The Eustice Murders (Complete)

*Chapter 36 *

"Ok, I have an idea. But I have to ask how official we are playing this?" Sarah Brookes asked the group.

"Official? What do you mean?" the captain asked.

"Well, are we playing this purely by the book? Or are we may be open to bending the rules slightly?" Sarah followed. Sam, Captain Beesley, and agent Masters looked on inquisitively while Hank's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. He couldn't care less about the book right now, or for any rules for that matter, he just wanted his wife back and he didn't care how that was achieved. Hell, he would go and get her himself if he knew where she was. For the moment, though, he knew he had to bite his tongue; something that was proving very difficult to achieve, remaining silent was testing his willpower to its very limits.

"Well, I guess that will depend on which rules you're looking to bend and how far you are looking to bend them," the captain explained.

"Yes, although if there's a way for us to move forward with this then I want to hear it," Agent Masters added.

"Ok, so this is what I'm thinking," Detective Brookes explained, "as things stand, you're looking for a life sentence for Anthony Drummond right?" she asked.

"Absolutely. Nothing less," Agent Masters confirmed.

"Good. And Sam, Hank you have plenty of evidence that points towards Drummond yes?"

"Uh, yes. More than we have for Hitzfeld really," Sam answered, glancing over at Hank who was looking on still wondering where this was all going.

"Great," Brookes continued, turning back towards agent Masters again. "So, when the ship arrives you pick him up as planned and then grant us access to him. We don't actually have to charge him but if we can convince him that we are charging him with multiple counts of murder, then we can convince him that he is a guarantee for the death penalty. When he panics over that we can cut him a deal. If he gives us the lowdown and a signed testimony regarding the setup of the trafficking ring, we will drop the murder charges and hand him back to you guys, which would then drop his sentence to life imprisonment. That way you get your evidence, Sam and Hank get their man, and Drummond goes down for life anyway." Agent Masters pondered this briefly.

"I like you're thinking; I like it a lot actually," he told her. "It could work. But if anything goes wrong with the sting..." he started but got cut off.

"To be honest," Captain Beesley said, stepping in and cutting the protest short. "On a sting like that, you get one chance and one chance only. If anything goes wrong with it you're stuffed anyway, irrespective of whether we have Hitzfeld or not."

"Yeah, you're right," Masters admitted. "But if we do this, we need to keep it quiet. The house is definitely out of bounds, there is so much security there. The cameras will pick it up immediately if any of us go anywhere near the place and they will know that we are on to them. This is also why we won't find anything there. The traffickers will not want any unnecessary attention brought their way so there is no way they will allow anyone to bring anyone in or out of the building without authorization. We do, of course, have eyes on the place though so if Hitzfeld shows up we will know about it. We will get an extra body on the job also so if he leaves, we will have him followed to see where he goes."

"Excellent," captain Beesley added. "I will circulate Hitzfeld's picture across the whole area along with an APB alert. Let's get everyone looking for this fucker."

"Ok, so if we can't approach the house where is our starting point?" Sam asked.

"We do have an address for a small studio that we know Hitzfeld has been renting, I suggest we start there." Sam glared at agent Masters as he admitted that. That information was definitely not in the file he had passed on to Hank and himself. He couldn't help but wonder if that information had been held back, what other information could he have been hiding from them?

"Ok, sounds good to me," Captain Beesley chirped up hopefully. He saw the look Sam was giving Masters and he knew exactly what he was thinking. "Now, erm, Hank, I'm not sure how to say this but...," the captain trailed off wondering how he was going to say the next bit.

"Yeah, I know, stay here," Hank finished his comment off for him. The relief on the captain's face was clear for everyone to see.

"Thank you, detective," Beesley added with a smile. In all honesty, Hank wasn't sure whether to be pleased or upset by this, but he knew it was the right thing to do. He wanted to go along with them, of course, but at the same time, he wasn't even sure himself that he could trust his own reactions if they did find something.

"I think you three should carry on," Detective Brookes suggested. "I'll stay here and keep Hank company."

"Are you sure?" Sam asked.

"Yes, go on," Sarah told them. "I don't think we should be leaving Hank alone right now. And," she paused slightly before continuing, "and Tabitha Mitchell was my friend remember?"

"Of course, yes. Thank you, detective," Captain Beesley repeated his gratitude nodding and smiling at both of them.

"We'll be in touch," Sam added. "Keep you up to date on everything that's happening, ok?"

"Thank you, Sam. And good luck," Sarah Brookes told him. Sam turned towards Hank. They both made eye contact and nodded at each other without uttering a word, although they both seemed to understand perfectly their silent communication, almost as if some sort of telepathic conversation was going on between them.

"Ok, well in that case, if we're all ready,"Agent Masters stepped forward, looking around the room. "Captain Beesley, Detective Johnson; let'sgo get him."