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Just corporate criminals, playin' with tanks.
Ya ya ya ya, ya ya ya.
— The Walls Came Down,
THE CALL
MOBILE COMMAND H.Q.,
NORCESTOR AND IMPERIAL
2:52 PM PDT
BURNS LOOKED UP FROM HIS NOTES and said, “Agent Pope, glad you could join us,” in pure Bureau sarcasm. Then looked to Deputy Chief Inspector Mills . . .
Or was it Chief Deputy Mills?
. . . and said, “If you could continue.”
Mills pressed a button on the remote. The picture was one of a horribly deformed and twisted body, the skin partially melted. “This is the man PD found dead last night and who we believe was tortured in the apartment. Mij Andropov, owner of the Kiss-N-Tails nightclub, found deceased at about two in the morning in an avocado grove in Beeler Canyon. The melting effect is due to muriatic acid, applied post-mortem the police believes was to erase the body’s identity. The job went uncompleted, though, when the UNSUBs were caught by the owner of the property and fled.” Another picture appeared on the screen, this time a big man with a fat cigar in his mouth and a boisterous grin. “Mij Andropov, pictured here pre-acid.”
Mills punched up a new image, this time of a big man getting into a Range Rover.
“You no doubt are familiar with this man, Agent Pope?”
“Mick Smithidopolous, a capo in the Hellenos crime family.”
“Indeed. And, we believe he is working with the Russian intelligence team, possibly in conjunction with the Russian mobster, Viktor Ledbedev.”
Al snorted under his breath, “That’ll be the day.”
Mills put his gaze on Al. “Excuse me?” Burns was also keenly watching, with an expression that could not be healthy for Al’s pension.
“What Agent Fitzgerald is saying,” Pope said, “is there is an amazing and well-documented enmity between the local Russian and Greek crime syndicates. The latest intel indicates a growing turf war between the two, with a rising body count. Smithidopolous being the nephew of the local syndicate boss—”
“Think he’s a cousin,” Al offered.
“— it’s pretty unlikely he’s working with the Russian syndicate or these operatives. “
Mills stared at Pope. “That’s your opinion. Unfortunately, it’s wrong— minutes ago, we discovered Smithidopolous’ fingerprints were found at the house in Golden Hill the Russians were using as a safehouse. Judging from the number, he’s been there quite a bit, probably the entire planning process for the kidnaping.”
Pope said, “With all due respect to the Deputy Chief Inspector—"
"Chief Deputy Inspector. Mr. Carr is Deputy Chief."
"Sir," Pope continued, "this was a car jacking. Not basic, because you had this guy Andropov stealing the car after running for his life, but that’s what it is.”
That didn’t seem to sit well with the Chief Deputy at all.
“Agent Pope, I’m sure, that to the untrained eye — ”
Who’s eye is calling who's untrained?
“— it could certainly look that way, but from a counter-intelligence, this is an elaborate effort to make the kidnaping look like a car jacking via a plan years in the making. We believe this man at the center of the entire operation.
On the screen appeared a dark-featured man in a white suit with a microphone in hand and a smile on his face appeared on the screen. He was pointing a ringed finger at a crowd.
Think Dean Martin. Without any of the cool.
Al said, “Bivo Papacostas? The Karaoke Crime King? That’s who you think is the center of this whole operation?” Al laughed. “Clearly, you’re not from around here. But, in the man’s defense, he does have a nice voice. Not that I necessarily liked it, mind you, I’m just saying on surveillance tape, he wasn’t too bad.”
Burns didn’t like any of this. “Gentlemen, need I remind you, the Bureau is working to support DNS. Antagonism is not supportive.”
“Sir,” Pope said, “fact of the matter is, it just doesn’t make sense. In fact, Andropov’s murder isn’t even Bivo’s M.O— his M.O.’s disappearing bodies.”
To which Al countered, “He left one in the open. Lester Gilfinkle, the crippled American Popstar guy? Two years ago, Lester Gilfinkle beat out Papacostas on the way to the American Popstar finals in Las Vegas, where Gilfinkle later came in fifth. Word is, at some point, Papacostas became possessed of the opinion he’d been cheated and that Gilfinkle could really walk and was only using the wheelchair as a sympathy prop.”
Burn got a quizzical look. “I think I remember that. The show said he was crippled in childhood.”
“Apparently,” Pope said, “Papacostas thought the photos were faked.”
Al said, “Gilfinkle’s death was made to look like an accident and the American Popstar people were only too happy to help the story along, apparently satisfied that the chair-lift simply short-circuited and repeatedly crushed Gilfinkle to death. Either way, as you can imagine, it sent a message to the local karaoke community.”
Burns looked incredulous. “Papacostas put a hit on a crippled karaoke singer?”
Al nodded. “S’what some people think, though no formal chargers were ever brought.”
Pope said, “PD and the DA’s office have an aching desire to put Papacostas, and Bivo knows this. He won’t just dump a body where it can be found, not even a burned up one. He’d bury it or sink it in the ocean without a trace. ”
“And that,” Chief Deputy Inspector Mills said, “is simply your opinion.” He paused, before adding, “I think I’d like you and Agent Fitzgerald to speak with Papacostas. See where he figures in all of this, what his role is with Christian Ducroix’s disappearance.” Adjusting his glasses, Mills said, “I have better than a hunch this Papacostas character maybe key to this entire operation. Yes, indeed. Why don’t the two of you run down to this place in—” consulting a document “— Coronado, that’s near here, yes? Go get him. In fact, you can leave immediately.”
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