A Man of Integrity

By Jim Schneider

A morning phone call from an acquaintance in Blaine County, Idaho, sets Emil Pulaski and Northwest Investigations off on a harrowing chase. Jim Stuart, the branch manager of Integrity Investments in Ketchum, Idaho, asks for help in running down one of their brokers who embezzled a large sum of money from an important client. It was not the kind of case Northwest usually took on, but they had been referred by the Pulaski family’s financial advisor, a woman they trusted, so he asked for enough background information to consider accepting the case. What he learned from Stuart gave him pause. The case was already twenty days old and had been given to an inept private investigator in Spokane, Washington, by his regional office. The investigator had called Stuart the day before, frightened and announcing he was no longer going to work for them. The firm had also decided not to involve law enforcement in order to avoid bad publicity. The one thing he was told by Stuart, something Stuart had no understanding of, was the embezzler’s military background, particularly his combat experience in Viet Nam, and it caused Emil’s alarm bells to ring. Ultimately, they accept the case and Emil’s foreboding proves to be right.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781716342448

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Chapter One

Thursday, August 18, 2005, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 1:45 PM

Emil and Annie unloaded four days’ worth of backpacking gear from the Land Cruiser, as Leela plied them with questions about their trip. Six days earlier, Barbara D’Amato had flown up from Phoenix where she now lived, to fulfill a long-promised trip into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness to show them the crash site that had led to a serious confrontation in 1999 with the neo-Nazi group in Hayden, Idaho, and the murder of Barbara’s fiancé. Leela had come close to becoming a fatality during that affair, as well.

Leela, a self-avowed city girl, had declined, but Emil and the ever-exuberant Annie, their adopted daughter, had accepted Barbara’s offer without hesitation. It was Barbara’s first trip back to the site since she’d led an Air Force recovery team in late during the 1999 season.

Annie said, My God, you should have come, Mom. That place is incredibly beautiful! We only got into one corner of it, but Barb said the whole place is like that. I can’t wait to go on another trip. She’s done it a zillion times and I want to be like that.

Leela responded, I didn’t want to spoil your father’s fantasy. He’s wanted to go backpacking with Barb ever since we’ve known her. I felt safe with you as his chaperone.

Annie laughed out loud, and even Emil had to smile. He said, You probably told her to sleep in Barb’s tent, didn’t you?

Annie said, You’re not serious, are you?

Leela chuckled and replied, No, darling, it’s sort of a private joke from 1999. I have total trust in your father. He could have gone without a chaperone if he’d wanted. He just knows better than to try it. Seriously, though, I’m a city girl and I don’t feel comfortable out in the wilds. That doesn’t mean you can’t do more backpacking with your dad. He knows his way around out in the woods.

Turning to Emil, she asked, Will Barb be here for dinner this evening?

Emil nodded, Annie will pick her up at the hotel at 5:30. She’d like to get back fairly early because she has a 10:00 AM meeting with the events planning staff, and then a 1:30 flight to San Francisco.

D’Amato was working as an event planner for the big hotel on the lake when they first got to know her. Since then, she’d become the events regional manager for the parent hotel chain with responsibilities for most of the western states. Much of her time was spent on the road.

OK, I’d better get dinner laid out. After you two have cleaned up, you can give me a hand. Uhm, tidy up your apartment, Annie. There could be a house tour before she leaves.

Friday, August 19, 2005, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 9:45 AM

Emil and Leela were in the kitchen, discussing the backpacking trip and cleaning up the dinner mess from the night before. Emil was wearing a light flannel robe, and Leela was back to her infamous shorty robe. Emil had asked her about that after she and Annie had returned from Israel last winter and she had shrugged it off, saying both she and Annie slept bare during their trip so there was nothing Annie hadn’t seen before. Like Leela, Annie was not particularly modest around the house, either.

The business phone rang, and Emil answered, Northwest Investigations, Pulaski.

Emil, this is Jim Stuart. I’m the Ketchum branch manager for Integrity Investments. I met you at Harry Ibaiguren’s home last June. Lt. Harry Ibaiguren, the acting sheriff of Blaine County, was expected to soon be the elected sheriff in November since he was running unopposed.

Oh, sure, I remember you. You had your wife, Gail, as I remember, and your daughter with you.

Right. I have a problem which I hope you can help me with. We’re missing one of our brokers and about $500,000 from a valued client’s account. I’d like to hire your firm to track the guy down and retrieve the money.

