THE ALCATRAZ OPTION

by Jay Begler

  Squire assembled a team of ten to help with the investigation. Besides himself and Maria, the team included eight interns from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, eager to assist in the investigation. After the first team meeting, Squire quipped, “These bright young folks will soon learn the meaning of drudgery.”

  One day four, Squire was beginning an orientation session with the interns when his cell phone rang. The caller was Daniel, who announced excitedly. “I just spoke to her! She’s alive.”

  “Great. Hold on a second.” He put his hand over the phone and said to the group. “It’s Daniel Levy on the line. He says he spoke with his wife, so this whole exercise may be moot; then again, it may not be. Let’s meet again in an hour.”

  He spoke into his iPhone. “Daniel, where are you? Can I call you back in five minutes? I want to call you from my office.”

  “I’m calling from the spot at which I spoke to Rebecca.”

  “Is she with you?”

  “No. I spoke to her on the phone.”

  “Stay there. I’ll call you right back.”

  Squire summoned Maria to his office and asked her to record the call. “Daniel, you are on the speaker phone. Maria is here with me. Our call is being recorded. Is that ok with you?” When Daniel said “Yes,” Squire said, “Daniel first tell me your exact location.”

  “I’m standing in front of a building with an address of 1510 West 33rd Street. It’s a brick brownstone. Directly across the street is a schoolyard with a canvas sign fastened to the fence which says ‘Sacred Heart School-Welcome New Students.’”

  “Ok. When we finish speaking, use your cell phone to take a 360-degree video of where you are standing and send it to me via email to me. Now start at the beginning and tell us everything, step by step.”

  Daniel related his encounter with the men and the substance of his conversation with Rebecca. When he told them that Rebecca said she killed the two thugs, Squire and Maria shook their heads skeptically. Daniel finished by saying, “Just two more things that I think are important. I memorized the license plate. It was a New York plate with the number: TZ189C3. The van was black and had a large logo of a chef’s hat and the words ‘Antonio’s Caterers.’ By the school yard there are a couple of surveillance cameras pointing towards the spot where the van was situated, so you might want to check them out.”

  Squire scribbled some notes for Maria on a pad. “Check out the license plate and the name on the van and have an intern get those surveillance tapes.” He then said to Daniel, “All of this sounds promising. Let’s get together around 11 tomorrow at your house. Does that work for you?”

  “It does.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Maria returned to Squire’s office with an intern. “This is Oscar Santani, one of our interns. Tell Detective Squire what you learned.”

  “There is no license plate with that number in New York nor any other state. Thinking Daniel might have mixed up the license plate number, I did variables, but nothing showed up. Also, the number of characters on the license plate was two numerals short of the standard plates issued by the DMV. So, my feeling is that the plate in question doesn’t exist. There is no business named Antonio’s Caterers, nor any Antonio’s Caterers in the New York metropolitan area. The only food establishment I found was a pizzeria called ‘Antonio’s’ on West 90th street. It’s has been out of business for six years. I found its address via Google. It shows the current occupant to be Starbucks. Maria also asked me to call the Sacred Heart School and ask about the surveillance camera. I was told that they run on a 24-hour loop and are date stamped. I asked them to hold the videos. I know exactly where the school is because my girlfriend lives around the corner. Want me to get them?”

  Squire said, “That would be great. Bring the video directly to me. I’ll wait for you Oscar. And good work.” Oscar seemed thrilled with the compliment.

  Maria projected the surveillance tapes on a wall in a conference room. Squire had all the interns attend, because most had never seen surveillance tapes. Acting as a teacher, he explained a few fundamentals relating to the tapes and legal issues relating to their admissibility as evidence.

  “OK, we will start the video. As you see, there is a date stamp and a small clock showing time. Daniel called me at nine-forty-five and told me that some men ushered him into a van and then spoke to his wife. He identified the van as being black and bearing the logo of a chef’s hat the words Antonio’s Caterers. He then described the conversation he allegedly had with his wife, Rebecca. After the conversation he exited the van and it pulled away. We’ll give Daniel’s timing a margin of error of say forty-five minutes, so we will start running the tape at 9:00.”

