Chapter 10: Traumatic Memories
Allison Bennett's Room
Dobuita General Hospital
The Next Morning
8:00 AM
Allison Bennett woke up in her hospital bed early that next morning with her sister, Lydia, still by her side. The strong sedative that the ambulance personnel had given her the night before had now completely wore off, leaving the young kidnapping survivor now completely lucid.
As such, she felt she was finally ready to give a more detailed, official account of what had happened to her on that dire night 2 weeks prior, so she asked Lydia to call Cathy Wilkens and John Kondo back to the hospital.
A knock was soon heard on the door, at which point Allison nodded to her sister. "Come in," Lydia said. The door opened and the two investigators entered the room.
Cathy gave the young woman a kind smile as she shut the door. "Hello Allison," she said, "We haven't officially met. My name is Cathy Wilkens, and I'm a military police officer with the U.S. Navy." She then gestured to Kondo. "This is my partner, John Kondo" she continued, "He's a Special Agent with the Naval Security and Investigative Command agency."
Allison nodded and pressed a button on a remote control right beside her. This elevated the head portion of her bed slightly so she could sit up. "You were the ones looking for me?" she asked.
The two partners traded looks for a beat, initially unsure on how to explain things. "Well," Kondo began explaining as he elected to go the fully honest route, "Petty Officer Wilkens and i were originally assigned to investigate the antique thefts that occurred in the Navy warehouse in which you worked."
"It was during our earliest investigative efforts that we heard of your disappearance," Cathy added, "And i know this might be very difficult, but we'd like to hear your version of the events that happened the night you were taken."
Allison hung her head and took a sip of water before explaining. "I had decided to go out for some drinks with friends that night," she began, "My friend Yuki suggested we go to Nana's Karaoke Bar. Drunkenly singing and embarrassing myself wasn't exactly at the top of my list of ideas for a good time, but I figured I might as well let loose since none of us got to go out very often."
Kondo nodded. "I hear you there," he said with a chuckle.
"I was pretty drunk by ten o' clock or so," Allison continued, "I mean to the point where I was even getting a little nauseous, so while the other girls were performing a sloppy drunk rendition of 'Take on Me' by A-Ha, I decided to go outside for some fresh air."
"What happened once you got outside the bar?" Cathy inquired.
"I basically just bent over and dry-heaved for a few minutes at first," Allison replied, "Then I felt an arm go around my neck and then this incredibly painful burning shock kind of feeling."
"Doctor Yamura seems to think you were subdued with a stun gun," Kondo said, "You have a pair of burns on the left side of your neck."
Allison swallowed as she took in that information. "That makes sense considering that I don't really remember much after feeling that pain," she said, "When I finally woke back up, I was in a completely dark space. It seemed to me like a very large space, and it had metal walls. I eventually realized that they had placed me inside a big freight container."
"Okay," Kondo said, "Well, was there anything distinctive about this supposed container? At all?"
Allison took about 45 seconds to consider those specific questions. "Coffee," she blurted out, "The whole inside of that big space smelt just like coffee grounds."
Yet another knock on the door was then heard, at which point Cathy turned to see Detective Inspector Murakawa standing out in the hallway through the small glass panel in the door. "Excuse me for a second, guys" she said to the others before getting up from her chair and meeting the detective outside.
"What's going on, Murakawa-san?" Cathy softly asked him as she pulled the door shut behind her.
"I just got a fax from our forensic laboratory," Murakawa began explaining, "They found traces of coffee grounds adhering to the soles of Miss Bennett's shoes. Microscopic analysis showed the presence of partially digested coffee cherries. There are only a few coffee companies throughout the world that use these special coffee cherries in their proprietary recipes." He then handed her a piece of paper. "They came up with a list for us," he continued.
Cathy took the paper and eyed it before nodding. "That lines up with what she just told us," she replied, "She said that the freight container she was held in smelled very strongly of coffee."
Murakawa nodded. "Wait a minute," he said as he remembered something, "Miss Bennett is the supply clerk for one of your Navy warehouses, right?"
"One of them," Cathy replied, "Yes."
"My thinking is that she potentially would have some very specific knowledge of what cargo comes in and where exactly it gets stored."
