Chapter 20
"Acquittal Equals Target"
While we were downstairs visiting with Richard, Rally and Minnie May were in their own room going through the evidence that we had collected today when the phone rang from Ryme City.
"Hello?" Rally asked. "Becky, what's going on?"
"Well, we had a pretty interesting conversation with Howard Clifford," their colleague said on the other line. "Clearly shows no remorse for his actions."
"Did he confess about the gas that was injected into the Pokemon to brainwash them?"
"You know he did," Minnie May remarked, reading a comic book. "He did the same thing in Canada."
"Of course, he did, Rally," Becky replied. "All he wanted in return was a partnership with a terrorist organization that just happened to use Pokemon as a weapon. I gotta tell you, he kind of creeped me out in a way."
Even though Howard was wheelchair bound, there was no question that his nature would make anyone feel uncomfortable.
"We also obtained evidence that he was the one who called the US Embassy in Helsinki regarding that threat against Pan Am flights out of Frankfurt. Most likely Team Rocket was paying him to do it."
"So he incriminated himself," remarked Rally.
"Most likely. We had him on a tape recorder as the FBI had been keeping an eye on him, even from behind bars."
…
Sighing, Rally laid down on the bed absorbing this important information.
"There's something else you should know as well," continued Becky. "Some of the agents in Lockerbie are scouring recovered debris from the Pan Am and are considering a possibility that Team Rocket wasn't just targeting the students from the Pokemon League Academy."
Rally then snapped her fingers at Minnie May, urging her to take down notes.
"What evidence did they find?"
"There was a document in one of the suitcases recovered from the fields near the cockpit. Inside the document was a warrant that had not yet been assigned."
"What was the warrant?"
"To raid Team Rocket cells in the United States and Europe and arrest all affiliates with them. What happened in Lockerbie was the last straw. Reagan and Bush both want Team Rocket exterminated along with all the other Pokemon crime syndicates."
"Who did the suitcase belong to?"
But the answer was not what we would expect, at least from my point of view.
"It belonged to Stacey Keane, a lawyer based in Los Angeles who specializes in Pokemon related criminal cases."
"Wasn't she the one who was prosecuting those Team Rocket agents that hijacked Pan Am 73 in Karachi two years ago?" Rally asked, checking to see if Minnie May was getting down the information of which she was. "I recall the name."
"It was Stacey Keane and there was another lawyer, Jessica Koster, who I guess worked with Stacey on the case. She was also a Pokemon related criminal case lawyer based in San Francisco. She also had evidence against the head of Team Rocket, Dr. Maria Sakami, also known as Madame Boss."
For the first time, there was evidence against the head of Team Rocket herself.
"What kind of evidence?"
"Testimony from some of the captured Team Rocket agents that were in jails outside of Frankfurt. They say that Madame Boss may have also been personally involved in orchestrating the Air India 182 bombing a few years ago off the coast of Ireland."
"Essentially, Team Rocket may have targeted more than just those students," Rally said. "In fact, I'm wondering if we may join forces with the German police and raid any cells outside of Frankfurt. If anything, members of that cell might have gone undercover as Pan Am employees at Frankfurt Airport. Who are the FBI agents in charge over in Lockerbie?"
"Melvin Purvis and Charles Winstead. They got on the next available flight from Washington last night and have been working since."
Just then, I knocked on the door and Minnie May answered, telling us that Rally was on the phone. She then saw us walk in.
"Detective Goodman and his son just came in," said Rally. "I'll call you back. Thanks for the information."
Hanging up the phone, Rally turned her attention back towards me and Tim.
"Is everything all right?" I asked, somewhat sheepishly. "We were just turning in for the night."
"That was our informant, Becky the Nose," Rally replied. "She has information regarding two of the passengers on Pan Am 103. One was carrying a warrant and the other had evidence against Dr. Maria Sakami or better known as Madame Boss."
"Who were the passengers?"
"Stacey Keane of Los Angeles and Jessica Koster of San Francisco."
Both Tim and I couldn't believe it…Richard's fiancee was targeted for assassination at 31,000 feet and we had just reunited after several years.
Now, this case was starting to get personal.
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