  When the tape showed 9:40 Squire said, “OK, start running it in slow motion” The tape ran till 10am, well past the time Daniel had called Squire. It showed no black van, no Daniel and no men as he described them. They ran the tape once more, but nothing surfaced. Squire said, “Let’s run the video that I asked Daniel to shoot. That will verify his location.” The video confirmed that Daniel’s description of the alleged location of the van was accurate.

  Maria said, “This is extremely odd. Any theories?”

  An intern offered, “Perhaps the equipment was defective.”

  Oscar said, “I asked how often they calibrate their cameras and the IT woman at the school said that they re-calibrate and test the cameras every two weeks and that four days earlier it was working perfectly. I asked her if she was ever aware of a malfunction and she said no.”

  The woman was correct in her assessment of the reliability of the cameras and their recordings, but unaware that agents of the Cartel had the ability to hack into the cameras software and edit the content of the tapes.

  “OK Oscar, good play asking those questions. Still, we’ll have some of our technicians check out the cameras. Well folks, that’s all for now. It’s getting interesting, if not bewildering in a way; which sometimes happens. Let’s meet day after tomorrow to see where we are. Meantime, keep interviewing all the contacts from Daniel’s list. Obviously, we have many questions to ask him.”

  The following morning as Squire and Maria drove to Daniel’s house, Squire received a phone call on his mobile phone from Oscar who, in an excited voice said, “I wouldn’t ordinarily call you, but I think you need to know about this. One of the people on the list was the Levy’s’ insurance agent, who I just interviewed. Get this: he said that two days before Rebecca went missing Daniel and Rebecca met in his office and increased their key man insurance substantially. I asked Mr. McGuire, the agent, if there was anything unusual about the meeting and he said that they had a minor argument about the necessity of additional key man insurance as they already had a million dollars each in coverage and, according to McGuire, Rebecca questioned the wisdom of additional insurance in view of the company’s shaky financial condition.”

  Squire said to Oscar, “That was a first-rate job. Few interns would think to ask if anything unusual happened in this situation. You have the makings of a fine detective.”

  Oscar replied quietly, “Thank you very much.”

  “Now, call back Mr. McGuire and tell him we will be at his office in a half an hour and then call Daniel and say we need to push back the meeting for a few hours. If he asks why, just tell him it’s an all-hands-on deck administrative meeting for some drug trafficking matter. And get over to McGuire’s office. We’ll meet you there.”

  Oscar responded gleefully as if receiving a surprise gift, “Really?”

  Maria said to Squire, “Smart kid. So, do we have motive, or just an unbelievable coincidence?”

  Squire shrugged and said, “To early to tell.”

  McGuire’s office was in a two-story dark glass building, bearing a large silver “Prudential” sign above its front door. They met in a corporate conference room available to all agents used by his company. After Squire made introductions and thanked McGuire for meeting with them, he asked. “Do you mind if we record this meeting? I
t’s just a lot easier than writing everything down and a lot quicker.” McGuire nodded his assent.

  Maria conducted the interview, identified the file and matter number of the case, the date and those present, and said, “Mr. McGuire, thanks for meeting us. As our intern, Oscar, told you we are investigating the disappearance of Rebecca Levy. I understand that you mentioned that you had seen Daniel and Rebecca last week. Can you describe that meeting?”

  McGuire had a file on the desk marked, “Levy, Rebecca & Daniel No 2357- Corporate,” opened it and said, “I expect that you might want a copy of this file, and made one for you. Rebecca and Daniel came to my office to request a substantial increase in key man insurance, upwards of four million each, with a double indemnity clause.” McGuire related his interaction with his clients and included Rebecca’s questioning the necessity for the additional insurance and Daniel standing firm on it. The Cartel’s impersonators had done their job superbly.

  When they left, Oscar asked Squire, “What do you think?”

