by Steve Levi
“How many hours do you work in a month?”
“Not as many as I would like, but as long as I’m no more than half-time, I can keep getting my Social Security check.”
“Gotta keep busy. Good for you. Now, tell me what happened when you got to work on Sunday.”
“Well, there were four of us. I was senior, so I took the lead. I did the check-in. It was all routine. I got to garage, and I was given our manifest. The armored car was ready to go when I got here. I checked the front license plate against the manifest and left. Then—”
“No. Just a minute. There were four of you around the armored car?”
“No. Just me. I did the checking. In the garage. That’s the way it’s done. The lead goes into the garage, does the check-in. The other three are on their bikes in the yard. Then I came out and got on my bike. When I did, it was the signal to start the escort.”
“OK. Now, how many people were in the armored?”
“Two. Charlie and Harry. I know ’em.”
“How well?”
“Very well. More than by sight. We’re a tight group here at Swensen. We get moved around a lot, so we’ve all worked with one another.”
“Do Charlie and Harry ever ride motorcycles?”
“No. I guess I misspoke. Here at Swensen we all get a taste of everyone else’s job. That’s the way John . . . er . . . Mr. Swensen keeps us one big happy family. We all know the routine because we’ve worked all the jobs. But there aren’t many of us on bikes. Charlie and I usually ride bikes.”
“Charlie?”
“Schanche. He was on the back with me yesterday. He’s been on bikes as long as I’ve known him here. I don’t think he’s done any other job at Swensen. He’s . . . how should I say it . . . a burned-out vet. He’s happy to be riding bikes. The two drivers—the Jacksons—Charlie and Harry, are not bike people. They don’t want to be bike people and would be a danger on a bike. So, no, they have not had a turn at riding security. But, yes, I know them by sight. They were in the armored.”
“Did you check to see if there was anyone inside the back?”
“No. I just checked the front license plate against the manifest. It matched. I signed off the security sheet and dropped it off on the desk inside the garage as we were leaving.”
“Did you walk around the armored at all? I mean, did you check to see if the license on the back matched the license on the front of the armored?”
“No. Like I said, the license plate on the front bumper matched the manifest, so I waved the armored out of the garage.”
“Who was there when you left? I mean in the garage and at the front gate?”
“Well, we, all of us, checked in with the guard at the front gate. He knows us, so he just waved us in. We got the bikes out of the mechanical shop and parked them in the lot. Then I went into the Security Room and was given the manifest.”
“Where were our other three guards?”
“In the yard on their motorcycles.”
“But not in the garage?”
“Correct. I went into the garage alone.”
“Is that standard? I mean, is that the way it’s usually done?”
“Yeah. The garage is not large, so getting four bikes inside with the armored cars makes a tight squeeze. Usually one of us does the check-in, and the rest of us wait on our bikes in the yard.”
“So you don’t always do the check-in?”
“It’s a seniority thing. When I’m the top dog, I do the check-in. If someone on the escort team has been here longer than me, he does the check-in. It’s just courtesy, not required.”
“Was there a guard in the garage?”
“No. Just the Jacksons, the drivers.”
“OK. Go on.”
“Well, there’s not much more to tell. I did the check-in. The armored pulled up. I double-checked the license plate against what had been on the manifest, which was a waste of time because I knew the two drivers, Harry and Charlie. The Jacksons were in the armored ready to go. I signed the manifest and left it on the desk inside the garage. I walked out of the garage, got on my bike, and we took off. Very routine.”
“Did you know the other riders in the escort?”
“One of them well. Charlie, like I told you. He’s a long-time employee. The other two were recent hires, college students, maybe been on board two years. Off and on.”
“But everyone had ID?”
“Had to. Otherwise they would not have made it through the gate.”
“Did the guard at the front gate stop you?”
“Nope. He just kind of waved as we went by.”
“So you went out the gate. Where were you?”
“In the back. The two newbies were in front.”
“The other long-term escort rider—Charlie, right?—was in the back with you?”
“Yup. Charlie and I were the two in the back.”
Noonan picked up a file he had not yet reviewed. “Charlie Schanche, is he the long-timer?”
“Yes. The newbies were John and Ramon.”
Noonan looked at the tags on the other two personnel files. “John Swensen and Ramon Delgado. Is John Swensen any relation to the owner of the company?”
“As far as I know, it’s a yes-and-no answer. Old man Swensen—that is, President Swensen—was a foster child. He and his sister. President Swensen never married, so he has no children. His sister adopted a foster child., She give him the Swensen last name. To extend the family line, so to speak. That’s John. Sharp, hardworking, honest. So, yes, there is a relationship, but, no, it’s not blood.”
“How about Ramon? Anything I should know about him?”
“Hispanic.”
Noonan smiled. “That’s a given.”
“Not really. Bright kid, shows up on time, does the paperwork he’s required to do. I’ve got no complaint with either of the newbies.”
“How about the long-timer,” Noonan looked at the personnel file tab, “Charlie Schanche?”
