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Jul-25-2009 17:35

"This book was written by Heimlich VonVictor & describes true events that occured during his time as a detective." As he finished these final words on his manuscript he dropped his pen onto the desk. He had just referred to himself as a detective in the past tense for the first time in his life.

He didn't want to believe that it was over, but when one takes pen to paper and scribes one's life story as a matter of record, there was a sense of finality to it.

He picked up the stack of papers before him, each page a piece of a life he would never get to live again. He looked up at the framed newspaper article celebrating his 100th case solved as a detective. It had already started to yellow and fade.

He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of gin and a glass. Even if it was a bittersweet occasion, it called for a celebration, and that meant a good Tom Collins.

He looked up at the plaque on the wall that his agency presented him upon his retirement.

"Retirement! Psh! That's rich!" he grumbled out loud to no one in particular. He remembered the exact conversation.

Eric had called him into his office and said it very clearly, "Heim, you're a liability. Some of the stunts you've been pulling lately have got the other detectives mighty scared."

He had tried to brush it off, "I'm a liability!? Do you realize how much money I pull in for this agency each year? You should be down on your hands and knees thanking me for being able to make bank!"

Eric sighed at him, "Heim, I can't keep you on. The Baltimore incident was the last straw. We'll let you retire, and we'll let it look like it was your decision to do so. We'll keep it out of the papers."

What choice did he have? He had put on a grin, went to the dinner, accepted his plaque, and faded into obscurity.

He was reliving this oh so favorite of memories when the phone rang. Startled, he dropped his drink on the floor and the glass shattered.

Aug-9-2009 02:26

Zeo hung up and told Marvington that Vulkie was safe. They went through Bjorno's letter again, which was enough evidence to prove that NKVD had been bribing Barnes and part of the NYPD into accusing Sergie as the killer in the Romanskis case.

Zeo held the letter up and said, "This along with the bribe/threat letter I received last week (which Vulkie had given to Heimlich for safe keeping) can nail these bastards for good."

"Excellent, we can pass it via Cambridge to Heimlich." Marvington replied.

"No." Zeo folded the letter and put it in his breast pocket. "I'm still not sure about this prosecutor. He might be righteous, but which lawyer doesn't want to win? I'm keeping this letter with me for the time being."

"Heimlich trust the guy, but if you're not so sure, yeah, I don't see the harm in keeping part of the evidence with you. Anyhow, let's go to Cambridge now or we'll miss the chance to pass messages to Heimie. He need to know the truth about Sergie and his brother."

The two detectives went for Zeo's car. As Zeo reached for the car door he saw two door handles. The earth spin out of place for a second, then everything went back to normal. He leaned on the car window to steady himself. "Eric, you drive." Zeo tossed Marvington the keys.

"Is everything alright?" Marvington asked as the two switched places.

"Yes. Everything is alright."

Aug-10-2009 22:56

Eric started the car, and glanced over at Zeo, who looked slightly sick to his stomach. "Are you sure you're alright? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" he asked with concern.

"No," Joseph replied, "we need to get to Cambridge and soon."

They drove the rest of the way to the courthouse in silence. Eric thought it was odd, he had been on the force with Lieutenant Zeo for four months now and they had barely said two words to each other, but in the past few days they had almost become friends. He wondered if it would last after the whole Kobetz matter was settled.

His thoughts were interrupted as they arrived at the courthouse. They figured their best chance to catch Cambridge would be where he worked. They walked up the steps together and Eric looked at Zeo, "Ever have to testify against a suspect?"

Zeo nodded, "Of course! Both as a detective and a police officer." he affirmed.

Eric shook his head, "I haven't had to do it yet," he confessed, "At my agency I was more of an office manager, and as a cop I haven't had to go to court yet."

Zeo smiled knowingly, "Don't worry," he assured him, "you'll be fine when you have to. It's just another part of the job."

They walked through the large wooden doors and came to a desk with a clerk at it. She peered over her glasses at them, waited for a few seconds as if hoping they would leave and then asking, "Yes officers. How can I assist you today?"

Eric smiled, "Good afternoon. I'm looking for Mr. Richard Cambridge. I need to discuss some new information on a case of his." he replied.

She shook her head, "Sorry kid. He left about fifteen minutes ago to go to lunch at Sami's with Captain Barnes."

