Fashionably Late (For My Funeral) Pt. 05

"One final question. I know that he was close to Melissa Blanchette before she was married to Jason Feldham, what exactly was their relationship?"

"James and she were brother and sister."

"What? How could that be?"

"They had the same father but different mothers. James' mother divorced his father and a couple of years later he married again. This marriage lasted a matter of weeks before he left her and she divorced him but not before she found out that she was pregnant. His wife quickly married Henri Blanchette and Melissa was born, several weeks premature. Why do you ask that?"

Wow, this was a development. Melissa pregnant to her half brother. I would need some time to absorb this news.

"Prepare yourself for a bit of a shock, Melissa was pregnant to James. The only reason that I tell you this is because it will most probably come out as part of this investigation." Judith Craigmore sat with a look of stunned disbelief on her face.

"You, you're sure of this information?"

"Yes. They had been lovers for some time."

"I don't know what to say, this has really come as a surprise. I would have been prepared to accept his many frailties but not this. That's incest isn't it?"

"Technically yes. I have heard of cases where half brothers and sisters have fallen in love and had children before they found out that they were closely related, usually one of them had been adopted by the non-biological parent, but in this case I don't think that they were aware of the relationship."

"Oh yes they were! When I first met Melissa she was introduced as James's sister."

"I'm sorry that I have to be the one to break this news to you."

"Don't be. It is better that I know now before it all comes out in the media. James must have hurt you very much."

"More than you will ever know. I have to go now, this and that to do."

"Can I contact you after this is over?"

"No. I will contact you and arrange for us to meet but it is better that you don't know who I am. Just call me 'the Avenger'."

"Good-bye Mr. Avenger. I wish you all the luck in the world."

Driving home I began to wonder what sort of sick people I was dealing with. I don't want to sound too sanctimonious, but what kind of person takes advantage of his family and has an incestuous relationship with his own sister. I knew right from the first time that I met him that there was something very wrong about James Craigmore the whatever.

I needed to unwind after my busy evening so I poured myself a large scotch and sat down in front of the TV. I was greeted by the news anchor leading into a story about me."

"Police in New York are tonight anxious to talk to a person or group of people known as 'the Avenger' who have been going around the city and carrying out citizens arrests on prominent citizens who are alleged to be involved in the multi-million dollar importation of cocaine into this country."

"A police spokesperson has revealed that they have received a number of 911 calls stating that a shot has been fired in the residence of these prominent people and when squad cars have arrived at the scene they have found the person tied up with a computer printout pinned to their clothing, that it is alleged, shows their complicity in this scheme to import drugs. These printouts have all been signed 'the Avenger'.

"The police spokesperson stated that they are waiting to play back the 911 tapes to ascertain if this is the work of one person or a group."

"Just who is the Avenger? This is the question that has the media and the police buzzing. The police claim to have no idea who this person could be, if in fact it is the work of one person. Police have warned against any person taking the law into his or her own hands and have asked this person to come forward with any further evidence so that they can continue out their ongoing investigations."

"This network, while applauding the resourcefulness of this person, echoes the police concerns. Whoever you are, give yourself up."

"Having said that, we are curious as to what type of person would go to all of this trouble and why. We have asked prominent Forensic Psychiatrist Dr Melvin Thorsen to give us a profile of this person. Dr Thorsen, what sort of person is the Avenger?"

"Well, firstly I believe that it is the work of more than one person. Why I believe this I am not sure, but I feel that one person alone could not have achieved the results that have been achieved."

"So you feel that this is an organization of some sort?"

"It may not be a formal organization, in fact it is more likely to be a group of citizens who have a common interest in tracking down these people who are involved in the drug trade and making sure that they are brought to justice."

"Why wouldn't they have compiled the evidence and handed it over to the police?"

"I can't believe that you asked that question. They are probably of the opinion that the police are as much involved in the drug trade as these individuals. Given previous experience I feel this is not an entirely unreasonable opinion."

"Is there a place in society for a vigilante group such as this?"

"No. Flawed as it might be, the police force is still the best chance we have of fighting crime. If we allowed everyone, who took it on themselves to operate in this manner, free rein we would find ourselves completely over-run with millions of these people tripping over themselves. A city full of bounty hunters is not my idea of the perfect world."

"Has the Avenger asked for any reward for the work that he has done?"

"Not that I am aware of, but don't be too shocked when they do."

They crapped on for several more minutes, going round and round in circles, and saying not a lot else, before the interview closed and the service moved on to some totally boring item about the likelihood of war in the Middle East. (Sorry, just me being sarcastic.)

I have certainly stirred up a hornet's nest. How much I wasn't aware at the time.

Sometime around eleven that evening Felicity Jamieson-Markham presented herself at the police station where her husband Perry Markham was being held pending the raising of bail. She was shown into an interview room and a few minutes later her husband was shown in. "May we speak alone?" She asked the policeman who escorted her husband.

"I'll wait just outside the door, when you have finished just knock."

"Thank you." He left the two alone.

