Conspiracy of Innocence

by Gene Grossman

  Last year Stuart started a new business, based on a Federal law that had been passed, making people who send out unsolicited ‘junk’ faxes liable for their acts. Stuart started soliciting people who had received the junk faxes and had them file Small Claims Court actions. Stuart would then have those people assign the claims to him, so that he could go into Small Claims Court and win up to the statutory five hundred dollars on each one. When Stuart won in court, he shared the proceeds with each assignor. This business was going pretty good for him until someone informed the court that what Stuart was doing violated the court’s own rules.

  The Rules of the County of Los Angeles’ Small Claims Courts allow for an individual or entity to be represented by an assignee like Stuart, but not if his compensation is derived strictly from the making of the appearances. In other words, a company can send one of its regular employees in to court, but the rules want to avoid the creation of people like Stuart, who wanted to make a living by pressing Small Claims Court actions for others.

  “Stuart, I understand the court’s rules, and I realize that you’re now out of the small claims court business. What I don’t understand is why you’re not too upset by it. From what you told me, you were making many thousands of dollars a month doing that. Am I correct?”

  “You are correct, my friend. But being stopped from doing one thing only gives me the opportunity to do another thing that’s even better.”

  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Next to a certain young Chinese multi-millionaire who runs a law practice, Stuart is the most enterprising person I’ve ever met. Whenever life gives him a lemon, he certainly knows how to make lemonade. He brought a copy of the Federal law with him, and highlighted the portion he’s now concentrating on, which provides that the fine can be increased as high as fifteen hundred dollars, if the sender of the unsolicited fax ‘willfully or knowingly’ violated the law.

  The law requires that mass broadcasters of fax advertising must give a toll-free telephone number for fax recipients to call, be removed from the list, and not receive further faxes from that sender. By tracking the toll-free ‘removal’ numbers given, Stuart discovered that most of them came from the same sender, a notorious mass fax broadcaster located in the San Fernando Valley, not far from Stuart’s warehouse.

  I now understand why Stuart is pleased that his original Small Claims Court business has been shut down. From now on, instead of going into court with the faxes from nine or ten customer who he must split the winnings with, he can now go into court with just three of his own faxes and show the court that they were sent out by the fax broadcaster, and ask for fifteen hundred dollars damages for each one.

  How he can keep track of all his enterprises baffles me. The ones that I know about include selling a weight-reduction liquid, selling Toyota Camrys that he brings in from New Jersey that were formerly stolen and recovered, introducing men to Thai girls, going to Small Claims Court, his private investigation business, and those two armored trucks that get rented out to disgruntled heirs.

  That was certainly an interesting lunch meeting. While driving back to the Marina I recall how at one time or another I was dragged into each of Stuart’s businesses, due to legal problems that arose. I think the most interesting was when Stuart was sued for ‘negligent nymphomania,’ because his weight-reduction formula allegedly increased a female customer’s sexual appetite. His auto supplier in New Jersey is a gangster named Billy Z., who I had the pleasure of meeting, and I was caught with my pants down once with four young units of his Thai girl inventory. I think Stuart deserves a new title. From now on I’ll refer to him as the Warren Buffet of Van Nuys.

  Back at the boat there’s a message waiting for me. My contact at Uniman Insurance called to let me know that they’ve heard from Kathy Potter, and that she’s agreed to come in to their office to sign the final claim forms in person. This is going to take some planning, so I call her back.

  “This is Miss Murphy, how can I help you?” “Miss Murphy, this is attorney Peter Sharp.

  I’m returning your call about the Potter life insurance claim. Did you speak to Kathy Potter yourself?”

  “Yes I did, Mister Sharp. She wants to come in and execute the final forms for that claim on her husband’s death.”

  “Was an appointment set for her to come in?”

  “Not yet. I knew you’d want to know about it, so I told her to call us back tomorrow to make an appointment.”

  “Good move. Let me ask you a couple of question. How many floors are there in your office building?”

