Chapter 28

 

 

Mickey has just hung up from the joint task force daily conference call and he’s not a happy camper.

 

Captain Clancy is just passing by his cubicle and seeing the look on Mickey’s face stops and asks, “What’s up?”

 

“My dander, that’s what’s up. I think these bastards are jerking us around, Captain. These guys have been very careful about leaving anything behind that will lead us to them. Sure, we picked up some shoe prints, a crushed contact lens and a blood sample, but by themselves they’re no help and we can’t find anybody to compare them to. I think these were left by accident.

 

“Now, all of a sudden, we’re finding clues all over the place. I don’t think these finds are accidents. A paper match book with a strip joint ad on its cover and two cigarette butts were left at one scene, used tissues at another, paper cups at another and an expensive Mont Blanc pen at another. I think this is a tactic to get us to waste our time and resources checking out phony clues which will prevent us from uncovering and pursuing real leads. I think when these items are processed there will be finger prints and DNA samples found that will belong to innocent folks who don’t have a clue about what’s going on and we’ll have wasted a lot of time checking them out.”

“So, let the other members of the joint task force know what you think is going on and advise them to ignore the false trails. I have no authority over these other law enforcement agencies, but I can tell you to go with your gut and stay on the path you’re on. By the way, what is that path?”

 

“To continue my search of the gun owners’ data base and my collaboration with Chuck Ferguson who is pursuing some leads in Paris that have a lot of potential.”

 

“Okay, keep me in the loop.”

“Is there any progress on locating the department leak?”

 

“Internal Affairs is looking very closely at a couple of possibilities, but nothing substantial has yet come to light with respect to either party.”

 

“Well I hope they ID whoever it is soon. Not being able to be open about what I’m up to and getting some help internally has certainly slowed down the pace of my investigation.

 

“It is what it is, Mickey.”

 

As Clancy walks away Mickey mutters, “Yeah, it’s a real pain in the ass.”

 

The day goes downhill from there as the department’s computer system crashes so Mickey can’t continue with his search of the gun owners’ data base and then he gets a phone call from Chuck that really puts the kibosh on his day.

 

“Mickey, our nemesis has struck again. This is the biggest one yet. A diamond merchant in Antwerp was hit for 70,000,000 Euros in uncut diamonds and other precious stones. Apparently, the same MO was followed. Access to the premises and the vault were gained as if they were well acquainted with the multiple layers of security. This is the most sophisticated security system they’ve bypassed yet. It has infrared heat detectors, Doppler radar, a magnetic field, a seismic sensor, and the vault has a lock with millions of possible combinations.

 

“Jacques Prevot says this reminds him of a robbery that took place about ten years ago on the same street, Hoveniersstraat, by some Italian guy, a Leonardo Notarbartolo. Evidently this Hoveniersstraat is the diamond district's main street in Antwerp. The take there was over 100,000,000 Euros worth of jewelry from safe deposits boxes in a vault. That was supposed to be some kind of record heist. The loot was never recovered, but Notarbartolo wound up in the clink.”

 

“Perhaps this Notarbartolo guy was knowingly or unknowingly their mentor for their job.”

 

“I don’t know about that, but Jacques says a lot was written about the robbery and our guys may have learned a lot from these articles.”

 

“Damn, Chuck, these guys have to have a chink in their armor somewhere.”

 

“Mickey, you and I have talked about this before. The chink in their armor is their growing self-confidence and their growing boldness, almost a cockiness of sorts. That kind of attitude leads to overconfidence and mistakes being made through carelessness. This time I think they bit off more than they can chew.

 

“Somehow some of the security guards patrolling the place didn’t get gassed and somehow one or more of these guards was alerted to their presence outside of the building and they zeroed in on the location to investigate. All six were shot and killed for their trouble. One of the six guards shot was still alive when he the police arrived and was able to tell them the robbers were armed with some kind of machine pistols that fired a lot of rounds very rapidly.

 

“There are now more alphabet agencies here in Belgium and the rest of Europe being called in to get to the bottom of this crime wave and I’m sure they will be contacting your joint task force and the folks in South Africa within the next few days, perhaps in the next few hours. These robberies have been holding center stage in all of the news media around the globe for some time now, so they’ll know who to contact. With all of these resources focused on bringing them down, the pressure is definitely going to make them nervous and nervous people make mistakes.”

 

“Well, you’re right on about the cockiness.” He told Chuck about the phony clues and finished up with his status on the data base search. Chuck filled him in on the Arab encounter at the L'auberge Exceptionnelle nightclub and the decision to try to plant a tracking device on Alim’s limo.

 

“Be careful, Chuck. These people are killers, very intelligent killers, the most dangerous kind.”

 

“You too, Mickey.”