by Dan Kelly
“Well, if you don’t have any plans for the evening how about joining me at Morey’s for dinner? I just placed my order, but I can tell Sadie to hold off until you get here. I’ve got a feeling you’re going to stay on the case, so we can discuss what our game plan should be going forward.”
Don’s a bachelor like me and an even worse cook, so I’m pretty sure he’ll take me up on my invite. He doesn’t disappoint me. “I’ll be there in thirty.”
Man, the President must have immediately called the top honcho at Homeland Security who probably immediately called the Director of the FBI to mend any bridges that might have been singed and the lava flowed downhill from there. Dick Tracy must really have his shorts in a wad.
When Don arrives, he orders the Porterhouse steak with a baked potato and creamed spinach, yuk, and the house cabernet sauvignon to prepare his pallet for the culinary adventure coming its way. So as not to be a wall flower, I join him with a Newcastle Brown Ale to stimulate my taste buds.
“Chet, someone very high up on the food chain has gotten involved in this Crusader investigation. I’ve been taken off of cases before due to jurisdiction issues, but the only person I ever heard from was my immediate supervisor. I’ve never been called to the assistant director’s office before.”
“I agree with you that someone high up on the food chain has gotten involved. Otherwise, why all the fuss of having you attend a special meeting with your boss and his boss. It’s also for this reason that I think you’re going to be told that the case is still yours. I think people are covering their backsides where you are concerned because someone high up on the ladder has spoken up for you. So, let’s assume that I’m right. Let’s enjoy our dinner and try to come up with some new avenues to pursue to catch this fruitcake.”
No bright ideas present themselves during our personal war on hunger, but over some delicious after dinner Kona coffee which Sadie gets direct from the Big Island we start to put together a likely profile on the Crusader.
“Don, from what’s gone down to date with this Crusader I think it’s reasonable to assume he’s reacting to something very bad that has happened to him or someone close to him. I think it’s also reasonable to assume that he perceives his targets as being directly or indirectly responsible for the bad thing that happened. Another assumption that makes sense is the bad thing that happened to this individual involved the U. S. Government, more specifically the U. S. Military. Another assumption I can live with is this Crusader is in a get even, eye for an eye, mind set and is killing his targets because someone close to him/her was killed and he holds them primarily responsible.”
“Another assumption we can make is this guy must have the means to access information not available to the general public and I’m betting on him being very computer savvy and an accomplished hacker. To pull off what he has so far this individual has had to be very organized, resourceful, extremely diligent in his planning, exceptionally careful not to leave any incriminating evidence at the scenes of his crimes and he’s probably very ordinary looking because he hasn’t drawn any unwanted attention. In short, he’s a man on a mission who possesses above average intelligence and has no qualms about killing people.”
We bandy about some other ideas and then call it a night and go our separate ways, me to head for home to do some poking around the government files on Judge Richard Carlyle and Don to head back to his office to continue his perusal of Senator Gail Markham’s voting record over the past year or so. We both believe we now have a better feel for what this Crusader is all about, but that’s a long way from putting an end to his rampage.
Chapter 7
I spend the rest of my Saturday poking around the personnel files of Judge Carlyle, his record on the Supreme Court and his occasional tete-a-tetes with members of the broadcast media about his stance on issues. One very interesting piece of information that came to light was the judge was a corporate attorney with a well-known law firm based in D. C. before he was appointed to the Supreme Court and he frequently represented defense contractors in contract negotiations with the military, two of which are at the top of the heap, Colt and FN Manufacturing, weapons manufacturers. Bingo! I now had the military connection I was hoping to uncover.
But so what? What about these military connections has put a bull’s-eye on his victims’ foreheads? I’ve got to get Bob and Shirley to look at these killings from a macro perspective, not a micro one where they’re just trying to identify something Baker did to light a fire under the Crusader. I’m thinking the Crusader is blaming his victims for something they did or didn’t do that involved the military which resulted in a personal tragedy for him such as the loss of a loved one. I’m winging it, but the more I think about it the more convinced I’m becoming that I’m on the right track.
I decide to knock it off for the night and turn on the TV to catch the news and then surf the channels for a decent movie to watch. I select CNN with the remote and head for the refrigerator for a beer, but am stopped mid-stride by the newscaster saying, “This just in. There has been a double homicide at the exclusive Columbia Country Club, a private club just minutes away from downtown Columbia, South Carolina. Two men were shot and killed in the parking lot of the club about a half hour ago. We don’t have the names of the victims yet, but our sources say it is believed they are senior executives of manufacturing with Colt and FN Manufacturing, weapons manufacturers. FN Manufacturing has a factory in Columbia, South Carolina and Colt has a manufacturing facility in Hartford, Connecticut and one in Ontario, Canada. Stay tuned and we’ll give you updates as soon as we receive them.”