Where did you learn about what we do? We don’t advertise.

From Helen Worthington, your financial advisor. She’s a friend whom I’ve known for many years.

I gather you haven’t made a criminal complaint about the embezzlement, is that correct?

Yes, that’s right. We’ve notified the Securities and Exchange Commission and the State Department of Finance, but we prefer not to involve law enforcement agencies. As I’m sure you’re aware, our business is based on client trust, and this kind of publicity is something we can’t afford.

How long ago did this take place?

Twenty days ago. Our regional office keeps a list of private investigators they want us to use in situations like this, and we were told to hire a man from Spokane, Don Westlake. After meeting him, I wasn’t impressed, but we gave him the job two days after Griffin, our missing broker, left town. Westlake’s reports are worthless, and he called last night to inform me he was off the case and told me not to call him again. He sounded frightened.

Tell me a little about your missing broker, Griffin. Any military background, temperament, that sort of thing.

I can give you some general stuff. If you do contract with us, I’ll share whatever we have. Is that OK?

Sure. I need enough to talk this over with my partners before we commit to a new job.

Helen told me a little about that. OK, about Griffin – his full name is Frederick Samuel Griffin, age 59, college graduate with an MBA. He’s worked for various brokerages over the years and has a good performance record. He came to us seven years ago. I believe he was a Marine for four years during the Vietnam War and is a combat veteran, something to do with LRRP, but I don’t know what that means. Personally, I’d say he’s sort of a loner and not particularly close to anyone in the office, although he’ll go out for a drink with them sometimes. He’s single. I believe he divorced his wife not long before he joined our firm. If he has a girlfriend in the area, I’m not aware of it. I’ve never seen any aggressive behavior from him, but he’s a big guy and you’d think twice before challenging him.

OK, that gives me enough to talk to Lee and Annie about it. You need to realize that we can track Griffin down, but we don’t have any legal authority to force him to return your money. Even when we find him, there’s not much you can do to him if you haven’t made a criminal complaint. Can I get back to you at this number?

I’m calling from my office phone. Let me give you my cellphone number. You can always reach me on that.

Good. One of us will call you back before close of business today.

As he ended the call, Leela asked What?

Ready to go back to work? he replied.

I’m ready to discuss it and then decide. Go ahead and make your notes while I roust Annie out.

Twenty minutes later, they were all gathered in the breakfast nook at one end of the big farm kitchen of their home. Annie was eating a croissant and drinking hot tea as she struggled to rejoin the world. Emil said, I just had a call from Jim Stuart. We met him at Harry and Mandy’s place last Spring. I don’t know if you remember, but he runs an investment firm in Ketchum, Integrity Investments. Emil went on to share what he’d learned during the phone call.

He continued, This sounds like something we’ve taken on many times, but there are a couple of things that bother me. First, the PI they employed when this first happened abruptly quit. It sounds like he was seriously threatened with something that scared him off. Second is Griffin’s combat experience in Vietnam – a Marine assigned to LRRP duty.

Annie looked puzzled and said, Lurp? What’s that?

Emil responded, Not lurp, LRRP or long-range reconnaissance patrol. These were small groups that infiltrated deep into enemy territory to gather information on troop concentrations, supply routes, and whatever else they were told to do. They either learned how to live out there on their own or they died, which a lot did. Griffin apparently learned which makes him a potentially dangerous adversary. Extremely dangerous. That’s what we need to talk about.

Annie, wide awake now, said, That was a long time ago, Dad. Do you think he still knows how to do all that stuff?

Emil shook his head, It’s not something you can ever forget, Annie, no matter how badly you want to. He still knows everything he learned, believe me.

Leela asked, Did Stuart mention any other players?

You know as much as I do, he replied.

Well, it sounds like we’d only have one person to deal with, even if he is dangerous. He can’t be any worse than some of the others we’ve met.

Don’t count on it, Lee. I’d rank him up there with Heidi Bauerfeld but with a far better skill set. If it hadn’t been for Annie showing up when she did, we wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation today. I’m thinking Griffin wouldn’t make the mistakes that Bauerfeld did.

Annie chewed thoughtfully on the last of her croissant. No dead bodies, assaults, or things like that?

Emil shook his head, Not that I know of. So far, it’s a case of embezzlement and probably threats to the Spokane investigator. My concerns are all about potential violence. We decided as a group to back off from the worst of the violent cases. I’m just pointing out this one could be violent, but nothing has happened so far to say it will.

