Art and Murder (14 page)

It was eight-thirty Friday morning when Jack arrived at his office and listened to a voice message from Special “O” summarizing their surveillance of Big Joe Investigations. After Big Joe left the Pan Pacific Hotel the day before, he had his two cohorts watch the front of the hotel while he returned to his home office. The two cohorts went home at ten o'clock, but had returned at six o'clock in the morning. Big Joe arrived two hours later and was seen monitoring his laptop from where he was parked a block from the hotel.

“What now?” asked Laura when Jack finished listening.

“I'll talk to Rose and get her to help with a quick UC scenario.”

“What am I? Chopped liver?”

“I want an older, more mature-looking woman. Not to mention, Rose isn't a trained operator. This will only be a cameo appearance. I want to save you for when I really need someone I can rely on.”

Laura smiled. “No problem. You had me at
older.
”

* * *

At ten-thirty that morning, Jack walked out the front entrance of the Pan Pacific Hotel carrying a brown manila envelope as the valet arrived with his SUV. Jack climbed in and drove to the Pacific Central train station. He parked and went inside. Big Joe and his team discreetly followed, with one man going inside to see Jack deposit the envelope in a storage locker.

Minutes later Jack returned to the hotel to drop of his SUV, but then walked to a nearby street corner and waited. He displayed his impatience by glancing at his watch several times.

Soon Big Joe's team saw a smartly dressed woman arrive and speak with Jack. The woman gave Jack a white envelope from her purse. He opened the envelope and partially pulled out a wad of money, then nodded and put the envelope into his inside jacket pocket. He gave the woman a key.

Big Joe continued following Jack and saw him return to the hotel. His two cohorts followed the woman and saw her retrieve the manila envelope from the train station. They followed her to the trading floor of the stock exchange, where she disappeared.

Minutes after returning to the hotel, Jack slipped out unnoticed and returned to his office.

“Go okay?” Laura asked.

“Like clockwork,” Jack replied. “That should give them something to talk about.”

“They'll think you obtained a company secret or supplied insider-trading information to someone.” Laura smiled. “Any other plans to build your nefarious rep'?”

“Not for now. Let's catch up on the paperwork and take the weekend off. Special ‘O' can babysit Big Joe.”

* * *

At nine o'clock Monday morning, Jack and Laura sat across from Rose in her office as she read over the reports from Special “O.” When she was finished, she looked at Jack. “What do you make of Big Joe taking his team off the hotel Saturday afternoon?”

“It's expensive to hire a private investigation team to do surveillance. The tracker is still on my SUV. If I'd gone anywhere in it, Big Joe could have always checked it out later from his laptop.”

“What about yesterday?” Rose asked. “Special ‘O' saw Klaus arrive in the afternoon and hang around outside the hotel wearing a hoodie.”

“He's not hard to spot. Dresses like a gangster. Normally wears a ball cap that's too big for his peanut-sized cranium, and his pants hang halfway down his ass.”

“He stayed until nine last night,” noted Rose. “Do you think he was simply filling in temporarily over the weekend?”

Jack glanced at Laura, then shook his head. “No. I checked with Special ‘O' and they said he had his car parked a couple of blocks away in a parkade. It's highly unlikely he'd planned on following me. I also spoke with Connie. Yesterday they intercepted a phone call where Anton asked Klaus what he was doing. Klaus managed to grunt out that his mouth was hurting him.”

“I'm sure it is,” said Rose.

“Yes, but he told Anton he was waiting in a medical clinic when, in fact, he was outside the Pan Pacific. When Anton called later, Klaus sounded angry at being hassled. He told Anton that he'd gone to a bar and met someone and that he expected he'd be going to her place — incredible as that may seem, considering he can hardly talk. Special ‘O' placed him outside the hotel both times.”

As Rose looked at Jack, the reason Klaus lied became crystal clear. “What are you going to do? Is he back at the hotel?”

“I checked with ‘O' and they said nobody is there at the moment. Neither Klaus nor Big Joe.”