Cathy quickly caught on to what the detective was saying. "...And it's entirely possible that she might even remember where she was held. That's a really helpful idea, Murakawa-san, thank you."
"You're welcome," Murakawa replied as he gestured toward the door, "May I join you this time?"
"Of course," she said as she motioned to the door with her free hand.
The Japanese detective and the American petty officer reentered Allison's room together, at which point Kondo turned and gave a salutatory nod to Murakawa, a gesture which was then promptly reciprocated by the detective.
"Allison," Cathy said to her as she motioned to Murakawa, "This is Detective Inspector Murakawa with the Regional Police."
"Hello Miss Bennett," Murakawa kindheartedly greeted, "I'm so sorry for all that you've been through, but I'm so happy that you're here with us now."
"Thank you, sir" Allison said.
Murakawa handed her the printed list that he had just shown to Cathy. "I was just telling Petty Officer Wilkens that our lab technicians did some analyses on the shoes you had been wearing," he said, "They found some coffee grounds on them that I'm told are quite unique. This list contains the names of some specialty coffee companies that often deliver their inventory to the harbor for temporary storage."
Cathy nodded. "We were hoping that you were familiar with some of them," she added, "given your capacity as a shipping clerk."
Allison took the list and studied in for about a minute or so before nodding with recognition and pointing to a specific company name. "'Kanagawa Java Company'", she said, "I definitely recognize this one."
Cathy leaned in over Allison's shoulder and saw the entry for herself. "Where do you recognize that one from?" she asked.
"That's the only coffee delivery that i signed for prior to that night," Allison explained before a light bulb suddenly went off in her head. "Come to think of it," she continued, "I thought the delivery location seemed a little odd. They've been sending all the bulk coffee deliveries to Warehouse Fifteen in the New Warehouse District for the last month or so."
"And this 'Kanagawa Java' delivery was supposed to be brought to another location?" Kondo asked.
"Yes," Allison replied, "That specific shipment was designed to be sent to Warehouse Seventeen instead. That's the old destination for coffee deliveries. I didn't think anything of it at the time because that's where the overflow deliveries get sent in case Warehouse Fifteen gets too full. I did eventually come to realize a day or so later that it was rather strange."
"Did you report the discrepancy to anyone?" Murakawa queried.
"I did talk to Yada-san at the Alpha Trading Company," Allison said, "Most of the coffee shipments go through him and that company. He told me that specific shipment wasn't even on their company's books, so he and I went to inspect the shipment for ourselves. However, the shipment in question was gone from Warehouse Seventeen by the time we got there."
Detective Inspector Murakawa's mouth momentarily dropped as he realized something. He then composed himself and cleared his throat. "Thank you so much for your help and your insights, Allison" he said before discreetly speaking to Cathy and Kondo. "I need a word out in the hall, guys" he whispered.
The partners both nodded before thanking Allison and Lydia for their time and promising to come back later to check on them. They then left the room and huddled with Murakawa further down the hallway.
"Where's the fire, Detective?" Kondo asked, "Why the need to pull us out so abruptly?"
"When she said, 'Warehouse Seventeen'," Murakawa said, "It rang some bells for me. Have either of you two ever been down to that part of the New Warehouse District?"
"I have," Kondo replied, "It's usually very busy during the day, but it's dead quiet at night."
"But you've seen the graffiti on the roll-up door, right?" Murakawa asked.
Kondo nodded. "Oh yeah," he said with recognition, "That's supposed to be the Mad Angels' hangout spot, isn't it?"
"Precisely," Murakawa replied, "As I'm sure you both know by now, I used to work undercover investigating drug smuggling in the area. I worked on a case three months ago where I managed to trace a shipment of high-grade cocaine from Shanghai to Amnihama. My team and I managed to stop the delivery and arrest the Chinese dealers before the drugs made their way into the harbor."
"Okay," Cathy said, "Go on."
"One of the dealers told us that the shipment was meant for Warehouse Seventeen," Murakawa said.
Kondo nodded. "I get it," he replied, "Those drugs were meant for the Mad Angels. Okay, Murakawa-san. Let's get back to your office and run down criminal records and associates on all the members of the Mad Angels."
The trio of investigators then left the hospital and headed back toward the police station.