10 PM CRYSTAL CLEAR WAREHOUSE
A car approaches the dark bulk of a warehouse on the waterfront. Kimble turns
off the lights and pulls silently in front of the building, eyeing the sign
with peeling paint above the door proclaiming “Crystal Clear Warehouse”. He
looks at Kari and she says, “You got us here, even without the directions.”
“I didn’t need the Mapquest directions. I had them memorized. That’s not the point. If Gerard gets loose too soon and finds those directions…”
“He won’t,” Kimble says, with more confidence than he feels. He glances at his watch. “Ten o’clock. Two hours before the rendezvous with Charnquist. We still have time.” He walks over to the warehouse door. He reaches in his pocket for a small pick and begins to work on the lock.
“We don’t have time for that.” Kari pulls out her gun and moves to brush him aside, but the lock clicks open. “A man of many talents. It’s a good thing I’ve got a search warrant,” she says, as Kimble ushers her inside and relocks the door. “I’ll find the office,” he says. “You check for the diamonds.” As she moves away, he pulls her back. “Be careful,” he says with feeling.
“I will. You, too.” She shoves Gerard’s gun at him. “Take this.”
“I don’t know how to use this, Kari.”
“Take it anyway and if you have to, just point and shoot and don’t think about it for too long…hesitation brings inaccuracy. Let’s meet back here in 45 minutes. We have to be ready when Charnquist gets here.” They synchronize watches. Then Kari moves off into the warehouse, relieved it is partially lit with dim lighting. She increases it with the beam from a small flashlight in her hand. Meanwhile, Kimble heads in the opposite direction using a pencil-thin beam of light from his own small flashlight to get his bearings. He quickly spots the main office. He turns on the lights and pulls a chair up to the computer, slipping a jump drive from his pocket and plugging it in. Logging onto the computer with the password that Chuck Brixius provided, he begins downloading files.
In another part of the warehouse, Kari is shining her flashlight at the bottles of Crystal Clear Water. Nothing unusual is showing up until she finds several empty bottles. She walks over to them, puzzled to find them empty…until something dawns on her. “The diamonds were moved into other containers and moved out of here…quickly.” As she is shining her light on the containers, her eyes catches something shimmering at the bottom of one. She hurriedly slips on a pair of rubber gloves.
As she reaches in the bottle, she finds the diamond, takes it out and bags it. As she puts it in her pocket her blood runs cold as she feels a gun cocked right up against the back of her head. She puts her hands up, turns around and finds herself face to face with her attacker from many years ago…Ben Charnquist.
10:25 PM
Becca
Ross is staring intently at the computer screen in front of her. She looks
up at the tap on the office door to see Eve Hilliard accompanied by a security
guard. “Thank you, John,” she says as the guard turns to go, leaving Eve standing in the doorway. “Your phone call surprised
me. Do you usually work such late hours?”
“Not always. Do you?”
“I’m not doing this for Ross Industries. I’m doing it for Richard. If I can find something, anything, that will help him get an appeal…”
“No luck finding evidence against Crystal Clear?”
“Not yet.”
“Let’s hope our sting operation when your father meets Palazollo tomorrow will goad him into admitting something. Frankly, I was surprised your father agreed to it.”
“So was I. I assure you, it has nothing to do with helping Richard or pleasing me. I think he’s just enraged that Palazollo was using him as a dupe for diamond smuggling and he lost his favorite daughter Helen in the process. Frankly, I don’t care what his reason is, as long as it helps Richard.”
“You’re convinced of Kimble’s innocence, aren’t you?”
“Yes”, Becca responds emphatically.
“Loyalty like yours is a priceless commodity. I haven’t seen it very often. When I have, its usually been inspired by a very exceptional person. All other evidence aside, its what convinces me that Kimble is really innocent.”
“He is!” Becca responds emphatically.
“What does your father think?”
“My father doesn’t share his thoughts with anyone. Except Helen. They had their moments, but he talked more with her than he ever did with me.”
“And now she’s gone.”
“Yes, now she’s gone.” Becca turns back to the computer screen, closing off the moment of intimacy. Eve walks over to look over her shoulder. “Have you found anything so far?”
“Nothing linking Crystal Clear to shadow companies or offshore accounts.” She looks up. “That’s why I’m here. This is Harry McKenzie’s office. He finalized the merger with Crystal Clear after I left the company. If there was any evidence, I was hoping to find it here.” She shuts off the computer monitor in disgust. “Nothing!” She begins to search the drawers of his desk, eventually pulling out a small appointment calendar. “Harry must never throw anything away,” she says, leafing through the pages. “This goes back 5 years. I wonder if Harry and Pallazollo ever met before I left the company.” She examines it more intently, searching for the month before Helen was killed. She stops suddenly.
“Here it is! An appointment between Harry and Palazollo, two days before Helen died.”
Eve looks at the entry. “What’s that?” she asks, pointing at a small drawing off to the side.
“I don’t know. A doodle of some kind.” She holds it directly under the light. “It looks almost like a stick figure but…oh my God!”
Eve sees the blood has drained from Becca’s face, leaving her ashen. “What is it?”
“Its a man. But he only has one arm.”
“Charnquist!”
“Helen said in her diary she saw a one-armed
man when she came to meet Daddy for lunch. When I heard that at the trial
in
“But it was Harry McKenzie!” Eve says excitedly.
Becca turns to her, equally excited. “The night Helen died, the night I saw smith282, Harry stopped me as I was leaving work and asked me out to dinner. That wasn’t like him at all. What if he knew about the kidnapping and then got cold feet and tried to stop it?”
Eve leaps to an obvious conclusion. “When Helen was murdered, he was too deeply implicated to say anything.”
“This could save Richard!”
“And convict Palazollo!” Becca heads for the door. “I’m going to have Harry brought in for questioning. Let’s see if a charge of obstruction of justice will loosen his tongue.” She runs out the door.
Becca stares after her, dazed. Suddenly, she mutters, “Daddy. I was so wrong.” She grabs her purse and follows Eve down the hall.