Annie said, I think we should take the case.  We’ll just have to be careful with this guy.

Lee? asked Emil.

She nodded, Let’s do it. We need to make it clear that all we can do is find the guy and maybe learn where the money is. The rest is up to the client.

OK, I’ll give him a call and tell him it’s a go. Before I do, let’s get cleaned up and dressed for the day. We still have all our backpacking gear to air out and stow. If there’s anything else that requires some time and running around, we need to do it today. Once we start to work, there probably won’t be much spare time.

It was almost noon before Emil called. Jim, if you still want us, we’ll take the case.

Great, Emil! I feel a lot better about this now. If I flew up to Coeur d’Alene tomorrow, could we get together?

Be happy to. What time of day are you thinking about? answered Emil.

Probably late morning, maybe around eleven. I have my own plane. After lunch, I need to sit down with our regional office people in Spokane in the afternoon, so I’ll rent a car and drive over to your place. Would that work?

Wouldn’t you rather get your business done in Spokane first? Emil asked.

Actually, my meeting with you is one of the topics I’ll be discussing with them.

OK, whatever works for you. We’ll expect you around eleven. Emil gave him the address for the law office of Hartz, Kline & Kline and instructions to get there. We’re affiliated with them and they handle most of our administrative work. They’ll be expecting you. One thing, Jim, and I don’t know if you can do this, we’d like to stay anonymous for as long as we can. That means the people in your office and your regional office. Griffin might have friends that would alert him. It makes our job a lot easier and safer.

I’ll do my best, Emil. I hadn’t given much thought to something like that. Do you think Griffin is dangerous?

Jim, I know he’s dangerous. You told me this morning he had something to do with LRRP when he was in Vietnam. I’ll explain what that means when we get together tomorrow. In the meantime, watch your back. Give your airplane a careful pre-flight inspection in the morning. Does Harry know about this?

Yeah, ever since it happened. He wants us to sign a complaint.

Emil replied, It would be a good idea. Maybe you should try and get your regional office to go along with it. Ask Harry to have his people keep an eye on your home. I don’t know that he’d come after you, but just be careful.

Shit! You have me worried now, said Stuart.

Good first step. That’s how we survive. We’ll be waiting at the law office in the morning. If the schedule changes, would you call me on my cellphone? Emil gave him his number as well as Leela’s.

He stepped outside in the driveway where Annie was stuffing sleeping bags back in their storage sacks. Most of the gear had already been put away in the storage shed. Where’s your mother? he asked.

Right here, answered Leela as she stepped out of the shed. What did you learn?

He’s flying up to Spokane tomorrow morning and will rent a car to drive here for a sit down tomorrow about eleven. He has his own airplane. Annie, when you finish there, would you call Angela and see if we can have the conference room for an hour or so? Tell them to expect Jim Stuart.

Angela Black, the administrative manager for the law office as well as their senior legal secretary, was a member of the Salash Tribe of Indians. Leela was also a member, an honorary position bestowed on her by the tribe for her role in recovering what was known as the ‘Bradford Ranch’ for the tribe. According to Angela, Leela, or Tall Woman as she is called by them, was the only non-Indian to ever appear on the rolls.

OK, I’ll be finished here in a few minutes, replied Annie. Let’s go out to the gravel pit after lunch for some practice.

Good idea, said Emil. In fact, I think I will call the Gun Emporium and have them set up three Ruger Mini-14’s for us before we go out to shoot. If we get into a confrontation with Griffin, pistols are not going to do, nor will lever action deer rifles.

Leela asked, Is this part of the skill set you were talking about earlier?

Emil nodded, A small part.

Shit. I hope we haven’t made a mistake. Why rifles?

Because that’s what he was trained to use. If a confrontation does occur, it will probably be at long range.

Leela looked at him before replying, I defer to your knowledge, husband. You’ve been there and I haven’t. My experience has been up close and personal.

Emil nodded, We’ll be equipped for that, too.

***

Three and a half hours later, they were setting up at the gravel pit, each equipped with a .223 caliber Mini-14, two twenty round magazines in addition to the five round magazine that came with the rifle, slings for each, and 2x-4x scope mounted and sighted in by the gun store. Emil spent some time explaining the safety, how to insert and remove magazines, and clearing the little carbines when done. We can work on the details when we get home and clean them. I’m going to pace out shooting points at 100 and 300 yards. We’ll use three silhouette targets, one for each of us. I want you to make sure your sight is right on for point of aim at 100 yards. At 300 yards, you need to learn how high above your intended impact point you must place the crosshairs. Any questions?

