WASHINGTON DC: The Sadir Affair (The Puppets of Washington Book 1) (29 page)

Greenstein’s face paled. He knew either way he was now losing the battle. “Hum…, Agent Meshullam is, of course.”

Samuel lost his cool when he heard the answer. He literally shoved the chair beneath him brutally, stood up shouting, “LIAR!” and walked out of the room.

“Mark. Go after him,” Billycan ordered. “And bring him back!”

Mark was out the door before the US Attorney had finished pronouncing the last words of his sentence.

Greenstein was about to get up as well when Billycan stopped him. “I wouldn’t leave just yet, if I were you.” Greenstein sat down, reluctantly. “Thank you.” Billycan then leaned against the back of the chair again. “So, let’s get back to my question; who’s instructing you in this matter?”

“Off the record…?”

“Of course. Do you see anyone recording anything?” Billycan turned his head from side to side. Greenstein looked down. “All right then—I’m listening.”

“I was retained by Agent Lypsick. I believe he’s appointed me because I’ve practiced on both continents. He is instructing me, but leaves most decisions to Agent Meshullam.”

“Thank you. Could you tell me if Agent Lypsick has made any statement to you designed to coerce Agent Meshullam into giving a false or distorted testimony on the stand?”

Greenstein looked at Billycan for a long moment before answering. “I wouldn’t use the words “coerce” and “false testimony” in the same sentence, Mr. Billycan. But there were instances, I noticed, when Agent Lypsick insisted in my persuading Agent Meshullam in saying things that were not in his initial statement.”

“I see. Well, I suggest that, from now on, you ignore these sorts of instructions from Agent Lypsick. If you were to continue, it could have dire consequences for you personally, as you know.”

Samuel was already in front of the elevator when Mark joined him. “What’s the matter with you? We all know the guy is a liar. You’ve demonstrated that already. So why did you have to yell it at his head?”

“Do you have any idea what Lypsick is capable of?”

“I think I’ve got a fair idea, yes.”

“Well then, mate, you tell me how you and all this legal mumbo-jumbo is going to help Talya?”

“Is that what this is all about? They’re still after Talya?”

“Not
they
, Mark, Lypsick is. If she makes it to the stand, she’s good as dead. Lypsick has got her in his scope. He knows she is fully aware of what he’s been doing. And Sadir is, too. That’s why he’s not talking. If he did, he might as well order a funeral for his entire family while he waits to be executed.”

Mark could only stare. He was out of words. He was shaking when he finally uttered, “Did you tell Billycan?”

Samuel nodded, pressing the elevator button again. “Yes, I did last night... I’ve got to get to her, Mark. Lypsick is out there, and I’m the only one who could stop him.”

“No, you don’t!” Mark shoved the Mossad agent away from the open elevator door. “She’s under protection. He won’t get to her, I promise you. But, you, you’ve got to let Billycan dispose of Lypsick the proper way, so we won’t have to chase him for ever or hide from him anymore.”

Samuel hung his head. He was spent. He no longer knew how to fight. “All right, if you think she’ll be okay for the next few hours. But as soon as we’re done here, I’ve got to see her, Mark. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“And you will. Let’s get back in there, because the sooner we do, the sooner we’ll be done.”

Van Dams was pacing the length of his office. He couldn’t come to terms with the fact that Lypsick was nowhere to be found. Since the CIA’s mandate didn’t authorize the agency to operate in the States, he had surrendered the search to the FBI. Yielding the control of any ops to the Bureau always bothered him. To say that the Deputy Director had an innate dislike of the Bureau would perhaps be an exaggeration. Nevertheless, he didn’t like the idea of letting these troublesome
special agents
loose in the countryside. He had seen how they bungled the investigation of the Marianne incident and how they made a mess of tailing Ms. Kartz from Jacksonville to Detroit, even going through the property of an old teacher in Atlanta, looking for car keys without a warrant, and manhandling her friend—a lawyer to boot. No, he definitely didn’t like having the FBI involved again. Basically, he couldn’t trust them.

