Текст книги "Jack Taggart Mysteries 7 - Book Bundle"

Автор книги: Don Easton

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Текущая страница: 60 (всего у книги 141 страниц)

Jack saw that Laura had grabbed Bien, dragging him backwards as she restrained him from behind, wrapping one of her arms around his throat, while using her other hand to bend his wrist up high behind his back.

Linh cried loudly, ran up and tried to pull Laura off.

“Pull it out,” pleaded Pops.

“Not a good idea,” said Jack. “Lie still.”

Jack spun around, grabbing Bien by the front of his shirt.

“Why?” Jack demanded.

“If you were a father, you would know why,” retorted Bien.

“You are still a father!” sputtered Jack. “You’ve got Linh to take care of! Who will look after her now?”

Bien stared dumbfounded down at his daughter. His knees buckled and he sank to the floor sobbing as Linh hugged him.

Laura let him go and reached for her cellphone, but Jack put his hand on her arm and said, “What are you doing?”

“Calling an ambulance.”

“They’ll never make it in time,” whispered Jack. “Look at the colour of that blood,” he said, pointing to Pops. “It’s in his liver. He’ll be dead before he ever makes it to the hospital.”

Laura stared at Pops before looking back at Jack and whispering, “So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying if you do that, Bien will be arrested for murder and Linh will end up in an orphanage in Vietnam. Is that what you want?”

“You know I don’t.”

“Call the ambulance, you fuckers!” gasped Pops. “What are you waiting for?” he asked, before clenching his teeth in pain.

“We don’t really have a choice,” whispered Laura.

“Yeah ... we do. I’m sick of going by the book. Sick of hating myself.”

Oh, man. The old Jack is back ...

chapter thirty-nine

Laura quickly helped Linh find all her clothes in the box while Jack spoke quietly with Bien. She didn’t need to ask if Bien was willing to go along with Jack’s plan. Bien’s nodding of his head and the warm embrace he gave Jack was answer enough.

Jack approached Laura and said, “He says he is certain that Linh can do it. She’s a little girl who is very traumatized. Nobody would dare push her too much at this point.”

“Hope you’re right,” said Laura, before telling Bien to take Linh out to the adjoining room to get dressed. She watched them leave before checking the chain on Pops’s ankle and taking his handcuffs off.

“Thank you,” said Pops. “The chain?”

“That stays on,” said Jack.

Laura walked to the passageway and turned to take one last look around the room.

It was a memory that would haunt her forever. A place where the walls and floor had been covered in red enamel paint. A colour she knew, that was picked for a reason. The drain on the floor completed the look.

She gazed at the dirty and blood-stained foam mattress beside a toilet that had the lid held on by two steel bands. Briefly, Laura wondered if Pops was afraid his captives might use the toilet tank lid as a weapon.

A large calendar on the wall with splashes of red circles caught her eye. Beneath it, a box of horror. It wasn’t a prison cell, she decided. It was an abattoir.

She looked at Jack and gave a silent nod, before wiping off the key to the padlock and dropping it in the box.

Jack followed Laura out through the passageway.

“Where are you going?” cried Pops. “You can’t leave me in here!”

“I’ll be right back,” said Jack.

At the back entrance, Jack went up into the kitchen while Laura took Bien and Linh to the car. She placed them in the back seat and got in the front and waited.

Jack found a tea towel, left the house, and went out into the lane. A minute later, he returned to the basement and scrambled back through the passageway.

“You called an ambulance ... right?” asked Pops.

“No,” replied Jack, carefully picking candles up out of the box by their wicks.

“You have to hurry! I might die!”

“I’m surprised you haven’t died already,” said Jack calmly, as he walked around the room and set the candles down in various locations.

“You can’t do this! You will call an ambulance right now!” Pops demanded harshly.

Jack looked at him blandly and said, “The illusion of power and control ... right to the end. I know about that. I was born into that element. I figured that by now you—”

“No,” cried Pops. “Please ... don’t torment me like this.”

“Ah ... now it comes. That’s more the tone I expected. The bully reveals the insecure coward that he really is.”

“Don’t,” Pops said weakly.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t torture me like this. I’m scared—look ... I’ve wet myself.”

“So you have,” observed Jack.

“You see? You’ve won! Please ... call the ambulance now.”

“Won? I haven’t won anything! This isn’t a game. It isn’t my intention to torture you.”

“Good,” gasped Pops. “You’ll call now, right?”

“Wrong. You are like a rabid dog. I take no delight in destroying a rabid dog any more than I would wish a dog to be rabid. I am simply doing it because it is the right thing to do.”

