Lester Caine Private Eye-The Pigpen Cipher Hunting a Nazi War Criminal

By fred berri

Lester Caine, a highly decorated New York City Detective Lieutenant, retired after twenty-five years, now in the Private Eye cop business, is living in West Palm Beach Florida. He thought it was the prefect place for him, his Cadillac convertible and the tanned socialites of Palm Beach. The murder of Palm Beach Judge Desmond Vanderbilt (from boo

• Language: English
• Publisher: frederic dalberri
• Release date: Sep 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798985592375

fred berri

Mr. Berri graduated from Columbia State University with an online business Degree. He moved his family to Florida, from New York, spending years as a Financial Specialist with one of the largest banking institutions in the U.S. He has volunteered teaching Junior Achievement in the Florida public school district. In addition, he led a volunteer group for a reading program to grades K-3. Throughout his career, he has done public speaking and appeared in a few TV commercials in including voice overs. Berri has written many murder mysteries and children's books, which can be found on his website: fredberri.com and Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Book preview

Lester Caine Private Eye-The Pigpen Cipher-

Hunting a Nazi War Criminal

Book two of the Lester Caine Private Eye Series

© 2022 frederic dalberri

Vero Beach, Florida

ISBN: 979-8-9855923-6-8 Print

ISBN: 979-8-9855923-7-5 Ebook

LCCN: 2023915903

Interior Formatting: Jennie Lyne (facebook.com/JennieLyneBooks)

LESTER CAINE PRIVATE EYE

THE PIGPEN CIPHER

HUNTING A NAZI WAR CRIMINAL

Book two of the Lester Caine Private Eye Series

(A stand-alone book)

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Reproducing or storing any portion of this book in a retrieval system, transmitted, or distributed in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—without the prior written permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review printed in a newspaper, magazine or journal.

Reader Awareness

This story is intended for a mature audience and contains adult material, including coarse language, sexual content, and violence.

fred berri has won multiple 1st Prize Five Star prestigious International Literary Book Awards for his novels and children’s books.

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* * * *

"Twist, turn and bend the truth.

Now it’s fiction." ™

* * * *

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To the originator(s) of the Pigpen Cipher.

The Pigpen Cipher is a geometric cipher which exchanges letters for symbols using fragments of a grid.

The exact origin of the cipher is uncertain, but records of this system have found it to be an ancient one.1 It is said to have originated with the Hebrew rabbis and used by the Knights Templar during the Christian Crusades.

A French Knight named Hugues de Payens created a military order, calling it the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, later known simply as the Knights Templar.

On January 13, 1128, Pope Honorius II granted a papal sanction to the military order known as the Knights Templar, declaring it to be an army of God.

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1 *… founded around 1118, Jerusalem.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

This story is fictional. Any names, characters, places, or situations are purely coincidental and are a fougasse2 Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author, except for historical events, historical dates, or any actual locations, and facts.

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2 Fougasse /fu:’ga:s/ is a term used for fake or not real. The word originated back in the seventeenth century to describe a fake rock that was filled with explosives during wars. Soldiers would step on these fake rocks, exploding the bomb and causing serious injury or death. So, the rock being fake or not real was termed a fougasse. This novel is a fougasse.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Epilogue

The good memories always fade first. That’s why the world looks for a villain.

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The PIG PEN CIPHER

Forewords

Fred Berri’s hard-boiled noir novels have opened up a new era I’ve been introduced to that includes history, style and grace. Each Lester Caine Private Eye novel is skillfully crafted with old school gumshoe detective prowess. Fred Berri’s mastery of storytelling through dialogue and his unique knowledge of history will elevate this work of fiction to become a bestseller.

Nick Campanella

Best selling Author

www.nickcampanella.com

With great skill, Fred Berri takes you to another world. It’s what makes reading fun. After setting the scene and the characters, you enter the thriller with his people and never leave. The dialogue and writing style, along with short chapters, keep it moving effortlessly. You put it down and soon begin to wonder what’s going to happen next, and wind up back in the recliner. Anyone who has been to the Horn and Hardart on 42nd St. or places like it, late at night, will be immediately engrossed.

Walter E. Ledwith

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Author’s Preface

The immediate post-war years were a time of chaos and horror as Allied forces attempted to round up and capture German soldiers and Nazi Party members across war-ravaged Europe. It was in this confused and often lawless environment that surviving Jews first exacted their revenge on the Nazis.

In Italy, France and Belgium, Jewish soldiers who had fought alongside the British in the Eighth Army’s Jewish Brigade banded together to form an informal network later termed the ‘Nakam,’ Hebrew for Avengers.

The Nakam soon set up their underground execution squads, who tracked down senior members of the Nazi regime with information provided from survivors and members of the Jewish underground, and using logistical support quietly provided by their British Colleagues.

Although their ultimate aim was to kill, they also operated their own form of justice, reading out charges and acting as judge, jury, and executioner. Their preferred method of killing was strangulation, a ‘dry’ method that left no blood or other traces. Other Nazis met their deaths in car accidents or were helped to commit suicide. It is believed the Nakam executed over1,000 Nazi officers in this way.

These executions in the immediate post-war years could not continue forever. And yet, there were Avengers who never stopped, continuing in their own quiet manner.

Although these are facts and part of history, this novel is fiction and is about the dedicated few who continue to seek their own brand of justice by hunting Nazi war criminals.

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Pamela’s Tarot Cards

Destruction–turmoil–celebrations–ending in my favor. Dead end–deception–temptation–cars–take the right path.