Van Dams’s contact at the Bureau had told him Lypsick was a visible entity—people couldn’t help but notice his scarred face—and they would find the man in no time. Yet, Billycan was well into the trial now, his star witnesses were soon to take the stand, and the FBI had not been able to locate Lypsick. Both Ms. Kartz and Agent Meshullam were in danger. From the first days of the trial, Billycan had shown that Sadir was indeed guilty of feeding information to Mossad. This ultimately led them to believe that both individuals had conspired to provide faulty weapons to Israel. The US Attorney had also shown that Sadir had ordered the tampering of the SUV that Ishmael was driving at the time of the accident. However, Agent Meshullam, once on the stand, would demonstrate that Agent Lypsick had persuaded him to kill Agent Assor. What wasn’t clear yet was whether Agent Meshullam had taken upon himself to maim Ms. Kartz or if that was a suggestion made by Mossad. Until now, the Mossad agent had maintained that it had been his agency’s decision. Yet the facts pointed in either direction.

When it came to Ms. Kartz’s statement, or her testimony on the stand, it would certainly show the extent of the CIA’s involvement in the affair—whether authorized or not—and would inevitably implicate Lypsick and himself in a big way.

Van Dams stopped his pacing in front of his desk. He picked up the phone and called his friend at CSIS—Fred Gibson. He needed his help.

Fred answered at first ring. “Fred Gibson here.”

“Van Dams, Fred. Have you got a minute?”

“Let me see.” Fred smiled to himself. “Your type of minutes can stretch into an hour—and that I haven’t got. What’s up?”

“Do you know what’s going on down here?”

The abruptness of Van Dams’s speech gave Fred pause. “Yeah, Agent Gilford has kept me up to date. Why?”

“So you know Lypsick has disappeared?”

“That too, yes. Again, what’s up, Dietrich?”

“You should know—if you’ve been kept up to date as you say—Ms Kartz and Agent Meshullam are Lypsick’s next targets if Billycan is right. And since the Bureau can’t seem to locate the guy, I need your help to protect both witnesses.”

“How long since the FBI has taken over the search?”

“Four days now, and
frigging
nothing from them. I want these two protected, Fred. If I could do anything, I would, but my hands are tied when it comes to such ops as you know.”

“Yeah...” Fred had to let that sink in for a minute. “Mark Gilford is with both of them—as far as I know—and he knows Lypsick, which is always a plus with Mark.”

“True, but Meshullam is the one worrying me. He’d kill Lypsick in the blink of an eye. He’s totally out of control at the moment from what I’ve heard. And I don’t want a blood bath at this juncture...”

“Yes, but I’ve to ask, Dietrich,
Why the hell didn’t you arrest Lypsick
as soon as you had knowledge of his collaboration with Sadir? Those I.M. communications Mark mentioned—you must have known Lypsick was fomenting trouble…”

“Because, it was too late, Fred. The CIA could only rein Lypsick in—we couldn’t arrest him openly without divulging and admitting that the agency had tried to subdue all parties concerned with the West African operation.”

“That’s what I thought, but you must see that since you didn’t arrest Lypsick when you should have, it puts you in an untenable situation—not to say lethal.”

“I know that, Fred, but I think our prime concern should be toward Ms Kartz and Agent Meshullam now—otherwise I can’t even think of the consequence we could be facing.”

“Okay, let me see what I can do from this end, but short of putting them both in a cell, I don’t have much to offer at this minute. They’re two of the most unstable people I know, but I’ll call you back in a half-an-hour, how’s that?”

“Thanks. I’ll be here.”

When Fred hung up the phone, he called Namlah Badawee to his office. The legal advisor was sitting in front of the Chief within minutes.

Fred explained the situation quickly and stopped. He looked at Badawee expectantly.

The latter caressed his moustache concertedly before he spoke. “I think you would do well to call on Prince Abdullah, and ask for his assistance in this matter.”

The uncomprehending surprise was painted on Fred’s face. “What can he do? He’s the last person I’d have thought could help. What are you thinking?”

“The Saudi Arabian Embassy is located in Washington, isn’t it?”

“Are you saying that I should ask the prince to provide asylum to two Jewish people? That’s insane!”

Namlah looked down. “Not only to two Jewish people, Chief, but to the two people Saudi Arabia may still be accused of ordering Sadir to organize their assassination. Saudi Arabia, I’m sure, would be only too delighted to cleanse itself of such false accusation.”