“You can’t! You’ll go to jail for this. For the rest of your life!”

“A chance I’m willing to take.”

Jack dropped the last candle on the floor close to Pops. They both watched as it rolled to a stop.

Pops looked up. He had a look of bewilderment in his eyes, which increased more so when Jack picked Dúc up off the floor and dropped his body on top of the candle near Pops.

“What are you doing?” asked Pops.

“You can hold his hand and take him with you when you die,” replied Jack.

Pops went to speak, but winced, grabbing his side while watching Jack light the four other candles he had placed. Their meaning became clear when Jack disconnected the propane heater and turned the propane tank on.

“Turn it off!” sputtered Pops.

Jack turned off the lights and briefly watched the flicker of the candles before ducking down to leave.

The sound of the hiss from the escaping gas permeated the entire room.

“Take me to the hospital,” pleaded Pops.

“I’m sending you someplace else,” replied Jack. “Say hello to my father for me, when he joins you.”

Jack got in the car and Laura started it up, drove to the end of the block, and parked. Everyone sat in silence and a minute slowly ticked by.

The sound of a muffled explosion and the shattering of basement windows caused Laura to glance in the rearview mirror.

She looked at Jack, who remained staring straight ahead. “Jack?”

“Take Linh to a suitable payphone,” he said, without turning his head.

chapter forty

Connie was back at her office working when she answered the telephone from Jack.

“What are you doing?” he asked, cheerily.

“We’re going to pull another all-nighter,” replied Connie. “Going to keep working until we find this bastard. You sound happy?”

“Got some fantastic news. Linh is okay!”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“She escaped. Laura and I are with her and Bien at Surrey Memorial right now. She’s traumatized, but is going to be okay.”

“Jesus Christ! Jack! How—” Connie started crying and couldn’t finish her sentence.

“She was locked in some dungeon in a basement someplace by a man she only knew as Pops. Tonight some other man came in with Pops and they started fighting. She used the opportunity to escape. I guess the poor kid ran for blocks before she calmed down enough. Later she got some money off a guy and used it to call home in Hanoi.”

“Who gave her money?”

“Some good Samaritan. She was crying and said she was lost and wanted to call her father. The guy probably didn’t realize where her father lived. He gave her some money and walked away. Linh called and her grandmother answered and gave her the number to Bien’s hotel. He called me and Laura and I grabbed Bien on the way and we picked her up.”

“Jesus! You should have called me as soon as Bien told you.”

“I would have, except Bien said she was really freaked out. He was afraid she would take off if anyone else showed up. He told her to hide in some bushes and not move until he got there personally.”

“I’m on my way over,” said Connie. “We have to get to this phone booth. I’ll call the Dog Master.”

“Laura will meet you at the main entrance. I’ve got something to do.”

“What? Where are you going?”

“I’ll be here, but I’m a little banged up. I broke my wrist.”

Warning bells sounded in Connie’s head. “Jack?”

“It’s embarrassing. I was standing on a chair on my balcony cleaning the leaves out of my rain gutter when I took the call from Bien. I was so bloody excited I took a tumble. I’m going in now to get a cast put on. They said I’ll need to wear it for six weeks.”

An hour passed before medical staff was able to find the time to put a cast on Jack. It covered most of his forearm and the lower half of his hand. He immediately went to the nursing station and found out that Linh had been examined.

He was told that there was no indication of any sexual abuse or serious physical injuries, apart from some bruising around her ankle. She was being given a sedative and was going to be held overnight for observation.

Jack was about to head to her room when he heard Laura talking to Connie as they approached the nursing station. He discreetly zipped up his jacket and flipped his collar up to cover the scrapes on his neck.

“Oh ... did you just get here?” he asked as he turned around and feigned surprise.

“Been here and back,” said Connie. “Laura took me to the phone booth. The dog lost the scent. How’s she doing? I need to talk to her.”

“No sexual penetration and no serious physical injuries, but she’s severely traumatized. I don’t think you should talk to her yet. I was just about to head out of here. Maybe you should talk to her in the morning.”

Connie frowned at Jack. “This can’t wait. Any clue she could give would help. The bastard who did this knows she escaped. He’s liable to do the same.”

Connie followed Jack and Laura down the hall and entered a room that Linh shared with three other patients.

Connie saw Bien sitting on the edge of the bed. He was smiling and talking in Vietnamese to Linh as he stroked her hair. Connie did not know any words of Vietnamese, but by the tone, Linh did not sound severely traumatized.