"Barnes!" Eric shouted before composing himself, "I mean oh, that's quite interesting! Thank you!"

As they walked out, they both had the same thought on their minds, "If Cambridge was an ally, what was he doing having lunch with Barnes?"

Aug-10-2009 23:18

Eric climbed into the driver's seat once again. Then turning towards Zeo he said, "C'mon let's take a trip over to Sami's. I have a feeling it will be quite an enlightening trip."

Zeo nodded in agreement and they were off. They pulled up outside of Sami's about five minutes later. Zeo peered through the glass, "I can see Cambridge!" he rasped, "And he's with two other men. One is Barnes, and the other I've never seen before."

Eric hopped out of the car. "Well let's head in. No sense in waiting out here all day." he smirked. The two men walked into the restaurant and walked straight past Maria as she tried to seat them.

As they approached the table Zeo waved his hand, "Mr. Cambridge! What a coincidence meeting you here! We were just looking for you!" he said.

"Ah! Excuse me gentlemen," Cambridge apologized and got up from his table, "The officers here are giving me an update on the Kobetz case."

They walked a safe distance from the table and Eric started to tell all, "Richard, we found out that..."

"Not now!" Cambridge snapped, "Listen. That man sitting with me? His name is Aleksandr Trepov. He is the ambassador of the Soviet Union to the United States. He is trying to prevent an international incident by requesting our assistance in capturing two NKVD operatives who entered America illegally. Bjorno Adelé, the head of NKVD, and Leon Kobetz, the NKVD's deadliest assassin. Barnes is working undercover hoping that Adelé will lead us to Kobetz, and I am warning both of you right now that you are not to go near Adelé if you see him. If we lose him, then we lose our only link to Kobetz. Now Mr. Trepov is going to excuse himself to use the men's room in just a minute. That would be a good time to get your questions in!" he barked, "Now what did you want to tell me Eric?"

Eric shook his head, "Nothing," he replied, "I just wanted you to tell my father that everything is fine. My sister is safe as well."

Cambridge nodded and returned to his table.

Aug-10-2009 23:34

Before Zeo could open his mouth, Eric answered the question for him, "He knows enough." he replied, "If he knows about Kobetz's brother already, then he probably has some prejudice towards Sergei. I don't want to give him anymore fuel. Besides, I guess it's better if Heimlich doesn't know."

Before he could see Zeo's reaction, Mr. Trepov got up from the table and walked into the men's room. Zeo and Eric followed him in. As soon as they walked in, they were surprised to see that he was standing there smoking a cigarette staring at them.

"Gentlemen," he said warmly, "I knew our paths would cross eventually. Mr. Marvington, I believe this is the second time?"

Eric thought back, "No..." he said aloud, "Not the Singh affair?"

Trepov smiled, "So you remember Mr. Marvington. I trust your friend Mr. VonVictor remembers as well?"

Zeo suddenly realized what was happening, "The Baltimore incident?" he gasped, "Then you're the one who's been blackmailing Heimlich!"

He nodded his head, "Indeed Mr. Zeo. I unfortunately had no choice when the wrong Mr. Kobetz was put into prison." he replied.

It had been bugging him long enough, "What do you have on Heimlich to make him get back into the game?" Zeo demanded.

"I suppose you have a right to know," Trepov conceded, "as you are helping with this case. A year ago I hired Marvington associates to investigate an opium smuggling operating, because the neighborhood, a good Russian neighborhood, was becoming littered with crime. Mr. VonVictor was assigned to the case and investigated. He staked them out for a few days, and was ready to make an arrest when he saw something that made him sick. A young girl no more than six. They had taken the drugs and stuffed them in balloons, and they were trying to make this girl swallow them to smuggle them."

"That's disgusting!" Zeo cried.

Aug-10-2009 23:44

"Indeed," Trepov agreed, "and our friend Mr. VonVictor seemed to share that sentiment. He snapped and started shooting. When the smoke had cleared, he had killed all eight members. Unfortunately, among those eight members was one undercover Baltimore City Police Officer. As a result, the boss of the opium ring was never found out."

Eric nodded, "When no one came forward to claim the little girl, they tried to deport ger back to Shanghai, but Heimie fought for her. I told him to leave it alone, but he filed adoption papers saying that he wanted to take care of her. He went to court, and lost. She went to a Shanghai orphanage. I forced him to retire about a month later."

