Chapter 77
Billycan, Glenda, Marcel and Darlene were sitting around the conference table in the US Attorney’s office. They had ordered some lunch and were eating their Chinese take-out from the cartons.
Glenda stopped munching, wiped her mouth and looked at Darlene. “I’ve never thanked you for getting Ms Kartz’s knife to me—but better late than never. Thanks.”
“Glad to be of help,” Darlene replied, trying to take some more noodles out of the little box. “What did you think of Talya and Mark Gilford’s statements about the second attack—the one that happened the next morning—when Mark was shot in the butt?”
“Umm…, yes…, but that’s the only information I’ve got on that incident. There was no police report on it…, so I can’t do anything with it.”
“But someone must have ordered the guys to take puck-shots at Talya’s boat—couldn’t we ask Van Dams to look into it?”
Marcel was eating an egg roll with a fork and knife—no chopsticks for the Frenchman.
“Umm…, umm…, no…, you can’t...” Billycan shook his head and swallowed. “You can’t expect the CIA to investigate something that happened in Florida, or something that seemed to emanate from the FBI.”
“So, you think the FBI was playing games…?”
Another bite of egg roll went into Marcel’s mouth.
“You heard it on Monday... What I’d like to know is who’s this Verduccio character.” Billycan looked at Glenda pointedly. Marcel watched from over his brow, his head still down on his plate. “I asked Glenda here—but she’s got no answer for us.”
The dagger hit the mark. Glenda exploded, “What do you want from me, Billycan? I told you, I have only the statements from Ms Kartz and Gilford, which you read obviously, and nothing else. I can’t just ask the Jacksonville police to investigate something that only exists on paper...”
“I think Mark Gilford would strongly disagree with you, Glenda,” Darlene put in quietly, not lifting her head from her last piece of chicken. “He’s got the scar to prove it.”
Marcel snickered. “Do you think we should introduce the scar into evidence?”
Billycan almost choked on his last mouthful to smother a laugh. “Yeah, I can just see you asking Mark to lower his trousers in the middle of the courtroom and ‘moon’ his behind to the jury.”
Darlene looked at him goggle-eyed. “This is one of the best federal agents in Canada you’re talking about! I don’t think he’d like to be humiliated any further than he’s been already.”
Billycan waved a friendly hand at the attorney. “Just joking, Darlene, sorry. And you’re right, we’ve got to taut that bowstring and let the arrow find its target. I just hope we’re not opening another can of worms. That’s all.” But that wasn’t all. He pressed on. “Did you know anything about this Verduccio... when your precinct investigated the Marianne incident?” Billycan asked Glenda.
“No... It’s only when they finally got hold of the M.E. and lab reports that the guys recalled being told to get off their crime scene by this Verduccio.”
“Didn’t the captain find it strange not to get a report from the M.E. at the time?”
“Actually…, I think he must have also been told to stay away since the FBI was handling it. And it’s only when Van Dams got me on the rack for accusing Ms. Kartz of killing Al Nadir and we got the knife and made a DNA comparison, that the M.E. report appeared mysteriously on one of the police officers’ desk.”
“You mean to tell me, the FBI or this Verduccio fellow gave false information to the police?”
“Huh-huh…, that’s what happened…, but we still don’t know who instigated the false allegation against Ms. Kartz.”
Billycan slammed his carton of rice on the table. “Marcel, get me Van Dams on the phone. Now!”
“Yes, sir!” The Assistant US Attorney dropped his fork and knife and was out the door like a shot.
Billycan glared. “When did you become aware of this situation, Ms. Stovall?”
“Don’t you start blaming me!” Darlene burst out. “I’ve brought you that information as soon as we were talking full immunity for my client.”
“Yes…, yes, you did. I’m sorry...” Billycan leaned to the back of his chair. “I like to deal in facts and not in yet another insinuation that the FBI was involved in a cover-up. If Simmons gets this Verduccio on the stand before we locate him, I’ll get a voir-dire...” He looked up to see Marcel come back into the room. “Did you reach him?”
“Yes…, he’ll be on the line in a minute.”
“Do you intend to put him on the stand when they find him?” Darlene asked.
“Depends... I’ll hear what he’s got to say first. It seems to me we’ve got parallel tracks running to somewhere, and not knowing the destination bothers me.”
The phone rang on Billycan’s desk. He stretched an arm over the empty lunch cartons and pressed a digit on the speaker device on the table. “Billycan here... How are you, Dietrich?”
“Not as well as I’d like. Every time I turn around your problems appear in my scope. What’s happening now?”
Billycan guffawed. “It’ll get better, I promise...”
“Yeah, I heard that one before but it never does. What’s up?”
“We need the FBI to produce a man by the name of Verduccio. He’s alleged to have fed you and Ms Blake some false information and made a false allegation against Ms. Kartz…”
Van Dams didn’t let him finish. “Way ahead of you on that one, Billycan. We’ve got the FBI on his tail right now. He is an FBI agent all right. He’s been suspended since the knife re-appeared and now he’s somewhere on the coast, on imposed leave of absence.”
“When do you expect they’ll grab him?”
“Give me 24 hours and he should be in a detaining cell.”
“Good. I’ll owe you one.”
“You mean one more to add to your tab?”
“Yeah, don’t remind me.”
“Okay. I’ll contact you as soon as we’ve got our hands on him.”
“Good. Thanks.”
When Billycan hung up, they ate in silence for a few minutes then Darlene asked, “Do you think this Verduccio will be able to shed some light on the second incident?”
“Absolutely, Darlene. I have no doubt about it. He was in charge of the clean-up and he must have alerted the CIA of their losses…, which meant the killing of Ms Kartz had failed…”
“And then Verduccio must have received orders to finish her off once and for all the day after…, right?”
“Yes, Marcel, except it may not have been Verduccio himself who carried that second attack—he was still cleaning the mess on the Marianne the next morning—but I think that’s what may have happened.”