Her suspicions were confirmed when Linh looked up and said, “Hi, Jack! Hi, Laura!”

Bien looked at Connie and she saw the mark on the centre of his forehead.

“How is she?” asked Connie.

Bien’s face immediately became sombre and his command of the English language seemed to dissipate. “Very scared. No talk to police now.”

“That’s too bad,” replied Connie, softly. She gave a fake smile, before her face abruptly turned to business. “What happened to your forehead?” she demanded.

“I fall on bushes.”

“There seems to be a lot of clumsiness going on around here tonight,” she said, glancing at Jack.

“Pretty wet and slippery out,” Jack offered.

Connie smiled at Linh and moved closer and held her hand. “Hi,” she said. “My name is Connie.”

Linh glanced at Jack and looked at Connie and wrinkled her face, before turning her head away and starting to cry.

“She feels more comfortable with us,” said Jack. “Why don’t you leave and Laura and I will talk to her.”

“That isn’t going to happen,” said Connie. “I want to talk to her alone ... now!”

“Why? She’s a child. Someone has to—”

“I’ll allow her father to stay,” said Connie. “You and Laura ... out!”

Connie waited until Jack and Laura left the room before using her cellphone to call her partner.

“Get back to that pay phone. I want it dusted and get the coins done as well. Also get the tolls and times for any calls made from it tonight.”

“What’s up?” her partner asked.

“I’ll explain later. There’s a gas station across the street. See if they have any security cameras!”

Over the next half hour, Linh slowly divulged bits and pieces of what she knew from the time she left Vietnam. At times, she trembled as she recalled certain details of her captivity and her fear of the unknown, the impending red-circle day that Pops taunted her with. She cried when she pointed to a jacket on a nearby chair and explained that it had belonged to Hang.

Connie was gentle and slowly pulled the information from her. Linh’s eyes still held a look of innocence and it took all of Connie’s professionalism to keep from breaking down and hugging her.

“Now tell me about tonight,” said Connie. “I understand that there were two men?”

Linh’s eyes immediately darted toward Bien and she said, “Yes, the man who drove me to Pops’s house came in with Pops. He is Vietnamese, but I do not know his name. He had a knife, but was bleeding, here,” she said, touching her chin.”

“Who had a knife? Pops or—”

“No, Vietnamese man had the knife. He was very hate, hate at Mister Pops.”

“Angry,” said Bien.

Connie looked at Bien and said, “Let her speak please. If I don’t understand, then I’ll ask you. Okay, sweetie, what happened then?”

“My name is Linh,” she said.

Bien quickly spoke in Vietnamese and Connie heard the word sweetie.

“Okay,” said Linh. She flashed a quick smile at Connie and said, “I am Sweetie.” Her face became sombre as she recited how the Vietnamese man made Pops release her. She said the man made Pops take off all his clothes.”

“Why?” asked Connie.

“I do not know. I think he very hate at Mister Pops and want to ...” she paused and asked Bien a question in Vietnamese.

“Punish,” said Bien.

“Yes, that word,” said Linh. “For what he do to me. Mister Pops take off his clothes but try to grab knife. They fight and I run away.”

“Can you tell me what the house looked like? Were there any numbers on the house or did you see any signs?”

“Very dark. I run long time. I don’t remember.”

Connie continued the questioning. With everything up until tonight, Linh had answered her questions without hesitation. Every question after that caused Linh to glance at her father before and after each answer.

Connie stopped to take an incoming call on her cellphone.

“Have you heard?” her partner asked.

“Heard what? I’m still at the hospital talking to Linh.”

“An explosion went off in the basement of some house tonight. Neighbours called it in and the fire crews are at the scene.”

“I’m busy, get someone else to—”

“Uniform just called in the plate of a car parked in an alley behind the place. It’s registered to Dúc at the Orient Pleasure!”

Connie arrived at the scene and let Bien and Linh out of the back seat of her car as Jack and Laura arrived in their own car behind her.

Most of the fire trucks were leaving and those that remained were wrapping up their hoses. The lower half of the outside of the house was scorched above the basement windows, but the rest of the house appeared to be okay.

“Linh?” asked Connie, “Can you remember if this is the house that—”

Linh started crying and buried her face in Bien’s chest. Her body shook uncontrollably and Bien hugged her. Connie had no doubt that her trauma was genuine.

Connie’s partner ran up and said, “Two bodies were found in a hidden room off the basement. That’s where the explosion and fire originated from. A half-sized door leading to the room was blown off by the explosion.”