“Charlie is old school. Vietnam vet. Black Beret, and I’m not even sure what a Black Beret is. Was. Burned out, if you know what I mean. Had a rough life, rocky marriage, couple of kids who dropped out. Uses drugs. Prescription drugs, not illegal ones. He’s alert enough on the job but just kind of there. Good enough for me to trust him.”
“Never gave you any trouble?”
“None of these guys did. But none of them are my friends. We’re just the luck of the draw. I’m with Charlie a lot because he’s been here a long time. People come and go in this business.”
“How about the two newbies? Ever work with them before?”
“A handful of times, yeah.”
“Together or separately?”
“Both. Like I said, it’s the luck of the draw.”
“No problems with any of them?”
“Not a one. But like I said, these are people I work with. I don’t party with them.”
“How about the drivers?”
“I know them better because they’ve been around a long time. Harry and Charles Jackson. Same last name. Same family. Odd because they’re not closely related. But then again, this is coastal North Carolina and the Outer Banks, so their family have been here a long time. Distantly related but related, if you know what I mean.”
Noonan kind of nodded. Then he picked up the personnel files of the two Jacksons. “Harry and Charles.” Noonan opened the Manila folders and looked at the contents. He took so long that Steigle started looking around as if to leave. Without looking up Noonan said, “This ’ill just take another minute or two.” Then he put the files down.
“Both of these guys are in their upper sixties. Were they here when you were hired on?”
“Been here longer than rocks,” Steigle said. “They were old-timers when I was a newbie.”
“Are they full-time?”
“No one here is full-time. The longer you work here, the more you make per hour. They’re up there in terms of per hour.”
“Good money?�
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“For not having a college degree, yeah. I don’t know what good money is anymore. I made great money when I was a lawyer. But three wives leave you kind of broke.”
“Three ex-wives, you mean.”
“They all have kids, so I’m always paying.”
“Anyone else here have money problems?”
“Captain,” Steigle said confidentially. “It is captain, isn’t it?”
“Heinz works better.”
“Heinz, I know where you’re going. Yeah, everyone who works here needs money. But there’s a difference between needing money and dipping into the till. First, there is no till to rob here. Money in the vault is audited. When the cash goes into the armoreds, it’s in locked bags. Paperwork is checked at the front end and back end. If there so much as a dime missing, we’re all out of a job. Yeah, we all need money, but none of us can afford to steal it. Besides, we never see money; we just see bags of it. Or, what we think are bags full of it.”
“How much money was in the armored when it disappeared?”
“None. We were on our way to pick up money.”
“What do you think happened to the armored?”
“Don’t have a clue. It went into the tunnel. We waited on our end. It never came out the other side. Never came out our side either.”
“Let’s do this a bit slower.”
“OK. What do you want to know?”
“You went out the front gate. Then what?”
“Well, we proceeded toward the Pamlico Tunnel. When we got there—”
“Wait a minute. Did you have to change your route for any reason?”
“No. Not really.”
“What do you mean by not really?”
“Well, there was a motorcycle that had been laid down. I didn’t see it go down, but it was flat on the ground when we drove up. The rider was up and standing over the motorcycle. He didn’t look hurt, so we just went around him.”
“Did you drive around the motorcycle?”
“Sort of. We went around the block because a crowd was gathering in the intersection. But that was about it.”
“You didn’t stop?”
“There was no reason to. The rider was up and walking around. We just detoured around the block.”
“Did you lose sight of the armored car at that point?”
“Heinz, we never lost sight of the armored car until we got to the tunnel. There were two motorcycles in the front and two in the back. The newbies in front, me and Charlie in the back. We were close enough to the truck bumper to touch it all the way to the tunnel.”
“Were you going a normal rate of speed at all times?”
“A little slower than normal but not above the speed limit, which is pretty slow—twenty-five miles per hour in most places. Like I said, it was all routine.”
“OK. What happened when you got to the tunnel?”
“Like I’ve told everyone before, the State of North Carolina was doing roadwork in the tunnel, so there was only one-way traffic. I sent two of the motorcycles, the newbies, on ahead to check out the tunnel and wait for the armored on the far side. They went through with a convoy.”
“Convoy?”
“Yeah, you know, in a queue. There was construction in the tunnel, and three of the four lanes were closed. So the cars had to go through single file. The roadway was pretty ripped up in there, with huge potholes you had to maneuver around. Vehicles had to go in single file. There was a traffic control person on our side, who let six or seven cars go through at a time—vehicles, I mean. Traffic was moving real slow. Traffic woman—it was a woman—didn’t want to jam up the tunnel, so we went through in convoys. When all the cars came out on the other side, the traffic guy on the other side of the tunnel let cars go in from the other direction. Then the traffic woman let the next plug of cars go through from our end.”
“Were the two traffic people in contact with each other? Like on cell phones?”
“No. The last car in the convoy was given a flag. When the last car came out on the other side of the tunnel, the flag was given to the other traffic person, and he gave to the last car in the convoy coming the other way.”
“So the newbies went through first?”
