David Wolf 01 - Foreign Deceit

by Jeff Carson

  “I don’t believe you!” He wadded the shirt underneath Vlad’s chin, exposing his jiggling belly.

  “You didn’t hear them come into the building? They didn’t simply come down the hall and see you working here with the light on? They didn’t say hi to you? What is that, twenty feet away?” He jerked his head toward the observatory room down the hall.

  “No, they didn’t. I-I-I- … I heard them down the hall, and I shut my door to block out the sound. I had a lot of work to do. I was talking on the phone and had important conversations. They didn’t speak to me. Th-th-th-then they just left. I didn’t see them at all. It was only a couple minutes!”

  “Why did you lie to us earlier?” Wolf asked. “You said you didn’t see my brother or Dr. Rosenwald Friday night.”

  “You asked if I went out to have beers with them! I did not.”

  Wolf said nothing.

  “I did not ever see them,” Vlad continued. “When they showed up here on Friday night, I heard them from here. I was on the phone, and I could hear … someone. But I never saw them,” Vlad’s expression steeled. “I’m sorry. I was in here working. I saw no one.”

  Rossi let him go and stepped back with wild eyes.

  Vlad pulled his shirt down and heaved with labored breaths.

  “What were you doing last night, Vlad?” Wolf asked.

  Vlad paused. “Last night? I was home last night. Why do you ask?”

  Rossi held up an index finger. “I’d like to see a list of shipments you have been overseeing for the last 24 hours.”

  Vlad looked at Rossi with an imploring expression. “Why would you want to see that?”

  “Let me see them. Now. Pull them up on your computer screen there.”

  Vlad pushed a few buttons. A jumbled mass of numbers filled the screen in different colored columns.

  Vlad held his hands toward the screen and pushed his chair back.

  Rossi gripped the back of the chair and slammed him into the desk with a crash. Papers dropped to the floor and the can of Coke Lite tipped on its side, spilling its remaining ounce onto the desk. “Show us the shipments for the last 24 hours. Now.”

  Vlad pulled his hand from below the desk and grabbed the mouse. Lia and Wolf approached to look close.

  Wolf pointed at the screen. “Click on that shipment there.”

  The shipment had an address from Merate, Italy to Cluj, Romania. There were blue links lined up underneath the shipment title and description.

  “Click on the Commercial Invoice and Bill of Lading,” Wolf said.

  Vlad clicked and an official looking invoice sheet displayed on the screen. The list of contents included official sounding components with numbers, dashes, and letters.

  “And the Bill of Lading.”

  The document took a while to build from top to bottom on the screen, a scanned copy of an original document. As it appeared slowly in front of them, Wolf tried to read the pertinent information, written in Italian. Two words materialized on the screen.

  “Albastru Shipping,” Wolf said. “The same name as The Albastru Pub.”

  “Yes,” Vlad looked at Wolf, “the owner of the shipping company also owns that pub.”

  “You guys have some serious ties to the Albastru brand it looks like,” Wolf said. “Beers after work and now the shipping company?”

  “Well, that’s how I learned about the pub. The owner of the shipping company approached me, and he told me about his pub. We were both Romanian … ” Vlad finished his sentence with a shrug.

  “You Romanians all stick together, huh?” Rossi glared.

  Vlad stayed silent.

  “All right. I’m going to need the truck information for this shipment here.” Rossi tapped the screen.

  Vlad looked at Rossi with another strange expression, as if it were an impossibly unreasonable request.

  “Now!”

  “All right, all right.” Vlad pressed some buttons and a printer whirred in the corner.

  A piece of paper shot out of the laser printer into the collection tray. Rossi picked it up and studied the page, pulling it close to his face with a squint.

  “Ah,” he said, pointing to the piece of paper. “Thank you, Mr. Vlad. We will find this truck en route and search its contents. We have come across some anonymous information that you may be helping with the smuggling of stolen electronics. And drugs. If we find anything suspicious in any truck you are involved with, you’ll be spending some hard time in San Vittore.”