“What caused it?” asked Connie, while staring at Jack.

“Someone disconnected a propane tank that was hooked to a heater in the room. Gas must have run a long time to cause this big of a mess.”

“Is one of the victims Dúc?” asked Connie, conscious that Jack now matched her stare.

“Don’t know yet. One guy is small and fits the description, but they’re badly burned. The other guy is a big fellow. He was naked and is shackled by a chain around his ankle. Also has a knife sticking out of his ribs.”

Connie’s thoughts were interrupted when Bien said something excitedly in Vietnamese. She saw him point up in the sky. The moon had just appeared and shone through a break in the clouds.

Linh turned around and looked up. She quit trembling as she held her father’s hand.

Connie saw Jack staring stone-faced up at the moon.

Laura was also looking up ... and trembling.

chapter forty-one

Two days after the explosion, Randy and Connie were summoned into Isaac’s office.

“Staff Otto ... Corporal Crane, have a seat,” said Isaac, gesturing to the two overstuffed leather chairs in front of his desk.

Isaac waited until they were both seated and said, “So ... Staff? What can you tell me about this ... dead pervert in a secret room out in Surrey?”

“Connie is the lead officer,” replied Randy. “She is the best one to fill you in on the details.”

“Go ahead,” said Isaac, while glancing down at the picture on his desk.

“The pervert went by the name of Pops,” said Connie. “His real name is Henry Grossman-Warrick.”

“I’ve read the initial report,” said Isaac. “Pops will suffice.”

“Thank you, sir.” said Connie. “As you know, Pops did not have a criminal record but he fit the profile we were looking for in other ways, including a history of cruelty to animals. He was never charged because he was under twelve years old. Later in life, he married and had two daughters, but his wife left him about ten years ago and took the daughters when they reached puberty. She admitted to us now that she left because he was sexually abusing his daughters. Unfortunately, she never reported it. The daughters, either. It gave him free rein to continue.”

“Pops decided to get his own girls and step up the abuse,” said Randy.

“As far as Hang’s murder goes,” continued Connie, “we know that she died using an implement from that room. There was a toilet in the room with the tank lid strapped down by metal straps. We found a broken metal rod in the bottom of the tank, along with an old toilet handle. The rod was part of the lever apparatus used to lift the plunger in the tank. Hang broke it off and used it to gouge open her wrists.”

“For what she was going through, I’m sure suicide seemed like the only option.”

“We think she may have done it to save her sister,” said Randy.

“To save her sister?” asked Isaac.

“Yes, sir,” said Connie. “We interviewed a person by the name of Tommy, who worked for Dúc. Tommy picked up Hang and the others when they first arrived off the boat. He said Hang was obsessed with watching CSI on television.”

“I’m familiar with the show,” said Isaac.

“Because of the show, she was really impressed with how smart the American police were. She said they were like scientists and was afraid they would catch her and send her back to Vietnam. Tommy said he laughed and told her that not all the police were like that. He told her the scientists only worked on dead people.”

Isaac briefly tilted his head back and closed his eyes as the true reason for Hang’s action was realized. He sighed, before leaning forward and asking, “So what do you surmise happened the night Linh escaped?”

“From what Linh told us, it would appear that Dúc parked in the alley behind Pops’s house. An altercation took place because we found traces of Dúc’s blood in his car, as well as his bloody handprint on the rear door to the house. He died of a broken neck, but had received a superficial wound under his chin first.”

“Did you find the pervert’s fingerprints in the car as well?”

“No,” Connie replied. She glanced at Randy and added, “The passenger side of the car was clean. No prints at all.”

“None?” asked Isaac.

“Almost as if it had been wiped down,” replied Connie.

“Was it?” asked Isaac.

“I don’t know, sir. That was just an observation. Maybe he hadn’t had a passenger since he last cleaned his car.”

Or was Taggart his passenger? wondered Isaac.

“A theory is, if we go by what Linh told us,” said Connie, “Dúc chained Pops to the floor and then disconnected the propane tank and went around the room lighting candles. The propane would sink to the floor so he would have had plenty of time to leave before the gas reached the height of the candles. His body was next to Pops and we found a complete candle under his body. He may have gotten too close to Pops, who grabbed him. Dúc may have stabbed him, but Pops was a big man and a body builder. He could still have snapped Dúc’s neck before he died.”

“Did he die from the knife wound or the fire and the explosion?”

“That is inconclusive. The autopsy indicates only minute quantities of soot in his lungs. He may have been on his last breath.”