  Squire responded much as a teacher would, “It’s interesting, if not provocative. Right now, we can’t jump to any conclusions. It can be a marker of potential guilt, or a coincidence. We’ll talk to Daniel about it. Often, life insurance policies are key pieces of evidence in establishing motive, but usually the suspect purchases the policy long before the homicide. Somehow, the murderers believe that if they wait long enough, the policies won’t incriminate them. What they don’t realize is that the policies are merely part of a larger tapestry of events and actions which cumulatively point to guilt. If you ever become a detective or a district attorney, you’ll learn that most people who commit crimes, particularly murderers, even those that are otherwise very smart, are completely ignorant about covering their tracks and not getting caught. It’s hard to believe that Daniel would be so stupid as to purchase insurance practically on the eve of Rebecca’s disappearance. If she shows up, then we’ll view the insurance as a benign coincidence.”

  When Squire and Maria arrived at Daniel’s house, the atmosphere differed greatly from their first encounter. A mix of relatives and friends, including his daughters who returned early from summer camp and whose eyes were red from crying, crowded his house. The dining room looked like a war room with people either on computers, or making phone calls. All were attempting to find Rebecca.

  Daniel said to the group, “Everyone, these folks are from the police and helping us find Rebecca. Maria asked, “Daniel, is there a quiet place where we can talk?”

  He led them into his home office/den. Squire introduced Oscar and asked, “How are you doing, Daniel?”

  “Basically, I’m numb. I haven’t slept; haven’t eaten. I’m a wreck.”

  “That’s understandable. We will pursue every angle possible. I was surprised that you had contacted the press, though you had every right to do so.”

  “I hope that was ok. I just had to do something that was proactive. I just couldn’t sit around and do nothing.”

  Maria said, “Understandable. And that’s fine. Oscar here is one of many interns we have following up leads. He had called Abby McGuire your insurance agent,” to which Daniel replied casually, “Oh yes Abby. He’s been our insurance agent and the company’s agent for years. Nice man.”

  Squire interjected, “We understand that several days ago you and Rebecca met with him to obtain some additional life insurance. Can you tell us what prompted that?”

  Daniel’s answer totally surprised them. “He must be mistaken. We haven’t met with Abby for about four years.”

  Taken back momentarily, Squire handed Daniel the file and said, “Then, what do you make of this? It’s a supplemental insurance application dated about a week ago. The application has your signature and Rebecca’s signature. There is a receipt from your corporate credit card as well and copies of your drivers’ licenses. The file also contains a report, of Doctor Simone Latimer, the in-house staff physician at Prudential who went through a medical checklist with you, where you listed current health conditions, all good, and various pharmaceuticals you were taking, Tenormin and Allopurinol for you and Fluconazole for a recent yeast infection for Rebecca.

  Daniel looked genuinely shocked and yelled out, “What?” He raised his voice. “Look I don’t know what’s going on, but I never, repeat never, met with Abby, nor any doctor and we signed no applications. There has to be some crazy misunderstanding or Abby is hallucinating. I’m going to call him.”

  Without waiting for approval, Daniel dialed McGuire, who he put on the speakerphone. “Abby, you are on the speakerphone with Detective Squire and two other members of his team. I understand that you met with them earlier today and told them you met with me and Rebecca a few days ago, but you know that’s not the case.”

  With a strong certainty in his voice McGuire replied, “I don’t know what’s going on, but one thing is for sure, you and Rebecca were absolutely here. We even spoke about your daughters in summer camp and Rebecca’s research for a bit. Frankly, I don’t know why you are denying you met with me, but I can verify that you and Rebecca were here. We have surveillance cameras at reception. I’ll get the videos to show you. I hope you are ok, but think you need to get a grip”.

  Squire was already standing and said into the speaker, “Mr. McGuire, we will be right over. Please get those videos. Daniel, please attempt to focus on this event. Maybe you suppressed it for some reason.”

  Daniel replied in a strident voice two octaves higher than his normal soft-spoken voice said, “Look Detective, I’m anything but crazy. That meeting didn’t happen!”

  Maria interjected softly, “If you and Rebecca were not with McGuire, can you tell me where you were?”

