A Delicate Matter Page 27

  After a moment Vivian said, “Jack … I’m sorry. That must have been awful.”

  “Where does he keep his boat?” Jack asked, intentionally shifting the subject. He didn’t want his professionalism being overruled by emotion. Vivian would understand, he knew.

  “At a marina in Brentwood Bay,” she replied.

  “Next door to the Butchart Gardens,” Jack noted, more to himself than Vivian.

  “Yes, the Gardens are just a short drive away.”

  “A fifty-footer — it must have a tender on it, then,” Jack stated.

  “I’m sure it would. Hang on, I’ll radio one of the investigators.” When she came back on the phone she said, “Yes, he has a dinghy.”

  “With a motor or oars?” Jack asked.

  “A motor.”

  Jack felt like his chest was momentarily paralyzed with adrenalin. “My informant was trying to bust their boat motor with a rock before he was shot. I-HIT has the rock. Could someone walk past on the pier and see if there’s damage to the motor? Perhaps scrape marks on the cowling or something?”

  Vivian spoke on the police radio, then said, “Apparently the dinghy’s strapped down under a tarp. Besides keeping a pit bull on board, Doringer knows a lot of people at the marina. Boaters are a pretty friendly bunch. They tend to watch out for each other when it comes to strangers nosing around. This time of year there are people at the marina during the day. At night the place is basically deserted, but that’s when Doringer’s on his boat.”

  “Damn.”

  “We haven’t even had the opportunity to put a bug on the boat, but we did manage to get a boat to use as an OP.”

  “How close is this operation post?”

  “Directly across the wharf from him. Maybe the opportunity will arise to get a peek at the motor later. Doringer normally keeps the dog inside, and the tender is laid over the engine compartment on an open deck at the stern.”

  “Taking the tarp off would require a warrant,” Jack said. “Then, even if we got it, it could be later quashed in court on some technicality and out would go the evidence.”

  “Yup, there’s always a chance of that,” Vivian said dispassionately.

  “I want this guy bad. I’m going to try to hedge the bet.”

  “Hedge the bet?”

  “Have him invite me onto the boat and allow me to see it.”

  Vivian hesitated, then she spoke, her voice grim. “Jack, there’s something you need to know. Doringer’s a real nutcase with a long record of violence.”

  “If he’s the one who murdered my informant — that goes without saying.”

  “I know, but from what I’ve heard from the investigators, he’s more dangerous and unstable than your average murderer. When he was in the navy he spent most of his time in the stockade before being dishonourably discharged. He was diagnosed with some kind of mental disorder. A thing called ODD.”

  “Oppositional defiance disorder,” Jack said.

  “Yeah, that’s it. He has a hair-trigger temper. Apparently a lot of his type don’t fit into society too well and tend to do the opposite of what they’re told.”

  “Then maybe it’s time to remove him from society,” Jack said coldly.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Tina’s sleepy voice told Jack that she’d been sleeping when he called. He didn’t bother to apologize. “Tina — you, Laura, get over to my room now and bring your phones and notebooks,” he said tersely. “We’re getting a conference call in fifteen minutes. I’ll need to debrief the both of you first.”

  “A conference call? From who?”

  “One of the monitors in Victoria.” Then he ordered, “Hustle.”

  Four minutes later Laura and Tina arrived in Jack’s room. They hadn’t even taken seats before Jack started, “After you two went back to your room last night, I went down to the parkade and checked the Mercedes. I found a tracker that Chuck slapped on it yesterday afternoon when we were having coffee in the store.”

  “No!” Laura said, her face mirroring the shock on Tina’s face. They slowly sat down. “What made you think to look?”

  “Couldn’t sleep and mulled things over,” Jack replied, sitting down on the bed. “It’s my fault. I remembered thinking I hadn’t heard the bell above the door ring when Chuck left — but heard it twice before he returned. I was so intent on maintaining our cover story with Aaron and chatting about life in California that I didn’t listen to my subconscious trying to warn me.”