  Vlad sat still without any expression.

  Rossi turned. “Have a nice day.” He looked to Wolf and nodded. “Anything else?”

  Wolf stared at Vlad for a few seconds. “I guess that will do for now.”

  …

  Wolf and Lia followed Rossi out to the rear of the building.

  “I’ll call this in right now. It shouldn’t be any trouble to find this truck and search its contents at any of the few eastern borders. There are only three or so routes it could have taken, and only one reasonable one.” Rossi tapped the sheet of paper. “According to this manifest, shipment delivery date is Monday in Cluj. They would leave for that delivery date today. There are truck restrictions on Saturdays in Italy. So with two days travel time, they would have to leave today.” Rossi looked seriously at Wolf. “But if it left last night, well, then it could be out of the country by now. Wolf, you are sure you saw what you saw last night? I’m putting myself on the line here making this call.”

  “I swear on my life. There were stolen computers and boxes packed with kilos of cocaine in the truck that made these marks,” he said, pointing at the lawn. “The owner of The Albastru Pub was driving the truck, the side of the truck said ‘Albastru International Shipping Co’ and Vlad was with him.”

  “And you just happened to be on a night time walk last night seeing all this?” Rossi smirked, sweeping his arm to the surrounding land.

  “Yeah, I took a wrong turn on a scooter ride.”

  “Madonna. You looked like a zombie after last night’s dinner. You are crazy.”

  “I got a second wind,” Wolf said.

  “A second … wind?” Rossi looked puzzled.

  “Never mind. Just make the calls. I swear I saw what I saw.”

  Rossi pulled out his phone and began dialing.

  They walked down the country road back to the lake.

  Dr. Rosenwald’s body had been removed by the time they returned. They continued past the taped scene to the wider pathway surrounding the lake.

  Rossi put his phone back in his pocket. “Okay, I have every border crossing into Slovenia and Austria looking for the truck. It will be stopped, I will be notified, and it will be searched thoroughly. I’ve also sent out a, how do you say in English, notification for all law enforcement agencies for the entire northeast of Italy to look out for this truck.”

  “We call that an APB in the United States. All points bulletin.”

  “Yes, now I remember that from the television shows,” he said. “I just hope our friend Vlad doesn’t decide to call the driver and turn him around before he gets to the border. If that happens, it is going to be difficult to find.”

  Wolf nodded. “I get it. Don’t get my hopes up.”

  Chapter 35

  Wolf’s stomach growled as they approached the car. So loud that Lia heard it.

  She looked up at him and leaned back. “I guess you are hungry?”

  “I thought you’d never ask. I would kill for another pizza.”

  She looked at her watch. “It’s a little early, but I know just the place.” She turned to Rossi. “You coming?”

  Rossi was concentrating on something, eyes glued to the dirt path. “What?”

  “Do you want to go have pizza with us for lunch?”

  “Uh, no thanks. I have to go take care of some things at the station. I’ll catch up with you guys afterwards.”

  “See you then. Keep Marino happy for me please. I’m supposed to talk to him this afterno
on.”

  “I promise nothing!” Rossi called out as he climbed into his car.

  …

  The uncut pizza spilled off the edges of the plate. Steam moistened Wolf’s face as the waiter pushed it under his nose, edging aside two cans of Coca-Cola.

  Half a pizza and a full Coke later, Wolf asked, “What does Colonnello Marino need to talk to you about this afternoon?”

  Lia shifted in her chair and wiped her mouth. “I have a … deadline.”

  “A deadline?”

  She looked at her plate. “To wrap up this case. To make you happy that all of your questions have been answered.”

  “I have a plane ticket for Sunday,” he said, “and John is already on the way home.”

  “I know.”

  They ate in silence for a few bites.

  “It’s my job to make sure you are on that plane on Sunday.”