  “Let’s see, we’re on the twenty first floor, and there are several more floors above us, so that would mean…”

  “That’s okay, I get the picture. It’s a big office building, probably with several levels of underground parking, right?”

  “Yes, I believe there are at least four levels.”

  “Does Uniman Insurance have any branch offices in smaller buildings, maybe like only one floor, with parking spaces outside?”

  “One of our branch supervisors has an office in Redondo Beach that’s in a two-story building. I believe they have a parking lot out in back of the offices.”

  “Great. Would it be possible for you to have the paperwork for her claim sent out to that office? We’d like to have her come to an area where it’ll be easier for us to observe her coming and going.”

  “No problem Mister Sharp. I’ll have our courier take the paperwork over to that office and fax you the address. When Kathy Potter calls me tomorrow, what time would you like me to set her appointment for?”

  “One PM, the day after tomorrow.”

  All right. The game’s now afoot. I’ve just instructed our office to rent seven extra cell phones with speaker attachments and get everyone over here, including Stuart, Vinnie, Olive and at least one Thai girl who speaks English. Suzi arranged for the Asian Boys to deliver and serve us a gourmet Chinese dinner, at which time I intend to lay out our battle plan.

  As usual, both the dinner and the service are exceptional, as is the fact that Suzi has decided to join us all at the expanded table. Now that everyone has finished the main course, it’s time for the commercial. I clink a glass to get their attention and start with the plan.

  “Boys and girls, the day after tomorrow, at one in the afternoon, Miss Kathy Potter will be appearing at an insurance office in Redondo Beach to execute the final papers required to collect on her dead husband’s life insurance policy. I succeeded in requiring her come to that location for one reason alone: after she leaves that building, I want to know where exactly where she goes.

  “This is very important Stuart, and that’s why we’ve retained your whole investigation team to help us out. Here on the table in front of me are seven new cell phones, each with the optional speakerphone feature. During the entire operation I’ll be sitting here in our control center with four these phones side-by-side on the table here. Each of the other three phones will be assigned to a surveillance team member, so we’ll have continuous open lines between Stuart’s car, Olive’s car, and Vinnie’s car. The fourth phone will be open to Jack’s cell phone. He and Phyllis are still on their stakeout assignment out in La Verne.

  “At twelve noon on the day of this operation, Olive will be sitting in the insurance company’s office, and all of our phone calls will begin, including Olive’s. As soon as Kathy Potter checks in at the insurance company’s front desk, the receptionist will give Olive a signal, and from that instant, we’re all in play. Olive, as soon as you get the signal you’ll go over to another desk in the same office and pretend like you’re signing some papers with an office staff person, but you’re to constantly keep your eye on Kathy Potter. Your phone will be live, so we’ll all know that you’ve got her covered. The important thing for you to do then is make sure that you leave when she does, and follow her to the parking lot. I want us to be able to identify her vehicle.

  “Everybody else, you’ll be overhearing the small talk that Olive will
be doing with Kathy, so you’ll all know when they’re about to exit the building. When they come out, Olive will walk over to her car and everyone else will keep their eye on Kathy, to see what car she goes to.

  “Once Kathy’s in her vehicle, I want you all to follow her in a convoy, so that if you think you’ve been seen, you can drop out of the tail and the team member in back of you can carry on.” I see that Olive’s hand is in the air. This lecture must be the closest she ever got to high school.

  “What’s your question Olive?”

  “Why do Vinnie and I have to be in separate cars?”

  “Because once Kathy sees you upstairs in the office, your cover is blown. After that time, if she happens to notice you in a car behind her, she’ll know she’s being followed. You will follow, but you’ll be the very last car in the caravan.

  “I want constant communication from the lead car at all times. I want to know every street you pass by, because I’ll be here on the boat tracking you guys from page to page in my Thomas Guide, while Suzi is doing the same thing on the internet, using Mapquest.com. If these speakerphones work as good as they’re supposed to, each one of you will be able to hear all of our conversations in your own earpieces.

