not stupid. I still have an item that used to belong to my husband before he died.”

  “An item?”

  “He used to hunt ducks,” explained Nancy. “I’ve got a pump-action twelve-gauge.” She furrowed her eyebrows and added, “I hope the bastards do come for me.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Jack walked into Connie’s office as she was hanging up the phone.

  Laura, sitting across the desk from Connie, glanced at her watch and looked at Jack. “Hey, that must have been a fast lunch you had with your sister. I wasn’t expecting you back for another hour or two.”

  “I decided we didn’t have the time,” replied Jack. “I cancelled on her.”

  “We’ve got bad news,” said Connie, whose blotchy red face revealed her anger.

  “You’ve got bad news?” replied Jack.

  “The security cameras were all turned off,” explained Laura. “We couldn’t see what vehicle our phony realtor was driving. Any cameras from the apartment building that were catching images of the public areas outside were all turned off. They are only allowed for inside footage.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Jack. “I watched them myself only last month. It’s how we found the van from the restaurant.”

  “A new development since then,” replied Connie. “Someone caught on camera successfully sued because it was ruled as an invasion of privacy. Security cameras have been shut down all over.”

  “Yeah, you have the right not to be seen by anyone if you go out in public,” replied Laura, bitterly.

  Jack sighed and shook his head, before taking a seat. “Well, I also have some bad news. Nancy is moving back home tomorrow morning.”

  Connie and Laura’s disbelief turned to shock as Jack relayed his conversation with Nancy.

  “What the hell do we do?” asked Connie. “There is no way we can come up with the manpower to protect her.”

  “She teased you about hugging her,” said Laura. “What you should have done was hug her long enough to put her in a straightjacket.”

  Jack shook his head in frustration. “When I was leaving, she told me I could come back and hug her if I got to the Chinese gangster before she did.”

  “You mean Benny Wong,” said Connie.

  “That’s who she meant, but I never told her his name,” replied Jack.

  “Good thing,” said Connie. “By the sounds of it, she is liable to go after him with her twelve-gauge.”

  “She is a gutsy lady,” replied Jack. “I have to say, crazy or not, I do respect her.”

  “So what do we do next?” prodded Connie. “I’ll notify uniform and have them patrol her street as much as possible, but they won’t keep that up for ever. We need to do something.”

  “I think we should do what Nancy suggested,” replied Jack, “and put Benny Wong behind bars.”

  “Gee, why didn’t someone think of that earlier,” said Connie. “Do you have your cuffs with you? I’ll run out and do that.”

  “Sarcasm won’t help,” said Laura.

  “I didn’t mean it as sarcasm,” replied Connie. “I was trying to be funny, but maybe you’re right, nothing about this is funny.” She looked at Jack. “Oh, I got a call back from Commercial Crime about Rolstad’s public relation’s company a few minutes ago. Maple Leaf Consulting has an office here and one in Ottawa. Most of their clients out west are large firms, like oil companies or corporate entities who need a little PR when it comes to the environment or purchasing land in areas the public might object to.”

  “Bingo,” said Jack.

  “That means something to you?” asked Connie.

  “Wong deals in commercial real estate. Knowing what pieces of land are being sought after by large companies would be a huge asset. We could be talking theft of company secrets, stock market insider information …”

  “And you think little Miss Parker is getting her talons into the Rolstads to find that out,” mused Connie. “Good possibility. It gets even better. Their Ottawa office specializes in our elected representatives. They’re spin doctors for our politicians. Maple Leaf Consulting prepares the best possible response in advance for all the personal stuff that the politicians don’t want us to know about, but are ready with an action plan if something is revealed.”

  Jack let out a low whistle. “So Wong could be getting his tentacles into government, as well. Maybe blackmail or trying to influence government expenditures or even legislative changes.”

  “Jesus … this is big,” replied Connie.

  “Organized crime at its fullest,” agreed Laura.

  “And Parker has her master’s degree in psychology and is currently taking political science,” noted Jack. “A perfect candidate to work at Maple Leaf Consulting.”

  “And her job would likely entail a lot of travel,” noted Laura. “Places like the U.S. Having a criminal record would put a stop to that and jeopardize her chances of being hired.”

  The three paused to look at each other. Connie tapped her fingers on her desk and said, “Finally … we have a plausible motive.” She stopped tapping and looked at Jack and Laura. “Next step, how do we gather evidence to prove the murders?”

  “Realistically, who would you hope to catch?” asked Jack.

  “Benny Wong, of course,” replied Connie.

  Laura grimaced. “Benny Wong?” She looked at Connie and added, “Jack said ‘realistically.’”

  “Well, who else would I want instead?” replied Connie. “Parker doesn’t even know there was a murder and as far as Mr. X, our phony realtor, goes, he is simply a go-between who Wong uses so we don’t connect him with Parker. Unless of course Mr. X or some of Wong’s other flunkies kill Nancy. That would change everything.”

  “You’ve got that right,” said Jack, tersely. He had only met Nancy once, but the idea of someone murdering her made it feel personal. He looked at Connie and said, “So you’re not after whoever killed the Vietnamese driver or his two buddies in Hong Kong?”