"How could you do this to me?" She hissed at him.

"Do what? I have done nothing to you."

"Don't lie to me! At least not this time. I have lived with your lies for years, this time I want you to be honest with me, please. Why did you use my money to bring drugs into the country. What sort of hypocrite are you? You continue to tell the world that you are taking a hard line with drug dealers and here you are one of the worst of them. How could you?"

"You will never know."

"Won't I? Does it have anything to do with that Guido Costanzo that you have been dealing with for years?"

"What do you know about that?"

"Probably not everything, but enough to know that you are an evil man. You have betrayed me with other women, that I can forgive, but to betray your principles in this way I can't forgive. You have brought shame to my family."

"Me, bring shame to your family, that's rich! What about your sanctimonious father, now there's a hypocrite for you?"

"You leave father out of this. He is twice the man that you'll ever be."

"Your precious father is just as heavily involved in this as I am. He has money invested in this scheme and knows exactly how that money is being used. If I fall he falls with me."

"No, you are lying to me! Father would never do anything like this."

"Just how do you think that he recovered so quickly from the stock market crash in '87? He and many others put their scruples behind them and found some more lucrative forms of investment."

"No, I don't believe this, I can't believe this, and I won't believe this! Stop telling me this. You're lying to make me feel bad. Stop it!"

"You can't take this can you? You have always thought that you were better than I, now where do we stand Mrs. High and Mighty? Where is your precious image now? I want you to suffer the loss of dignity that I have suffered over the years. I have had to sit through your family gatherings and hear myself being talked down to. It was almost as if they were doing me a favor allowing me at the table and not forcing me to crawl around under it while the fed me the scraps."

"We have always treated you with respect."

"With the same respect that you treated the servants and you only treat them with respect because you know that if they were to leave you wouldn't be able to replace them. No, come to think of it, your family treated me worse than the servants and I aim to have my revenge on the whole sanctimonious lot of you."

"No you won't! I'll find a way to prevent you. The first thing in the morning I will talk to my lawyer and as well as filing for divorce I will get him to find a way that I can distance myself from you as quickly as possible."

"While you're talking to him, why don't you ask him about his investments and about that young lady who acted as his secretary when he went to that legal conference in Atlanta last month, typing is not one of her skills, believe me."

"You are showing yourself in a whole new light to me. I have known about the young ladies that you have been seeing over the last several years. It was through one of these liaisons that Costanzo managed to get his claws on you and be able to have so much power over you."

"If you have known so much about this why haven't you confronted me with it before this?"

"Because I chose not to, I do however have copies of many photographs taken of you and these women and they will make interesting reading in the tabloids."

"Where did these come from?"

"Your friend Costanzo. He initially sent them to me to see if I would exert some influence on you in return for keeping them out of the press. I told him that he could do whatever he liked with them. I did however put some pressure on you to speak to him. In return for this favor we arranged that he should provide me with photographs as he acquired them so that I have evidence that I could use should I need it. I would like to thank you for not trying on me the positions and man oeuvres that I saw in those pictures, disgusting."

"You obviously enjoyed looking at them."

"No I didn't! I found them sickening in the extreme. Now I want you to, for once in your life, do the right thing and save me and my family from the embarrassment of having our name dragged through the mud."

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"You can start by signing this paper in which you confess to your sins and absolving myself and my family from complicity in your wrongdoings."

"And then what?"

"You will use this." Felicity took from her purse a small chrome plated pistol.

"What is to stop me from killing you?"

"There is only one bullet in it and if you kill me you will have to face a murder charge on top of those that you already face."

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not that I can see."

Perry reached for the paper and the pen that she held out to him. He signed and dated the paper. "Satisfied?"

"Almost, now for the final act in this scenario. I'll knock for the guard and while he takes me out of this building you will finish it." Felicity stood and walked to the door where she waited for the guard to respond to her knock. "Could you lead me out of this building, I'm afraid that I got quite lost on the way in?"

The guard locked the door behind them and led Felicity to the front door. On his return to the interview room he found Markham slumped over the table, a small gun in his hand and blood pouring from the gunshot wound in his head. He rushed over and checked the carotid pulse to find it non-existent. He ran from the room and called for assistance.

17

I woke at seven thirty the next morning and strolled to the corner to buy a newspaper.

DRUG RING SMASHED!

The banner headline caught my attention. I bought a paper.

The news was interesting, the headlines screamed that the Avenger had assisted the police in making several high profile arrests overnight and that those arrested had been released on bail following arraignment and were to appear in court at a date to be determined by the legal parties involved.

The story, under the by-line of the police rounds person told of the huge shipment of cocaine that the police had intercepted the previous day. The amount was estimated to be several tons of high grade cocaine with a street value of in excess of several billion dollars.

The story also mentioned that the Miami police had confiscated a smaller amount of the drug from the same shipment. The reporter stated that the police were surprised at the amount that had been found and made the assumption that the importers were gearing up for a major drug war with other importers for market dominance.