  “Believe me, it’s in my best interest to be on that plane. It’s in a lot of people’s best interests for me to be on that plane,” he said.

  “I know. I’m just telling you what he is telling me.” She forked a piece of pizza. “I think you have convinced Valerio about your brother’s death, about him being murdered.”

  “Yeah? And what about you?”

  “I believe the evidence is clear your brother was murdered. But you don’t need me to be convinced.” She leaned forward. “I’m just saying, if you have to go home without this situation being resolved, it would be good to have Valerio on your side. There are a lot of unseen forces at work here. Your brother’s situation has come at an interesting time in our station.”

  Wolf frowned. “What does that mean?”

  She leaned forward. “Colonnello Marino is looking to be promoted out of the current position he is in. The Generali above him are choosing their next … successors, and he is well known to be on the top of that list. Only the top Colonnelli will be considered, and those top Colonnelli won’t have Americans coming in to question their investigations. If this gets out that you are here and somehow contributing to change the outcome of an already closed investigation, then that wouldn’t be good for him.”

  “This case was going to be complicated anyway with the discovery of Rosenwald’s body.”

  She nodded and took another bite.

  “I know, I know. I’m just saying everything is even more complicated now. The evidence points directly to your brother being responsible for the death of Dr. Rosenwald, and him committing suicide. The fact that Valerio has just stuck his neck out for you, as you Americans say, is very big. He is risking a lot by searching for this truck you saw last night.” She raised her eyebrows. “Because he is next in line for the position of Colonnello.”

  “And right now it’s all tied up in a nice bow.”

  “Exactly. Everything makes perfect sense. Your brother’s fingerprints are on the pipe, and it will look like a perfect explanation to Marino.” She swiped her hands against each other, another done and dusted gesture.

  “I frankly don’t give a shit about Marino’s career if it’s at the expense of my brother’s memory.”

  “Yes. I know. I don’t agree with it, I am just telling you what I know he is going to talk to me about this afternoon. Marino has been angry and uptight the last month, and it gets worse every day.” She forked another piece of pizza. “I know he’ll not like the way we are reading the evidence presented to us.”

  They ate in silence for a minute.

  “What is it, election time or something for you guys?”

  “Something like that, yes. Everyone is trying to keep their positions, or move up in the coming weeks and months. I do not know the exact time everything will happen, but change is in the air and everyone is well aware of it. It happens like this every year or two. Men and their power struggles …”

  “Yeah,” he said. “And how about you?”

  “How about me what?”

  “How’s this big shake up going to play out for you?”

  She scoffed and put her head down, forking another chunk of pizza into her mouth.

  “What? You aren’t expecting to be moved up?” he asked. “You don’t have your sights set higher?”

  She rolled her eyes and shrugged. “I do. We’ll see how things play out.”

  “What position does Valerio hold?”

  She pointed her fork at Wolf, then touched her nose with her index finger. “He is a Maggiore. A Major. If Valerio moves up to Colonnello, it will likely shift a lot of others up in rank, opening a spot for an officer. But I am young, and I am a woman. I don’t think I have a realistic chance.” She looked unfocused at the table. “But I am by far the best candidate in the entire station.”

  “Good luck,” he said. “I hope you can beat out Tito.”

  She paused mid-fork and glared at Wolf.

  Wolf smiled and held up his hands.

  They ate in silence for the rest of the meal, and he thought of home. He had to get Sheriff Burton on the phone. Not being there in the days following the fight with Connell and Connell spreading lies was proving to be a PR nightmare.

  Entrusting his future to the Derek-Connell-influenced-minds of others was killing him inside, especially since he’d lived his entire life not caring what others thought. Suddenly, his whole future hinged on what others thought.

  “Thinking about home? Seems like you have much the same situation going on,” Lia said.

  He sat back in the chair and wiped his mouth. “Yeah, it’s a bit more complicated, but essentially the same thing.”

