But what makes you think that the girls are turning up dead? Maybe they do quit their jobs and find others. Models do that, you know. It’s nothing new for them to change companies or even go back to Vegas, for that matter.

  “Maybe no one is bumping them off. I’m just having a hard time with all five never returning after the second cruise. Doesn’t that sound like a hell-of-a way to fire them. All five at one time and then those being the ones he selected for special assignment.”

  “It is strange and unusual, but you don’t have any proof or even a speck of evidence to go on.”

  “You’re right, I don’t, and it could be that the girls do get other jobs or quit, or get fired, but according to Braxton, it’s happened several times in the past three or four months. And another thing ..... only when they come back from the Paris trip.”

  “Alright, Harry. I’ll see what I can find out. Hey ..... I think you have a fish on your line,” he said.

  “I wish to hell it was Heinman. I’d like to reel that son-of-a-bitch in,” I said jokingly.

  DESTINY TAKES A HAND

  The models, Heinman and Mead all returned from Washington as scheduled. Remembering what the old man on the pier had told me about the girls being in a sort of trance or not acting normally, was on my mind. Seeing them first hand would corroborate his story.

  Late the next afternoon, I drove to the resort just as the sun was making its last glimmer over the ocean. A half hour later, two limousines drove through the main gate and down the road, stopping at the far end of the last cottage. I could make out the silhouettes of the drivers, five girls and one other man who remained in the front seat of one car. Getting closer to the edge of the building and concealing myself in a clump of bushes, I waited for them to get out of the cars. I saw the girls disappear into the cottage and then the last passenger ..... Heinman.

  Some of the cottages were occupied by paying guests of Mead, who were roaming all around the roads and pathways throughout the cottages. I slowly made my way to a window and glanced through the corner of it. Just then, another car came to a halt in front of the same cottage. I recognized them as the doctor and nurse that, were on the plane with Mead. They entered the cottage as I raised myself up again to the window. I could see the girls all sitting in chairs and on the couch as the nurse and doctor were preparing some sort of injections, by filling hypodermic needles. After administering the shots, they were assisted to their bedroom. The doctor and nurse conversed with Heinman for a short time and left. It was difficult to determine if anything was wrong from what I had just seen, since the injections could very well have been given in preparation for their overseas trip. I knew that certain countries required inoculations when traveling ...... but France was not one of them.

  The alarm clock woke me at 8 o’clock the following morning as I struggled with my senses to get out of bed. Finally getting up and dressed, I drove to the office still drinking a cup of instant coffee I had made. Braxton was waiting for me as I walked through the door. We exchanged “good mornings’’ and other small talk and had another cup of coffee.

  “I guess you know that everyone is back from the trip?” he said.

  “Yeah ...... I heard they were. Did everything go as planned with the show?” I asked.

  “It was really good. Everyone did an excellent job and your work came out perfect. It’s really good for us that you came along when you did.”

  “Well, thank you!”

  “After the girls get back from their cruise, we’ll be going to Paris and you’re going to join us. The bosses usually don’t like to take new photographers, but you proved yourself.”

  I could hardly keep from expressing my approval that they were taking me along, but I controlled the overwhelming thoughts and just acted a little surprised.

  “I’m looking forward to the trip,” I said.

  “It should be the height of the business for the entire year.”

  “I’m sure, I won’t have any trouble finding something to do,” I said.

  “I’m certain you won’t. There’s a lot of things here to get ready for the trip, but you won’t be involved too much with that.”

  “Are we going to fly over in Mead’s jet?” I asked.

  “No!” We’ll be taking the airlines. I like the smaller one as long as there’s ground under it, but for that distance over water, I’ll take the big ones.”

  “Me too,” I added.

  “I’ll get in touch with you in a couple of days. We should have some local things to take care of.”

  I was at the pier, next to where Mead parked his yachts on the day the girls were scheduled to go aboard. As it happened, the same old man was sitting in his usual spot and we exchanged greetings, then began conversing about fishing and boating. He turned his head in the direction of the yachts.

  “It’s just about time for those good looking broads to go on their cruise,” he said. “I’ve been waiting all damn morning.”

  “How did you know it would be today?” I asked.

  “It was one week ago since they returned and that’s the way its been for a few months now. They’ll get back in about three weeks and then another group will go out again ...... maybe a month or so after that.”

  There was something about him that made me feel I could trust what he said as fact.

  “Look!” he said, as he motioned with his head toward the yachts. “They’re right on time.”

  “Well I’ll be damned! You’re right.”

  “You have some interest in them?” he asked inquisitively.

  “No. I just like watching the rich play ...... just like you.”

  They were all there ...... all five girls, Heinman, the doctor and the nurse, as the crew did their thing. The yacht backed out slowly, turned toward the open water and headed North. From what I could see, as they boarded, they did look a little dismayed like the old man had said. None of them had shown any excitement or emotional expression in their faces. Almost like they didn’t really want to go or didn’t care one way or the other. Watching them until they were out of sight, I turned to the old man and told him I’d see him later.

