NOIR

Chapter Five

Deception

By Steve Edward

Sunday, October 28th 1100 hours, Pan Pacific Hotel, Singapore

The old saying, wait five minutes if you don't like the weather and it will change did not hold true for the trip back into Singapore. There was no covered cabin on the Singapore Police Cigarette boat as it headed shoreward the night before. When the battered police boat returned to the Trade Center Landing, it was running only on one engine and its passengers were soaked thoroughly.

Randy coming back to the present, sitting at the head of the conference table addressed the Superintendent of the Singapore Police, Warren Savage "You can send the bill for the new engines to me if you like." Savage giving a brief smile replied, "That matter has been resolved by Mr. Nattier. He has advised he is buying us an even faster pursuit craft to replace it.The previous onedeveloped stress cracks from the pounding that Sergeant Akin gave it on your orders. It is sadly now unseaworthy."

The mayhem on the Trade Center Landing and at Underwater World did not pass unnoticed by the media. The Superintendent had been busy with interviews when Baldwin and Noir returned.

Alfred Stolzberg wearing a borrowed rain coat had been able to get Baldwin and Noir away from the media circus unnoticed in the Hummer. The sunlight streaming through the conference room windows had given Baldwin a clue earlier to where the missing round had gone after being fired at Alfred. With the sun falling on the curved conference table, Randy had briefly excused himself and had examined the Hummer earlier; the impact had been a glancing hit on the upper rear section of the roof. The dimple was rather evident; the dimple from the round fired at Candice was below on the quarter panel.

Ned Smith and Sherman Wong had already departed back to the United States. In a case labeled as Diplomatic Cargo, the four terabyte hard drives would be examined closely. The photographic details revealed would assist authorities in the coming days to shut down several other piracy operations in the area.

Randy stood as the Nattier's who had been reunited with their daughter entered the conference room followed by the other former hostages. Naomi Sesser looking at Randy smiling as she tried to hug each of her own at once.

Warren Savage brought things to order and asked everyone to find a seat then turned to Randy, "The floor is yours Mr. Baldwin."

Randy stood then walking to the door which he closed, he addressed those gathered, "I am sorry that I was not at the hospital to see everyone reunited, but I decided that this venue would be more appropriate and would afford us much more privacy. As you have heard the so called pirate or hijacker is in fact dead. Gnu Gorman a.k.a. Gorman Blackwell's remains were recovered by the Singapore Coastguard earlier this morning."

Baldwin continued past the Nattier's and their daughter Candice and returned to the head of the conference table, "The monies as demanded for the ransom are in the temporary custody of the Singapore Police, so there has been no loss there. The single survivor of the fishing vessel is still being interviewed by authorities, but he has confirmed that Gorman was the leader of their pirate group."

Mireille Bouquet and Kirika Yumura following the movements of Randy stood as he nodded; both came to a stop behind Naomi Sesser as Randy making another turn around the table stopped in front of her, "Mrs. Sesser, from the start of this assignment which I took after discussions with Mr. Nattier, you were opposed to our activities. I had pondered your behavior. I took it at first to be concern that since you had already agreed to the ransom in principle, you feared that you could ill afford to pay more for your loved ones."

Naomi Sesser tried to push back her chair, but felt its movement blocked. The Asian woman spoke, "It is ill advised for the moment," as Randy turned back and headed past the conference table to where a laptop sat. Pressing a key, the screen at the front suddenly came alive "Willie had already stated that he would make up the difference if needed. But you still was opposing us; and that Mrs. Sesser intrigued not only myself but my wife, Gina who I might add runs things while I am in the field. Call it woman's intuition on her part."

Naomi Sesser replied, "Mr. Baldwin, I can stress I was worried. I feared for their safeties; I did not want to loose them!" Randy smiled, "That I can understand, I was in a similar situation once as well, as the two women behind you can attest to that and I am still grateful to both for saving the one that eventually became my step-daughter. I do by the way have very low opinions of kidnappers in general."

Walden Sesser spoke, "Where is this leading to Mr. Baldwin?" as the former hostages had had so far remained silent the Master of the New Zealand tanker interrupted "Naomi just what the hell is going on here?"