“If Klaus is intent on killing you, that's the one place he knows where to find you,” Rose said. “What would you do if he shows up?” Before Jack could answer she said, “That's it. You can't risk going back to the hotel. Not without having Klaus arrested to clear the way. He probably has a gun.”

“Arrested? Like hell!” Jack was furious. “Do that and we'll risk burning everything!”

“What choice do we have?” Rose gave Jack a hard look. “Legally, I mean.”

“I guess if I'm not supposed to hurt him, I could wear Kevlar and let him shoot me. Then run away and complain to Anton later. Maybe they would reprimand him.”

“That's absurd!” Rose said angrily.

“So is telling me not to hurt someone who's attacking me,” Jack replied. “Last time I dealt with him he tried to grab the shotgun and you gave me hell for smacking him.”

Rose exhaled noisily. “Perhaps last time I made a mistake. What about the first time you removed his teeth? Did he try to grab the shotgun then, too?”

Jack looked a bit sheepish. “I'm sure he was thinking about it.”

“Exactly!” Rose snapped.

Laura jumped into the conversation. “This is a whole different scenario,” she said. “He could walk up behind Jack when he's waiting for the valet and pop him in the back of the head. Are you telling me you're willing to risk Jack being murdered over the rights of some scumbag who —”

“Cut the bullshit.” Rose glared at Laura. “Insulting my intelligence won't get us anywhere. If he pulls a gun on Jack, of course, I'd expect him to defend himself — with lethal force if the situation dictates.” She turned to Jack. “If you're adamant about not having him arrested, what can you do? I'm not going to risk a shootout on a downtown street.”

“I agree with that,” Jack said. “I'm a lousy shot, not to mention if I did shoot him, there's no way we could keep my real identity under wraps. He wouldn't be hard to outrun, though, what with his pants probably falling to his ankles.”

“If you had the chance to run,” said Rose wryly. “Not to mention we can't take a chance on him firing wildly. Do you have an alternative solution? Something that I can convince the brass is appropriate?”

“How about I report his activities to Anton and threaten to withdraw from any future contact with him?” he suggested. “I'm sure they would, uh, tell him to desist.”

“Desist? With these guys it'd be more likely that he wouldn't exist.”

“You don't need to tell the brass that,” said Jack. “Besides, if you fly with the crows, expect to get shot.”

“Yes, but I feel uncomfortable about setting him up, too,” Rose said.

“Look,” Jack said, “in an ideal situation he might go to court to be judged by twelve of his peers. In my scenario it will be his
actual
peers who judge him, and whatever decision they come to is a consequence of his actions, not ours.”

“Providing we don't encourage them to commit a crime.”

“That goes without saying.” Jack furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance.

“Okay, as long as we're clear on that matter,” said Rose. “Is Wolfgang on schedule?”

“Yes, he arrives at the airport tonight at six-thirty. He's already in the air. Otto is on the same flight. It's a twelve-and-a-half-hour trip.”

“Nobody from France coming?”

“I spoke with a Maurice Leblanc yesterday,” Jack said. “Today is the funeral.” Again, he fought his remorse.

“It's not like you can attend, given the circumstances.”

“I know. I don't believe in funerals, anyway. The last thing I need to hear is someone eulogizing a person they probably don't know and hear how some god selected him to go to a better place. The Ringmaster is not a god. Funerals make me angry.”

“Spoken like a true atheist,” said Rose, “and I can see you're angry.”

Jack shrugged. “I am … and I am.”

“I feel likewise when it comes to religion,” Rose admitted. “Still, sometimes you feel a need to offer emotional support to others who do believe.”

“Yeah, well, I need to look after my own mental health,” Jack said, “but Maurice wanted to go, so I told him to attend. Kerin's widow, Gabrielle, also needs support, so I told him I would appraise the situation here and call him if I needed him. The next few days could make a big difference in whether I gain the trust of the Ringmaster. Let's not blow it over Klaus.”

Rose grimaced.

“They killed one of us,” Jack said pointedly. “I don't care if it was in France. He's still one of us. More than that, it was someone who was murdered trying to save my life.”