  When they returned, I was on location with Braxton and I wouldn’t get to see them till we were on our way to Paris. Braxton received a call on his car phone and then told me that we would be leaving for France the following night. We finished the day’s work and went back to Los Angeles.

  I didn’t have to be at the airport until 6 o’clock, giving me plenty of time to set up a meeting with Jerry. Calling his private number here in L.A., I received no answer, but I left a message. I was thinking to myself, “where the hell can he be, I need to get in touch with him now”. Fifteen minutes later, my phone rang and it was him. He told me to stay where I was and he’d call back to let me know where to meet him. We met at a bar a few blocks away from my apartment.

  Bringing him up to date on the latest developments, we discussed the best ways to deal with the trip. It would take several agents to keep an eye on the models while they were over there and to follow them when they weren’t working. I gave him the photos of the models to use, and the airline schedule along with other dates and times for the trip. I was going to stay close to everyone for the entire time.

  Jerry’s men, whom I had met several times before, were on the job when we landed. They went into action and the plan started to unfold. To what degree remained to be seen, but it was a start and all of us hoped for the best. Nothing unusual happened the first two days. On the third day, things took place quickly; the five models were separated from the rest of us. Agents followed them to the airport where they boarded a plane for Switzerland with one of our men on the same plane.

  Finishing the show, we returned to Los Angeles and Jerry was waiting for me at my apartment.

  “How’d it go?” I asked.

  “We learned quite a bit from following them to Switzerland.”

  “Then the plan was worth the effort?”

  “Definitely,” he said.

  “That makes me feel better. At least things are starting to move in the right direction for us,” I said.

  “I found out for sure that Heinman is in this thing up to his ears, and seems to be one of the key figures working directly with the Russian agents.”

  “That’s the best break we’ve had yet,” I said enthusiastically.

  “After learning where they were heading, I took an earlier flight and was waiting for them when they arrived. Meeting them at the airport were three men who checked out to be from Moscow. They drove to a large house about a mile from Zurich and stayed there for a few days. I had to do some second story work to get a view of what was going on. From outside the window upstairs, I could see microfilm being projected on a small screen and with my binoculars could read parts of the bolder type. It was a part of our files and after the viewing and approval of the Russians, the transaction was made. Heinman turned over the microfilm to them and they opened up an attache case filled with U.S. currency. The Russians left with the film and Heinman went into another room across the hall. Making my way around a narrow ledge and peering through the slotted shutters of the window, I could see the doctor and nurse, busily attending to the girls as Heinman stood to one side. Heinman asked the doctor something about when the girls would be ready for travel. I watched long enough to see the nurse give each model an injection. I was certain they were being drugged because I could hear Heinman telling the nurse to give them enough of the stuff to reach Los Angeles. The next afternoon all of them were on the returning flight.”

  “There’s still a big question. How are they using the models? And what about Mead? It would seem that he would make the transaction instead of Heinman,” I said. “I’ll just have to catch him in the act of handling the merchandise ...... somehow.”

  “That might be easier said than done. He’s keeping in the shadows. We do know that there’s got to be some contact between Mead, the Russians and the girls. That’s why we didn’t pick up Heinman yet,” he said. “We want Mead.”

  “They will probably leave on that damn cruise in a couple of days. And, you know that they won’t be coming back. At least that’s what we think.”

  “I’m going to have the Coast Guard keep an eye on that yacht and see where they go and what they do. Maybe we can connect by doing this thing another way,” he said. “With the newer electronics today, they can be tracked without being seen or heard from.”

  “O.K. I’ll keep in touch.”

  The next day, I checked in with Bill Maxwell to see if he came up with anything on missing persons, but nothing yet. The only thing to do was wait. Three weeks went by and the yacht had returned without the girls. Braxton told me he had received some phone calls and a couple of notes from them saying they would not be coming back to work. They gave various reasons for their decisions, just like the others before.

  I was back where I started from until Bill called and asked me to meet him at the morgue. At 7:15 in the morning, I could think of a lot of other places I’d rather be, but he said it was urgent and needed me there. As I walked through the door, he met me and asked that I look at a young girl that had just been brought in. He lifted the green sheet that covered her body and exposed her face. It wasn’t a very pretty sight. Her face and parts of her body were disfigured from decomposition and it turned my stomach, but there was enough left to make a positive identification. Bill told me she was found along the shore by the Coast Guard and they brought her here.

  “The Coast Guard.” I said inquisitively. “I’ve got to make a phone call.”

  I got in touch with Jerry and asked him if he had made arrangements with the Coast Guard to track Meads boats. He said he had and that they would start the next time one of his yachts was going out. I told him what had happened and that I’d let him know when the time was right for a surveillance.

  Getting back to where Bill was, I said, “I got in touch with my boss and it looks like we’re a little late for this one. It’s a damn shame that this girls life ended in such a horrible way.”

  “In all the time I’ve known you, I never saw you look so depressed over a body before. When we were partners ...... it was just another day and we shrugged our shoulders and went on to the next job. Remember?”

  “Yeah ...... I remember!” I said.