  “It’s important that we don’t lose her. Has everyone got it? Any questions? Good. Now let’s finish our dessert, and Stuart, please make sure that all of your team’s cell phone batteries are fully charged and that the cars are filled up with gas.”

  Suzi pipes in with “save all the receipts.” Olive has another question.

  “How come Jack B. isn’t in on this?”

  “Because he did the initial interviews with her, and she already knows he’s part of our team. Remember, the name of the game here is not to spook her. And Olive, please pee before she gets to the office. I’m sure that Uniman Insurance’s branch office has a bathroom you can use.”

  Dinner is over and while the Asian Boys clean up, I call Jack B. to fill him in on the plan and tell him to sit tight out there in La Verne. He now knows that at exactly twelve noon the day after tomorrow he should call me at the cell phone reserved for his communication, and keep an open line until I call it a ‘wrap.’

  So far, so good. If everything goes according to plan, forty-eight hours from now we’ll know where Kathy Potter is hiding, why, and from whom. Once we’ve got a location on her, Jack B. can take another crack at questioning her. The mere fact that she sees we know where she’ hiding should loosen her up enough to answer some questions.

  It’s show time. We’re sitting here on the boat at our ‘command center’ with four cell phones in front of us. It’s exactly twelve noon, and they’re all starting to ring. Suzi and I reach forward and press buttons on each one. Once they’ve all been answered, I start out. “Jack, check in.”

  Then one by one, each of the team members lets me know that they’re on the open line, can hear me loud and clear, and can also hear incoming conversation from the other team members.

  A visitor surprises me. Myra steps into the boat. No doubt the kid tipped her off about the whole operation, so she snuck out of the office early to watch us amateurs at work. I signal for her to sit down and stay out of the way.

  She’s a little early. At about ten minutes to one, Kathy Potter walks into the insurance company’s branch office. I ask the other team members if they saw her pull into the parking lot, but none of them did. Jack suggests that she either parked on the street out in front or was dropped off out there. No problem. We’ll find out for sure when Olive follows her out of the building.

  We can all hear from Olive’s phone that she’s over at another desk signing some phony insurance papers.

  After a couple of minutes Olive thanks whoever was helping her with the forms and walks towards the office door. She accidentally bumps into Kathy Potter as they walk out of the office. We hear her excuse herself and comment on what a lovely dress Kathy is wearing, and that light blue is a perfect color for her.

  Smart move by Olive, letting everyone know what Kathy is wearing. I tell Vinnie to pull around in front of the office, just in case someone is picking Kathy up. We can tell from the background noise that Olive and Kathy have walked outside. Olive is trying to be helpful, so she makes an offer to Kathy. “I have my car here, can I give you a lift?”

  Kathy replies. “No, thanks, I’ve got someone picking me up.” I hear from the team members that Olive is now walking to the parking lot and Kathy is standing outside of the building, waiting to be picked up.

  In another minute or so, a mini van pulls up to the curb and Kathy gets in. The whole team is alerted and the convoy is in motion. Vinnie’s is the lead car, and he gives us a description of Kathy’s vehicle, along with its license plate number. He also tells us that a husky skinheaded guy with a handlebar moustache and wearing sunglasses is driving it. Suzi is already at her computer in the foreward stateroom running the minivan’s license plate through her various secret databases.

  The caravan pulls out onto Sepulveda Boulevard and heads south. They all follow to 190thStreet, at which time the minivan turns left, going east, and everyone follows. Fortunately, there’s just the right amount of traffic that time of day, so the tailing convoy doesn’t stand out too much, but can still maneuver around to keep in position.

  Crossing through the traffic light at Western Avenue, all the cars make the light except Olive’s. She has to stop, so she’s out of the game. I tell her to come back to the boat and she says that as soon as she stops somewhere to pee, she’ll be on her way back. Vinnie butts in. “Honey, I told you to go first.” They start to have a little argument while the other team members giggle in the background. I call it to a halt and tell everyone to shut up and concentrate on the task at hand.

