Fatal Encounter, Chapter 16
by Irv Pliskin
Carl took the cab to motel drive and had the cabbie stop at the Marriott’s Fairfield Inn. He got a room, ignoring his usual dictum: he would rent motel rooms only in those places where the door opened directly to the parking lot. He never wanted to be trapped in an upstairs corridor or on the second floor of a place with people coming at him - or for him.
In this instance, it didn't matter much. He was secure that he was all right for at least 24-hours. No one could know he was out of the hole and out in the world. He paid cash for two nights, and deposited an extra twenty dollars for phone calls, and extraneous expenses. He stopped at the hotel gift shop to buy himself a bar of Dial soap, shampoo, a toothbrush and a small tube of Crest, which he liked. He needed to sleep. But what he needed more, he felt, was a long, hot shower.
He had to wash the stink off, become human again.
He luxuriated in the shower for half an hour. He washed first with soap, then shampooed his hair and his beard and used the shampoo to wash his body.
He finally felt somewhat clean, dried himself and stark naked walked to one of the twin beds and slid under the covers. He was asleep in minutes, and he slept until early evening, awakening hungry and randy.
He decided to get something to eat somewhere other than the hotel.
He rented a car from the Hertz counter in the Hotel, using a driver’s license and credit card for William Pickerel. It was one of the several false identities he had established for himself. Bills for Pickerel, like all of his various credit card bills, were sent to special payees, they were paid almost immediately when rendered.
Carl never wanted to be dunned by the credit card people, so he had worked out the payment arrangements with legal firms around the country a long time ago. The way it worked was unique. He had deposited large escrow accounts, in most cases six figures with the lawyers, from which they would pay debts and take retainers. They could even benefit from the interest in the accounts. In this way, he could use the identities he had established with ease. The lawyers were happy to be of service.
He rented a silver Taurus from Hertz. He arranged to drop the car off at the Philadelphia airport, planning to pay for it with cash when he did that.
Leaving the motel, he drove down the highway until he came to a shopping center with a variety of stores and a Lone Star Steak house. He went in, sat down, and ordered a highball and their largest steak and salad. He savored it all, had a beer with his meal and made sure he was not going to get drunk and lose his control.
He drove to one of the several men’s stores in the mall, walked in and bought underwear, socks, sport shirts, a couple of pair of slacks and a pair of jeans.
He did not want to buy too much in one place, so he went to one of the department stores, Kohl's, and bought a sport jacket and a windbreaker. He stopped at the notions counter and bought a pair of fingernail scissors. He also bought a piece of luggage to carry it all.
He did not get back to his room until slightly after 8 PM, and he hung up all the clothes, took off the labels and the tags using the small scissors he had bought.
The luggage, he felt lent legitimacy to his travels. Once out of the work clothes he looked like all the other people using the hotel. He undressed, and took another shower. Sitting nude on the bed, he began to think about getting a woman.
He wondered how he would feel when he ejaculated. Would it hurt?
He didn’t know. It wasn’t hurting very much when he peed, it was likely that it might not hurt at all. But he wasn’t sure. He didn’t want to do it himself: he needed a woman.
He considered his options.
He could get dressed and go down to the hotel bar and see if he could pick up someone, an amateur bar hanger-on looking for a good time or a pro. Finding someone and getting her to come to his room for his pleasure could be a hassle. Picking up someone at the bar, which was not such a good idea he realized. She might remember who he was, or claimed to be and she would certainly know his room number. No, that wasn’t it.
Well, he thought, how about a pro? Could he find a working girl that would do the job for him?
He thought about it and reached for the phone book.
The yellow pages provide listings that could be interpreted as the sort of place he was looking for. The listing included massage therapy places, spas and escort services. There were several pages of them. He perused the phone book ads, and finally decided to call one or another and find out if he could get what he wanted.
An ad for Dream Gals under the Escorts category caught his eye. They published an 800-phone number, so he called that first.
A young lady answered, in a very sexy voice. She responded to his questions in such a way that he felt sure he could get taken care of there. He asked if an appointment was necessary, and she suggested that he consider one. He got directions to the place from the airport, and made an appointment for ‘the works’ in an hour.
It took him a while to find the shopping center that housed the place he was looking for. It was a storefront in a small strip center. The front windows were covered with shutters, and although there was no sign, there was a large, lighted address in red lights over the door.
The door was locked. There was a computer-generated sign that said ‘ring bell’. He did, and a young woman came to the door, which was on a very sturdy looking chain. She poked her head around. She herself was not visible.
“Yes?”
“I made an appointment with you folks for 9:30,” he said. “I called a while ago. My name is Martin. When the lady I spoke to asked my name, that’s what I told her. “
“Just a moment.” the young woman said. “I need to check.” The door closed firmly. He stood and waited.