Trepov nodded sadly, "When I heard Sergei had been arrested, I knew that Heimlich VonVictor could save him. He'd become so bitter though, and so cold. Maybe it was losing that girl or maybe losing his PI license. I had no choice but to force him back into it."

Zeo felt his head pounding, "You mean he was a cop killer?" he asked, feeling sick, "And kept it from all of us?"

Trepov shook his head, "Don't read into it," he replied, "I'm sure Mr. VonVictor had his reasons. Who would want that publicized? In any event, I'm sure Mr. Cambridge has explained our situation. You must not confront Bjorno Adelé as he is our only link to Leon Kobetz. I have captured another NKVD agent, who should give me their hideout by the end of the week." He then reached into his pocket, produced a small business card, and handed it to Joseph, "Should you need any assistance in proving Sergei's innocence, please do not hesitate to call on me."

With that Trepov stubbed out his cigarette and exited the bathroom leaving both men speechless and staring at each other in disbelief at what they had just learned.

Aug-11-2009 04:34

((Note: The phone call Zeo made to Vulkie few posts above happened later in the evening that same day))

Zeo held so tight onto Trepov's business card that his knuckle turned white. <i> Graham Barnes, that two headed snake. </i> Zeo thought. He knew about the bastard, how he got promoted to be Captain...

Lieutenant Barnes and Sergeant Zeo were under the same team not too long ago, and Barnes had been taking bribes from all the notorious gang members in the vicinity. About five months ago, their good captain planned to lead a raid to takeout Henri 'Hawkeye' Rizotto and his minion along with their gambling den. Barnes of course sold that piece of information to Hawkeye at a hefty price, but in the shadow he was planning his own little game. On the day of the raid Hawkeye single handedly topped the police troop, killing the captain. Barnes held his own team's attack until both parties were exhausted from the fight, and reaped the benefit in the end. Barnes killed Hawkeye and became the hero of the day. Zeo unknowingly participated in Barnes team, and only found out what really happened afterwards.

Barnes entire team got a promotion, but Zeo tried to steer away from Barnes as much as possible. There was nothing else he could do, for all the proofs had died along in the incident. Barnes had called Zeo the ungrateful bastard ever since, and Zeo just wanted to do his job without any association with that snake.

"I'm telling you Eric, if they put Barnes in the middle of this, we will never able to get Leon Kobetz. Ever." Zeo said with grinding teeth.

Aug-11-2009 04:37

"I don't know, Zeo. Maybe we don't have the whole picture. Barnes seem to be working with Cambridge and Ambassador Trepov quite well on this." Marvington replied. To Zeo, non-involvement seemed to be Eric's preference so far. He didn't know how to explain the whole history to Marvington. The clock was ticking; they only had a few days before Sergie's trial. With the way things were going now, he was not sure if Heimlich would survive to see that day. He just hoped Cambridge was wise enough to keep VonVictor's whereabout to himself alone... what if he wasn't? Zeo felt exasperated and marched out of Sami's, lighting another cigarette.

Early that evening Zeo called Vulkie to make sure she was alright. He didn't tell her about Barnes supposedly 'undercover' assignment to capture Bjorno Adelé. He wanted Vulkie to be on Barnes trail, to find out everything about the corrupt cop's dealings with the NKVD. 'Best that we find Leon Kobetz ourselves instead of relying on the untrustworthy self-proclaiming Captain', Zeo thought.

Zeo was restless, what if Cambridge did let Barnes and Trepov know about his association with Heimlich? The thin detective contemplated if he alone should trail Cambridge tonight just to make sure he was not being followed by the others.

Aug-12-2009 19:15

"Two pair! Aces over Kings!" Heimlich declared proudly as he placed his cards on the table, "What do you have Sergei?"

Kobetz smiled and placed his cards down, "Three two's defeats your Aces and Kings Mr. VonVictor!" he boasted.

"What?" Heim shouted, "That's ten hands in a row Sergei! You said you never played poker before!"

Sergei smiled, "Well maybe once or twice." he admitted.

Their conversation was interrupted as the door at the top of the stairs opened and a figure began to descend. "Evening boys! I hope you're hungry! I've cooked chicken fricassee for you!" the voice called from the top of the stairs. They quickly cleaned the cards off of the table as Richard placed the two dishes down in front of them

"Wow, Richard you've really outdone yourself!" Heimlich exclaimed, "This looks absolutely delicious!"

