Chapter 37

"A Few Bad Apples in the Barrel"

Tommy Dome had seen everything that he needed to see. The sight of a Team Rocket agent disguised as an employee of Pan Am's Frankfurt station made it apparent that not only did the station fail to heed his earlier recommendations, but also hired the wrong people. Now, he was in Ulrich Weber's office seeking answers.

"Ulrich, I know you were going to ensure that my recommendation in October would be carried out," he said with a disappointed look on his face. "But, what happened here? I mean, you said you would support me."

"I did, I did, Tommy," replied Ulrich. "But, it's not up to me to make the final decisions. Herr Meyer makes those final decisions."

"Yes, I am aware of that," Tommy sighed as he turned to see Oliver Koch come into the office. "Mr. Koch, care to join us?"

"Of course."

Oliver sat down and came into the conversation.

"I'm going to recommend to both of you to do extensive background checks on your current workforce," Tommy said. "From what I received at the FBI, someone within this station handled the bomb that brought down Pan Am 103. Now, if either of you know anything, is there anyone aside from that runaway employee that you feel is suspicious?"

The two young Germans looked at each other and wondered if it was a good idea to rat out some of their own.

"Well, there is Andrew Leary," said Oliver. "He's another of our baggage handlers, originally from Ireland."

"Then there is also Shayna Loring," added Ulrich. "She works the check in desk up in the terminal."

Tommy wrote down the names to ensure he wouldn't forget them.

"When were they hired?"

"At the end of September," answered Ulrich. "Which I found strange because they seemed to have known each other when they first started working."

"Did you do a background check and drug test on them?"

"Well, I think we did, didn't we, Uli?" asked Oliver.

"Of course, but they would have had to agree to a consent. HIPPA states that we can't force someone to do a drug test and background check without consent."

Tommy then noticed something in the cupboard behind Uli's desk where the confidential documents were kept.

"Um, Uli," Tommy asked, pointing to the cupboard. "There's something else that I would like to look into."

"What is it, Tommy?"

"The baggage records from December 21st. There's been rumors that an unaccompanied suitcase from an Iran Air flight was transferred to Pan Am here in Frankfurt."

"Well, okay. But just keep it between us, Tommy. Herr Meyer would shred my ass if I revealed this to anyone."

Reaching into the cupboard, Ulrich pulled out the stack of baggage records, placing them on his desk. It took a moment, but the baggage records for December 21st were soon recovered.

"I did ensure that we needed to start matching bags with passengers from other airlines per your recommendation in October, Tommy," Ulrich said as Tommy scanned the files, ultimately coming onto the baggage information for the Iran AIr flight from Tehran, arriving around the same time as the El Al flight from Tel Aviv carrying the Pokemon League Academy students.

"Yes, Ulrich," said Tommy. "However, there is no record of any passenger with the suitcase that came off the Iran Air flight. Which goes to show me one of two things: either someone in your ranks intentionally deleted the name of the bag's owner to ensure it got on board Pan Am 103 or your people weren't paying attention."

"Well, it was the Christmas rush, Mr. Dome," remarked Oliver. "Still, that is no excuse for this kind of error."

"As far as I am concerned, I now need a record of time ins and time outs for anyone working on December 21st between the hours of 1:00pm and 4:30pm."

"Of course," said Ulrich as he set about back into the cupboard trying to find the time sheets for December 21st. "Here is the list."

Tommy scanned the list and ultimately came across the names of Andrew Leary and Shayna Loring, both of whom were working the same hours listed.

"Ulrich, are you also aware that passengers coming from other airlines were to recheck in the terminal?" asked Tommy. "The measures were implemented after Air India. The passenger who had the suitcase from Tehran did not check in for Pan Am 103 here in Frankfurt."

Ulrich found himself to feel very embarrassed by this revelation that some of his staff contributed to the bombing of Flight 103. Reaching for his phone, he set about trying to find the employees in question.

"Bete," he answered in German. "Is Shayna Loring still at the desk? Thank you. Send her to my office at once."

Then he turned to Oliver.

"Oliver, if Andrew is still on duty, tell him to see me at once."

"Yes, Uli."

…

As the two men waited, both Ulrich and Tommy knew that this was to be Shayna and Andrew's last day on the job at Pan Am. Just then, the phone rang again.

"What is it, Bete?" Ulrich asked in German to which his eyes widened in shock. "What? When? Did she clock out early?"

"Ulrich, Ulrich, what is it?" Tommy asked as Ulrich slammed the phone down on the desk. "Where's Shayna?"

"She abandoned her post. She walked off the job, going to who knows where."

"Well, can't you find her?"

Just then, Oliver returned from the baggage handling areas as did I and Minnie May from detaining Peter Cronin.

"Andrew's not out there, Uli."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Ms. Vincent, you and Ms. Hopkins need to find Andrew Leary and Shayna Loring," Tommy said. "They might have contributed to Pan Am 103."

Naturally, I was fresh off of hunting down Peter Cronin, so the thrill of the case was still in me.

"On our way," I said, ensuring that my pistol was loaded before Minnie and I headed for the terminal where Pan Am operated from in Frankfurt.

If Peter Cronin was a Team Rocket masquerading as a Pan Am Frankfurt employee, then there were probably more bad apples spoiling the batch…

…

…