  “Yeah, I’d ask for them, too, if you were Santa Claus, but I am trying to be realistic,” said Connie, frowning. “Whatever minions Wong uses to do his dirty deeds are nothing in the scheme of things. I want Wong. That’s who’s pulling the strings.”

  Jack gave a grim smile.

  “What’s so funny?” asked Connie, suspiciously.

  “Sounds to me like you’re starting to understand the big picture,” replied Jack. “You’re starting to think like me.”

  “Never!” blurted Connie.

  Jack knew she wasn’t joking, but decided not to pursue the matter. “The important thing is I agree with you about Wong. He is officially our number-one target.”

  “And we will catch him … how?” asked Laura.

  Jack looked at Connie and said, “Any problem with me taking a run at Parker?”

  “By run, do you mean in a car?” asked Connie, jokingly, or at least she hoped she was.

  “Actually, not a bad idea,” Jack said. “We really are starting to think alike …” He put his hand up and smiled to silence Connie’s response. “I mean to scare her, but by using the pretext of interrogating her over the murder of Betty Donahue.”

  Connie shrugged. “I don’t have a problem with that. She doesn’t even know about the murder, so it’s not like I could charge her anyway. The thing is, going by how well she was trained in counter-surveillance, I’m damned positive the only words out of her mouth will be to demand a lawyer. She’s no dummy.”

  “Being as we know she can’t give us a confession for something she doesn’t even know about, it opens the door to use some methods that the court wouldn’t allow,” replied Jack. He saw Connie raise an eyebrow and quickly added, “Strictly psychological pressure. I’ll use your interview room and you can watch on camera.”r />
  “But for what purpose?” asked Laura. “Are you hoping to follow her again after?”

  “No, I think we know that won’t work,” replied Jack. “My real objective is to go undercover. Try and get her to arrange a face to face meeting between me and Wong.”

  “We can’t do that,” protested Laura. “Even if you were to scare Parker into co-operating, Wong already knows who you are from the night his bodyguards cornered us in the alley. You talked to him on Zhang’s iPhone, remember?”

  “I remember,” replied Jack. “Relax. To start with, it won’t be us going after him in an undercover role. I’ll be flying solo … by pretending to be a dirty cop.”

  Laura felt her heart sink. Oh, man …

  “What I would suggest,” continued Jack, looking at Connie, “is that you grab Parker at university and bring her in for questioning. Being as you work I-HIT and are investigating a murder, it would make sense that it is your investigation. We would then arrange a scenario when you returned with her to the office that I was butting in and taking over. Make it sound like my investigation from Intelligence somehow trumped yours.”

  “Butting in, as memory serves me, is something you have a habit of doing,” muttered Connie.

  Jack ignored the comment and continued, “I would then interrogate her. If she actually does crack, which I don’t expect, so much the better. If she doesn’t, when I drive her back to her car I’ll come across as a dirty cop who can be bought. If I scare her enough in the interrogation by connecting her to Benny Wong and laying murder charges, she should jump at the chance to arrange for me to meet him.”

  “Why not skip Parker altogether and go straight to Wong?” asked Connie.

  Jack shook his head. “Wong has been around too long. He’d be really paranoid. It would carry far more weight if I scared the hell out of Parker first and had her present when I met him. If she’s scared, on a psychological level it will put pressure on him, thinking I might be their saviour.”

  Connie reflected on the idea for a moment before nodding. “That’s not a bad idea. Parker already thinks the police are being bought off. She might fall for it. Then if you meet Wong and somehow get an admission about the murders … maybe even find out who he had do the murders, hell, we could nail him.”

  Laura stared blankly at Connie. Yeah, Parker might fall for it … but Wong has spent years in the bloody trenches to get where he is. There is no way he would agree to meet anywhere other than one of his lairs in Chinatown. Jack wouldn’t be able to have any backup … it could be like the two guys who went to Hong Kong. Never to be seen again.

  “You okay, Laura?” asked Jack quietly. “You understand why I have to do it alone? Wong would have more difficulty believing that both of us were corrupt. Plus at his level, his organization is male-dominated. He wouldn’t be as willing to open up to —”

  “I understand,” snapped Laura. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  “I don’t like it either,” said Jack, softly, “but it is the best plan I can come up with. If you can think of a better idea, let’s hear it.”

  Isn’t staying alive a better idea? Laura told herself that logically she didn’t believe in premonitions, but something told her this was a bad idea. Really bad. She felt her stomach knot and her eyes water in frustration as she blinked and shook her head.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  It was eleven o’clock Tuesday morning when Jack walked up the sidewalk between a row of rhododendrons and knocked on Nancy Brighton’s door. He heard her shout from the living room, asking who it was.

  “Jack Taggart,” he replied.

  A few seconds passed and she responded, “Come on in, the door isn’t locked.”

  Isn’t locked? Right … Jack entered the foyer and saw Nancy sitting on the sofa with her cane beside her. “Could I bum a coffee?” he asked. “There are some things we need to discuss.”

  “I’m not leaving my home, if that’s what you want. You’re wasting your time.”

