Chapter 10

Mike sat at one end of the conference table absently fiddling with the stack of papers in front of him. Bewildered, he said, “I was transferred to the detective squad the other day. I reported in and the captain told me that he didn’t want to know anything about the case I was working on. Not a single detective will talk to me. Even the ones I know won’t talk to me. It’s weird going into the building and being treated as though I wasn’t even there.”

“I went into the IRS office and all anyone wanted to know was what Ed was like. No one even asked about the case. My supervisor said that I had unlimited access to the records and that she didn’t want to know anything about it.” Vanessa looked around the table and shook her head as she recalled the previous day at the office. She was one of the newest people to join the office and had been sent over to serve as errand girl for the famous Dr. Biggers. She not been ready for anything like what had happened. Finally, she said, “I suddenly felt like I was a Martian.”

“I went to the office and was met in the parking lot by my supervisor. He told me that I had four agents to support me in the investigation. Until this case was finished, I was not to return to the office. The agents will act as go-betweens to get any files that I may require. I’ve been working out of my house while this office has been getting established.”

Mike looked over at Norman and said, “Damn, I thought my treatment was weird.”

Smiling at the realization that her treatment hadn’t been any different than that experienced by the other two in the room, Vanessa asked, “So did you have your sparring match with Ling?”

Still sore from his match with Ling, Norman grunted and answered, “She threw me all over the mat. I never even had a chance to touch her. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Satisfied with the quality of the images produced by the cameras and the audio from the microphones, Ling flipped off the speaker. She turned to Ed with a smile on her face indicating her pleasure in a job well done. After returning from Arizona the previous day, she had spent the evening installing the security apparatus in the room under their suite. She boasted, “The room is now secure.”

Eyebrow raised, Ed asked, “You don’t think you went a little overboard?”

“Not really. I installed electronic locks that only five people can open, a backup power supply, and a couple of cameras. Anything more than that would be overkill.” Ling watched the three agents talk in the room below.

With a tilt of his head towards the door, Ed said, “Let’s go join them before they decide that we are making them uncomfortable on purpose.”

The two went downstairs to the room that had been turned into an office. Ling opened the door and allowed Ed to enter first. Entering the room, Ed looked at the conference table and then examined the room trying to locate the cameras that she had installed. He couldn’t spot them and knew that even if he asked her, she wouldn’t tell him where every camera was located.

After seating himself at the head of the table, Ed asked, “So what did you find?”

Everyone looked around the room, each wanting someone else to start. Finally, Vanessa answered, “According to the tax records, it’s a nursing home that is part of a chain that includes twenty-seven other homes. They haven’t turned a profit in six years although the amount of money flowing through them is tremendous. I predict they post a dollar profit this year. I don’t understand why we haven’t audited them before now.”

“Who owns the chain?”

She frowned at the question and answered, “I don’t know. I’ve traced through three holding companies so far and still don’t have a clue.”

Ed thought about what she had said and glanced at the folder containing the tax records of the company. Even across the table, he could tell that it contained predominately lies. Reaching out, he said, “Hand me the tax filings.”

Opening it, he went through with a pencil marking each line that was a lie. For the first time in his service, several of the lines detailing income confused him. After finishing marking up the forms, he went back and circled those entries. Looking up at Vanessa with a puzzled expression, he said, “There’s something weird about the income reported here. The figures are correct, but they are also a lie. I’ve never encountered anything like it before. Concentrate on that for the time being.”

Turning to Norman, Ed asked, “What did you find out?”

Norman glanced over at Mike and then said, “Mike gave me some basic information about the people that have been going into the building on a regular basis. Maybe he should go first.”

Ed said, “Okay, Mike...”

Feeling that he was a player in a game that was far beyond his ability, he said, “I went under cover for two days and squatted on the street panhandling. I took down the license plate numbers of the cars driven by the people that go in and out of the building. During two days and nights, only six people went in and out of that building.”

“Six people?” asked Ed incredulous at the ridiculous number. A nursing home with only a staff of two people on duty didn’t make sense. He said, “Are you sure? There should be twenty or thirty people a day going in there.”

Mike answered, “I’m positive. Even the mailman didn’t go into the building.”

“So how did you establish the identities of the people that went into the building?”

Unsure if he had done the right things, Mike answered, “I used the license plates to identify the owners of the car and then used the drivers license information to verify that they were the people I saw. The boyfriend dropped off one of the women, so I stopped them for failure to come to a complete halt at a stop sign. Since I suspected drugs, it was natural that I examine the drivers license of both of them.”

“Clever,” replied Ed. With that kind of ruse, they wouldn’t get suspicious that the place where they were working was under investigation. Turning back to Norman, he said, “So what did you find out about these people?”

“None of them are citizens. All of them are recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union. I’ve been going into the immigration records trying to figure out how they obtained their work visas, but I haven’t made much progress on that front,” answered Norman unsure if his lack of progress would be met with approval.

Turning away from the table, Ed made a gesture to Ling and thought about the information that he had been given. She stood up and went over to the mini-refrigerator in the room. She poured two glasses of iced tea and came back to the table, setting one of them at Ed’s place.

Ed frowned as a picture of what was going on inside that building started to form in his mind. This was going to be ugly. Turning back to the table, Ed asked, “I suspect the Russian Mob has a hand in this. How about you?”

“Yes, that is what I thought.”

Ed said, “We need to examine the other homes within this chain. Work out what would be required to accomplish that without raising suspicions, but don’t execute the plan yet. I have some resources that can be brought to bear on this case that you would never be able to access. We can meet here, in three days.”

Vanessa, wanting to make sure that she knew what she was supposed to do, said, “I’ll continue to follow the money trail. I’ll try to identify the people who own it and how they get the money.”