Calling cards weren’t mentioned, but my money is on the Crusader. Sure enough, five minutes later the newscaster has the victims’ names and confirmation of their employers’ names and their positions with the companies and drops the bombshell that’s going to saturate the airwaves for days. He ties these killings in with the other four by telling his viewers about the calling cards left on all of the bodies which some very good investigative journalist was able to discover.
Apparently, these men were leaving a fund raising dinner for some international charity headquartered in Columbia and were shot walking together to their cars. The festivities were still in full swing when they left the clubhouse, so there was no one in the parking lot besides them and of course the killer.
Damn, this Crusader is a road warrior and a half. He definitely gets around and must be popping NoDoz like M & Ms or he’d have fallen asleep at the wheel by now. I’m wondering if Don has gotten wind of this latest development yet. My phone rings and yes he has.
“Chet, this guy is a real phantom when it comes to moving around undetected. It’s uncanny how he has committed six murders over a wide area in less than a week and has not been spotted or left a single clue that might lead to his identity. If this guy’s luck doesn’t run out before he runs out of victims, we may never catch him.”
“Are you going to head out for Columbia or leave it to your colleagues there to do the usual?”
“I can’t do anything until I meet with the powers that be on Monday. My boss has told me to sit on my hands until he gets back to me, so that’s what I have to do. Besides, I think my going there would be a wasted trip. This guy is too cautious to leave anything that will be helpful in our investigation. If by chance he did leave something, I’ll trust my colleagues to find it. I don’t think they’ll find anything though. This guy isn’t going to make things easy for us, Chet. The key to us nailing this guy lies someplace other than the scenes of the crimes.”
I tell him about what I found out about the judge, he tells me he’ll call me with the results of the meeting on Monday and that ends our conversation. I no longer have a yen for a beer, so I flop down on the couch and start surfing the channels for something interesting to watch.
As I’m flicking through the channels I come across a documentary on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and start watching it. The narrator is talking about the challenges the me
n on the ground have to face due to the weather, the terrain and the cultural differences. When he starts talking about the effects of the sand storms on military equipment and weaponry he’s got my full attention. In his commentary he makes a brief mention of some accusations that have been made by some people that our fighting men and women are being sent into harm’s way with inferior equipment for which Uncle Sam is paying top dollar. A lot of finger pointing has taken place and the manufacturers and people in the government have been accused of paying and taking kickbacks and a host of other things, but nothing out of line has come to light.
I remember something about this being aired on the prime time news programs a year or so ago, but it didn’t hold center stage for long as other developments pushed it aside. This might be the link we’re looking for. Perhaps equipment failure caused someone close to the Crusader to be wounded or killed and he’s out for vengeance. Maybe this guy was one of the accusers and his name and/or picture made the six o’clock news. I’ll point Bob and Shirley down this road and see what they can come up with.
As I think about this some more my yen for a beer returns. We might be about to get something we can sink our teeth into.
Chapter 8
When Monday morning rolls around, I’m eager to get to the office and get everyone digging up old news stories on the public outcry of inferior military equipment being used in Iraq and Afghanistan and the accompanying accusations of kickbacks being involved. Knowing who was involved in the demonstrations, who was interviewed by the media, who if anyone was arrested, who was standing out from the crowd if anyone was, etc. might give us some possible suspects to look at more closely.
My desk is in the back corner of the main office, the farthest from the door, and as I reach it and take off my coat to hang it up on the coat rack nearby Felicity walks over and asks, “Have you seen the morning paper yet?”
“No I haven’t. Why?”
“You and Don Ericson made the front page.”
“What?”
“Check it out. I put a copy on your desk.”
Every morning Felicity picks up copies of the Washington Post and the Washington Times so our small group can stay up with what’s happening in the capitol. Reading them over a cup of coffee is a good way to start the day. We have a TV in the break room for us to watch and one of us will check out CNN for any breaking news several times during the day and if something pertinent to something we’re working on pops up it will be passed on to the rest of the group.
Not only did we make the front page, a picture of Don and me leaving the area where the judge’s body was found in his car and an accompanying story about the Crusader and his handiwork were placed above the fold, a preeminent position for a newspaper. The story was accurate to a point, but the FBI didn’t come off looking too good as the journalist pointed out that the Bureau had no clue as to whom the Crusader might be and had to bring in an outside consultant to assist in the investigation. We have some idea who the Crusader might be, but we aren’t going to blabber what we’re thinking about the military connection and have the guy go to ground.