  “All three of us are operators,” Tina said. “We all missed it.”

  Laura nodded. “In a way, its good news. Helps confirm we’re onto the right guys.”

  “Yes, and it gets better. Chuck did connect to the guy he called yesterday while we were in the store. The call was monitored on the other end. Victoria had the guy’s phone tapped. A fellow by the name of Todd Doringer — who lives on a boat.”

  “Oh, man … Eureka!” Laura yelled, raising her hand.

  High-fives were exchanged, then Jack continued, “Vivian Mah called me this morning and —”

  “Wait a sec,” Tina said. “How’d Vivian know to connect it to you?”

  “Aaron mentioned my olive soup.”

  Tina looked at Laura for an explanation.

  Laura shrugged. “It’s world-famous. Everyone who has worked with Jack knows he’s the master martini maker.”

  “Listen, you two, I’ve only got a few minutes before Vivian calls back,” Jack said. “She’s going to play the calls for us. So far there’ve been two. One when Chuck called him while we were at the store, and a second when Aaron called him after dinner. Let me explain what I’ve been told so far and what my plan is.”

  Minutes later they were apprised of the situation, but before Jack could discuss what he wanted to do next, they received their conference call.

  After a few quick hellos Jack said, “I’ve updated Laura and Tina as to what you’ve told me. Before we listen to the calls, though, I’d like to talk to you about a few things in case Chuck or Aaron call me. Also, I’d like to get a sense of what you think of their conversations.”

  “What I think?” Vivian asked.

  “Not so much as what’s said, but what the person is thinking,” Jack replied. “Subtleties in the tone of voice. Nuances that might not be heard by us when you relay the call over our phones.”

  “Maybe you’ll want to be talking to one of the investigators,” Vivian suggested.

  “Viv, you’ve listened to more psychopaths, assorted nutcases, and run-of-the-mill bad guys than twenty seasoned cops put together. I’d prefer your opinion over anyone else’s.”

  “Wow … thanks, Jack. It’s good to be appreciated. So far, though, the calls are fairly straightforward.”

  “When Chuck told Doringer that he met an American wanting two king salmon, what did Doringer say?” Jack asked.

  “Doringer said he only had a couple of sockeye on hand.”

  “Likely ten- or fifty-pound lots,” Jack said. “Sounds like I asked for too much.”

  “Our info says that Doringer deals up to a couple hundred kilos at a time. I think you simply caught him shorthanded. By the way, how’d you meet Chuck and Aaron?”

  “They own a hydroponics store in Vancouver,” Jack said. “It was a cold approach. We walked in and I hit them up trying to score.” He glanced at Laura and Tina. “Well, maybe not exactly a cold approach. There were a couple of hot women involved.”

  Vivian tittered. “Yes, I’m familiar with the scenario. Okay. To start at the beginning, in the call that Doringer got from Chuck at one-thirty, Doringer was wary and told him to check you out good.”

  “He tried, too,” Jack said. “While we were at the store, Chuck slipped out and slapped a tracker on our car.”

  “No kidding?”

  “Like a fool, I didn’t clue in to it
until the middle of the night when everything was going through my mind. Fortunately we didn’t drive anywhere that’d have blown our cover story.”

  “Phew, that’s good.” Vivian paused. “A grow-op store … That’s interesting because up until now, we’ve had no idea where Doringer was getting his weed.”

  “I think Chuck and Aaron identify the grow-ops for him, then do rips to get the dope,” Jack said.

  “By using a tracker to follow the customers,” Vivian concluded.

  “You got it. So besides being wary, how receptive was Doringer when Chuck called?”

  “Not overly. He grilled Chuck on whether or not you could be a cop. He mentioned something about your timing.”

  “My timing?”