Fred had to think about that one. That was as twisted an idea as he would have expected from his legal advisor, but a good idea, come to think of it. “Okay, but wouldn’t that put the prince and Khalid at risk?”

“Not at all, Chief. As we have said on many occasions, these two are untouchables. This Lypsick person wouldn’t dare make a move against either of them, without risking the needle or worse, facing a Saudi court.”

“What if he engages someone else to eliminate both?”

“Think about it. What would that achieve? Nothing.”

“Alright then, let me think about this. I’ll let you know what my decision will be.”

Namlah nodded. “However, I think it would be a good idea if Mark would keep an eye on Khalid until this is over.”

Fred opened his eyes wide. “But you’ve just said it’d be too risky for Lypsick to try anything against the prince. Are you changing your mind now?”

“No, Chief, not at all, but I prefer to remain on the side of caution.”

“Okay, Mr. Badawee, I hear you.”

Namlah got up and went out as quickly as he came in, leaving Fred in a quandary. Yet, he knew Badawee was right—it was probably the only way to protect Talya and Samuel.

As the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Billycan’s first duty was to serve the people—and the people demanded that justice be done. In this instance, he was prosecuting a federal case and he had enough evidence to add two more charges to Mr. Sadir’s warrants—those of felony murders on the persons of Mr. Al Nadir and Mr. Salaman Abib. It became soon clear that if he let go of the Marianne’s incident and did not, at least, introduce evidence of Sadir’s involvement, the people would not see justice done.

However, the law would not allow him to prosecute Muhammad Sadir for these two felonies during the current trial. Billycan would have to present the evidence and hope to influence the jury’s mind into seeing how far-reaching the CIA and FBI’s decisions had been. As for prosecuting Sadir, he would have to let the Florida DA deal with it later.

Aside from the judicial reasons, Billycan wanted, more than ever, to demonstrate to Lypsick—where ever the guy might be—that he would not be able to reach Sadir to eliminate him any time soon. He first contacted the Florida US Attorney and discussed the issue with him. Upon receiving his approval to use the evidence involving Sadir in the double murder—after lengthy legal arguments—Billycan then contacted the ADA in Jacksonville, Glenda Blake, and asked her to transfer the files to his office in DC. Billycan also wanted Glenda to help him during the trial in Washington and invited her to be second chair for that part of it. Glenda agreed to the deal and sent the case files to the US Attorney without as much difficulty as she had expected.

Alerted of Billycan’s latest addition of witnesses to the list, Simmons wanted to file motions to block the US Attorney’s move. However, Sadir had again objected to him making waves that would inevitably introduce doubt as to his guilt into the jury’s mind. He wanted to “remain under the law’s protection,” he said. That statement drove Simmons to think he should withdraw from assisting Sadir in his defence. “The man is mad,” he muttered to himself at the issue of their meeting.

When the next Monday morning came around, Glenda was ready, sitting beside Marcel with Billycan on the other side of her.

The first witness was the Florida M.E., Dr Helldish. After being sworn in, the Doctor described his being called in the early hours of the morning and travelling to the scene of the crime to arrive there soon after the bodies were fished out of the Jackson River.

Billycan went on, “And you attended to the victims—Mr. Al Nadir and Mr. Salaman Abib—at the scene when you were told that a double murder had been committed on the Marianne, a fishing trawler that was moored on the Jackson River. Is that correct, Doctor?”

The audience was sitting on the edge of their seats, a feeling of imminent revelation in the atmosphere. Thus far, the evidence and witnesses had provided everyone with a sense of direction—a direction leading to the truth and Sadir’s conviction.

“Yes, Mr. Billycan. I was called very early that morning to travel to the scene of the crime and I arrived soon after the two bodies were lifted out of the water and settled on the pier.”

“Did you notice anything particular about either or both corpses when you first examined the victims?”

Doctor Helldish, a man in is forties, looked down at the exquisitely well-carved banister trimming the witness stand on two sides, and then up at the US Attorney. “The bodies of both men had been in the water for less than twelve hours and there wasn’t much bloating, and decomposition had not really set in yet. The particular thing I noticed was that only one man had a bruise on the lower part of his jaw. Other than that neither man had any marks on them, such as would be the case if the victims had been involved in a struggle of some type or a fist-fight before they were thrown overboard and into the water.”

