Читать книгу The Benefactor - Don Easton - Страница 14

Jack took his report to his boss, Staff-Sergeant Rose Wood, to add her signature below his, before forwarding a copy to I-HIT.

Rose quickly scanned the report. The first section identified the criminals mentioned in the report, along with their dates of birth and Fingerprint Section numbers associated with their criminal records. Jack also explained and used the identification method used by the Asian Organized Crime Task Force to make it easier to understand the importance of some of the players.

The gist of the report was brief, but one word caught Rose’s attention. She glanced at Jack and said, “I know you are usually articulate when it comes to any reports containing informant information, but did you proofread this?”

“I did,” replied Jack.

Rose’s eyebrows furled. “On first read, it seems okay, but under close scrutiny there is something the bothers me.”

Jack nodded, indicating he knew, but Rose took it as a sign to continue and said, “Let me read this part aloud. ‘Dong Tran VC-1 gave Bien Duc VC-2 an order to murder a woman living at the aforementioned address with instructions to make it look like an accident. Bien Duc VC-2 had to pass the order on to Tom Nguyen VC-3, who ordered Anh Dang to complete the task. Anh Dang drove over the intended victim’s sister in a stolen car. To date, it does not appear that the murderers realize they killed the wrong person. Investigation further indicates that Anh Dang was assisted by others. It is not known if the informant will be able to identify who these others are without arousing suspicion.’”

“Sounds right to me,” replied Jack.

“Had to pass the order on?” said Rose. “It could be construed that you are subconsciously protecting your source for taking part in a criminal act … making it sound like he was forced to pass the order along. The wording could cause someone to think that Bien Duc VC-2 is the informant. Would you care to change it?

“No, I do not wish to change it.”

Rose eyed Jack for a moment. “Does the wording of your report have something to do with the leak that the Asian Organized Crime Task Force thinks they have?”

“That has crossed my mind, although this report is for I-HIT, not AOCTF. Unfortunately, one of the investigators at I-HIT is somewhat overzealous.”

Rose raised her eyebrows. “Overzealous?”

“I suspect he would like to identify the informant and have him charged. He has already made inquiries in that regard to try and identify our source.”

“He what? I’ll have his ass! Who is this —”

“His name is Constable Stan Boyle. A newcomer to I-HIT. Unfortunately, if he were to be confronted about his actions it could … uh, disclose a sensitive procedure used to obtain the informant, let alone cause another investigation that would ultimately identify the informant.”

“Sensitive procedure?” replied Rose staring at Jack.

“Grey area,” he replied.

“Grey area? I’m your boss. What did you do?”

Jack recalled what Rose had once said to him concerning an incident that resulted in her receiving disciplinary action precipitating a transfer prior to her arrival in the Intelligence Unit. He gave a half-smile. “My grounds for a search that identified the person turned into an informant may not have met the judicial criteria needed to conduct the search.”

Rose frowned as she recalled her own words, before taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling. “I see,” she said abruptly.

“Thought you might,” chided Jack. “However, concerning Boyle, I believe he will pass the report on to the AOCTF. How the report is worded will provide added protection for the informant.”

“And if you are right in your assumption that AOCTF will receive the report and it is leaked … close scrutiny of the wording may direct suspicion toward Bien Duc VC-2.”

Jack nodded. “Instead of the real informant.”

Rose gave Jack a hard look. “I-HIT could potentially be looking at you for conspiracy to murder.”

“Goodness, no,” mocked Jack, throwing his arms up from his sides, as a fake gesture of innocence. “Should that happen, I’ll explain that the triads operate like a paramilitary structure. My wording reflected that, when I said orders at the top had to be passed along.”

Rose raised one eyebrow and stared at Jack as she thought about it, then nodded and glanced at the report and continued, “You conclude the report by saying that the investigation is still in the preliminary stages and any obvious reason for trying to murder Nancy Brighton has not yet been positively identified. Further investigation will examine all associates of Dong Tran VC-1 in an effort to identify a connection or motive to the murder.”

“The top VC-1 would not normally be involved in a murder. I think there must be something personal that we don’t know about yet. Maybe he is doing a close friend a favour or something, but we need to dig deeper to find out.”

“You mentioned when we spoke earlier that Nancy Brighton had witnessed Mia Parker hiding some drugs and was responsible for having her arrested.”

“Yes, but it only resulted in a charge of possession. I’ve known a lot of Vietnamese in the past who have been charged with trafficking, yet did not resort to murdering witnesses. I think the whole situation needs to be investigated more thoroughly. If I suggested that as a motive and it later turned out to be wrong, defence lawyers would use it to tell a jury that someone else had reason to commit the murder. Nancy Brighton used to be a prosecutor, who knows, maybe it stems from someone she put in jail years ago.”

Rose stared silently at Jack, then said, “I think you are the reason I drink.” She then signed off the report.

When Jack returned to his own desk, he winked at Laura.

“She didn’t see it?” asked Laura.

“Oh, she saw it all right, but she still signed it off.”

“What if Boyle doesn’t pass it along?” asked Laura.

“It would make us look more innocent if he does, but if he doesn’t, then I’ll have a word with Roger and see if he will do it to see what transpires. The important thing is to protect our informant.”

“I still hate protecting guys like that,” muttered Laura. “Our informant should go to jail for what he did.”

“Think how stressed he already is. Believe me, we’ll make him pay his dues over a lifetime, far longer than the couple of years he would ever get in jail … not that there is evidence to charge him to start with.”

“So you don’t plan on cutting him lose after this investigation?”