Rose nodded. “I'm well aware of that. We all are.”

“Are you?” demanded Jack. “Then why are you concerned about how they deal with Klaus? Who knows, they might simply tell him to back off. Roche said he was being recalled to Europe where they were going to fire him regardless.”

Rose bit her lower lip, locking eyes with Jack. “Okay, say I go along with that. How would you do it? You can't burn the wiretap.”

“Not only that,” Laura put in, “but to say you saw Klaus hanging out at your hotel, there's no way you would trust them, let alone work for them. They would definitely smell a rat.”

“Not if I said I knew Klaus was acting on his own.”

“How can you tell them that without burning the wiretap?” asked Laura.

“Simple enough. First I would do a pre-emptive strike and detain Klaus near the hotel. Then I would meet with Wolfgang and say I knew Klaus was acting on his own.”

“Why would they think you thought that?” asked Rose.

Jack looked at Laura for a response.

Laura considered for a moment, then said, “Because if Wolfgang was involved, he wouldn't be willing to meet with Jack afterwards.”

“Exactly,” Jack said. “Especially if Klaus was no longer answering his phone. It would be an opportunity to enhance my credibility as someone they should hire.”

“What do you mean when you say a pre-emptive strike?” questioned Rose.

“No worries.” Jack dismissed Rose's concern with a wave of his hand. “I'm sure after what happened that Klaus knows enough to obey my orders if I have the drop on him. Once I do that, I'll tie him up and leave him in his car for Wolfgang to collect. Rather doubtful that any violence would be necessary.”

Rose stared at Jack.
I've heard that line before….

Upon returning to his desk, Jack had another voice message from Special “O,” this one telling him that Big Joe had returned to the hotel. When he told Laura, he said, “This guy is becoming a real thorn.”

“What do you want to do?” she asked.

“Tomorrow I want Wolfgang to think I found the tracker on my car before I nail Klaus. For that, I'll use Big Joe. Let's see how easy it'll be to lure him into following me. I'll get you to take me to the hotel.”

A few minutes later, as they drove, Laura asked, “What about Klaus while you're busy luring Big Joe?”

“He's been watching where the valet service drops off my car. If I go down to the garage, not the valet, he won't know I'm gone. I doubt that Anton is saying much to him these days. They both sounded ticked off at each other during their last phone call.”

An hour later Jack drove out of the hotel underground parking lot without Klaus realizing it and went to the restaurant where he and Laura had agreed to meet for lunch.

Special “O” reported that Big Joe, in his white van with the tinted windows, drove past the restaurant thirty minutes after Jack arrived. After lunch, Jack drove to a liquor store and then returned to the hotel. Big Joe was observed following, but an hour after Jack was back at the hotel, Big Joe returned to his home office.

That evening Wolfgang Menges arrived as scheduled. Special “O” called Jack to report that Anton and Bojan met him at the airport and took him to the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Vancouver, where he checked in.

“No sign of Klaus?” asked Jack.

“He's still hanging around the Pan Pacific. Looks more impatient every minute. Did your friend Otto show up?”

“The shuttle's pulling in now,” said Jack. “Keep me posted.”

Detective Otto Reichartinger had arrived on the same flight as Wolfgang but had maintained his distance. He'd taken a shuttle to the Delta Hotel, and Jack and Laura greeted him in the lobby. Otto reported that Wolfgang appeared to be travelling on his own and that he didn't recognize anyone else on the plane.

Laura glanced at Jack. “Good, maybe only one of them wants to kill you.”

“For now,” said Jack dryly.

“Something I should know about?” Otto asked.

“We've booked you a room,” said Jack, handing him the key, “so let's go on up and we'll fill you in.”

Entering the room, Otto grinned when he saw a case of Victoria Bitter beer.

“Cold ones are in the mini-fridge,” Jack announced, before his face became serious. “The first one will be in honour of Kerin Bastion, who was buried today.”

Three bottles of beer were opened and Laura, Otto and Jack clinked the bottles.

