The Eustice Murders (Complete)

*Chapter 31*

Monday morning had brought with it a real air of optimism. The guys were both secretly looking forward to meeting with FBI agent Masters and the possibility of obtaining some answers or even clues with regards to the mystery driver of the A.T.D van. On top of that, it had also come after an enjoyable and successful weekend.

Friday night out with the station staff had helped forge new friendships while also cementing the ones they had made recently after such a stressful and difficult arrival in the area. Hank, on this occasion, had awakened on Saturday with a clear head and although Beverly's next visit wasn't due for a few weeks yet, he had then spent most of the weekend traveling around the area checking out some of the places he thought she might want to visit. He had also managed to reserve a table at the restaurant they had both enjoyed so greatly on her last visit, so for him, all was well.

Sam was also feeling rather pleased with himself after seemingly getting one over on his partner. After Friday night's entertainment, he had managed to sneak detective Brookes back into his apartment after arranging separate taxi cabs for each of them with hers arriving some thirty minutes after the one he and Hank had returned home in. After spending the night together, they had also enjoyed each other's company for the day on Saturday and all without anyone knowing or suspecting a thing.

Hank was just pouring his first coffee for the morning when the knock on the door came. "Oh, fresh pot? May I?" Agent Masters asked after Sam had invited him in.

"Sure. You might need to pop over to the supply room to grab yourself a cup but yeah help yourself," Hank told him.

Agent Masters returned with a clean cup and poured himself a drink before getting started. "Oh, yes, now that's good," he said with a satisfied smile after taking a quick sip. "You can't beat decent fresh coffee, can you? Especially on a Monday morning." Hank smiled from ear to ear at this. "Now then, onto business. I believe there is something I can help you guys with?" Agent Masters asked, leaning back onto the table where the coffee pot sat, completely ignoring the spare chair the guys had brought in for him.

"Yes, let's hope so," Sam responded, grabbing the photo of the mystery driver. "Essentially, this is about this man. We witnessed him driving an A.T.D cleaners van but as far as we can tell, A.T.D has no registered partners or employees. We wondered if you might have come across him?" Sam handed him the picture and agent Masters nodded.

"Ah, yes just as I suspected after the chat I had with captain Beesley on Friday," he responded. "I've brought a copy of the file we have on him which you can keep but we'll run through it now so if there are any further questions, I can hopefully help you out before I go."

"Sounds good to me," Hank answered. Sam nodded his agreement and agent Masters began.

"Ok, we haven't dug too deep into his personal life because we're not sure how relevant that is to our case but here's what we know. His name is Armand Hitzfeld. He is currently residing in the property owned by the trafficking syndicate where their victims are being held. We believe he is responsible for training the hostages up and getting them ready for working in the hotel or anywhere else they may be sending them."

"Training them?" Sam repeated as he and Hank looked at each other wide-eyed.

"We believe so, yes," Agent Masters confirmed. His expression suggested he knew exactly what Sam and Hank both were thinking. "It is our understanding that he and Anthony Drummond have been working closely with each other for quite some time now, maybe even years. Most likely unofficially. Probably on a gentleman's agreement, cash-in-hand kind of basis. Highly illegal of course but given everything that was going on around them it was not considered a priority. We, of course, kept all of this on file which is what I'm giving you a copy of today. The plan was that once we had busted the smuggling ring itself, the file would then be handed over to the relevant authorities for further action."

"Wow," Hank added. "So..... there's a possibility that this Armand Hitzfeld could be covering some of Drummond's jobs for him?"

Agent Masters nodded before answering that. "More than a possibility, yes. In fact, we think that is exactly what is happening. Not only for A.T.D, but quite likely also for Apex as well. Drummond has been using Hitzfeld to cover his own work, freeing Drummond up to enable him to involve himself in the smuggling operation. We quite possibly believe that this also gives him an alibi for certain times. How can he be down at the docks moving people around when he was cleaning out a warehouse right?" Sam and Hank both nodded, a look of astonishment on both of their faces. Suddenly all the questions and all the confusion began to make sense. Everything had pointed to Anthony Drummond but if someone had essentially pretended to be him, then that would theoretically put him in two places at once.

"Wow," Sam said, shaking his head.

"Now then," agent Masters continued, after giving them a moment to ponder this new information. "As I earlier stated, we haven't really delved into his personal or private life, so if you feel the need to do that then please continue to do so. Unfortunately, though, due to his residence and his close links to the trafficking ring we will have to insist that you maintain a distance from Mr. Hitzfeld himself, is that clear?"

"Crystal," Sam responded.

"Yep," Hank added. "Exactly the reason why we asked to speak with you today. Yes, we hoped you could answer the question regarding his identity, but we also needed to make sure we weren't crossing any lines investigating him."

"Excellent," Agent Masters confirmed. "Well, unless there's anything else, I shall bid you farewell."

"All good," Sam told him.

"Glad to hear it and thankyou for the coffee." He smiled atHank before leaving the office.