She came back a few minutes later, and the door opened again on the chain. “Martin, what did you tell the person you spoke to you wanted?”
“The works.” he said. “ I told her I wanted the works.”
“Oh yes, I understand.“ The door closed again, and he heard the sound of the chain being unlocked. The door opened and he walked into the front part of the store.
As soon as he was inside, the door was closed behind him, and he heard the sound of the chain being put in place. The room was decorated as a dimly lit living room with several lamps with red lights and red shades on end tables next to carefully placed love seats.
There were three quite good-looking young women in the room including the woman who had come to the door. They were all erotically dressed in diaphanous bras and panties under see-through robes.
“Hello, Martin,” the girl who had opened the door said. “I’m Marie.”
“Hi,” said a blond sitting on one of the love seats, “I’m Regina.”
The third girl smiled sweetly. “I’m Alicia. Would you like to have something to drink?”
“Soda?” he asked.
“How about something stronger?”
“No, no thanks. Just Soda.”
Alicia got up to get his drink.
“Martin,” Regina said. “Is it all right if we call you Marty?’
“Yeah, sure, that will be okay.” Carl said.
“Why don’t you come and sit next to me,” Regina said. “Get comfortable. She’ll be back in a minute.”
He sat down. Regina moved a little closer to him.
She smiled at him.
“Where are you from, Marty?”
“I’m from Dallas, and just passing through.”
“Business trip?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you do?” Maria asked.
“Me? Well, I sell. Heavy equipment. You know big machines like locomotives and big earthmovers. That kind of thing.”
“That sounds interesting.” She leaned forward and whispered in his ear.
“Do you like real blonds Marty? I’m a real blond. If you have heavy equipment, we might really have some fun.”
Alicia came in with a tall glass of sparkling water, with a wedge of lemon on the edge of the glass.
“Is this okay?”
“Oh yes,” he said. “Just fine.”
He looked at Regina. “Yes I do,” he said. “Like blonds, I mean. Can you prove it to me?”
She smiled and nodded, yes.
“You asked for everything,” Marie said. “That will be two hundred dollars. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, sure.” He reached into his pocket and took out a wad of bills.
He peeled off two one hundred dollar bills and looked at her.
“Here,” he said. “Will that cover more than one satisfaction? What if I want more than one?”
“Another hundred dollars will cover whatever you want,” she said, “for up to three hours. How about that? Will that work for you?”
“Sure,” he said, “So if I want it more than once, that will cover it, right?”
He peeled off another hundred and turned to Regina.
“How about it honey, are we up to a private party? Willing to prove what you whispered to me?”
“Sure,” she said, “I’m game and I’m ready if you are.”
She took him by the hand, and led him out of the front room to the back.
There was a room set up like a bedroom with a bathroom attached.
“Marty, honey,” she cooed, standing on her toes, and kissing him on the mouth, “why don’t you get comfortable and take a shower? I’ll even join you if you want me to.”
“That will be fine,” he said, leaning down to kiss her again. This time he felt her tongue touch his lips, and he opened his mouth to take it all in. It was a passionate kiss. Carl had often heard that you don’t kiss a whore, but he considered that just so much folklore. If you were to get the most from a whore, or any other woman, the idea was to treat her like a princess...that way she was most responsive. After all, didn’t he bring them tasty hot chocolate before he sent them on their final trip?
He was standing in the shower, when the curtain was pulled back and Regina came under the water. She was wearing a very pert shower cap, and nothing else.
“You do my back,” she said, “and I’ll do yours.”
He checked her out: she was cute, well built, and she was a real blonde. He knelt to kiss her blonde hair, and tasted her. She tasted very ready.
When they finished showering, she dried him off. He dried her, and then as soon as she realized he was ready, she deftly slipped a condom on him.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “I don’t like it with a condom.”
“Sorry Marty, Honey. Those are the rules of the establishment. With all the problems there are out there, the boss insists on it. Oh don’t pout. If you feel cheated, you can get dressed now and leave, and we’ll give you your money back. All of it. No charge for the look, either. But anyplace you go around here will insist on protection. It’s the only way we do it.”
He thought for a moment and then said, “Okay. If those are the rules, I will have to follow them, won’t I?”
“That’s a good boy,” she said, and led him to the bed, pulled him down and began to kiss him vigorously.
In the three hours he managed to perform three times, and he was pleased to find that his it did not hurt. Interesting that he would have problems with urination, but not with ejaculations. He was impressed with that.
After a couple of hours of romping, he asked Regina if either of the other girls would like to join them, so they could have a threesome.
She agreed, and he took another two hundred dollars out of his wallet for that.
“Let me see who is available,” she said.She picked up the phone and dialed.
She told whomever answered what she needed and looked at him.
“Maria’s out there. She and I do very well together.”
“That’s fine,” he said. After a minute, Maria came in, closed the door and looked at Carl standing there naked.