Cambridge smiled, "Thank you," he beamed, "I'm sorry I couldn't get back sooner. I had a meeting with Barnes today that ran late and then I had to stop by the store to pick up the food."

Kobetz raised his fork towards Richard and said through a mouth full of food, "Is good Mr. Cambridge! Thank you very much!"

Heimlich nodded in agreement, "Yes Richard, thank you very much. Now are you sure you weren't followed?"

Cambridge smiled, "If I was, then the person must think I'm awfully eccentric cooking myself a big dinner and then eating two separate plates of it by myself in my basement before returning to my kitchen to eat a third at my kitchen table."

Heimlich laughed, "I guess you're right," he said, "the safest place for us is with you. How did you know that I was involved in Sergei's disappearance?"

Cambridge put on his best poker face. "I took a guess. Your argument in court convinced me that he deserves more of a chance than Haliwell would have given him." he lied.

Heimlich nodded and asked, "Who is the new judge on the trial?"

Aug-12-2009 19:24

"Cooper," Cambridge replied, "Jacob Cooper. Someone involved in Haliwell's murder investigation found proof of the judge taking bribes and forwarded it to Cooper. As a result he declared a mistrial, so we start from square one on Tuesday."

"I suppose that's for the best," Heimlich responded, "but how are we going to get Sergei back into police custody for the trial?"

Cambridge winked, "Leave that to me," he teased, "I came up with a plan for that as soon as I offered my home to you. We'll drop him in the street outside the station on Monday night and have Eric or Joseph happen to pick him up and bring him in. He'll claim to have no memory of where he's been since the kidnapping."

"No!" Sergei interrupted, "Is not truth! Is lie! I will not lie! Sergei Kobetz is not guilty and Sergei Kobetz will not lie on stand!"

Cambridge glared at Kobetz, "You won't have to lie on the stand because neither of us will ask you that question on the stand. Just say it to the judge or he'll add escape onto your charges, which you did do."

"Did you make contact with the others?" Heimlich asked with a note of urgency in his voice.

"Yes," Cambridge replied, "and they're all fine. They're all safe, although they seemed reluctant to share information with me. I'm positive Eric knew something that he didn't reveal."

Heimlich scratched his chin, "I wonder why he would do that," he pondered, "and we're still no closer to figuring out who committed this murder!"

Cambridge and Sergei both nodded in false agreement.

Aug-12-2009 20:08

I knew Joseph was hiding something from me. I just didn't know what he was hiding. I heard it in his voice. He sounded tired and distraught and he didn't want me to worry.

After the phonecall,I went immediately to bed and slept.


**********Next day,8 a.m.***********

I woke up,made some breakfast and hurried towards the policestation. As I pulled my car up the parking place,I saw Bjorno Adelé entering the building. I made sure he was in,checked my outfit and hair and went in. As I went to Barnes's office,I noticed something strange; Joseph wasn't in yet. That's strange,because Joseph is always an early bird,grabbing his cup of coffee and going through cases.

As I looked at Joseph's desk,Barnes knocked on the window and pointed towards me to come in. I came in and said : "Sorry I'm a bit late Captain Barnes. I had to grab a cup of coffee first. Been a long night yesterday. Spent some quality time with...". Just then,Barnes cut my conversation off and I sat in the chair with my typewriter and began to type the conversation that Barnes and Adelé had. It was mainly about updates.

Just then,I noticed that Adelé was looking at me,curiously. He seemed to know me from somewhere,I thought. Oh no,he can see it is me. I almost began to panic but maintained very calm.

"End of conversation" Barnes said and I typed that and finished it. "Good work Valerie,good work. Give a copy to Mr. Adelé so he can show it to his friend." Barnes ordered and I made a copy.

Barnes left the office and Adelé and I stayed behind in his office.

"Don't I ghnow you not from somewhere?" Adelé said. "Not me sir,I've only been to this station for a few days. Before,I had work at the Tailor's place here in New York. It was fun,I made this dress all by myself" as I said and showed him the label to prove it was from the Tailor's shop.

"Alright,but your voice sounds very familiar. I'm sure I've ghmet you somewhere" Adelé said.

"Excuse me sir,here is your copy." I said and left.