CHICAGO - FUGITIVE TASK FORCE HEADQUARTERS

Kari notices a strange man enter the office and look around tentatively, obviously searching for something. She walks over to him and is surprised to see he seems to recognize her. “Can I help you?”

“I hope so, Agent Holmes. My name is Henry Armensco.”

Startled, Kari ushers Henry Armanesco into her office and shuts the door, all the while remembering something Kimble has told her earlier:

“Nicholas Armanesco worked on a ship called the Medusa and he worked with Ben Charnquist.  I tracked him down to San Francisco but he got scared and ran away from me.  Charnquist caught up with him before I could and shot him. Just before he died, he told me he was there the night Helen died. ”

“Please sit down, Mr. Armanesco. I’m Agent Holmes. How can I help you?”

Henry sits down and says, “I know who you are. I saw you on TV last week. You sounded like you were interested in finding the truth about the murder of Dr. Kimble’s wife.”

Kari answers guardedly, “I’m always interested in finding the truth, Mr. Armanesco. What’s your interest in Dr. Kimble?”

“My son Nicky was murdered a couple of years ago in San Francisco and Dr. Kimble was with him when he died. He believes the man who killed my son also killed his wife. So do I. I tracked down Ben Charnquist and he practically admitted it all to me.  Unfortunately he got away from us and the police wouldn’t believe me when I told them about Charnquist. All they could see was that Nicky was involved with drugs.”

Kari leans in and says, “I’m very sorry about your son, Mr. Armanesco, but what is it that’s brought you all the way from San Francisco to Chicago?”

“This.” Henry reaches into his pocket and pulls out an envelope.  He opens it and dumps out a handful of diamonds.  Kari’s eyes get wide.  “Where did you get those?”

“I wasn’t much of a father to Nicky. I was away too much on the sea, but I used to build him ships inside of bottles when he was a kid.  In the year before he died, he took up the hobby himself and gave ships to me. Five ships. That’s all I had left from him.” He looks up to see Holmes looking at him impatiently, yet sympathetically.

“The other night one of the bottles broke and out came the diamonds.  I broke the other bottles he had made and more came out.  After Ben Charnquist killed my son, he came to my house and ransacked it.  He took the key to Nicky’s locker on the ship and searched there, too. Now I know what he was looking for. Nicky kept them in the last place anyone would look and he kept them in plain sight.  I flew from San Francisco to Chicago to bring them to you, Agent Holmes.  You’re the first person I’ve seen in law enforcement who is looking for the truth about Charnquist . I want justice for my son and Dr. Kimble.”

Kari shakes her head in disbelief.  “I appreciate your trust in me, Mr. Armanesco.”

“There’s something else. Its a book of Nicky’s.” Henry carefully removes it from his pocket. “Nicky kept his locker key in it, and there’s some other notes in there too, about the Medusa.  I don’t know if it will help you, but I want you to have it.”  He hands her the book and he stands up to leave.

Kari stands up and says, “Mr. Armanesco, thank you for bringing this to me.  I will investigate this, you can be sure of it.” She scoops up the diamonds. “I’ll have to keep these as evidence, but I’ll return them and the diary.”

Henry stands up abruptly. “Keep the diamonds. I don’t want them. They’re covered with Nicky’s blood. Just find the man who killed my son.” He walks out.

Kari looks at the small pile of diamonds in her hand.  She picks up Nick Armanesco’s book and begins to flip through the pages.  An entry catches her eye…Crystal Clear Water.  She continues to flip the pages and finds Crystal Clear Water listed a total of five times…the same as the number of ships inside the bottles.  “Coincidence perhaps?  Not likely,” she says.

Kari then dials a number on the phone and the voice on the other end says, “This is Diane Lang.”

“Lang, it’s Holmes.”

“Hi Holmes, how are they treating you in Chicago?”

“Some better than others, but that’s par for the course…listen, Lang I need you to get me the shipping records of a ship called the Medusa, one of the places it ships out of is San Francisco.  Subpoena the records of what they ship and where they ship it to.  I’d also like you to get me a list of all of Crystal Clear Water’s warehouses in the states and the ports that it ships out of.”

“Is this in connection with a task force investigation?”

“Let’s just say it’s my investigation and leave it at that. Just give the results to me and no one else.”

 “No problem, Holmes.  I’ll get it as soon as possible.”

“Thanks, Lang.”

SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA (20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF INDIANAPOLIS) - LATE AFTERNOON

Richard Kimble is exiting his apartment, #213, in an older, rundown section of town. Loud music is playing in the apartment next door. Kimble shuts and locks his door behind him. As he reaches the top of the stairs to the ground floor, he passes an Asian woman in her mid-40s climbing the stairway with a heavy bag of groceries. She is short of breath and moving slowly. Kimble nods to her, keeping his head lowered. She responds in much the same fashion. He pauses in concern and looks back to see the woman heading to #215.

Kimble exits the apartment building and begins walking towards the town center. He keeps his eyes peeled at activities around him as he walks. A clap of thunder is heard and Kimble looks at the sky to see if the rainstorm is returning. Then, up ahead, he sees two Shelbyville policeman on motorcycles looking his way. Kimble considers ducking into a drugstore, but keeps walking, his hands in his pockets. The motorcycles pull out from the curb and pass him, then circle around to come back, blocking his way as he crosses an empty parking lot.

The two policeman dismount and wait for him to approach. Kimble’s expression freezes, though he tries to continue on nonchalantly.

"Excuse me sir," the officer on the left says.

"Do you have a minute?" the other officer asks. "We'd like to talk to you."

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