Mango Bob (17 page)

He pulled on plastic gloves, picked up a small flashlight and pointed it at the mystery door inside the compartment.

“This is what we saw last time. That door shouldn't be there. Someone added it after the coach left the factory.”

Jack was still looking at the strange door, when Jean announced, “Dinner is ready!”

Jack looked at me, “If there's one thing I've learned in thirty five years of marriage, it's not to ignore a dinner call. Let's go eat.”

At the door I asked, “Jean, is it safe to come in? I don't want Bob getting out.”

“Don't worry about Bob. Come on in.”

We did as we were told. Dinner was on the table, and Bob was in the back purring on the bed.

We washed our hands and prepared to eat.

As we sat down to our meal, Jean pointed at Jack, “Just one rule. No talking about crime while at the dinner table.”

“Agreed.”

During the meal we talked about Bob, the drive down so far, the weather, and the price of fuel.

I could tell Jack was distracted. He wanted to see what was behind the locked door.

So did I.

42

We'd finished our meals and Jack was fidgeting. Kept looking around the coach. Taking it all in. CSI mode.

It was obvious he wanted to leave the table and resume his investigation. But he wasn't going to do so without Jean's permission.

Jean laughed, “Oh, go on. It's killing you to have to sit here while there's something to investigate.”

Jack didn't wait to be told twice. He was up and headed for the door.

“Watch out for Bob! Don't let him out!”

Didn't matter. Jack was out the door before Bob even knew the door was open. I followed Jack outside.

At the back of the coach, Jack had me shine the flashlight on the mystery compartment. He donned his plastic gloves again.

Jack motioned, “Let's try the keys that came with your coach. One of them might work.”

The first three keys wouldn't fit. But the fourth key slipped into the lock and turned the cylinder. The compartment popped open.

Inside we could see what looked like a white wash cloth wrapped around a small object, held secure by two rubber bands.

Jack said, “Let's shoot some video of this. You want to use your cell phone or mine?”

“Mine. I know how to operate it. Might not be able to figure out yours.”

I put my cell phone in video mode and aimed it at the small compartment door.

Jack said, “Record every thing I do. We might need the video later on.”

Jack spoke to the camera, “I'm Jack Daniels, and today is October 15, 2011. I have been authorized by the owner of this vehicle, John Walker, to search this compartment.

“We have unlocked the compartment and have found an item that appears to be wrapped in a white cloth. I will now reach in and remove the item.”

He positioned his hand so I could get a close up of the mystery object.

Jack continued. “This is the item we found. The current owner of this vehicle has indicated he did not place the item in this compartment.”

“I will remove the two rubber bands and unwrap the cloth to see what we have found.”

Jack carefully slipped off the two rubber bands and placed them in one of the zip lock bags he had brought with him.

With the camera still recording, Jack unwrapped the cloth to reveal a small camera enclosed in a plastic case.

Jack placed the cloth wrapping into another zip lock bag, “As you can see, we've found what looks to be a small camera in a clear plastic case. On the front of the camera is a printed logo that reads 'Hero'. On the back is another logo that reads 'GoPro'.”

Jack rotated the camera, “On the side of the camera, there appears to be a memory card slot with the memory card still in it.”

Jack looked at me and said, “OK, you can stop recording now.”

He pointed to the object in his hand, “Have you ever seen one of these cameras before?”

I had.

“That's a GoPro waterproof video camera. You can get them online, even from Amazon. Pretty common with the adventure sports crowd.”

Jack looked at me, “Wonder why it's hidden back here? Think anything's on it?”

“Might be. The removable memory card in the camera will fit the card reader on my laptop. That means we can check it out.”

Jack asked, “Your laptop inside?”

“Sure is. You want to take a look?”

We went back inside and showed Jean what we'd found.

Her eyes lit up, “Really? You found a hidden camera? That's pretty exciting. Think there's anything on it?”

Jack smiled, “That's what we plan to find out.”

I went back to the bedroom and got my laptop. When I returned, Jack still had his plastic gloves on, holding the GoPro camera in his hands.

He looked up, “Record me while I do this.”

I started my phone's video app and recorded as Jack opened the camera case, and extracted the tiny camera.

He placed the clear case that held the camera in one of his zip lock bags. Then he held the GoPro camera in the palm of his hands and slowly rotated until the SD memory card slot was in view.

Using his gloved hand, he gently pushed the SD memory card in, which caused it to pop out.

He removed the memory card and held it up.

“Can your laptop read cards this size?”

I pointed to a card slot on the laptop, “Yes. Just slide the card into the slot.”

Jack pushed the memory card into the card reader slot. I pointed the phone-cam at the computer to record the screen activity.

With the card in the slot, the computer popped up a small window indicating a removable storage device had been added.

Jack looked at me, “Let me record the video, while you operate the computer.”

As Jack recorded the computer screen, I used the mouse to click on the memory card icon.

“Jack, we may be out of luck. No files on the card. That means either the camera hasn't been used, or the files have been erased.”

Jack frowned, “So nothing usable?”

I shook my head, “Not necessarily. If the files have been erased we might be able to recover them.”

