The Genesis Illusion

Chapter 41

For over twenty years Officer Long led the CID division of the Singapore police department. Under his leadership the forensic investigation unit had become one of the worlds most respected. The professionalism of his team had resulted in many successful prosecutions of difficult cases. Inspector Nara relied heavily on the unit to uncover the evidence he needed to complete his investigations.

"I know you didn't approve of me bringing in Paul Jacobs to help us decipher the coded message we found in Ian Carlson's apartment," Inspector Nara said.

"That's not exactly true, Sir," Officer Long said. "It offended me when you gave him the code before my cryptography team. It was obvious, though, that he had a special talent you recognized."

"Thank you for your candor. Please forgive me for not following the proper protocol. I should have come to you first. That won't happen again."

"I appreciate that, Sir. My forensics group is experienced and talented. We are here to uncover clues that will lead to a successful prosecution. This Paul Jacobs, however, is a unique individual and his help is welcome."

"I'm glad you feel that way, because I have asked him to join us here today." Officer Long didn't look surprised. He had expected this when Inspector Nara asked him to attend the office meeting. "I want us all to work together."

Nara saw Paul walking toward his office so he got up from his chair and went to the door to welcome him. Paul and Officer Long took the only two chairs in front of Nara's desk. Paul tensed when he saw Officer Long. He knew he was angry about his involvement in breaking the coded message from Ian Carlson's apartment.

"The reason I ask you both here was to review our progress on the Convention Center kidnapping case," Nara spoke in a formal tone. "I'm hoping that together we can identify yet unexplored investigation avenues that might lead us to the perpetrators." Paul and Officer Long sat up in their chairs leaning slightly forward anticipating Inspector Nara's questions. "It's my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong Officer Long, that we have not yet found the getaway vehicle used in the kidnapping."

"No Sir, we are still looking. We have a very good description given to us by several eyewitnesses and a partial license plate number."

"When we find it I want you to launch a full scale investigation into the ownership and the financial records associated with the vehicle. One technique we use, Paul, in difficult cases, is to follow-the-money. This is an important technique but can be very complex. We don't always push forward with this method when we have other physical or eyewitness evidence. In this case, however, I will recommend that we track the money trail since other clues are lacking."

Paul was thinking about his personal investigation of the Bijou Ten message clue. He hadn't told Nara yet, but he thought he should. He prepared himself for a serious scolding from Nara for his stupid blunder.

"Inspector, I have a possible lead. I was thinking about the coded message Bijou Ten and I concluded, after calculating the probability, that the message might mean something other than the theater you identified. I thought it through and I deduced that the message might really mean Jewel Ten. And in the Chinese culture, Ten means Cross. So the message was really Jewel Cross. Both Officer Long and Inspector Nara were staring intensely at Paul, absorbed in his story. I found a room in the Chinatown Center listed as Jewel and, as you know, the Center is on Cross Street. Your officers were already investigating the more direct clue, by going to the Bijou Theater at ten o'clock. So, I stupidly thought I wouldn't bother you and look into this other possibility myself."

"Paul you keep doing these things. It's dangerous. You need to rely on us, were the professionals."

That's all. I thought VK would blow up. "I know, I couldn't help it. The surveillance officer didn't know I did this. The location is only a short walk from my hotel. Inside the room when I entered three men were having what looked like a business meeting. I hurriedly left and went back to my hotel. I couldn't see one man very well because he was facing the other direction. But from the back and the side he looked something like Lee Koh, Maria's uncle. I could be wrong. Anyway, when you were talking about following the money it occurred to me that someone had to pay the rent for that room. Maybe that would lead somewhere? It's a long shot, but..."

"Yeah, you're right, that's a real long shot. I don't appreciate you eluding your surveillance officer. It is his job to protect you and he can't do it if you don't let him."

"I know, I apologize."

"What you think Officer Long? The link here is pretty thin."

"Yes, I agree, but we found the decoded message in one of the kidnapped victim's home," Officer Long said. "This could be an important lead. I think it's worth looking into."

"All right then, see if you can find who rented the room Paul found and we'll see where that leads," Nara's voice didn't sound confident. "Paul, one other thing you might be able to help with and related to the money trail. Information we've gotten from the New York Police Department investigation of the murder of Frank Wilson indicates a very strong possibility of a drug gang connection. Organized crime could be involved here as well. If so, these people often use sophisticated money laundering methods to move their dirty money from drug activities into legitimate enterprises and bank accounts. They use these accounts to purchase goods and services from legitimate companies. Tracking the money back to its source, although difficult, could confirm the organized crime connection and, perhaps, even the reason behind the crime."

"That all sounds very complex. How can I help?"

"Uncovering the money movement can be very tedious and sometimes impossible. Where you might help is by using your statistical knowledge to help us more quickly sort out the illegal money from the legitimate money so we can track it back to its source."

"I'll need to think about that. My first thought is that I might use the technique I've developed to link intelligence to the inventors. It can reduce or eliminate the confounding factors that often concealed this connection in the past."

"I don't understand what you just said but if we find a local bank connection for the rent payment, we may need to use your technique to see if we can find a link to a criminal source." Officer Long wrinkled his lips and peered through his almost closed eyes, but nodded his agreement.

"I think my statistical method, modified slightly, could find relatively small deposits coming from unusual or illegal sources. I'm willing to give it a try, anyway."

"Good, we'll contact you if we find the account used for the room rent payment."