  “I don’t know where Rebecca was, but I was at a meeting at the Sheraton Hotel on 53rd street in Manhattan with Bitsa Park Pharmaceutical of Moscow. I met with the chairman of the company, Igor Tralinski, and four members of his management team to discuss an investment in my company. We had a three- or four-hour meeting. Tralinski made many calls to Moscow. You can check the room and the phone records if need be. Bitsa Park has a permanent corporate office at the Sheraton, room 1206.”

  The following day, Oscar reported that the manager of the Sheraton advised that Bitsa Park Pharmaceutical was never registered as a guest and that it was against company policy to rent rooms to businesses. The hotel records revealed that a couple from Lincoln, Nebraska occupied that room and they made no calls. A search through Google revealed that Bitsa Park did not exist.

  Squire’s evaluation of Daniel’s guilt now rose to 85 percent guilty, 15 percent innocent.

  Twenty-Two

  •

  Punishment Without A Crime

  Prompted by the unequivocal confirmation by McGuire that Daniel and Rebecca met with him and concerned that he might be a suspect, Daniel decided to call a criminal lawyer. On the recommendation of his corporate counsel, Daniel placed a call to an attorney named Miriam Lessor.

  A Cardozo Law School graduate; Miriam had spent the first ten years of her career as a member of the Legal Aid Society. What she lacked in pay she made up for in experience. She had her first criminal jury trial six months after being hired by Legal Aid, and when a senior staff lawyer went over to a criminal law firm, she inherited his case load. Over her ten-year stint, besides having more actual trial experience than most large firm litigators have in a lifetime, she gained toughness and an uncanny intuitive sense of a client’s guilt or innocence. She was a fierce litigator but also had a gentle and warm way with clients. Though Legal Aid was a large organization, Rebecca was a one-woman band, having to do her own document preparation and factual and legal research. She became superb at both.

  As she was entering her twelfth year as a lawyer, a well-known Nassau County lawyer hired her as an associate. Three years later and three weeks after they signed their partnership agreement, he died on a golf course. She inherited his practice and all of his clients. By the time Daniel called her, Miriam, 40, had hand
led several high-profile cases and twelve capital cases. Daniel’s research on her through Google prior to his initial call confirmed that she was a first-rate lawyer.

  Daniel summarized the events leading up to his most recent interview, the odd facts related to the non-existent meeting with McGuire, and why he thought he might be a suspect. She replied, “Mr. Levy,”

  “Call me Daniel.”

  “Daniel, first, I’m so sorry about the disappearance of your wife. It all sounds bizarre, but I believe that you are probably a suspect. It is likely that Detective Squire will ask for and get a search warrant. That may happen as early as tomorrow. Can we meet this afternoon?”

  The modest interior of Miriam’s second floor office did not trouble Daniel, given her stellar reputation. He waited in a small windowless conference room, and sipped coffee from a mug which had “ABA Convention-St. Louis” inscribed on it. Daniel thought about the time he and Rebecca met with a team of high-priced Park Avenue lawyers to discuss the mechanics of an initial public offering. They drank coffee from bone china cups and looked out from the elegant sixtieth-floor conference room’s floor to ceiling windows on the city below. That was one of his brightest days with Rebecca, when funding was coming in and hopes were high for great NDA test results on her Alzheimer’s molecule. It was a sweet memory. He recalled the exact words he said at that moment, “The world is our oyster,” and his joke, “Let’s go to the Oyster Bar after this.”

  Since the IPO would bring several million dollars in fees to the law firm, they treated him and Rebecca as royalty. He later called it a “happy meeting.” This meeting, he knew, was going to be different, though her sympathetic attitude and confident demeanor gave him some hope. The reality was, however, that Daniel never had a chance. The doubles of Rebecca and himself would lead the jury to conclude that he was lying or delusional. Coupled with key physical evidence, a finding of guilt was inevitable. At this early stage, however, Daniel, like many doomed defendants prior to trial, still had a scintilla of hope and was unaware of the sophisticated steps to frame him.