  “By any chance, did you know her?”

  “Yes ...... I did,” I said profoundly. “Barbara ...... something.”

  “Let’s get out of here, and go someplace where we can talk.”

  We walked along a jogging path, not saying anything for awhile.

  Then I filled him in on the details of what I had about the models being used somehow.

  “The girl in the morgue ...... is she one of the models?” he asked.

  “One of five I was telling you about.”

  “From what I could tell, she was a real good looking woman.”

  “She was that. One of the more attractive ones of the whole group.”

  “The autopsy report won’t be ready until tomorrow. Do you have any ideas what happened to her?” he asked.

  “I really don’t at this point. She supposedly called Braxton and said she had found another job up the coast. Could be she was swimming and got caught out a little too far. The rip-tides around this coast are pretty rough at times and could have carried her out to sea, and then just went with the tides, back to shore. Or she could have died on Mead’s boat and pushed over the side.”

  “The last part is a little wild thinking, isn’t it? Didn’t you just say she had called Braxton a few days ago?”

  “That bothers me. It could have been someone else that made the call for her. Braxton didn’t know each one of their voices and in fact, didn’t really have a working relationship with them. Just once in awhile.”

  “Why would Heinman want to kill them, anyway? They’re just working girls.”

  “Maybe they got wise to what was going on ...... even for just a few minutes between those injections. And the other girls before these, could have experienced the same thing. Then ...... he had to get rid of them,” I said.

  “I hope the coroner turns up something. I asked for the most complete autopsy he has ever done in his life.”

  “If Mead and Heinman had her and maybe some others killed, we would need some hard evidence,” I said. “Tomorrow should give us something.”

  “You know as well as I do that finding a killer is one thing. There’s a lot of criminals, guilty as hell. Getting a Conviction is another matter.”

  “We’ll just have to dig harder. I’m going to get this son-of-a-bitch one way or another,” I said.

  It was 10 o’clock the next morning when I received a call from Bill, saying the report was ready. I was out the door in a few minutes and didn’t waste any time in traffic. He had arrived just before me and was standing at his car as I drove up.

  “Let’s go in and get started,” he said.

  “I was ready last night. I could hardly sleep, thinking about that girl.”

  “Me too,” he said.

  “Let’s see what the Doc has to say,”

  We each read a copy of the report sitting at different ends of the room. We’d get our own interpretation of the report and compare our thoughts. The report was very lengthy and contained many medical terms neither of us could understand. Making notes of the report as we read, we finished at about the same time.

  “What do you make of it?” I asked.

  “Well ...... there’s one thing for sure ...... drugs killed her!”

  She was dead before she even hit the water by at least an hour. The cause of death is listed as “a lethal dosage of “Thiothixene”, causing instantaneous death. Her body had been in the water for approximately 18 hours, had started decomposing and the report shows the time of death set at an hour before that. No distinguishing marks on her body. Oh! One thing more ...... she was injected with another drug prior to the lethal dose. That one effects the memory cells and causes an amnesia effect for some length of time, depending on the dose administered. Do you see anything different than that?” he asked.

  “No, that’s about it. But I do want to talk to the Doctor about the amnesia drug. That would explain a lot of things.”

  He was seated at his desk when we walked into his office and motioned for us to take a seat. I asked that he explain the drug to us in detail and what effects a persons resistance to interjected thoughts by someone. He also explained that the person receiving the drug would not remember anything he or she had done. He thought for a moment ...... then explained further about the interjected thoughts. The person would accept instructions given to them without questioning their validity, or purpose for the time they were under the drug. It can have serious side effects including loss of memory or lapses for long periods of time and even death. We thanked him for the report and left.

  4

  DESTINY TAKES A HAND

  Barbara had no known relatives and as far as we knew, no really close friends except for the other models. Those friendships were newly made, since most were hired in the last four or five months. I asked that she be buried as an unknown for now and to keep her identity out of circulation from the news media. Heinman or Mead didn’t need to know we had found her body. We wanted them to continue exactly as they were and without knowing we had asked the Coast Guard for assistance. After completing the last transaction in Switzerland, he was probably getting to feel comfortable that no one was suspect of his dealings. Mead on the other hand was still keeping quiet and in the background. However, I could see him patting Heinman on the back for the fine job he was doing and even giving him extra money for his deeds.

  Jerry, Bill and myself went down to police headquarter and talked to the Police Commissioner. The coroner had already filed a report and the Commissioner had it on his desk getting ready to give it to his Detective Division. It usually hits the news media when the Police Department gets involved and we explained that we didn’t want it to happen. He told us he was obligated to investigate, since it happened in his jurisdiction and that he would go ahead with his portion. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jerry so red in the face, as at that moment. He stood up from his chair and leaned on the Commissioner’s desk, ...... and in a more reserved voice than I thought I was going to hear, he told him in no uncertain terms to lay-off until he heard from him. Jerry went on to tell him that if any of this information got out to the public ...... he would not only be looking for another job ...... but probably investigated for National Security Violations, and end up in a five by seven foot room in Kansas.