“Now, Doctor Helldish, did you determine the cause of death of both victims?”

“Yes, sir, I did…”

Billycan raised a hand. “I’m sorry, Doctor—my mistake—let’s concentrate on one victim at a time. What was the cause of death for Mr. Al Nadir?”

“Mr. Nadir’s neck had been broken. His head hung in an odd position when he was pulled out of the water. That’s the reason why I could tell he had been taken in a forceful choke-hold and the cerebral vertebrae had snapped under pressure.”

“Thank you, Doctor. What about Mr. Salaman Abib, what did you determine was the primary cause of his demise?”

“There was a single puncture mark on the man’s abdomen, which I determined later, when I examined him at the morgue, to be a knife wound.”

“And this knife wound, anything particular about it?”

“Yes, given the length, depth and width of the blade, we couldn’t immediately determine what sort of knife had been used to inflict such a wound.”

“Were you able to determine what type of knife was used later on?”

“Yes, we finally did, when we received a weapon that had been forwarded to the Florida police in the last three months.”

Billycan turned to the evidence table, picked up the plastic bag containing Talya’s knife and brought it to the witness. “Is this the knife?”

“Yes it is.”

“Thank you, Doctor. Your Honour”—Billycan looked up at Silverman—“the Prosecution introduces this knife, marked Exhibit 10, into evidence and tender to opposing counsel.”

“So noted, Mr. Billycan. Mr. Simmons?”

“No objection, Your Honour.”

“Very well then, you may proceed, Mr. Billycan.”

“Thank you, Your Honour.” The US Attorney went to replace the knife on the table and returned to face the witness. “Now, Doctor, could you tell us if the knife wound indicated that the victim died instantly?”

“Not instantly, no. Such a wound generally indicates that the victim would have died some time after sustaining such injury.”

“Okay, thank you, Doctor.” Billycan paused. “Now, I am going to ask you to be as precise as possible, if you can, in answering my next questions.”

“Okay...” Dr Helldish switched position in the chair.

“Did the victim, Mr. Salaman Abib, die from the knife wound?”

“When I first examined the victim, at the scene of the crime, it was my initial conclusion, yes.”

“Did you reach the same conclusion when you perform the autopsy on Mr. Abib?”

“No. I did not.”

“What did you conclude after the autopsy, Doctor?”

“Mr. Abib died by drowning. I found water in the lungs, which is a clear indication of the manner in which this victim died.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” Billycan bowed slightly. “And then, did you determine how long of an interval there was between the times the victim was wounded and his body reached the water?”

“That’s hard to say precisely, Mr. Billycan, but as far as I could tell, the victim hadn’t lost much blood after being knifed, so I concluded that his body reached the water within minutes of being injured.”

“Were there any other determining factors that helped you in reaching your conclusion, Doctor?”

“Yes, of course, there was the length of time the body had been in the water and the body’s lividity, both of which provided me with an approximate time of death.”

“Thank you. Now I’ll ask you this; would you be able to say if the victim fell or was thrown overboard as you suggested earlier?”

“That’s a difficult one... I said that the victim was
probably
thrown overboard, because when a victim sustains such a knife injury, he or she would instinctively buckle and slump to the floor, holding his stomach. He or she wouldn’t bend over a railing and fall into the water. Besides, the forensic team found blood splatters on the deck of the trawler, which indicated that the victim had been knifed several feet away from the railing.”

“When you say the ‘forensic team found blood splatters on the deck of the trawler’, could you tell the court which forensic team you are referring to? Was it the Florida police CSI team?”

“Hum, no... That was the FBI’s team.”

“How did you know these forensic technicians were from the FBI—did they tell you they were?”

“Well…, not in so many words, no. The agent in charge of the investigation had called me to the scene. He identified himself as being FBI so I assumed the forensic guys were, too.”

“I see, and did this agent give you his name?”

“Yes, he said his name was Agent Verduccio.” Glenda looked up at the witness suddenly. She remembered the officers, who led the investigation later, mention the name.

“Did you know why the FBI led this investigation and not the regular police department at the time?”