“Oh my,” she said, “That looks so inviting. Didn’t you say something about heavy equipment? I see what you mean. Marty, will you help me get into the same uniform you two are wearing?”
The three of them engaged in an afternoon of sexual frolic that left Carl finally satisfied. Carl was feeling pretty good about it all, and when he left to go back to the hotel he even tipped each of the girls an additional hundred dollars.
“What the hell,” he reasoned, he had lots of money and he had access to any number of credit cards and through them ATM funds.
Back at the hotel, he locked his room securely, slipped a chair under the doorknob, since he felt he couldn’t be too careful, and climbed into bed. He had things to do in the morning. He needed to find a urologist who would give him a shot and some antibiotics, and he needed to have a physical, too. He wanted to find out if he was, despite the clap, okay. He was feeling fatigued most of the time, and that bothered him.
It took the techs several hours to go through the bunker. Following Hallen’s suggestions, they started at the ladder and began an inch-by-inch appraisal, a very complete and careful evaluation of every surface area. They checked the floors and the walls, and found traces of hair and blood on the floor in the entrance of the bunker, by the ladder. Signs indicated that the man had been lying on his stomach and pushed himself up according to the smudged hand prints on he floor.
There were more indications that Carl may have had problems of some sort. The bed sheets, which seemed to have been on the cot for the entire time the man had been down there, were grimy and soiled. In depth investigation indicated signs of bleeding and even some residue of pus from an infection.
The investigation team assembled all of the information and brought it up to the house where Hallen, Godowsky and BB were going over records, trying to assimilate the information that the FBI cryptography group was beginning to send to them.
Hallen had taken over one of the phone lines that came into the cabin and installed a fax machine so he could get hard information in a hurry. The Army people had not yet cracked the code, but they were beginning to, and they were starting to send information through the fax to Hallen. They indicated that it would not be very long before they started to get some hard information that might give them a clue as to what was on the unexposed photo pages Hallen and BB had salvaged from the safe.
Hallen was impressed with Godowsky, and he liked the way he handled himself. He felt he could use more help with his investigation, and so he had called Captain Garcia and asked if he could have the officer on detached service for a while.
“He’s a petty smart guy, boss,” he explained, “and I think he will be a big help to this investigation. Can I have him?”
Garcia had agreed and arranged a TDY transfer for the policeman. Godowsky was surprised, overwhelmed and very, very grateful. Hallen knew he had a man who would be completely loyal to him, and dedicated to him, too.
As soon as the forensic team gave them the go ahead, Hallen, Goldowsky and BB climbed down the ladder into the spider hole to do their own investigation of the area. Godowsky, on his hands and knees, looking under the bed, saw what he decided was an oil stain, and called it to Hallen’s attention. The stain was alongside the two other weapons that had been been found in the place. The forensic team had noted the two weapons, but Hallen knew that there were three weapons missing from the inventory he had taken earlier in the gun cabinet.
“Jerry,” Godowsky said, “I think there was a pistol here. Look, there’s a faint sheen of oil, as if the weapon had leaked a little. The three men carefully moved the cot, and examined the area under very bright lights. They agreed, that a pistol seemed to be missing.
“He must have taken that with him,” Hallen said. “Figures. It isn’t likely that he would go out without some kind of weapon, is it?”
“But why didn’t he take more firepower than that?” BB asked.
“Well,” Godowsky suggested, “he seems to have been hurt. We know he was lying down here on the floor, and there was blood on the sheets. Maybe he just couldn’t carry any more weight than the pistol. It would not have been easy to carry the guns, I don’t believe.”
The investigating team had remarked on some strange marks under a section of one of the walls, and Godowsky decided to examine the area very carefully. The marks might tell him something, he thought. Using a high power, lighted magnifying glass, he got down on his hands and knees and looked at the markings. He could see something like tire tread marks and then it hit him. These were bicycle tire marks, two tires, one leaning on another. “Detective,” he called. “Detective look at this.”
Hallen and BB came over. “Whatcha got?” Hallen asked.
“Look, these are tire marks, bike tire marks. Two of them, one leaning on the other. I think this guy had a folding bike down here, and may have used it to get out of the area. That might explain the ropes lying at the foot of ladder. If he pulled the bike up with a rope, and left the rope behind that would make sense. Let me go look around up top and see what I can find. Would that be okay?”
“Sure go ahead,” Jerry said. “We’ll continue our search down here.”
Godowsky climbed the ladder and very, very carefully began to examine the area around the hole in the ground. He figured that the most likely way Rogers would have gone with a bike was toward the road.
Accordingly, he started his search moving in that direction. In a muddy section of the ground, under a big tree he found a set of tire marks. They were very light, but detectable. It looked as if the man had been pushing a bike rather than riding it. He decided to look further and followed the direction. At the edge of the road, he found a spot where the tire marks became much more defined, and he decided that that was where the man had mounted the bike and begun to ride it. By the marks on the shrubs and the undergrowth, he decided that he must have gone south, toward the Turnpike and Allentown.