“To justice,” Laura said sombrely.

* * *

At eight-thirty the next morning, Jack and Laura arrived for work and learned that Klaus had been staking out the Pan Pacific Hotel for the past hour. Jack called the monitor who was looking after the wiretap on Anton's phone, and learned that Anton had called Klaus that morning to tell him that Wolfgang wanted to talk with him after meeting with Jack. Klaus said he was with his new girlfriend, but told Anton to keep him updated as to when and where the meeting might take place so he could meet Wolfgang immediately after.

“Klaus wants you bad,” Laura said after Jack told her about the call.

“Yeah, probably figures he'll be on a plane back to Germany with Wolfgang soon.” Jack quietly added, “He doesn't have much time left.”

“You mean for him to get you?”

Jack glanced at Laura, then plucked a photo of Herman Jaiger's burnt face from an envelope and looked at it. “No, I mean Klaus doesn't have much time left.”

At ten-thirty, Jack and Laura returned to the Delta Hotel and were having coffee with Otto when Jack received the call he was expecting.

“What's up, Anton?” he asked.

“My boss arrived last night,” Anton replied. “He is ready to meet you on whatever terms you like. He understands that you might be nervous, so is happy to oblige you in any way he can. Perhaps a restaurant for lunch?”

“I'm pleased he understands that I have some concerns about meeting you people again,” said Jack. “Unfortunately something of more importance has come up. I can't possibly make it for lunch, as I have to meet someone. Perhaps I could make it for dinner.”

“Perhaps? My boss has travelled a long way to —”

“I will call you back this afternoon,” said Jack, then disconnected the call.

Otto looked surprised. “Why are you delaying?” he asked.

“I need to take care of Klaus first.” Jack slid a couple of surveillance photos across the table for Otto to see. “He is waiting for me outside my hotel again.”

“You mentioned he was a nuisance last night,” said Otto. “Is that how you describe people who are trying to kill you? A nuisance?” He glanced at Laura. “I take it Klaus is not the first one to try?”

“You have no idea,” said Laura seriously. “We'll tag along on surveillance to watch. Keep a sharp eye open. Others could have arrived on an earlier flight. If it is any of the men you spotted in Frankfurt, I hope you can recognize them.”

“If I see them, I will know them,” replied Otto confidently.

“You told me Klaus doesn't have a criminal record in Germany.” Jack shook his head. “He sure
looks
like he has one. Don't you guys ever leave the coffee shop?”

“For someone like him?” Otto said contemptuously. He pointed at a photo that showed Klaus's pants hanging low on his backside. “I was speaking with a ex-con the other day when someone like that walked past. Do you know what they call guys like that in prison?”

Jack and Laura glanced at each other and remained silent.

“Easy entry,” replied Otto, giving a half-smile.

* * *

At eleven o'clock Laura and Otto climbed into the back seat of a Special “O” surveillance car. Jack was seeing them off. Just as two members of Special “O” took seats in the front, another team member radioed that Big Joe was spotted parking his van a block from the Pan Pacific.

“They want to know who I'm meeting,” Jack said, smiling grimly. “This should be fun.”

“We'll keep our eyes open,” Laura said.

Thirty minutes later Jack drove his SUV out of the Pan Pacific parkade again without Klaus noticing and went to a shopping mall. Big Joe followed and drove into the lot in time to see Sammy walk over to where Jack was parking. Sammy then left in Jack's SUV while Jack walked toward the mall, followed by Big Joe.

Once inside the mall, Big Joe saw Jack enter a restaurant, so he followed him in and sat where he could watch. Over the next hour, Jack showed his impatience by looking at his watch numerous times, as well as making several phone calls.

Eventually Jack received a call and left the restaurant. Big Joe followed and saw that Sammy had returned and was giving Jack his keys back. After the two men spoke for a minute, Jack got back inside his SUV, while Big Joe hurried to his van.

Jack's next stop was the Greyhound Bus Depot, where he entered carrying a manila envelope and moments later returned to his SUV empty-handed.

