Recker, of course, was the first one up in the morning. By the time Jones and Haley woke up, they found Recker already sitting at the table, combing through the information Lawson sent them. Jones went over to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee from the potful Recker had already made.
“Have you found anything interesting?” Jones asked.
“Oh yeah,” Recker answered. “Lawson was right in sending us these names. There’s a ton of weird stuff happening with these people.”
Jones came over to the table with his coffee and sat down. “Such as?”
“A few have interesting criminal histories. And a few have some interesting bank transactions.”
“Payoffs?” Haley asked, coming over to the table with a coffee in hand as well.
“Could be,” Recker said. “It’s not paychecks or anything like that. They’re cash deposits for large amounts and would indicate they’re getting money from somewhere other than their employer.”
“Their known employer.”
“Right.”
“So, how’d you wanna handle these?”
“I have a suggestion,” Jones said. “Why don’t you two continue with what you already had planned for the day and I’ll start digging further into these names. Maybe I can come up with some other things on them.”
Haley nodded, seemingly on board. He looked to Recker, who seemed to not be as enthusiastic about the idea.
“I was thinking about talking to these guys today,” Recker said.
“I don’t think that’s wise,” Jones replied.
“Why?”
“Because we’re still digesting this information. We’ve given it a cursory look, and it looks promising, but there’s still more buried underneath the surface. Let me see if I can find it before you go running off half-cocked talking to people.”
Haley was still on board. “Plus, if David can come up with more stuff on them, it’ll give us more leverage in talking to them. If they’re feeding us a bunch of junk, we can hold this stuff up to them and know they’re lying.”
“I’m only talking about a day,” Jones said. “I’m not talking about weeks or anything. Just give me a day to look through it all and see what else I can find. Since you already had your day planned out for today anyway, it doesn’t really set you back at all. If anything, it will enhance our time and make it more productive.”
Recker finally saw the light and agreed. “OK. You got it for today.”
“Wow, you really are becoming a changed man. Two times in a row.”
“I’m sure the streak won’t last for too much longer.”
“Of that I have no doubt.”
The trio finished eating breakfast together, then went their separate ways for the day. While part of the day for Recker and Haley involved interviewing and questioning people, part of it also entailed surveillance. There were several questionable characters they were looking at who they knew talking to would be a waste of time. But they hoped by following them, they’d lead the team to something bigger and more interesting. But that was later. The morning would be spent talking to four other people who were suspected of having ties to Cloutier somehow, though it hadn’t yet been proven. The first was an antiques dealer, Colin Feeney, who was suspected by the police and the local government of running various illegal schemes through his shop for a price.
Recker and Haley walked into the small shop, which was in the middle of a busy street. They immediately started walking around, inspecting the place. There were no other customers, so the owner quickly came over to them to greet them.
“Hello gentlemen, my first customers of the day.”
“Lucky us,” Haley said.
“How can I assist you today?”
“Oh, look at that, very prim and proper,” Recker replied.
“Excuse me?”
Recker didn’t see the point in beating around the bush, so he decided to take the very blunt approach. “What do you know about Francois Cloutier?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why do you keep saying that? Francois Cloutier. What do you know about him?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t recognize the name. Are you gentlemen here on business or are you just browsing around?”
“We’re here on business,” Recker answered. “Our business. Francois Cloutier. Where is he?”
“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, sir. I do not know the name you’re referring to. And if you insist on this line of questioning, I’m afraid I’ll have to call the police, and have you escorted from the premises.”
“You really wanna call the police with all the stuff you’re doing?”
“Pardon me?”
“C’mon, we all know the kind of stuff you’re doing here. Money laundering, drugs, stolen property, you’re letting a lot of things go through here, aren’t you?”
“I do not have to listen to this. I’m calling the police.”
“Go ahead and call them,” Recker replied, taking out his wallet and flashing some type of badge.
“You’re not the police?” Feeney phrased it as a cross between a legitimate question and shock that they might have been. “You’re American.”
“No, we’re not the police. We’re special agents working with the British government on a case.”
“Whatever you’re working on has got nothing to do with me.”
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong. We’re looking for Francois Cloutier. And we know you know him.”