He went back up to the hole and called down to Hallen. “Boss,” he shouted, “I think I may have found something interesting. If you can come up, I would really like your opinion.”
Hallen and BB came up out of the hole and followed Godowsky to the road where he explained that he thought the man had ridden the bike alongside the road toward Allentown.
“Interesting idea,” Hallen said. “Tell you what. We’ll get a cruiser and go down the road and see what we can see. Down the road a piece, we'll come to the service area for the pike. Let’s start there and see if we can find anything interesting. We can work up the road, by foot if we have to, from there. But I would guess he knew this area pretty well and might have gone there on the bike, looking for a ride out of this area.”
They pulled the cruiser to the verge alongside the chain link fence that surrounded the service area and walked along the fence and found the place where the fence was cut so people could get into the service area. From there, they fanned out to check the area. Searching through the woods alongside the road, BB came upon the bike under a spreading bush. He called them all over, and they looked at it, without touching.
“Call the fingerprint guys,” Hallen said, “let’s check this thing out before we touch it. If he rode it here, there will be prints on it somewhere. I don’t think he wore gloves, so let’s get it checked out. BB, why don’t you wait here for them, and Frank and I will go check out the service area and see if anybody might have seen him or knows anything. You’ll find us in the coffee shop area because that would be where he would have gone, I think.”
“When the fingerprint guys come,” BB said, “I’ll come over. I'll have them take the bike with them. Once they check it out, they can call us if they get a hit. Will that be okay?”
“Sure thing.”
Frank and Jerry walked into the service area, took a table and ordered a cup of coffee and a doughnut. Hallen called the waitress over and asked her if she had seen anything strange that morning, a man who looked strange or anything like that.
She wasn’t aware of anyone she said, and besides, “Mister, I see a couple of hundred guys each morning just for breakfast. “This here place,” she added as she snapped her chewing gum, “is one hell of a busy spot.”
“Thanks,” Hallen said. “It doesn’t hurt to ask.”
He looked at Godowsky. “Okay, Frank, since we can pretty well conclude that he came here, what do you think he did here?”
“Well, Jerry, it seems to me that if he got here he would be pretty damn raunchy. He didn’t change his sheets, and we didn’t find any dirty clothes in the bunker, so he must have worn what he had on all the time he was there, and until he got here. Dontcha think? You wear the same clothes that long, you gotta be pretty ripe, I’d bet. So, if I were him, I would get my ass into the toilet area, and take one of those handicapped booths with a sink that has soap and water and clean myself up and then change my clothes, that’s what I would do.”
‘I think you’re right. Let’s check out the john first and see if can determine anything.”
They walked into the toilet area, and there were two large handicapped booths, both locking from the inside. They went into the first of them, and looked around. Nothing unusual. Godowsky walked into the other booth, and came out in a few seconds. He looked at the trashcan set alongside the sink, picked it up and stared at it.
“What’s up Frank? What’s that all about?” Hallen asked,
“I don’t know, Jerry, but the can in the other booth has a white plastic liner in it, and the trash is in that. This one the liner is gone, and the trash is in the can. Could that mean anything, do you think?”
“Maybe. Maybe you’ve got something. If I had a bunch of dirty clothes, what would I do with them? I might put them in the big trashcan outside, but someone, like the attendant may see them and ask questions. But, if I could put them in a trash bag, and then get rid of them...hmm. Pretty good thinking Godowsky, pretty good thinking. If I had them in a trash bag, I think I’d put them in one of the dumpsters out back, don’t you? Let’s find out when the dumpsters were last emptied and go from there. I would hate like hell to go on a wild goose chase through the dump, but maybe they haven’t come here yet, and we can get lucky.”
They checked with the store manager. The dumpsters were not to be emptied for another day, and they had not been attended to for several days. “They’re pretty full,” the store and restaurant manager said. “But with costs being what they are, we can only have them emptied twice a week. They’re scheduled for the day after tomorrow.”
Hallen and Godowsky went to the dumpsters opened the tops and began to look at the mass of large black garbage bags, full of the refuse of the service area and the kitchens.
Seasoned cops, they knew what was ahead for them, hours of going through the material in hopes of getting lucky.
But, they were lucky.
Godosky grabbed a large bag and pulled it out, and under it he saw a small white bag, knotted at the top and tucked into a corner of the big bin. He pulled it out carefully, and called to Hallen. “Hey Jerry, maybe we got lucky. This looks like clothes to me.”
They opened the bag and the odor was very strong indeed. They spread the clothes out on the tarmac and decided it must be what they had been looking for. They were a man’s clothing, pretty ripe and quite obviously worn a long time. The lab would tell them if they belonged to Rogers.