Back in my computer job, I had plenty of experience recovering lost or damaged files from memory cards. It was easy if you had the right software.

“Jack, I've got software on my computer that should be able recover any files that were recently deleted from the card. You want me to try?”

Jack looked concerned, “Will the process alter or change the contents of the memory card in any way?”

“No. The software doesn't alter the card. It looks for deleted files and if any are found it recovers them onto the laptop's hard drive.”

Jack looked up, “If you're absolutely sure the memory card won't be altered, start the recovery process.”

I clicked on the laptop's program list, found and started the recovery program.

About a minute later, the software announced it had found deleted files.

“Jack, good news. There are four deleted files on the card. Photos and videos. I'll start the recovery process. Then we can see what we have.”

The recovery process took ten long minutes.

When it completed I announced, “Jack, you can remove the memory card from the computer. We don't need it any more.”

Jack removed the card and put it back in the camera. Then he bagged the camera in a zip lock baggie.

Our next step – find out what was on the recovered files.

43

“These files are date stamped. Let's view them oldest to newest, see what we have.”

Jacked agreed, “Sounds good. Get started.”

I clicked first file name.

It was a close-up photo of a man's hand. It looked like someone reaching toward the camera.

Jack carefully looked at the photo. Then, “Show me the next one.”

The second file was a photo of the inside of the motorhome. From the front, looking toward the back bedroom. No people in the photo.

“Show the next one.”

The third file was a video.

The video started with a close-up of a hand. As the video continued, the hand pulled back and we could see a man looking into the camera.

“Jack, that's Harvey Tucker, the guy who was murdered.”

In the video, Tucker took a few steps back and said, “Testing. Testing. Testing.”

Then he moved to the coach door, looked at the camera. “Testing, testing, testing.”

From the coach door, Tucker move to the dinette table. He smiled at the camera. “Testing. Testing. Testing.”

Finally, Tucker walked toward the camera. His hand reached toward the camera lens. The video went black.

Jack pointed at the screen, “Looks like Tucker was testing the camera placement. Making sure it picked up whatever he wanted to record.”

“Play the next one. See if it's the important one.”

I clicked the file name. Another video.

It started with a clear shot of the interior of the motorhome. No people in the scene. No movement.

Five minutes into the video, indistinct voices could be heard. From outside the coach.

As the video continued, the coach door opened. Harvey Tucker stepped into the video frame. He was talking to someone behind him off camera.

Tucker moved to the dinette table as a second man, tall and bronze skinned, dressed in a white panama suit, walked in. He was followed by a shorter heavy-set man carrying a briefcase.

Tucker spoke, “This is my little home away from home. We're safe here. No one is around, no one knows where we are. Please, have a seat.”

The suited man nodded and sat. The large man with the briefcase stood, saying nothing.

Tucker spoke to the man in the white suit, “As promised, I was able to get the company to choose your property for the new plant location. And also to select your people to manage it.”

With a heavy accent the suited man said, “Yes, you delivered on your promise. And I will fulfill mine.”

He snapped his fingers. The heavy-set man placed the briefcase on the table in front of Tucker. Then he stepped back.

The man in the white suit looked up at Tucker, then unlatched the briefcase and opened it.

“In here, you'll find ten rolls of US Eagle gold coins. Each roll contains twenty coins. Two hundred coins in all.”

“These are now yours.”

The suited man continued, “When the equipment from the Conway plant is delivered and installed in the Mexico plant, I will deliver another two hundred coins to you.”

Tucker reached over and removed one of the tubes of coins from the briefcase. He appeared surprised at the weight. Heavy.

He put the roll of gold coins back in place, closed the briefcase, snapped the locks shut, and placed the case under the table.

Tucker smiled. Then reached out to shake the hand of the suited man. “Thank you very much. It is a pleasure doing business with you. You are a man of your word.”

The suited man replied, “I expect you to ensure the movement and installation of the manufacturing equipment goes smoothly.

“If it goes as planned, we will meet again and complete our transaction.”

The suited man stood. “I must go now. My flight to Mexico City departs soon.”

He took two steps toward the door, then turned to face Tucker, “Do not think because I am pleasant to deal with, that there will be no consequences should things not turn out well.

“Should our arrangement be revealed to others, or should it not be completed to my satisfaction, much harm will come to you.

“Do you understand this?”

Tucker nervously stood up, “Yes, I understand. But there's nothing to worry about. Our arrangement is completely confidential. It will go as planned.”

“Make sure it does. Life will be much more pleasant for you if nothing goes wrong.”

With that, the heavy-set man opened the door and stepped out. The suited man paused until the large man stepped back into camera view and nodded his head.

The suited man stepped out of the door, and walked out of camera view.

On camera, Tucker sat down and said nothing.

He appeared to be listening. Off camera a car door closed. Then another. The car started up, and gravel crunched as the car drove away.

Tucker remained motionless for another minute.

Then he stood, walked toward the camera, reached up, and the video ended.

44

I looked at Jack.

“That son of a bitch Harvey Tucker took a payoff to close the plant and move it to Mexico.”

“Six hundred people out of work because of him.”

Jack nodded, “That's what it looks like. And it looks like the people he dealt with didn't want anyone to know about it.”