  “It has nothing to do with that,” replied Jack. “I’ve brought you something. I also came to ask a favour.”

  “A favour?”

  Jack nodded. “A very difficult one. Can I come in?”

  Nancy nodded and Jack slipped off his shoes and entered the living room as Nancy stood up and steadied herself with her cane. “Perhaps it would be better to go to the kitchen,” she said, “while I brew the coffee.”

  “No problem, but first, let’s take care of this,” he said, bending over and feeling under the sofa. Seconds later, he hauled out a Remington twelve-gauge shotgun and examined it briefly. “You’ve got a load in the chamber,” observed Jack. “Illegal storage and —”

  “Let me see your search warrant,” said Nancy, evenly.

  Jack ignored her as he unloaded the shotgun and examined the cartridge. “As I was afraid of … bird shot. Great for killing birds … not so good for people.” With that comment he reached inside his jacket pocket and removed a handful of shotgun cartridges. As he started to reload the shotgun with the new cartridges, he commented, “These are what we use. Double-ought buck. Made for killing people.” He glanced at her and asked, “Have you ever fired a shotgun? Or any gun for that matter?”

  “No,” admitted Nancy.

  “Then I won’t be lending you my wife’s little .32 Beretta pistol. Handguns are too easy to miss with and I can’t take a chance on you shooting some citizen if you’re out shopping. As far as this thing goes … well, I’ll give you some tips. Then I would like you to do something for me in a couple of hours.”

  Nancy looked startled as Jack reloaded the shotgun with the police ammunition. “Couldn’t you get in trouble for doing this?” she asked.

  “Probably.” Jack shrugged. “Do you know any good defence lawyers?”

  “Is there such at thing? Maybe you could settle for competent?”

  Jack returned her smile and chuckled, but his humour disappeared when she spoke next.

  “So what favour do you want?” she asked.

  It was two-thirty in the afternoon when Mia Parker left her class at university and walked toward the parking lot. Minutes before she had ignored the second incoming call she had received on her phone that day, each time with the same Ottawa prefix. This time it was a text message. It was what she had been wanting to get.

  Hey, Mia! I’ve tried calling you but you didn’t pick up. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you and am hoping we can get together soon. I’ll be back in Vancouver Sunday night, but then on to Seattle on Monday and have to take a direct flight home on Tuesday. How about dinner? Or better yet, maybe I could convince you to come to Seattle to visit? Great shopping there ;-)

  The Wolf Man

  As Mia saved the text she thought, Yeah, I’m sure you can’t stop thinking about me … every time you sit on the toilet … She would send a cryptic message to the benefactor when she got home. The information she had was brief enough that a face to face with Mr. Frank wouldn’t be necessary, but she knew he would be meeting her once a decision had been made with how to proceed.

  She thought about Wolfenden’s message. There is no doubt the benefactor will want me to go to Seattle with him … She felt repulsed at the idea of having sex with such an older man again and briefly wondered if she should tell Mr. Frank that she had a test on Monday at university. Bad idea … he would probably check …

  She continued walking, but when she arrived at her car, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around.

  “Mia Parker, my name is Corporal Connie Crane, and this is Constable Zachery.”

  Mia’s mouth briefly dropped open as she looked at a woman in a green pantsuit holding a badge for her to see, along with a young man in a navy-blue suit who could have passed for a Mormon missionary.

  “We’re with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team,” continued Crane. “I want you to accompany us back to my office. There are some questions that you could help us with.”

  Chapter Thirty-Th
ree

  Jack stood in front of the interview room with his arms folded across his chest as Constable Zachery returned to his desk while Connie picked up a file box and walked over with Parker.

  Connie looked at Jack sharply and snapped, “What are you doing here?”

  “You told me yesterday that you were bringing her in for questioning,” replied Jack.

  “Yeah, so?” Before Jack could respond, Connie glanced at Parker and gestured for her to go inside the interview room. “Take a seat, I’ll be right in.”

  Once Parker sat down, Connie partially closed the door, but left it open enough on the pretext of keeping an eye on her. She then turned to Jack and said, “Okay, Jack, what gives?”

  “Did she say anything on the way in?” asked Jack.

  “No. I told her I would explain it all when we got here.”

  “Good. I’ll be conducting the interview, not you.”

  “You what? Like hell you are! This is my case! I work homicide … you’re on the Intelligence Unit, so back off!”

  Intelligence Unit? Mia felt her lungs swallow a gasp of air. She had thought that it was all a misunderstanding. Maybe she had witnessed something without realizing it or her car had somehow been seen in an area where there had been a murder. Mention of the Intelligence Unit changed all that. What do they know about me?

  “Here’s your boss,” said Jack, gesturing for Connie to turn around. “He can explain it to you.”

  Parker saw another man approach. “Sorry, Connie,” he said. “I just got off the phone with the brass. I only found out myself.”

  “Found what out?” asked Connie. “Randy, what is going on?”

  “Corporal Taggart will be conducting the interview,” replied Randy. “You’re to give him your file and co-operate with anything he wants.”

  Connie turned and gawked at Jack, while shaking her head.