The editor weighed in with a 'hard hitting' comment on the insidious nature of this trade and the wide spread devastation that as caused as a result of it.

The second major story of the day was the suicide death of District Attorney Perry Markham in the interview room at the police station where he was being held in connection with the alleged importation of drugs. Questions were being asked about how he could have gained access to a pistol in a police station. The most likely theory put forward was that somehow his wife could have slipped one to him when she had visited him just prior to his death although a police spokesperson denied allegations that the couple had been left alone in the room and the television monitoring camera had been turned off. It was stated however that there had been a malfunction in the tape used to record the visit.

There was a comment from a representative of a prominent Civil Liberties group decrying the emergence of vigilante groups and the role that they played in the arrests. A legal opinion was put forward that the evidence gained by the Avenger would not be admissible in a criminal trial. A spokesperson from the DA's office stated that this was not the case and that the evidence provided by the Avenger merely confirmed evidence already held by his office.

The editorial hailed the Avenger as a new folk hero in the fight against organized crime and, while it cautioned against anyone else assuming a similar role, it praised the ingenuity of the Avenger and invited that person to come forward and be identified. I thought to myself when I read this that the newspaper editor had to be either naïve or stupid. Naïve to expect that I would come forward and risk what could be a trap set to catch me. Stupid to open the floodgates for every crackpot and attention seeking lunatic to present himself. I leaned more to the latter.

My attention was drawn to a small news item somewhere near the sports pages that announced that a funeral service would be held for the well-known author Jason Feldham, who had been so tragically killed in a car bombing the day before. The funeral was for 10 am the next day. I assumed, even hoped that Sendi would appear for the service. The article quoted Felix as saying that the funeral service would be open to the public so that they could pay their last respects to an accomplished author and that there would be a small private memorial service for his immediate friends and associates to be held at a secret location and time.

I had some final arrests to make and then I would be free to reveal myself to Sendi and Ruiz, but until then I will remain incognito.

The next series of arrests would be the most difficult because those who I was after were now forewarned and would be prepared for a visit from the Avenger.

I drove my car over to the State Legislature. The Governor's Personal Assistant was cautious when I identified myself by my real name and asked for identification before he agreed to see me. "You are not the Wilbur Smith are you?"

"My name is Wilbur Smith but I'm not the one that you were obviously expecting."

'How can I help you?"

"I am undertaking research into the involvement of organized crime in government and thought that you might be able to give me some insight into the current thinking here about the subject."

"Our policy is one of Zero Tolerance, that we will do whatever is necessary to stamp out organized crime."

"Are there any situations where those steps are found to be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve?"

"If you mean is it difficult to penetrate the entrenched attitude of the general public towards these criminals then, yes that is a problem that we have had, and are still having difficulties overcoming."

"Does the fact that the former head of the FBI had turned his back on organized crime for so many years, have anything to do with this?"

"It hasn't helped that's for sure. The man in the street has become used to seeing the police and authorities powerless to act on organized crime at the local level, but we are making advances in this area."

"I'm pleased to hear that. Now you have a certain amount of power and influence when it comes to policy decisions, what are your personal feelings towards organized crime?"

"The same as the Governor's, the same as this administration's, I abhor organized crime at any level and will do whatever is within my capacity to help stamp it out."

"Does that mean that you would go to the police and confess your involvement in organized crime?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" He suddenly realized that I had sprung the trap that I had set for him, and he had effectively backed himself into a corner from which there was to be no escape.

"I'm talking about your involvement in the scheme to import several tons of cocaine into this country. The same scheme that has led to the arrest of the New York District Attorney, and of several other prominent public figures. I would suggest that you leave your hands on top of the desk where I can see them." I had taken out my gun and was pointing it at his chest. "The same scheme that has resulted in the deaths already of James Craigmore, Melissa Feldham, Jason Feldham, several innocent bystanders and Perry Markham. The same scheme that would have resulted, if it had come off, in the deaths of many hundreds, thousands, of drug users over time and countless robberies and muggings carried out by those people to support the habit, from which you and others like you, have made a considerable profit over the years."

"You must be crazy! There is no way that I would be involved in something as immoral as this." He wasn't going to give up without a fight, but then I had been getting a lot of practice in what was to follow. He had no real chance at all.

"Really?" I took the printout from my pocket and laid it on the table in front of him. I pointed to a name. "That's your name isn't it?"

"What does that prove?"

"It proves that you had dealings with this organization and stood to profit from the venture."

"Where did you get this?"

"From the accountant who handled the finances of this organization."

"You're not, you're the Avenger aren't you?" He was beginning to get worried.

"You could say that. Now I want to know something, and I want an honest answer from you, I am seeking verification of facts here, so I'll know if you are lying or not, is the Governor involved in this?"

"Not directly."

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that I have been using his campaign funds and investing them in this scheme. He knows nothing of this and would be shocked to hear of it. As long as the account books don't show that the money comes from questionable sources it will stand scrutiny. The entries appear as donations from prominent citizens."