“Hell of a way to die,” said Randy. “Being chained there with a knife stuck in your liver and watching the candles flicker while the gas fills the room.”

“You seem to have some reservation about what the child told you?” noted Isaac.

“She just didn’t strike me as being totally honest,” said Connie, “but it was pretty traumatic. Her father wants to take her back to Vietnam, but I’m holding his documentation. There are still a couple of loose ends I would like to clear up. I’d like to interview Linh again in a couple of days. The psychologist feels she is doing well, all things considered.”

“You think she is hiding something?” asked Isaac.

“She seemed really straightforward about everything leading up to her escape. After that I felt everything she said had been coached and rehearsed.”

“Can’t you verify her story?”

“We checked the pay phone she used. A call was placed to her grandmother in Hanoi. Also found the coins with her prints—but only her prints. We know she made the call.”

Randy cleared his throat and said, “Tell him what else you found, Connie.”

“There is a gas station across the street from the payphone. We managed to review some film footage and it showed Linh making the call in the background.”

“Good work. So you have confirmed she was telling the truth.”

“About that. Yes, sir. She told us that she borrowed some money from a man. That is on film, too. Unfortunately, the guy never looked toward the camera and he can’t be identified.”

“Do we need to identify the man?” asked Isaac.

Connie and Randy looked at each other and Randy turned to Isaac and said, “He appeared to favour his right arm ... or wrist, sir.”

Isaac looked sharply at Connie and said, “Corporal Taggart has a cast on his right arm. Just out of curiosity, do you happen to know how long he’s had it?”

Connie glanced at Randy and said, “Yes, sir. He was getting the cast put on right after he and Constable Secord dropped Linh and her father off at the hospital. He said he broke his wrist when he fell off a chair cleaning the leaves out of his gutter.”

“You said there were no other prints on the coins that Linh used?”

“In the gas station film, you can see where the man retrieved a small pouch from his pocket, like someone would keep parking change in. He handed it to Linh, who placed the call before giving it back.”

Isaac nodded knowingly. I bet there were no prints on any of the coins in that pouch. He looked at Connie and said, “You mentioned a couple of loose ends. What else is there?”

“Just speculation, sir. Trying to prove, or disprove, any other possible theories. If, for whatever reason, Linh did not escape on her own that night, then the question remains as to who helped her and how did that person—or persons—find out where she was?”

“Don’t beat around the bush, Corporal. Do you suspect Corporal Taggart or Constable Secord of somehow being involved?”

Connie’s face blushed and she looked at Randy for support.

“Sir,” Randy said, “when it comes to murder cases, I have to admit that anything that arises as happening by coincidence is automatically suspect. The man on the film favoured his wrist ... Corporal Taggart gets a cast on his wrist right after. It would be negligent of us if we didn’t investigate that matter a little further.”

Investigate a little further, mused Isaac. Good luck. Many before you have tried

“If that theory was actually true,” said Isaac, “is it also your theory that Corporal Coincidence set the explosion to—sorry, did I say coincidence? I meant Taggart.”

“It certainly destroyed most evidence of fingerprints or DNA in the room,” said Connie, “but there’s more.”

“More?”

“Yes, sir. The father, Bien, had a mark on his forehead. It looked exactly like some of the marks we found on Hang’s body. They were made by the pervert shooting at her with a CO₂ pistol. We found the pistol in the room after the fire. That was how Hang was blinded in one eye. The pathologist found a pellet—it was hold-back information.”

“Did you ask the father about the mark on his head?”

“Yes, sir. He said he fell on some bushes.”

“Well, well, well,” said Isaac. “Corporal Taggart and the father both happen to fall and hurt themselves on the same night.”

“Another coincidence, sir?” said Randy, glancing at Connie as she grabbed her ringing cellphone.

“Sorry, sir,” she said. “This could be relevant, I better take it.”

“Go ahead,” said Isaac. “Use the outer office.”

After Connie left, Isaac clasped his hands under his chin while resting his elbows on the table. “Tell me,” he said.

“Sir?” replied Randy.

“How did Corporal Taggart find her? Compared to him—even if you include Constable Secord—your office has abundantly more investigators and resources.”

“Sir, all this is just a theory that we are trying to prove or disprove.”

“I know. Just to tie up loose ends. But as you are well aware, this isn’t exactly the first time that some criminals, albeit very evil criminals, connected to Corporal Taggart ended up dead while he is still walking around above ground with the word coincidence stamped all over him.”

