Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

CHAPTER TWO

“There’s a package for you on the entry table,” came my wife’s voice as I opened the kitchen door from the garage.  “It’s marked ‘urgent,’” she added as she wiped her hands on her apron and kissed me hello.  

“When was it delivered?”  I asked as I headed to the front door.

“I don’t know.  It was lying outside the front door when I went to check the mail.”

Not unusual.  It was an express mail package & I zipped it open quickly.  Inside were the files I expected to have on my desk in the morning.  Interpol printouts, investigation reports from all over the world on probable killings by Mike Richards, etc.  Grainy surveillance photos, numerous other items, and a handwritten letter.  It was “the note writer.”

It started, “Be very careful.  Manny has not left the area.  You were supposed to find David Weber.  He will take action if he learns you believe he is involved. Quietly investigate the research Carl Freeman has been doing on his own time. Contact his wife at the funeral home through an intermediary.  Do not let anyone know that you are looking for Manny or you will be the next victim.  I’ll be in touch.”

After a quick dinner, I was back in the office.  I usually don’t get spooked, but this case was getting to me.  I looked at my mirrors closer than usual, checked to be sure my piece was ready, and made sure I walked in with other officers I knew.  I was very cautious.

I accessed Interpol.  The pages I had looked at were exactly what was currently posted.  “Note writer” must have access to Interpol.  He must be another officer or an excellent hacker.  I called the funeral home and found out what time Mrs. Freeman would be there tomorrow.  David Weber was more cooperative after I told him who the man was in the mug shot, he had identified.  When I told him I was going to charge him with possession of stolen goods, so I could hold him, he seemed relieved.

Sleep did not come easy.  Too many questions kept coming to mind.  What was Freeman working on?  Why did it cost him his life?  Who was the Note Writer? Could I keep David Webber alive, if Manny wanted him dead?

When the alarm went off at 6:00 a.m., I was still asking myself questions.  Today promised to be as strange as yesterday.

By 10:30 I had already checked for additional information on Mike Richards, aka Manny, and was at the funeral home.    Mrs. Freeman was surprised when I asked if her husband had any “special projects” he was working on.

“For years he has been working on a new car engine.  He applied for a patent a few months ago but found out recently that his design is already patented,” she told me.

“Has any of the stuff in his shop been taken?”

“Not that I can tell,” was her response.  “I rarely go out there.  The only thing I am sure is not missing is the car with the engine in it.”

I made arrangements to meet her that afternoon to look at the shop.  I still did not see why this was important.  I drove back to the station and was almost hit in the parking lot as I left my car.  Some people even drive like maniacs in the parking lot of a police station.

When I came back to my car to go meet Nicole Freeman, The Note Writer had struck again.  “Manny has made you,” it began.  “He knows you have Weber.  You should watch your step in the parking lot.  Next time he won’t miss you.  Do not contact the Freeman woman again directly.  If Manny thinks you are interested in the car, you and Weber are both dead.”

Could that car that almost hit me have been driven by a paid killer?  It made me think.  I went back to my office and called a friend to go see Mrs. Freeman.  I needed to know all I could about that car and engine.

Mike Richards was a very interesting man.  Suspected murders in over twenty countries.  Last ten years he had almost been caught at least five times.  No indication in my information of who had been close to catching him.  No one knew who he killed for, and all the murders seemed random.  No known link had been found, yet.  That was the Interpol report.

The other papers were clippings that described the deaths of an FBI agent, several police, and assorted citizens.  Many were in the U.S., but close to half were from other countries.  A few of the articles mentioned experimental work on engines or alternative fuels.  Some were murders, but most were accident reports or obituaries.  If The Note Writer was to be believed, Mike Richards must be very wealthy, indeed.  Between these clippings and Interpol’s report, he had killed over a hundred people.  The official score was twenty-two.

I found the reported suicides of three police officers, the accidental deaths of four more, and the killed in the line of duty of two and the agent to be the most disturbing.  Each of the officers and the agent was investigating an unsolved death at the time of their deaths.  One clipping had a photograph of a group of uniformed officers at the scene of the fatal shooting of another officer.  One of the faces was circled.  An arrow drawn from the circle pointed to the name “Manny” written on the side. With this clipping was an artist’s sketch entitled “Manny today.”

The articles on the death of the FBI agent described his family, and his partner and showed a map of the area where his body was found in his burned car.  Thomas Winston Riley was a twelve-year veteran of the FBI, former military intelligence, and trained hostage negotiator.  His partner, Sam Wilkens reported nothing unusual in their cases that would indicate anything other than an accident.  The investigation concluded with the statement, “Death due to severe trauma inflicted during an automobile accident.”

There was ice, the guard rails had been taken out by an eighteen-wheeler two days earlier.  He ran off the road and the car rolled down an embankment and burned due to a punctured gas tank.  Due to the snow and ice, there were no marks on the pavement.  All the tires melted in the fire.  There was no way to tell if the accident was the result of a blowout.