“Hell, no. Not for what he did. I have long range plans for him. We’ll coach him in what is needed for his own advancement in the gang while targeting others who might be promoted over him. In a couple of years he’ll become a VC3, then later maybe a VC2. See how stressful he finds working for us then.”

“He’ll wish he had gone to jail,” said Laura, wrinkling her nose and sounding vengeful.

Later that Friday afternoon, Jack received confirmation from Connie that his offer had been agreed upon in writing by the prosecutor. Jack immediately provided Connie with a copy of his report so she could start working on the application for the wiretap over the weekend.

It was Monday morning when Roger Morris arrived at AOCTF and read Jack’s report. It was a photocopy and did not include the usual signatures at the bottom. He walked over to the secretary and waved the report in front of her. “Where did this come from? Has it been lying on top of my basket all weekend?”

“I first saw it this morning,” replied the secretary. “I was told that a Constable Boyle from I-HIT came over late Friday afternoon after we left. He said he had some intel on a murder and wanted to know if we knew anything about the guys in the report or if we thought the information was credible. It floated around the office all weekend and ended up in my basket this morning. I then put it in your basket as you arrived.”

“Something stinks,” replied Roger. “The last page looks like it had been cut in half before being photocopied. How come it’s not signed?”

The secretary shrugged. “I presumed he cut something off that he didn’t want distributed to other sections. Maybe to protect his source.”

Roger shook his head. “Do you notice the initials behind the paragraphs?”

The secretary glanced at the report and saw either B/R, C/R or C/R/C behind each of the paragraphs in the report.

“Yes, I wondered what that meant. Is it a code for who supplied the information?”

Roger shook his head. “Nope. I’ve seen it before. It’s used by the Intelligence Unit for informant debriefing reports. Stands for ‘believed reliable,’ ‘completely reliable,’ or ‘completely reliable and can be used in court.’ They also use UR for unknown reliability or sometimes DR for doubtful reliability. This report didn’t originate from I-HIT. My money is that it was written by Jack Taggart.”

“So this goof on Friday was trying to make people think it came from him,” replied the secretary. “What an ass.”

Mr. Frank downloaded a report provided to him by the benefactor and waited a moment as the cryptographic program on his laptop revealed the contents. The report originated from the Asian Organized Crime Task Force and his face paled as he read it, his heart beating rapidly. When he finished reading, he silently cursed himself once more for trying to seduce Mia Parker. Fortunately her name was not mentioned in the report …

He tried to calm himself further by noting that in an addendum to the report, the benefactor was not concerned about the attention the police would be giving Dong Tran VC-1 as AOCTF called him, but knew Tran was closely associated to Benny Wong CC-1. The benefactor noted that Wong was sometimes used by Mr. Frank and therefore suggested that Wong be warned as a courtesy to promote his continued co-operation.

Mr. Frank knew that Wong’s standing with the benefactor had recently gained new significance. A scientist specializing in the field of agriculture biotechnology was frequenting one of the massage parlours that Wong controlled in Vancouver. Hidden audio and video cameras had recently been installed. New technology that cost the Canadian government years of research and a truckload of money to invent could soon be in the hands of the benefactor.

Mr. Frank recalled how he first turned Benny Wong, whose contacts as a shipping magnate were valuable. Wong had fled from China ten years previously due to corruption charges. Mr. Frank assured him that the benefactor would see that the charges against him would not go ahead as long as he co-operated. They would only remain pending because the benefactor was in a position to squash any deportation request.

Wong was well aware that his life would end abruptly if anyone was told of the benefactor or was to identify Mr. Frank as anyone other than a trusted friend. A friend who was not to be spoken about.

Mr. Frank went over his decision to have the witness murdered. He had not believed that the police investigation would progress this far and rehashed the decision he had made.

Did I really have a choice? If Mia Parker was convicted, the benefactor would have discovered that it was over my stupidity … the spilled wine … the drugs … trying to seduce her.

He swallowed nervously as he considered the consequences. I would be terminated … perhaps executed. Yet if I had admitted my mistake in advance, the benefactor would not have given permission to kill the witness. The fear of a police investigation identifying the benefactor’s hand in such a matter would be catastrophic. The benefactor’s presence to the Canadian authorities would become a high priority and could jeopardize other interests. I had no choice … my whole career would be over. Years of faithful service …

He pondered what to do next. Wong hadn’t dared question his request to have the woman murdered. In fact it was his suggestion to use the Vietnamese to insulate any possible contamination of the benefactor. Wong said he would appease Tran by arranging for his people to receive a kilo of cocaine as payment. An amount which for Wong meant absolutely nothing. Mr. Frank agreed with the plan and Wong subsequently made the request to Tran. Wong would not know who Tran would have passed the orders on to.

Will Tran be angry with Wong for getting his people into trouble? It is not Wong’s fault the Vietnamese screwed up. On the contrary, passing on the contents of this report will make it clear that Wong’s source of information is accurate and help place him in the trusted confidence of Tran … something that could be valuable in the future.

Mr. Frank took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as he thought of another consequence. The police know it was murder … will they connect it to Mia? He clenched his fists tightly, then slowly opened his hands as a means to ease the tension. Relax … she has been trained to handle interrogation. Not knowing anything about it makes it even easier for the interrogators to spot her innocence. Later, when she comes to me, I will simply deny any involvement …

Mr. Frank subconsciously nodded as he reached a decision. I need to bring the police investigation to a dead end. The benefactor will not care if the Vietnamese murder each other ... as long as I’m not implicated.

Mr. Frank knew he would have to meet with Benny Wong again.