As Vanessa laid out her plans, Ed drank a couple sips of his iced tea listening carefully to everything she said. When she finished, Ed pushed the button on the speakerphone and called Cathy at the house. When she answered, Ed said, “Cathy, please get in contact with Stan Bentley and have him call me here in the work room.”

Recognizing the tone of voice Ed used when working, Cathy answered, “Okay, Ed.”

“I’ll be waiting,” replied Ed as he hung up. Without much of a pause, he turned to Vanessa and said, “I’m going to get you some help. I want things traced up and down the corporate links. That’s going to be too much work for you to do alone.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Smiling, Ed said, “Call me Ed.”

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Ling sprang out of her chair ready to respond to anything. She moved towards the door with cautious steps. Ed felt the emanations of power from outside the door and said, “Ling, let him in.”

Without looking at Ed, she acknowledged his request with a nod of her head. Darting forward, she unlocked the door and stepped back to see what would happen. When nothing happened, she moved forward again and this time opened the door. Stepping back, she took a defense posture waiting for the door to slowly swing open.

When the door had swung open, it revealed a young oriental man twenty-five years of age standing in the hallway. He looked over at the defensive posture of Ling and smiled at her. With a crooked grin and a wink of his eye, he pointed at her and said, “Delicious.”

Her posture became even more aggressive, but Ed noticed a slight trembling in her hands. Ling said, “Do you know this man?”

“No, but he’s safe,” answered Ed.

Her eyes fixed on the young man, Ling asked, “How do you know?”

“Show her,” commanded Ed as examined the young man. The young man was more interested in Ling’s body than anything else in the room.

Smiling, the young man slowly reached to his neck and pulled out a gold medallion. As soon as Ling saw the medallion, she immediately relaxed her stance. With a residual tension in her body that seemed out of character, she returned to her chair. As she moved, she said, “Come in and shut the door behind you.”

The young man did as he was told and looked around the room with the natural assurance of a true servant of the God. With an exaggerated nod to Ling, he introduced himself, “I’m Jimmy Lee. May I ask the name of that most delectable morsel that bade me enter.”

Smiling at the nerve of the young man and the very slight blush that came over Ling, Ed answered, “The lady is Ling and she is my wife.”

Sitting down at the end of the table opposite of Ed, the young man laughed without embarrassment as he said, “All the best ones are already taken.”

Irritated at his open admiration of her, Ling replied, “And the worst ones won’t give you the time of day.”

Ed returned to his serious work tone and said, “Jimmy Lee. The lady to my immediate left is Vanessa Schally of the IRS. To her left is Officer Mike Tougas of the LAPD. To my immediate right is Norman Asmaro from the FBI. I’m Ed Biggers.”

The tone of voice told Jimmy that it was time to get to work. He hadn’t known who he was going to meet here, but he had no idea that it would be the head of the Servants of the Two-Sided One. He gave Ed his full attention and introduced himself, “I’m Special Investigator Jimmy Lee from the San Francisco Office of the INS. This is my first service...”

Sharply, Ed interrupted, “We can discuss that later.”

“Yes, Sir,” replied Jimmy very respectfully.

The sudden appearance of an INS agent didn’t feel right to Mike. He frowned and asked, “Ed, how did you know that we needed someone from INS?”

Looking over at Mike, Ed answered, “I didn’t.”

Jimmy answered, “I came here on my own because I’m needed.”

Cutting the conversation short, Ed said, “Jimmy, you need to work with Norman to find out some information about a number of Russian immigrants. No one is to know that you are working on this case or whom you are investigating until we are ready to wrap it up. Is that clear?”

“Yes, it is.” Jimmy sat back in his chair to listen to the discussion.

The telephone rang and Ed pushed the button on the speakerphone. He smiled when he heard Stan say, “Hello. This is Stan Bentley.”

In a conversational tone of voice, Ed answered, “Hello, Stan. This is Ed.”

“What can I do for you?”

Ed answered, “We are working on a very tough case and I need an IRS agent or two that are far from the action to investigate some things for me.”

There was a moment of silence before Stan asked, “You’re not going to give me any details, are you?”

“Nope,” answered Ed watching the faces of the people in the room when he said that. Half of them had whispered the answer as he spoke.

“And you aren’t going to let them tell me what they are working on, are you?” asked Stan with real frustration in his voice.

“Correct.”

“Do you mind if I’m one of the agents?”

Ed laughed and answered, “I was hoping that would be the case. A Vanessa Schally will be coming to your office to work with you. She has all of the information that you need to pursue this case.”

“Thanks, Ed. I appreciate the chance to work with you,” said Stan.

After a few minutes of conversation in which a few of the details were hammered out, Ed hung up the phone. Satisfied, he said, “I guess everyone knows what they are supposed to do, so let’s get to it.”

Clearing his throat nervously, Mike interrupted, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing.”

Surprised by the his own omission, Ed said, “Sorry. I suggest that you go to a city in this state where there isn’t a nursing home affiliated with this one. I want you to find out who inspects these places, and how they are inspected.”

Standing suddenly, Ed pointed to the bedroom and said, “Jimmy, you’ll be staying here for the duration of this case. Do you have any problems with that?”

Eyes flicking from Ling to Vanessa, Jimmy winked at Ling and said, “No problem at all. I hope I won’t be alone here.”

Ling stood up and walked to the door. After opening it, she turned to face Jimmy with a look of disgust on her face. While making a gesture of jerking off, she spat, “Don’t worry, you’ll be here with five finger Mary.”

She left the room after slamming the door behind her. Ed had watched Ling and knew that she was angry, but not at Jimmy. She was angry with herself and he was puzzled as to the reason why.

Norman, rubbing his sore shoulder, said, “Whoa! She’s pissed at you, Jimmy. You better be pretty good with the martial arts because she’s going to wipe the floor with you.”