Annie laughed and said, Lots, but right now I want to try this thing out. Should I use the 2x or the 4x setting on my scope?

Start with 2X. When you get it the way you want it, then try 4X and make sure it doesn’t change your point of aim.

They spent the next hour and a half burning through a lot of ammunition. When Emil was satisfied with their developing skills, they loaded them back in the Toyota and spent some time clearing up their empty cartridge cases. Then they moved back closer to the now ragged targets and worked with their pistols. It was close to the dinner hour before they returned home.

Chapter Two

Saturday, August 20, 2005, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 10:45 AM

The offices of Hartz, Cline & Cline were quiet on that Saturday morning. Other than Alice, the new receptionist, and one of the junior attorneys who they could hear speaking loudly on his phone down the hall, the place was deserted. They were still visiting with Alice when Jim Stuart walked in. They introduced him to her and made their way back to the conference room.

As they settled around the table, Stuart said, I picked up a nice tailwind leaving Hailey. It knocked ten minutes off my flying time.

Emil replied, Did you pre-flight your plane like I suggested?

Stuart nodded, I did. Will you tell me what that’s all about? Gail is upset. I guess I am, too.

Emil said, When I asked for some background on Griffin, you told me he was a Marine veteran with combat experience in Vietnam. You also told me he worked in LRRP. Emil went on to explain what LRRP was. In addition to good combat skills, those guys learned other things like infiltration, assassination, and sabotage. Griffin must have learned them well enough to survive, which means he could apply what he learned here whenever he chose to do so. That’s why I warned you.

Holy shit! I had no idea. Do you think that’s why the guy in Spokane quit on us?

Leela answered, Probably, but we won’t know until we’ve had a chance to talk with him.

Stuart replied, Good luck with that. He and his family seem to have disappeared.

Emil responded, I rest my case.

Stuart was silent for a bit and then said, How do you think we should proceed?

Leela interjected once more, With extreme caution, Jim. This could well go beyond an ordinary embezzlement if it hasn’t already. I wish now we hadn’t accepted the job, but we have. A good first step would be to make a criminal complaint with law enforcement. That would open a wide range of resources you don’t have now. As your agents, it would let us access those resources.

Emil said, This is why we want anonymity for as long as possible. If we have to spend all our time watching our backs, we’re not going to be effective. In fact, if your regional office won’t honor that, we’ll cancel our contract with you. This job is already risky enough without adding that to it.

Stuart nodded, I’m good with both of those things if they’ll let me. My assistant manager and our operations manager are both already sworn to secrecy. The office knows something happened but not the details. As far as making a criminal complaint, you’ve convinced me. I’ll talk to Harry as soon as I get back. If the regional office doesn’t like it, I guess I can go look for another job.

Annie asked, What about the money this guy took? Did you cover your client’s loss?

Oh, yes. That happened as soon as we learned about it. It’s company policy.

Emil asked, Would you prefer to wait on the contract until after your regional office meeting to see if they’ll OK our conditions?

Stuart thought about it and finally said, You know, that’s not a bad idea. It will give me some leverage with them. They’re conservative about whatever they do. Let’s hold off on the contract until later this afternoon. Do you have a rate schedule I can take with me?

Annie slid one over to him and said, We’ll go ahead and have Alice type up the contract so it can be signed later. There won’t be anyone here to do it tomorrow.

Thank you, Anne. He studied the schedule and said, You folks charge less than Westlake and, from what Harry has told me, work like super-cops. How old are you, Anne, if you don’t mind my asking?

I’ll be twenty-two in October, well, end of September, actually.

You give the impression you’ve been doing this for years.

She laughed, Well, I’m just starting my fourth year with Northwest if that qualifies for years.

Stuart chuckled, At your age, Anne, my only claim to fame was how much beer I could drink at frat parties. He shook his head and continued, Well, back to business. I don’t know how long the meeting will last this afternoon. Griffin isn’t the only item on the agenda. If they go along with hiring you, would it be OK if I came back tomorrow morning to finalize the contract and pass along the dossier on Griffin?