Randy addressed the issue by tapping a key on the laptop and the screen changed, "Funny you should ask that. When Gnu sent me the initial e-mail, it was received while I was in flight on the way to Darwin. It was a warning. I take them with a grain of salt. Every e-mail received is initially sent to the Foundation E-mail system in the United States. Since I have two offices, the Paris office also received the message. Every e-mail received is carefully screened and its origination and tracking headers are scrutinized closely. A separate file is then generated on the tracking information and is attached to each e-mail in case the reader has a question about the validity of the e-mail."

"Then your e-mail asking us not to interfere arrived, but it was misaddressed so it bounced to the server which of course had to be examined. My wife Gina will sometimes handle that chore and in the case of that message she did. My wife became puzzled as to why we had your web server address already on the tracking system. Using the archived message function, she of course realized that initial message addressed to me had come from the same server, and she started making phone calls."

The screen displaying the message headers from the initial e-mail identified the transfer point, "Mrs. Sesser, why did Gnu Gorman have access to your web server?" as Naomi read the screen herself, her eyes fell to the table, "I can not say why."

Walden Sesser turned to his wife, "Dear God, Naomi?" Randy tapped another key and a new screen appeared, "This will help. Gnu Gorman, is or I should say was the older brother of Naomi. A DNA test should clarify that, but in essence Naomi's mother had left Nigeria and returned to Australia where she eventually married again. To a widower. Her two sisters are not true sisters at all; they are step-sisters, to who the master and mate are married to. James Sesser the Sea Cadet, is of course a true blood relative of the late Mr. Sesser, by way of another daughter deceased, who died during childbirth."

Naomi Sesser put her head on the table, "How? No one else knew." Randy Baldwin tapped another key and replied, "Twenty years is a long time, memories sometimes fade, records become displaced or so you hope. Your late step-father had a passionate relationship a spur of the moment. Your mother knew she was already pregnant, yet she accepted his advances. She played the trump card, and being gentlemen that he likely wished he was, he married your mother. The birth certificate on file in New Zealand made that point clear."

Superintendent Savage spoke, "The age differences of the sisters?" Randy replied, "Yes by one year. Mr. Sesser's first wife died as well during child birth, giving birth to three baby girls. Annette if I recall correctly, is the one that was the mother to James. Is that correct young man?"

James Sesser nodded, "Yes sir. Annette was my mother."

Randy turned to the Superintendent, "Mr. Savage the floor is yours sir." Warren Savage stood, then nodding to his aide who opened the door. Two Singapore Police Women entered the room and taking the places of Mireille Bouquet and Kirika Yumura waited, as Warren Savage addressed Naomi Sesser, "Mrs. Naomi Sesser, you are hereby being placed under arrest and facing charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and financial fraud. Additional charges will likely be lodged at a later time. Officers take her into custody."

Walden Sesser tempted to stop the officers, but felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Willie Nattier, "Mr. Sesser, you can help her more from outside the jail than from within. I do happen to know an attorney who specializes in criminal law. I will provide his contact number for you."

The Sesser's hurriedly filed out, leaving the Nattier's behind. The sudden chill lifted from the room, Willie Nattier with some sadness in his voice spoke, "Mr. Baldwin? Why did they attack my yacht?"

Randy closing the laptop, returned to his seat "Target of opportunity. The raid on the tanker was planned. The raid on your yacht was spur of the moment as was the raid on the Philippine freighter. Gorman used those raids to throw things into confusion. The raid on the Japanese sea-going tug was part of the ruse as well. Gorman wanted a little bit more icing on the cake for his reward."

Candice Nattier spoke, "Mr. Baldwin? The two children? Are they safe?" Randy nodded and pointing to Noir nodded, "Yes, thanks to those two. They were reunited with their father in Japan." Randy remembered something and reached for his briefcase under the table, "I have something for you. It is from Yoko, the young girl who was your hut mate."

Removing the box from within, Randy passed it down the table to Candice who lifted the protective cover, within a delicate paper swan and a rose from tissue adorning the swan. The card with it lay at the bottom which Candice opened then after reading placed all back within. Randy noted the tears in Candice's eyes, "She requested it be present when you arrived at the exchange point. Something about it being a shield. I was supposed to hand it over to you then, but in the confusion well I forgot it was still in my Hummer till this morning. It was still on the dashboard."