  “Hang on, I’ve got the log in front of me. Doringer said: ‘The timing on this stinks. This guy shows up right after we did what we did?’” Vivian swallowed. “Your informant?”

  “Murdered two weeks ago yesterday,” Jack said.

  Vivian sighed. “It fits. That could be what they were talking about.”

  No doubt in my mind, Jack thought bitterly.

  “That was basically it for that call,” Vivian said. “The next one to Doringer was at eleven-thirty last night from the guy you identified as Aaron. He went into detail about what a great dinner you bought them. That’s when he mentioned that you drink what you call olive soup and said that Chuck was really drunk.” Vivian paused. “You’ll be relieved to hear that Aaron also said how gorgeous his date was and, uh, he made some mention of what he’d like to do to you, Laura, sexually … from behind.”

  “Gee, that’s nice to know,” Laura said. “I was wondering how I was going to make up for ditching him last night.”

  “It’s a visual I’d rather not think of,” Vivian responded. “After that he went on to describe how Laura slipped up and said her brother flew a seaplane in Alaska. That really peaked Doringer’s interest. It also caused him to question again whether or not you could be a cop.”

  “Thought it would peak his interest,” Jack said.

  “Aaron went out of his way to assure him you weren’t a cop.”

  “Guys will say anything if they think it’ll help them get laid,” Tina commented.

  “Is Doringer going to meet me?” Jack asked, adrenalin fuelling his optimism.

  “I don’t think so. At least not yet.”

  Peaks and valleys … back to the valley.

  “Aaron tried to convince him that perhaps you’d settle for the sockeye, but he said he didn’t feel like making the trip over for that. Overall I’d say he was really curious about you, but in the end I couldn’t tell if it was in a good way or if he was simply suspicious.”

  “How was it left? Are Aaron and Chuck going to turn me down?”

  “Aaron doesn’t want to do that. He’s hoping to stall you and come up with some more fish, as he put it.”

  “Sounds like it would be through someone else,” Jack said. “Do you know how Doringer is running the weed down to the States? Is he using his boat?”

  “Yes, we think he gets close to the border, then anchors and scoots over to the San Juan Islands on his tender.”

  “With heighted border security these days, he’s taking a risk.”

  “Yeah, well, I told you what a nutcase he is,” Vivian said. “I don’t think looking at the consequences of his actions has ever been his strong point.”

  “Maybe I could use our seaplane conversation to entice him.”

  “Maybe,” Vivian allowed. “So what are you going to do?”

  “I’ve got an idea to meet Doringer,” Jack said determinedly. “Viv, Laura, Tina — hang up. I’m going to try something. Viv, you’ll probably know what’s happening before I do, so stay tuned. I’m calling the bad guys.”

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Jack called the store and Chuck answered.

  “Hey, Chuck, how’s the head today?” Jack asked.

  Chuck groaned. “Bloody awful. I feel sicker than a dog. When Aaron and I got home last night, we stayed up for another two hours. Bad idea.”

  Jack snorted a laugh.

  “It was good of you to spring for the restaurant,” Chuck said. “How’s Trina?”

  “That’s Tina, you moron!” Aaron yelled in the background.

  “She’s okay now,” Jack replied.

  “You gonna swing by the store?” Chuck asked, sounding hopeful.

  “Well, uh, I know you’re trying to introduce me to someone, but the thing is, the girls want me to take them to Vancouver Island today.”

  “They’re going over to the Island,” Chuck called to Aaron.

  “We’re going to try to catch a ferry that leaves at one,” Jack continued, “stay overnight, and come back tomorrow. There’s some sort of big flower garden they want to see.”

  “The Butchart Gardens,” Chuck said, enunciating the words slowly as if his brain was connecting them with an idea.

  “Yeah, that’s the name,” Jack replied.

  “It’s huge. People from all over the world go to see it.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not really into wasting my afternoon walking around and looking at flowers. My allergies would drive me crazy. I’m going to drop Laura and Tina off, find a bar to sit in, then pick them up again at five. We’ve booked rooms at the Empress Hotel in Victoria. We’ll see what that city has to offer, then come back tomorrow.”