"Who believes in this bullshit? Tarot cards, horoscopes, Lester scoffed. But, against his will, his mind returned to pick at the tarot card mystery. I have to put it all together. That Nazi bastard has been living free and easy for too many years."

What does it mean? Damned if I’ll consult some voodoo princess. Ah, my mother, a voodoo princess? Voodoo? But she’s not a princess for sure. I don’t believe in this hokum and yet, I’ve seen what she can do with the tarot cards and how they work. Lester ached with the spinning thoughts inside his head.

Whacked, drained, seriously in need of R & R, visits with his mother did that to him. His mother’s combination of drinking and medication concerned him, and her unrelenting obsession with sharing her memories of Francis, her deceased sainted son, threw Lester off his game. Like a blinding hangover, without the booze and the babes, he could be in a fog after visiting his mother, sometimes for days.

Prologue

Excerpt from book one,

Lester Caine Private Eye Murder on Palm Beach.

Lester Caine Investigations

Clematis Street

1948

Libby St. James pushed the door open to Lester Caine Investigations and marched past Louise without uttering a word, her determined gaze daring anyone to get in her way. Louise jumped to her feet. Libby held up her hand without skipping a step.

Don’t bother, Louise, opening the door to Lester’s office without regard to the big bold gold leaf letters staring her right in her mug.

PRIVATE

Libby? Lester questioned, standing. To what do I owe a visit from one of Vanderbilt, Harper & St James’s finest? He turned to his secretary, standing ready at the door. It’s alright, Louise. Close the door, Lester said.

Louise, in her usual fashion, rolled her eyes and mumbled, bitch.

Don’t play fucking games with me, Lester. We’re willing to work on this with you. We’re prepared to include you and Lorraine. I know you have the envelope. H-2 and I need it. Desmond discovered this information before that kid murdered him. He confided in me and H-2 so we could work together as a team, do whatever is necessary to destroy this evil. We agreed to hang the expense. All the information we could find about the person named in the envelope is inside. Desmond put it in a code.

At first H-2 and I thought that information you’re holding caused Desmond’s death. It never crossed our minds that an old grudge would cause his cold-blooded murder, that he’d be the victim of a revenge killing. Desmond did what he did best. He got a non-guilty verdict for the husband’s killers—the pair of them, the wife and her lover. Who knew the dead man’s son would wait years to murder Desmond?

"I searched Desmond’s house and the office safe after his death, even though Lorraine tried to stonewall me—

Lorraine didn’t want Desmond’s reputation tarnished. She didn’t know about the envelope, and she resented your intrusive curiosity. You should have been up front, Libby.

Whatever. I did not find the envelope. You had access to the house after the police cleared the crime scene. You found the envelope.

I know your colleague Gloria was a master cryptologist in the army. She must have broken the encrypted code already. So, Lester, what’s your move? The ball is in your court. The world deserves to know the secret inside that envelope. Your history preceded you. You’re a successful detective, but this is not a chess game, Libby said.

You’re right, Libby. I have it. And yes, Gloria decoded it. Desmond was brilliant. The world needs more men like him. I agree it’s crucial information, but there’s a lot at stake, Lester said.

The world has been waiting a long time for this, Lester. It’s for real and it will be dangerous. Very dangerous. I know you are a risk taker and so is Gloria, but I am, too, and so is H-2. We’re all on the same side. We want justice, and we will pay whatever price we must for it. I am taking a leap here. So, are you and Gloria with us? I’m not leaving until we agree to do this together, all of us, Libby demanded.

Perhaps Desmond’s widow will want in, too, since it was her husband’s ambition to expose this evil and stamp it out. Jesus, Libby, I like you better when you’re excited, Lester said, reaching for the bourbon for another pour.

Libby’s roguish grin answered Lester.

Chapter 1

Lester Caine Investigations

Lester always started his day with the attitude: It’s what you make of it. You can be grumpy or happy and even melancholy. As far back as his NYPD days, he created his mantra with ten words, only two letters in each word, but it had such a knock-out punch to it. He claimed it as his own.

IF IT IS TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME.

His mantra hung next to photos of him in his NYPD uniform with mayors, governors, and police chiefs. His awards and police ribbons hit you square in the face when you walked into the reception area and Louise’s domain, his Gal Friday. Lester often thought I might have had different results if I had applied my mantra to my two ex-wives, not just to being a detective and solving all those homicides.

Now he had Libby to deal with. He handed Libby her bourbon. You know as well as I do if we release that genie known as revenge, there’s no getting it back into the bottle. And you know I don’t mean the bourbon, Lester said.

Lester, I’m well aware of that and the many other examples that have led us to this road of perdition. Desmond, H-2, and I released and conquered many genies. For sure, you and Gloria, with your histories, released plenty of them too. We don’t want this devil ever getting back into the bottle and I know you don’t either, Libby said.

You’re right. We both know anyone involved in this may face terrible consequences, including death.

Lester, I don’t believe any of us will succumb, knowing our way of life. Like the Devil tempting Jesus with all the kingdoms of the world and glory, if he just would fall down and worship him, none of us will accept an offer either. Christ did not give in, and neither will we, not to pursue this. We, too, are dealing with the Devil himself, as we have in the past, Libby said.

I never knew you were a Bible thumper, Lester said.

I’m not. Catholic school beat religion into us every day until I opened my eyes. It’s just a metaphor.

He thought for a moment of his mantra: