Chapter 25

"Flying to West Germany"

The revelation that there was a Team Rocket terror cell in West Germany brought to mind a situation that occurred a few months before Lockerbie. I do seem to recall that the International Police had been tracking Team Rocket agents in West Germany for some time. Of course, one area that was made clear to me was that the weapons that Victor Gitano used earlier today was not smuggled into his suitcase. Before getting on our Pan Am flight to Frankfurt, I wanted to interview the Immigration and Customs officials that processed Victor Gitano.

"He was acting like a weird man," said a US Immigration officer in the Customs hall of the Worldport. "Claiming to be going to Chicago or something like that. I took his passport and it looked like it was forged."

"Did you detain him?" I asked.

"Yeah, but then another officer came forward and just sent him on his way," answered the officer. "Before I could stop him, I had to go over to another lane for a secondary inspection."

Looking back at Rally, Minnie May and Looker, both Tim and I came to the conclusion that Team Rocket agents were disguised as US Customs and Immigration officers. Being that impersonating a US Federal official was a serious offense, whoever did it would be in serious doo doo.

"Listen, uh," I said firmly. "I need you to look into how many new officers you hired over the past couple of weeks. Some of the officers you hired may be really Team Rocket agents."

This made the officer look pale.

"You're kidding me?" he asked to which I nodded that I wasn't. "My God…my son's a Pokemon trainer in the area."

"Go through your employees and report to the authorities which ones are really Team Rocket agents. I don't care how you do it, but get it done!"

Frightened, the officer walked away at the fact that there were Team Rocket agents in his ranks.

"It makes total sense," I remarked as we walked away from the immigration hall. "Team Rocket sent agents to disguise themselves as officers so they can let goons like Victor Gitano into the United States."

"But could they be from West Germany?" wondered Rally. "From this Neuss cell?"

"We'll have to find out when we get there," added Looker. "Rest assured that the International Police will not rest until Team Rocket is terminated."

…

A little while later, we boarded our Pan Am clipper flight to Frankfurt and sat in first and clipper class. During the flight across the Atlantic, I noticed that Tim still had a look of concern on his face and who could blame him? Pikachu was in the hospital recovering from a knife wound to its throat and part of him wishes he was there with him.

"You're still thinking about him, aren't you?" I asked, catching Tim's attention off of looking out the window. "About Pik?"

"Yeah," Tim sighed. "I mean, I should be there with him, dad. It just makes this all the more personal to me…I want to solve this case and get back to him."

"Pikachu will be fine, Tim," I said, trying to get him to stay focused on the task at hand. "He would want you to carry on without him."

Naturally, this was a grown up moment for Tim. Pikachu wasn't with us physically, but he was there spiritually.

"It's just not fair dad," he continued, sighing heavily. "Why did Team Rocket have to wreck Christmas for us? For Lucy and Psyduck? For everyone?"

"You know damn well that Team Rocket doesn't care about anybody other than their goals, Tim," I remarked. "All they care about is killing innocent people with Pokemon in their efforts for world domination."

…

Just then, we heard the clearing of a voice and a man next to us in his mid 30s caught our attention.

"Excuse me?" he asked. "Are you talking about Team Rocket?"

Tim and I looked at each other confusingly for a moment before I addressed the man.

"Yeah and who are you?" I asked and the man took out his credentials, showing them to us.

"Tommy Dome, FAA Inspector," he said. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation about Team Rocket. Is this related to the Pan Am bombing in Lockerbie?"

"It is."

"Why am I not surprised?" he remarked. "I warned the Pan Am station in Frankfurt back in October that they needed to improve their safety measures."

"In what way, do you think?"

"That they needed to match passengers in Frankfurt that were transferring from other airlines," he said. "Naturally, they protested and as a gesture of my support, I didn't charge any fines to them. Maybe now I should have."

Tommy shrugged his shoulders and sighed deeply at the prospect of seemingly going back to Frankfurt and facing the Pan Am staff there. Of course, both Tim and I knew that there was a connection to Tommy going back to Frankfurt possibly to chew out for not following his recommendations.

"Listen, Tommy," I said, trying to help him in any way I could. "My name is Detective Harry Goodman of the Ryme City Police Department and I've been asked by the US Government to investigate the bombing of Pan Am 103. If you would like me or any of my team to help in your inspection, we are open to doing so."

Tommy then looked around and saw Rally and Minnie May sitting a couple rows in front of him. It seemed like he would take us up on our offer given that covering two areas of West Germany would be helpful not just to him, but to us as well.

"Hmm, those young ladies over there," he remarked. "I think I've seen them before. They investigated Air India 182, yes?"

"That's them," I said. "Irene 'Rally' Vincent and Minnie May Hopkins."

Tommy thought about the matter and came to the conclusion that he could use some backup.

"Have me introduce myself to them after we land," he declared and I obliged.

…

About six hours later after a good night's sleep, it was Christmas Eve 1988 when we landed at Frankfurt Airport and arrived at the Pan Am terminal. Once we had disembarked, I gestured Rally and Minnie May over to introduce them to Tommy.

"What's up Harry?" Rally asked, yawning slightly.

"This is Tommy Dome, an FAA Inspector," I answered as Rally and Minnie May shook their hands with him. "He's inspecting the Pan Am station and I thought you could accompany him during his inspection."

"Miss Vincent, Miss Hopkins," Tommy replied. "I followed your work in the Air India 182 bombing."

"Thanks for the kudos," Rally said. "As a matter of fact, this could be an opportunity to rat out any Team Rocket agents disguised as Pan Am staff here. Given that there could be staff here as there were in New York…"

"Looks that way to me," Tim said. "I think we should split up. You and Minnie May stay here in Frankfurt while the rest of us travel to Neuss."

"I agree," added Looker. "It's better if we kill two birds with one stone."

The decision was made and we each went our separate ways to carry out the investigation. But again, Tim only made this suggestion on account he wanted to get back to Pikachu as quickly as possible. Of course, he would learn in time, however, that you can't rush a criminal investigation as big as this.

…

…