  “Listen, JB, can I call you back in a couple of minutes? I need to, uh, deal with a customer.”

  “I’m about to have a shower. Guess I could call you back in twenty minutes.”

  “That’d be great. Don’t go without calling me.”

  “Yeah … okay,” Jack replied, sounding less than enthusiastic.

  Vivian phoned Jack less than five minutes later. “Well, you’ve caught Doringer’s attention.”

  “In a good way or a bad way?”

  “You’d probably think it was a good way,” Vivian said. “I wouldn’t if it was me. He told Chuck to give him your number and said he’d call you.”

  “Perfect,” Jack said, giving Laura and Tina a thumbs-up.

  “Chuck asked if he was going to call you right away. Doringer said no, that it’d be better to see where you go first. I presume they’re talking about the tracker.”

  “I’m sure you presume right,” Jack said happily. “I love it when a plan comes together.”

  “Jack.” Vivian sounded grave. “The call was really short and I’ll let you listen to it, but you said you respected my opinion when it came to subtleties in the tone of voice.”

  “I do,” Jack replied.

  “Then listen to me when I tell you that Doringer is really suspicious.”

  “I expected he would be,” Jack said, “but even if he doesn’t trust me enough to sell me any dope, all I want is to get on his boat and have a look at his tender. I should be able to do that without him freaking out.”

  “Yes, but … being suspicious is only part of it. I get the feeling he’s vengeful.”

  “Vengeful? I haven’t done anything to him — yet.”

  “It’s more of an attitude. Like a mindset that says nobody is going to put anything over on me — or if they do, they won’t live to talk about it.” She paused but Jack didn’t respond. “Maybe that’s me acting like a mother hen. From what was actually said, there’s nothing to justify how I feel.”

  “I trust your senses, Viv,” Jack said solemnly, “and will heed your advice. You said you had a boat to use as an OP right across from his?”

  “Yes. You could go from one boat to the other in about two leaps.”

  “Then don’t worry, I’ll make sure there’s a cover team hidden in the OP.”

  “Good. Tell them to stay awake.”

  Jack chuckled. “I’ll pass on your thoughts about Doringer, not
to mention his history with the navy and having ODD. I’ll be okay. Besides, I’ve got you on my side if he makes any calls concerning my credibility — or is someone else handling the lines tonight?”

  “There is, but I’ll stay, too. Wouldn’t want to miss out on any olive soup after.”

  Moments later Jack called Chuck again.

  “Good news,” Chuck said. “Since we spoke, I was finally able to reach that guy.”

  “And?”

  “Turns out he’s going to be on Vancouver Island today, too. I gave him your number and he said he’d call you at about three this afternoon. Maybe you’ll be able to get together.”

  “Hey, that’s great,” Jack said. “What’s his name?”

  “Uh, I just call him Bud.”

  “As in Buddy?”

  “Yeah. So you and Tina and Laura will be back tomorrow?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Maybe we could all get together again?”

  Jack winked at Laura and Tina. “Yes, the girls mentioned they’re looking forward to seeing you again.” In handcuffs — and no, you won’t like it. He grinned when Laura shook her head and Tina pretended to choke herself to death.

  Rose took a call from Jack and listened as he updated her on the Doringer investigation, including what Damien had told him about the cocaine arriving in France. When they hung up she called I-HIT and told Inspector Dyck about Aaron, Chuck, and Doringer.

  Inspector Dyck was pleased to hear what had been discovered and said he’d immediately relay the information to Connie.

  Rose’s next call was to Isaac. His tone was brisk and strictly business. As soon as she told him Taggart was involved in an undercover role with someone who may have murdered Dwayne Beggs, he ordered a meeting in his office to take place as soon as I-HIT could make the drive over.