“Yes. They went through with a convoy. Then, when they got out on the other side, they sat and waited for the armored. The convoy coming our direction came through, and the last car gave the traffic woman the flag. She gave it to the armored, the last vehicle in the convoy on our side of the tunnel. Then Charlie and I waited for the armored to get through, but it never came out on the other side.”
“Why did you wait rather than follow the armored?”
“Protocol. Even if it wasn’t, it was not a good idea to be in the tunnel behind the armored. The potholes in the Pamlico Tunnel could drown an elephant.”
“So the armored went in and never came out of the tunnel?”
“Never came out. The armored car went into the tunnel at the back of the convoy. It disappeared into the tunnel, and that was the last time Charlie and I saw it.”
“OK. Now I’m assuming you made a thorough search of the tunnel, even in places an armored car couldn’t be.”
“Captain, we searched everywhere. We asked for a roadblock and chased down all the vehicles that came out of the tunnel on the other side. There’s no turn-off on the highway, so it wasn’t hard. There were only eight cars in the convoy, and none of them was the armored car. Two of them could have had the armored car inside, but we checked both. Then we walked back through the tunnel and found nothing.”
“Nothing?” Noonan’s look was incredulous. “I find it hard to believe.”
“Captain, I’m telling you, there was nothing there. The armored car did not come out of the tunnel at the far side. It didn’t back out of the tunnel; otherwise, Charlie and I would have seen it.”
“Do you always split up your security when you come to a tunnel?”
“Not every tunnel. Just the ones where there is a chance of robbery. Traffic was moving very slowly because of the construction. It was deemed a good idea to take the precaution, and that’s exactly what my men did. Now, of course, it doesn’t seem like such a good idea.”
“The tunnel only had one lane open, right?”
“The State of North Carolina is working on the tunnel, repaving it, so there was only one lane open. That’s why the traffic inside was moving pretty slow. Two of our motorcycles went over in the first convoy. Then the armored car went through with eight other vehicles. When it didn’t show up on the other side, one of the escorts, John, came back to see what the problem was. That’s when we knew the armored was missing.”
Noonan shook his head. “Could the armored car have turned around in the tunnel?”
“If the roadway was fixed, and it had time to do the old back-and-forth, yeah. But there was only one lane open, and even the one lane was pretty chewed up, anyway. They’re paving in there.”
“Was anyone in the tunnel?”
“No. The pavers were on lunch break.”
“So they left the paving equipment in the tunnel?”
“I know what you’re thinking, Chief. I thought the same thing. We checked all the equipment. It’s all standard, and none of it is large enough to hide an armored car. We walked the tunnel four abreast with flashlights to make sure it wasn’t parked against the side and covered with a tarp or hidden in a pullover. There was nothing there. Nothing.”
“Were there any holes in the tunnel? Armored cars don’t just disappear into thin air.”
“This one may very well have. Yes, there are some holes, but I’d call them alleys. That’s the only thing I can think to call them. They run about twenty feet and then connect with a hallway on the riverside of the tunnel. The alleys are there so water can be drained out of the tunnel. The back hallway’s about five feet wide, but there’s a four-foot-wide aqueduct running down the center. The aqueduct was full of water and had a grate over it. The water collects and then jets out into the
river. Then it’s a two-hundred-foot drop to the river.”
“Yeah. Yeah. I saw the fugitive. And the vehicle wasn’t there?”
“Couldn’t get there. The alleys feeding off the tunnel are only about four feet wide, too narrow for an armored car.”
“Are there any other openings?”
“Not a one.”
“How about catwalks?”
“There are two walkways on both sides of the tunnel, but they are only three feet wide and have a railing. An armored car couldn’t make it up to the walkway much less drive along it.”
Noonan scratched his head and stared at the blank wall beside his desk. There was dead silence for a moment before he spoke again. “What about the police? You did call them?”
“They got there fast and were crawling all over us.”
“Did the armored have a GPS?”
“Yup. But it went ghost on us.”
“Ghost?”
“When we went back to the garage to report the missing armored, we checked its GPS. It wasn’t on. Ghost. Our term, what we call it.”
“So, in essence, the armored disappeared into thin air?”
“No in essence about it. It was gone.”
Noonan kept writing as he spoke. “I’m assuming you did the usual. You checked to make sure there really was an armored car gone. I mean, you counted all the cars in the garage and searched every nook and cranny to make sure an armored wasn’t hidden.”
Steigle smiled and raised both hands to shoulder level. “This place may look large from the outside, but it’s small on the inside, so to speak. We have twenty-three vehicles here; sixteen of them are what you call armored. The rest are what we call delivery vehicles. They don’t carry cash. Yes, we checked every one of the twenty-two vehicles here and, as you call them, the ‘nooks and crannies.’ We were short of one armored car. We checked the security cameras, and, yes, the armored car left; it’s GPS was active at that time. All the other armoreds had GPS working. There was one armored missing. It still is.”
“With no money in it?”
“Not a dime.”
“Who would want to steal an empty armored car?”
“That, Captain, is a very good question.”