“That’s a lie. Never done business with the man myself.”
Recker and Haley looked at each other, both acknowledging the way he phrased it. “So, you’ve done business with him indirectly then?”
“That’s not what I said. I don’t know the man.”
Recker and Haley walked over to the front counter, where a cash register was placed. Feeney followed them over to it. Recker took a picture out of his jacket and placed it on the counter.
“Is that your store?”
“Looks like it,” Feeney answered.
“Isn’t that Cloutier standing in front of the building?” Recker knew full well it wasn’t, but he was trying to get confirmation one way or the other on whether Feeney could identify the man in the picture.
“I don’t know who that man is.”
“You’re telling me that’s not Cloutier?”
“I’m telling you I don’t know. Maybe it’s this Cloutier guy. Maybe it’s not.”
“Did you do business with this guy?” Haley asked. “The picture was taken six months ago.”
Feeney scratched his chin, unsure whether he should reveal anything, or how much once he did. Recker could read the man’s face. He knew something he wasn’t sharing.
“We’re not leaving here until you tell us what you want to know,” Recker said.
Feeney continued looking at the picture while stroking his chin, thinking about it. Recker and Haley continued trying to persuade him to cooperate.
“You know, we can make life very difficult for you,” Haley said.
“That’s right,” Recker added. “We all know you’re doing some illegal stuff here.”
“You can’t prove anything.”
“We don’t have to prove it. At least right now. We can stake out your business, follow you, bug your phones, plant listening devices in here, we can do all of that. And in six months to a year, you can receive a warrant and end up in a prison cell somewhere.”
“Or you can talk to us,” Haley said. “And once we walk out of here, we can forget you ever existed.”
“Are you blackmailing me?” Feeney asked.
Recker smiled. “Of course not. We’re just trying to give you some friendly advice that we can make your life a living hell or you can go about your business without us messing it up.”
“Let’s just say I agree to your terms. Not that I’m admitting to anything you say I’ve done, you know?”
“Of course not.”
“But let’s just say I agree to it. What guarantee do I have that you won’t do those things, anyway?”
“Our word.”
“And what’s that worth?”
“Listen, we’re after Cloutier,” Recker answered. “In the grand scheme of things, we don’t really give a hoot about you. As far as we’re concerned, if you tell us what we want to know, we’ll leave here, and you can go on doing whatever it is you do.”
“Without you butting in?”
Recker put two fingers in the air. “Scout’s honor.”
“I have sincere doubts about you ever being a boy scout.”
“Regardless, the offer is what it is. I don’t have any interest in seeing your face again after today. The longer I’m here with you means the longer it’s gonna take me to get what I’m really after.”
“Cloutier?”
“That’s right. So how about we stop the charade and you tell us what’s going on so we can get out of your hair?”
“You know, you government guys are sometimes worse than the criminals.”
“Tell me about it.”
“How’d you latch on to me, anyway?”
“Listen, Colin, you’re a known criminal, you’ve done time, you still hang around bad people, and there’s pictures of you with people you shouldn’t be messing with. The question is how we got on to you. The question should be how did it take this long?”
Feeney kind of shuffled his head off to the side, unable to dispute his words. “Fair enough.”
“So, what about it?”
“You really don’t intend to investigate me in any way?”
“Uh, well, with your background, I can’t guarantee the police won’t show up here in a month or two, but I can guarantee we won’t be involved in it. And if you want some good advice, if I were you, I’d pack up and move. Or stop the peripheral stuff you’re doing for a while. Then you won’t have to worry about it.”
“Astute point.”
“Cloutier now?” Haley asked.
Feeney, though still not looking happy about it, figured he might as well come clean. He took the men at their word that he wouldn’t be implicated in anything. They had all the leverage, anyway.
“Yes, well, I have obviously heard the name of Francois Cloutier, though I can’t say I’ve ever had the privilege, or dis-privilege, depending on one’s point of view, of ever meeting the man.”
“You’ve never met him?” Recker asked.
“I have not.”
“Have you done business with him?”
“Well, only in a roundabout way of course.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, there was a man here who said he was associated with Cloutier who I did business with, who was doing it on behalf of Cloutier, or so he said.”