Alfred Stolzberg stared at the paper creation, "How odd. Gorman was aiming straight at me when he fired, as Candice Nattier was to my rear, yet he missed cleanly."

Randy about to speak was interrupted by Kelly Summers, "The Japanese girl made some for all of us. I had this in my pocket with me at Underwater World." Kelly Summers withdrew from her pant suite pocket, a paper swan. Mireille Bouquet and Kirika Yumura silently removed their versions as well with Mireille replying, "She insisted Randy, that we carry them with us."

Randy looking at the assortment of swans replied, "Well, I guess she was too busy to make one for me…"

Superintendent Savage eyed the collection as well, "Interesting choices, and intricate." The knock on the conference room door interrupted the discussion. Kelly Summers opening the door was greeted by the manager of the Pan Pacific Hotel who addressed Randy, "Mr. Baldwin, my apologies but this was delivered last evening from the Japanese Embassy and addressed specifically for you. I regret the delay of delivery."

Accepting the box, Randy lifted the cover off and peered at the contents, "Well it is not a swan, but around it there are swans." Lifting the delicate creation, Randy set it upon the table. Superintendent Savage seemed to nod at the sight, "A dragon, Mr. Baldwin surrounded by swans and the larger one is an interesting choice of color. Alfred looking closely replied, "The same color as the Hercules and the Gulfstream paint scheme."

Kelly Summers smiling, "It seems, Yoko did remember you, but how did she know about the plane?" Kirika spoke, "I learned from her that her grandfather is a practicing Shinto Priest. I never told her about the Hercules or anything else." Randy replied, "And I never got to meet either Yoko or her brother Yuri. I was still in Darwin when you and Mireille made the pickup."

Removing the rolled rice paper from within Randy read the content in silence then carefully tied the ribbon back around the roll and placed all back with the box. None present at that moment would ever find out Yoko Yoshiro had written. Randy looked up at the gathering, "Ok. We are done here. Let's get ready to head home."

Tuesday, October 30th 1830 hours, Baldwin Farm, Hall County, Georgia

Randy Baldwin switched the ignition off on the Hummer inside the garage and sat back in the seat a moment. The layover in France had given the flight crew of BFII a chance to rest, and for Randy to return certain equipment to the Foundation Office armory in Paris.

Returning to the Atlanta with the flight crew, Randy had returned home. The soft knock on the side of the Hummer was from Corey, who had Ashley and the twins Irena and Nina standing with him.

Exiting the Hummer, he gathered them into his arms and hugged them all at once "It's good to see all of you again," as his wife Gina entered the garage she joined in and kissed her husband. Gina stepped back seeing the look, "Let's get inside. Angelina has dinner ready."

Aftermath. . .

Naomi Sesser never stood trial. She was deported to New Zealand where she underwent a psychiatric examination. Determined unfit to stand trial for crimes in New Zealand she was eventually placed in a mental institution for treatment. Her husband Walden took over operations of Sesser Shipping, till James Sesser the grandson of Naomi's step-father took over six years later, in the mid-2010's. Under James guidance, Sesser Shipping would eventually become one of the largest non-Asian owned shipping firms in the world.

A joint task force was established to stamp out piracy on shipping in Southeast Asia. Consisting of Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Malaysia with support of Japan, this task force would conduct interdiction operations on piracy bases with great success.

The aid packages originally negotiated by the Baldwin Foundation during the hostage negotiations were scrapped after it was determined that the late Gorman Blackwell had never intended for the aid to reach those most in need. Financial and physical aid was eventually provided along with educational assistance.

The ongoing situation in Asia resulted in the establishment of a Baldwin Foundation Office in Tokyo, Japan in June of the following year, taking pressure off the European and US branches to concentrate on other regions. A young Japanese girl named Yoko Yoshiro would become a summer intern at the Baldwin Foundation Branch Office in Tokyo.

Noir returning to France, would take up other assignments. Both Mireille Bouquet and Kirika Yumura would treasure the paper swans that each received, from the young girl. They still reside in a curio cabinet along side a framed photograph of the Baldwin Family within their apartment in Paris, France.