Bob sees me reading the article and comes over and says, “Hey, boss, you’re now a celebrity. Can I have your autograph?”
“Yeah, on your pink slip if you don’t get your butt back to work.” I say this with a smile, but I’m a little concerned about how the article might impact the reader.
“Hey, I thought you’d be in a good mood when you saw that piece in the paper. That’s terrific advertising for Dawson Inc. and it’s free.”
“The FBI might not be too thrilled about the way my role in the investigation was represented, Bob. It gives the reader the impression that the FBI had no idea how to proceed and had to bring in an outsider to show them the way and that wasn’t the reason at all. The FBI is not someone I want to have pissed off at me. They are now a paying client and could be a major client if we can deliver for them. I’m hoping Don can handle any negative feedback his bosses might throw at him over the way this article was worded. If we lose the FBI’s business, the mention of our company name will not be free advertising as we would lose a lot of fee income from a very big client.”
“When I read the article I didn’t get the impression you think the FBI might get, but now that you point out the possibility I can see how that might be a plausible reaction. Damn! I was thinking about hitting you up for a raise when all of the new business started knocking on our door. I guess the new Tesla will have to wait huh?”
“Bob, you’ve really got to lay off that junk food. It’s messing with your ability to deal with reality.”
Laughing, Bob starts to head back to his desk, but I stop him. “Where’s Shirley?”
“In the break room getting some go-go juice.”
“Go get her and Felicity and bring them over here. I have an idea I want to run by all of you.”
When I have everyone gathered around my desk I tell them about the possibility of the Crusader being one of the folks playing an active role in the stink that was raised over the quality of military equipment and weaponry our troops were using in Iraq and Afghanistan a year or so ago.
“Every one of the people killed has a military connection of some kind. I want all of you to dig up everything you can about that brouhaha, stories, pictures, interviews, arrests of dissidents, etc. We may get lucky and come across someone that qualifies as a solid suspect.”
Felicity says, “This person has targeted people in the legislative, judicial and military sectors of our leadership along with someone who has had dealings with one or more of these sectors. The only sector left is the executive branch. I wonder if the President is on this nut’s to-do list.”
“I’m sure the President’s security detail is wondering the same thing and has taken steps to deal with the potential threat the Crusader might be to the President.” Of course, I know this to be a fact, but I can’t share that with them.
“Okay, everybody, let’s get to work.”
A couple of hours later Don Ericson calls and tells me what I already know. The Crusader case is all his and Homeland Security will assist in any way they can. I ask him how the brass reacted to the Washington Post article and he didn’t know what I was talking about. I explain and he says the subject never came up. I then tell him about the documentary I watched Saturday night and how it had spurred me down another path to follow to try to come up with some possible suspects.
“That just might lead to something, Chet. Over here we’re sitting dead in the water. Other than the military link, nothing in the victims’ backgrounds is waving any red flags. We’ll keep at it, but we’re really swimming upstream when it comes to making any headway. I’m already on my sixth cup of coffee and every time the damn phone rings my heart goes into overdrive because there’s a good chance it might be someone calling to let me know that this screwball has struck again. There’s no reason to think he’s going to slow down his pace, so my gut keeps telling me that before the day is over we’re going to have another corpse on our hands.”
“Hey, think positive. He could fall asleep at the wheel of his wheels and run head on into a semi on the interstate. This guy definitely isn’t getting much shut eye.”
“Yeah and I’m going to win this week’s lottery too. Later.”
Around four in the p.m., I call everyone over to my desk to review what we’ve come up with so far and it’s a lot more than I thought it would be. I start things off with an open ended question my college communications professor would have given me a C for. She was not easily pleased.
“Has anyone stood out in the material you’ve retrieved during your research? Felicity, you first.”
“Unfortunately, too many people, both male and female. These folks were really ticked off and were banded together to bring the people responsible for the situation to justice and no one was too shy to voice what was on their minds. There were more than a few times when their fury over the information they were receiving about the below pa
r equipment their siblings, their sons and daughters, were being given to fight with boiled over into physical confrontation with the police in cities all over the country. In the articles I came across, there were references to instances of the ammunition for the weapons being faulty; not having sufficient gunpowder to function properly was a major complaint. I came across no one that stood out as a leader of any of the protesting groups though.”