  Further down the road and closer to the Harbor Freeway, the minivan changes lanes without signaling, and Vinnie is trapped in a right-turn only lane. There’s a cop car in back of him, so to avoid being arrested, he makes the turn, drops out of the caravan, and also is told to come back to the boat.

  It’s all up to Stuart now, and I can hear the two Thai girls in the car with him as they chatter in excitement. They think this is just like a movie that’s a favorite in Thailand: the French Connection. I hear laughter on all the other cell phone speakers.

  Stuart keeps up with the minivan as it gets on the freeway, and follows it north. As they get into the Los Angeles downtown area, Stuart loses it. The minivan is the same color as about five others in front of him, and there’s no way to tell which is which. The game is over. It lasted less then an hour, and now everyone is on the way back to the Marina.

  It’s now three in the afternoon, and we’re all sitting here on the boat in state of depression. We had such a good plan. We’re now having the post mortem that usually follows every unsuccessful mission. Stuart knows what went wrong. “We should have hired a helicopter for you to be up there in, directing the ground team where to go.” Suzi, our budgetmeister, gives him a look that goes right through him. She doesn’t have to talk much: it’s not hard to know what’s on her mind.

  After another half hour of everyone assuring everyone else that it was nobody’s fault that the minivan got lost, we all decide to call it a day. We never thought about the fact that the four cell phones on the table are still open. Stuart, Vinnie, and Olive had all hung theirs up when they got to the boat, but Jack’s line is still open because I never told him it was a ‘wrap.’

  Just as everyone is getting ready to step off the boat, we hear a voice from one of the cell phones on the table, so we all walk back into the salon to see what’s up, and hear Jack speaking.

  “Hey, you guys still there?” I act as spokesman for the group.

  “Yes, Jack, we’re still here. I’m sorry, I forgot you were holding a line open. You know what happened, so you can hang up now, it’s a ‘wrap’ for today.”

  “No, wait a minute. I’d like you to read me the license number of that minivan.”

  I have no idea of what he wants if
for, but it happens to be on the table right in front of the phones, so I give him the plate number.

  “Okay, Mister Sharp, now it’s a wrap. I got your minivan for you.”

  Everyone in the room including Suzi crowds around the cell phone. I ask the question. “What are you talking about, Jack?”

  “Beverly Luskin’s automatic garage door just opened up and your minivan pulled into it.”

  14

  We’re all sitting here speechless, trying to figure out what is going on. How can this have happened? Why is Kathy Potter at

  Beverly Luskin’s house? Myra stands up and looks at her watch. “It’s been nice seeing you all, but since I’m the only one here who’s got a real job, I really must be leaving. And Peter…”

  “Yes Myra?”

  “Please try listening to me once in a while.” Suzi takes her hand and they step off of the boat together and walk to the parking lot. A few minutes later when the kid returns alone, she goes into her stateroom and then comes back out with a piece of paper that she hands me. It says that the minivan’s plates come back as being registered to a car rental company.

  This isn’t much, but it’s still a lead. I call Jack B. and tell him to call Suzi’s private line, so she can give him the details about the rental place where the minivan was picked up today. Maybe we’ll get lucky and pick up a lead on the identity of that bald guy driving the minivan. Jack has to be pulled off of the Luskin assignment anyway, because with Kathy Potter in the Luskin house, Jack’s cover has now also been blown.

  I’m pretty sure that these recent events have finally attracted Myra’s attention. She can smell a conspiracy a mile away, and I’m glad she’s finally on to one that I don’t have to worry about being a suspect in. We all agree that there’s no good reason on earth for Kathy Potter and Beverly Luskin to know of each other’s existence, let alone be together in the same house.

  My problem at this point is a possible conflict of interest. Beverly Luskin is my client. Myra wanted to know the results of our investigative efforts, but I was reluctant to give her any information that might cast my client in a bad light. I know in my heart that she’s already called her office from the car and instructed them to compile a complete dossier on each of those two women in Beverly’s house.