So, Friday you do a drop at the train station, and today it's at the bus depot,
mused Big Joe. He saw Jack sitting in his SUV talking on his phone and waited.

Jack smiled to himself as he checked his watch. It was two in the afternoon when he reached for his phone to call Anton.

“Jack?”

“Sorry to take so long to get back to you, Anton,” said Jack. “My meeting didn't go as planned. I have to meet someone who lives quite a ways outside Vancouver. I doubt I'll make it tonight, but am sure I can find time tomorrow.”

“But my boss came all this way,” whined Anton. “Isn't there any chance you could meet him today, if only for a few minutes?”

“Well … I'm expecting a call soon. There's a possibility that I could still make dinner tonight if I meet this person halfway. I'll call you back in about two hours.”

Anton hung up and quickly called Big Joe to exchange information. “I want to find out who he is meeting that is so important,” Anton said tersely.

“Think he might be selling the painting?” asked Big Joe. “It could be in the back of his SUV. He's got tinted windows — hard to see in.” Movement on Big Joe's laptop caught his attention and he said, “I gotta go. He's on the move!”

Big Joe followed Jack, occasionally catching glimpses of his SUV as they drove. Twenty-five minutes later they were eastbound on the Trans Canada Highway with Big Joe doing his best to keep three or four vehicles between him and Jack.

Soon Jack passed a bus and Big Joe's monitor told him that Jack had settled in at the speed limit. He knew he could relax now. If Jack checked his rear-view mirror, the bus would provide adequate cover.

At four-thirty Jack called Anton again to apologize and say he had to go out of town, but would definitely be back tomorrow.

Fifteen minutes later a visibly angry Klaus returned to the parkade to retrieve his car. Discovering that he had a flat tire made matters worse.

Klaus was bent over, putting the flat tire into his trunk, when he felt the barrel of a pistol enter his ear.

“You been looking for me, Klaus?” Jack asked.

Klaus dropped the tire and made a grab for his own pistol in the front of his pants as he spun around. He managed to get his hand on his pistol's grip, but didn't succeed in pulling it free.

“Christ, you're stupid!” Jack yelled, grabbing Klaus's wrist to stop him while simultaneously pushing his upper body into the trunk and smashing him on the face with the butt of the pistol. Repeatedly.

Klaus was practically unconscious before he let go of his pistol. Jack grabbed it, then lifted Klaus's legs and folded his entire body into the trunk.

Seconds later Sammy and Benny appeared from where they'd concealed themselves nearby. They watched as Jack took out two zip ties and bound Klaus's hands behind his back and then his ankles, before slamming the trunk shut. They then walked over to the Special “O” surveillance van as Laura and Otto got out.

Laura looked at Jack and said, “Rose is going to have a bird.”

“The dumb bastard wouldn't let go of his gun,” explained Jack.

“Now what?” Sammy asked. He gave a nod toward Klaus's car and said, “His face looks like hamburger.”

“So much for your plan of leaving him in the trunk of his car to let his buddies find him later,” said Laura. “Didn't you tell me that a broken jaw means there's a loss of support for the tongue? His jaw is way beyond cracked. He's liable to croak. You can't chance leaving him in the condition he's in and you can't call his friends, because in theory you wouldn't know if they put him up to it.”

“I'll take him to the hospital,” Jack muttered.

“How the hell can you do that and maintain your bad-guy image?” Sammy asked. “He tried to kill you. In theory, you should be putting a bullet in his head.”

“I'll come up with something.” Jack glanced at his watch. “Better hustle. I want to meet Wolfgang immediately after.”

“You going to let him out of the trunk first?” asked Benny.

“Yes, but I'll keep his hands tied until we get there.”

Otto looked at the Klaus's car, then raised one eyebrow as he looked at Jack. He shook his head.

“You okay, Otto?” Jack asked.

“I'm fine,” he said. “It's simply interesting to see how other police forces operate.”

“Other police forces?” Sammy echoed. “No, no. This is how
Jack
operates.”