“Sir ... everyone in my office is extremely dedicated. I would personally vouch for every one of them. Everyone follows procedure and everyone works very, very hard to bring every case to a successful conclusion.”

“I’m not implying that you or anyone in your office is negligent or lazy,” said Isaac. “In fact, it is the complete opposite. It is my respect for you personally, that allows me to ask you the question. This discussion is just between the two of us.”

“I see,” replied Randy.

“I’m not blaming you. If anyone is to blame, it was me who cancelled his transfer out of the section and brought him back into the case.”

“Understood,” replied Randy.

“So how did he do it?”

Randy took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “Well, the truth is, sir, we are half expecting to find two more bodies. If we do, I suspect that they may show signs of having been tortured.”

“Who?” asked Isaac coldly.

“This morning I learned that the two Russians have both been missing ever since this happened,” replied Randy. “We think they knew who Pops was and where he lived. Most of their belongings are still at their apartment.”

Isaac slammed his fist on the desk and said, “I want everyone involved in this put on the polygraph! Taggart, Secord—the father, too! Take his daughter and put her with Social Services. I’m not accepting a theory that Taggart may have tortured and killed two people! I want the truth!”

“Yes, sir,” replied Randy. “I know that Constable Secord had to fly to Toronto today for a court case, but is due back the day after tomorrow. Corporal Taggart is around and both Bien and his daughter are ...” Randy paused as Connie returned and bent over beside him.

“I just found the two Russians,” she whispered in his ear, before taking her seat again.

“What was that?” asked Isaac. “What did you just say?”

“I just explained that they were missing,” said Randy, looking at Connie.

“Not anymore,” said Connie. “I just took a call from a Doctor Son, who works with Interpol in Vietnam. He said both Russians flew back to Hanoi.”

“They just came back from there three days ago,” said Randy. “This means they would have had to have turned around and gone back almost immediately. It doesn’t make sense.”

“There’s no doubt it’s them,” said Connie. “Whatever the reason, Doctor Son said the timing was perfect. The Vietnamese police had just raided and detained the ship in port that the Russians were using to smuggle people. The captain rolled and gave up the Russians. They’ve both been arrested. Doctor Son thinks with the sentences they will get, they’ll spend the rest of their lives in prison over there.”

“How did Doctor Son get your number?” asked Randy curiously.

“Uh ... apparently Jack gave it to him.” Connie looked at both Isaac and Randy and added, “The call was legit.”

“How do you know?” asked Isaac.

“I already called the airport and verified the Russians’ flight itinerary,” admitted Connie.

For a moment, silence descended upon the room. Eventually Randy said, “I guess that one theory I had has proven to be wrong.”

Isaac didn’t answer and leaned back in his chair as his eyes drifted toward the ceiling. His lips moved slightly before he leaned forward and absentmindedly straightened a picture and a Bible on his desk.

“Sir?” asked Randy, after what seemed an awkward silence.

Isaac looked up and said, “Corporal Crane, see to it that Bien and his daughter receive the necessary documentation to travel forthwith. Should you deem it absolutely necessary, you can request that Doctor Son follow up on any other questions you might have.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Connie.

“Good. Now, Corporal Crane, would you please leave. I have another matter to discuss with Staff Otto.”

Isaac waited until Connie left the room before saying, “It would appear that we both may have been jumping to conclusions. A real shame if we had levelled false and serious allegations over what turned out to be a simple coincidence. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes, sir.”

“False conclusions about the torture, that is.”

“Yes, sir. That would have been awful.”

Isaac nodded thoughtfully, stared at Randy and said, “Regarding the death of Pops and Dúc—and the girl’s escape. With the Russians being arrested, do you now believe it happened as we were told?”

“No, sir. I don’t,” replied Randy nervously, looking at Isaac for a response.

“Me, neither,” said Isaac. He gave a wry smile and added, “I just wonder how the son of a bitch pulled it off.”

Jack walked into The Torn Twenty coffee shop with Bien and Linh. The tears flooded Jade’s eyes when Jack introduced her to them and she immediately gave them both a hug. Jack left the three of them at a table to talk in their native tongue while he went to the counter and talked with Holly.

“How is she making out?” he asked.

“Right after you called and told her what had happened, she started crying. She was really fond of that girl, Hang, who came with her on the ship.”

“I know. It took tremendous courage for her to agree to testify.”

“Will she have to go back to Vietnam as well?”

“No, I think they have a mountain of evidence against the people on that end. But with Jade’s help, we should be able to convict the remaining Tran brothers, along with other people in the gang ... including many of the men who raped her.”