“No, sir, I had no idea. I just did what I was told.”

“And when you finished ‘doing what you were told’, Doctor, did you send your report to the FBI as well as to the Florida police?”

“Well, not exactly…”

“What do you mean by ‘not exactly’, Doctor?”

“Well…, Agent Verduccio asked me to send him two copies of the report and said that he would forward a copy to the Jacksonville Precinct himself. I assumed he did so in due course.”

“Wasn’t that against procedures?”

“Yes, it was—or at least I thought it was—but when the FBI is involved you don’t ask questions.”

That answer provoked a wave of laughter and tittering among the audience and the jurors.

Once Silverman’s gavel had imposed the return of silence to the audience, Billycan concluded, “Again, thank you, Doctor, for your patience and precise answers.” The US Attorney then turned and walked back to his table. “I have no more questions for this witness, Your Honour.”

“Mr. Simmons—your witness.” Silverman seemed to be completely absorbed into the proceedings now. For the past several days, his whole attitude had grown in intensity and into a deeply attentive demeanour.

“Thank you, Your Honour.” Simmons rose and went to stand in front of the witness. “Good morning, Doctor.”

“Good morning,” the M.E. replied mechanically.

“Now, Doctor, did you have an occasion to examine the knife that was used to kill Mr. Salaman Abib?”

Billycan had heard the question and couldn’t believe his ears. “Your Honour! Objection. The prosecution has just demonstrated that Mr. Abib wasn’t
killed
in this manner—he died by drowning. Move to strike.”

“All right, all right, Mr. Billycan, don’t get your knickers in a knot!” That did it. The tension in the audience and jury was already so stretched that the elastic band snapped into an explosion of laughter. Billycan had to smile, and so did Simmons, while Silverman was banging his gavel and calling, “Order in court, order in court.” As the laughter abated, the judge’s eyes fell on Simmons. “I will not tolerate your mistakes for much longer, Mr. Simmons. Objection sustained. The record will be stricken of that last question. The jury is instructed to disregard, and as for you, Mr. Simmons: REPHRASE!”

“Yes, Your Honour. I’m sorry, Doctor. Did you have occasion to examine the knife that was used in the wounding of Mr. Abib?”

Still trying to regain a smidgen of composure, Dr Helldish didn’t dare look at the judge or anyone when he answered, “Only to verify that it matched the wound of the victim.”

“Had you ever seen such a weapon being used on any other victim that you may have examined during your career?”

“No, sir. The knife appeared to be some sort of artefact or relic. I only recalled seeing similar weapons in museum or cultural displays.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

Billycan knew where this line of questioning was going to lead, once Simmons would have his chance at calling witnesses for the defence. The knife was of North African origin and he would endeavour to show that Talya was tied somehow to the Al-Fadir family and to the alleged conspiracy between her and Ishmael Assor. He bent down to Glenda’s ear. “Did you have a weapons’ expert examine the knife?”

The Florida ADA shook her head.

Simmons went on, “When you said that the FBI was at the scene of the crime when you arrived, did you ask Agent Verduccio to show you his badge or proof of his identity?”

“No, sir. I didn’t see any reason to do so.”

“Why was that, Doctor?”

“Well…, because Agent Verduccio and the forensic guys were wearing the FBI jackets, so I didn’t see any need to ask anyone for their IDs.”

“I see. But when this Agent Verduccio asked you to send two autopsy reports to him, as you testified just now, didn’t that sound suspicious?”

“Yeah, it did, but as I said, I didn’t want to question an FBI order.”

“So, let me see if I understand this; if someone tells you he’s an FBI agent you don’t ask question and do what the agent says?”

“Not usually, no, but really in this case, I only questioned the fact that the agent was cutting corners. I just presumed that he wanted to talk to the police captain himself.”

“So, from your testimony can we conclude that Agent Verduccio was not the person he pretended to be? Is that a possibility, Doctor?”

The M.E. nodded slowly. “Yes, I suppose it could be possible.”

“Thank you, Doctor, that’s all,” Simmons said, going back to his table.

Silverman looked at the defence attorney’s back, a frown coming across his brow. He then smiled down at the doctor. “Thank you, Doctor, you may step down.”