  “More complicated?” She scoffed. “I don’t believe it. Nothing is more complicated than Italian bureaucracy. Nothing.”

  He plopped his napkin on the plate and sat forward, putting his elbows on the table. She matched the move, leaning forward conspiratorially.

  “Let’s say you and Tito were up for the same job promotion.”

  She shrugged. “That’s not a stretch. He probably is up for the same promotion. His father is a very powerful man.”

  “Okay, okay. But how about if you knew a secret about him.”

  “A secret?” She scrunched her face. “Like, what?”

  “A secret only you knew about him. One you can’t prove, but you know to be true. One that would quash his promotion if it were known.”

  “I do know a secret about Tito. He is an idiot. It would be very bad for him to be promoted.”

  He leaned back and squiggled his right hand in the air to the waiter.

  “Okay, okay. Sorry. What do you mean? A secret? I don’t get it.”

  He leaned forward to his elbows again. “What if you knew he was a murderer?”

  “A murderer?” She leaned back and laughed out loud at the ceiling, a high-pitched natural lilt that drew the longing eye of every single man in the room. She looked again at Wolf.

  Wolf hadn’t moved.

  “Okay,” she said. “And how would I know that?”

  “What if he tried to kill you? What if he attacked you, and tried with all his might to kill you, but you got away?”

  “Then, yes, that would be very bad,” she said confused.

  She looked at the plate in front of her, then started with realization. “Oh my God. This man you got in a fight with, he tried to kill you?”

  Wolf took a sip of his second Coke and nodded.

  “And you haven’t told anyone?”

  Wolf shrugged. “The opportunity never presented itself.”

  “Madonna,” she whispered.

  “Why is everything about Madonna with you Italians? You guys don’t like taking the Lord’s name in vain?”

  She looked straight at Wolf. “You have to tell someone. It must be eating you up inside.”

  “Can we have a look at that police report now?” Wolf leaned back, letting the waiter clear the plates and drop the check.

  Lia pulled it from her bag. It was a thick red paper folder with a half-inch of neatly stacked papers inside. She exhaled, swiped a smattering of crumbs
on the floor and opened it up. The top of the first page had an ornate swords and shield letterhead. Underneath the logo was a series of cells with check boxes, some checked.

  The police report was foreign in every aspect to Wolf. He recognized his brother’s name, Johnathan Dennis Wolf. Apart from that, he may have been looking at a schematic for a nuclear bomb.

  She turned the first page over and looked at the second, then turned back to the first page again. “I will translate.”

  “Who wrote this? Was this Rossi?”

  “No, a different officer.”

  They spent the next twenty minutes going through the written report sentence by sentence. It was mundane, and it was biased. Biased, Wolf thought, because it was written from the point of view of a group of cops called in to investigate a suicide of an unknown foreigner.

  The report was written with conviction and little skepticism to the cause of death. An American was found on the ground, strangled by hanging. The superintendent had called it in on Sunday at the advice of the woman who lived above him, who was concerned.

  She was self-described as dating the man, and was concerned he didn’t return her calls or show up for a date on Saturday night. She reported hearing a crash on early Saturday morning, which was most likely the chandelier dropping to the floor. She then knocked and tried to enter the apartment, there was no answer and it was locked from the inside. This, coupled with observations by the coroner on scene, determined time of death to be early Saturday morning just after one o’clock. The woman didn’t report hearing or seeing anyone else in the apartment with John that early morning, or leaving the apartment. Drugs were found on the scene, and close examination of the nostrils indicated the victim used drugs.

  And that was that.

  Nothing jumped out at Wolf as any different from what he had heard from Rossi, Lia, the superintendent, or Cristina.

  Wolf spent another ten minutes clarifying the wording Lia used, not wanting anything lost in translation. The clarification process didn’t tell him anything. Nonetheless, something was nagging him. A subliminal whisper was telling him something he couldn’t yet understand.