With a nod from Emil, Annie said, That will be fine. It will have to be at our home. There won’t be anyone here tomorrow. She gave him instructions on how to get there. Please give us a call and let us know what the plan is if you would.

With Stuart on his way to Spokane, Emil said, Unless either of you have something urgent to do this afternoon, I want to do some rifle training out in the garden. Neither of you have much experience with one, Annie’s deer hunting aside, and getting into a situation with rifles is much different than using handguns. If you want to do some more shooting with them, we can go back to the range afterward.

You’re really serious about this, said Leela. Why now? We’ve never worried about it before.

Because we’ve never come up against someone like Griffin before. I know what he knows and believe me, neither of you could survive an encounter like that. I don’t know that it will happen, but if it does, I want you as prepared as I can get you.

Annie asked, Is this like the stuff they teach soldiers?

Emil nodded, Very much like that, plus a few things I learned from experience. Let’s go home and change into some grubby clothes. You’ll be crawling around in the dirt and getting sweaty. We can grab some lunch before we start.

***

It was close to 4:30 before Emil declared they were done for the day. Both Leela and Annie were tired, sore, and dirty, but still willing to do more if asked. Stuart had called about 3:15 to tell him everything was go. He planned to be at their door by 9:30 the next morning. He’d said, I need to keep it short, Emil. The weather is looking iffy, and I have to head back to Hailey as early as I can.

Emil was sitting in the breakfast nook of the big farm kitchen, a feature of the old farmhouse they both prized, waiting for his turn in the shower. Leela joined him, hair still damp and clad in her short robe. She slid in next to him with a groan. Christ, I’m tired. My knees and elbows are scraped raw and one boob is sore as hell. Is this what it was like in Vietnam?

Emil laughed, No showers, no time off, no regular meals, and no sympathy in those days. I can’t testify about your boob. I never had any female soldiers in my command.

As he spoke, Annie came in clad in one of Emil’s old dress shirts and a pair of flip-flops. It was a little more modest than Leela’s robe, but not much. She asked Leela, Are you as sore as I am, Mom? I have raw spots in places I can’t talk about.

Emil laughed aloud, Your mother was just voicing the same complaints. I assume you’re talking about your breasts as she was. When we do this again, make sure you’re wearing your body armor under your clothes. I think that will give you some protection. I’m sorry to have put you through all of this, but it’s stuff you need to learn. It’s nothing compared to what an infantry soldier has to acquire. Tell you what, I’ll go shower and then pick up a couple of pizzas for dinner. Your reward for being attentive students.

Works for me, darling, said Leela. Annie?

You’ve got to be kidding, Mom. I’d kill for pizza.

Leela said to Annie, Stuart just called, and his bosses agreed to the contract. He’ll be here at the house at 9:30 tomorrow morning.

Are they going to bring in the police? asked Annie.

Emil nodded, He’ll turn it over to the Blaine County Sheriff as soon as he gets back home.

Do they have anyone competent enough for the job yet?

Emil replied, I think so. Harry already had a few experienced deputies on staff when he took over and training some of the patrolmen to move into detectives is one of his top priorities.

The previous December, the sheriff’s office had gone through major trauma as the corrupt and incompetent elected sheriff, Mark Johnson, had been removed from office by the district court after his son had murdered one of the clerks in the front lobby of the office. Emil, who was on the scene by pure chance, had shot and killed the son.

Will Harry help us? asked Annie.

To the same extent that our own sheriff’s office does. Harry is bound by the same laws as Hank Owens.

What about pizza?

Emil chuckled, Right, pizza. Lee, why don’t you call Carlo’s and put the order in. I’ll take a quick shower and head over to pick it up. You two decide on toppings.

He was back in fifteen minutes and headed off to Carlo’s Pizza over on Lincoln Way. Upon his return, it took them a bit less than thirty minutes to reduce two large pizzas down to three remaining slices. Leela said, These go in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch.

Annie leaned back with a sigh of contentment. I could probably eat them, but I guess I’ve abused my body enough for one night. I don’t want to go back to where I was when I first got here.

Annie, then named Annette Van Zandt, had joined the family almost four years earlier, a runaway from an extremely abusive family. Emil had been hired by her father to find her and managed to track her down in Phoenix, Arizona. When he learned what she was running from, he cancelled his contract with the father and returned to Coeur d’Alene with the offer to help her whenever she needed it. It wasn’t long before both of her biological parents were dead, the father killed by the mother after which she committed suicide. Annette returned