“What business was that?”
“Guns. There was some type of transaction that was taking place and they needed a place to store several crates full of weapons.”
“So, they chose you?” Haley asked.
“Yes, well, I guess they may have heard that my warehouse is big enough to accommodate crates of, uh, ahem, antiques. So, they asked if they could use my room as storage for a week or so.”
“And you did?”
“There was no reason not to. I was involved in nothing other than renting out my storeroom space. The man simply wanted space to leave several crates for about a week.”
“You never saw what was in them?”
“Not initially,” Feeney answered. “It was a don’t ask, don’t tell policy. It’s something that’s served me well over the years. Don’t poke your nose into other people’s business and you’ll often be better off for it.”
“I assume you didn’t just do this for free?” Recker asked.
Feeney laughed. “Of course not. There was a generous fee paid. A down payment given to me at the beginning, the rest done at pickup.”
“Who picked it up?”
“The man came back and said he was here to pick up the goods. A few minutes later a moving truck pulled up in the back with two other gentlemen and they put the crates inside the truck and off they went.”
“So how do you know there were guns inside?”
“When they were putting the crates in the truck, one of the men remarked about how heavy the crate was and said something to the effect of, ‘what kind of guns are in here?’ or something like that.”
“And how do you know the other guy worked for Cloutier?” Haley asked.
“Well, he told me that right off the bat. I suppose he figured I was more likely to deal if I knew Cloutier was involved.”
“Names?”
“Couldn’t tell you any. Never got any.”
“You mean you did business with these men and you didn’t know who they were?” Recker asked.
“As I said. Don’t ask, don’t tell. I really didn’t care who they were, or what they were doing, as long as I got paid. And I might tell you I got paid very handsomely.”
“So, it was just a money grab for you?”
“Precisely.”
“You don’t know where they took the guns? Where they got them from? Anything else?”
“I do not. In this business, you’re better off not asking questions. That’s how people get killed. Not minding their own business.”
“Wow. You’re a criminal with a moral compass,” Recker said sarcastically.
“I like to think so.”
“So, what else do you know?” Haley asked. “That can’t be all.”
“I assure you I know nothing else. It was the only time I’ve ever done business with Cloutier or any of his associates, at least as far as I know.”
“No contact with him since then, huh?”
“Nothing.”
“So, what else do you know about him?” Recker asked.
“Not much. Just what I hear, along with everyone else. Rumors and stories and whatnot.”
“What kind of stories?”
“Oh, you know the ones. The kind that brags about things he’s done, things like that. Who knows whether any of them are true?”
“What about what he’s planning?”
“I’m afraid I wouldn’t have any idea about that. As I’ve said, I don’t know the man or do business with him other than that one time. Haven’t the faintest idea.”
“What do you know about the shipment Cloutier has coming in at the docks?”
“Shipment?” Feeney shook his head as he thought. “I don’t know anything about that. Just what I’ve heard.”
“So, you have heard something?”
“Same thing everyone else has heard. There’s a big shipment of something coming in in a few weeks. No names, no dates, don’t know who or what’s involved. Could be anyone and anything.”
“We think it might be Cloutier waiting for a shipment,” Recker said.
“Could be. As I said, I don’t know any details other than the rumors I’ve heard, which is nothing concrete.”
“What about Cloutier’s warehouse?” Haley asked. “We know he’s got one somewhere.”
Feeney smiled. “Yes, his infamous warehouse. Must be a sight to behold. I’ve heard the rumors about such a place, but I don’t know if it in fact exists.”
“It does.”
“Well then, you know more than I.”
“Anything else you can tell us?”
“I don’t know what it would be. I’ve told you all I know.”
They continued to throw a few more questions Feeney’s way, but he just didn’t have any other answers for them. He told them all he knew.
“All right, I guess we’ll be going,” Recker said.
“Wish I could say it’s been a pleasure meeting you, but…”
“Stay out of trouble, huh?” Haley said.
“Always the goal.”
Recker and Haley then walked out of the store. As they walked along the street to go back to their car, Recker pulled out their list, putting a line through Feeney’s name.
“Onward and upward?” Haley said.
“Onward. I don’t know about upward. Just keep on trekking.”