is unbelievable.” Mortimer’s jaw quivered. “What a thing to ask Ottawa.”
“There wasn’t time to sit around while Ottawa procrastinated,” Isaac declared. He looked at Jack. “Did your informant have any information about what happened?”
“Yes, sir. My informant was present when the murders took place and he —”
Mortimer interjected. “You’re telling me that you allowed an informant to take part in a triple murder?” He leaned forward and gripped the arms of the chair as if prepared to run away.
“Yes, sir, I did,” Jack replied. “As it turns out he was basically a spectator.”
“You don’t catch sewer rats with church mice,” Isaac stated. “The murders would have taken place regardless.” He glanced at Jack. “Please proceed, Corporal.”
“Yes, sir. Two members of Satans Wrath and eight of the Gypsy Devils took part in the murders. Under orders from Satans Wrath, the Gypsy Devils bound, gagged, and tied their three victims to kitchen chairs. Cans of lighter fluid were given to the Gypsy Devils.” Jack had to steel himself to continue without emotion. “They burned Roxanne first, then Robert. After that, Neal was disembowelled and a Satans Wrath member dipped a broom into his blood and painted a message on the wall. It read the number four, the letter U, and the initials JT.”
“For you, JT,” Isaac said, looking at Jack.
“Yes, sir. I was told that Purvis Evans ordered the message be left for me.”
Isaac glanced at Mortimer’s stunned face. “Purvis Evans is the new national president of Satans Wrath,” he explained.
“He also goes by the nickname of Pure E, which is short for Pure Evil,” Rose added.
“A title that he obviously deserves,” Isaac said.
Jack nodded. “Sir, I’m sickened by what transpired. When I approached you with the question of whether or not to arrest Robert and Roxanne, Damien Zabat was still national president. He never would’ve done what Pure E, I mean, Purvis Evans, did.”
“Pure E seems more appropriate than Purvis,” Isaac said dryly. He paused, then added, “They say hindsight is twenty-twenty, but given the situation, were it to occur again, I’m not certain I’d do anything different.”
“Your informant witnessed these murders,” Mortimer stated.
“Yes, sir.”
“Then he can testify!” Mortimer sat forward again, looking pleased with himself.
Gee, why didn’t we think of that? “No, sir. I promised the informant I’d never put him in that position. He’s not a paid agent, but was caught doing a crime and agreed to supply information in lieu of being charged.”
“What kind of crime?” Mortimer asked.
“He’s a weenie wagger.”
“A what?”
“He was caught exposing himself in public. Satans Wrath would likely murder him if they found out because of the embarrassment it’d cause if it became public. Initially he provided me with information about a marijuana grow-op.”
Isaac turned to Mortimer. “Corporal Taggart then worked his way up the ladder. His work was instrumental in discovering how Damien Zabat, the previous national president of Satans Wrath, had been laundering money. Last week we raided Damien’s home and also conducted searches of lawyers’ offices in Vancouver, the British Virgin Islands, and Chihuahua, Mexico. We seized somewhere in the neighbourhood of twenty million dollars, along with another five or six million in assets. Further to that, to prevent his son from going to jail, Damien provided Corporal Taggart with information about a boatload of cocaine being delivered to France. That shipment was seized last night.”
“I heard about it on the news,” Mortimer said. “Four Satans Wrath members were arrested, along with several Europeans. A tonne of cocaine was seized.” He paused. “There was no mention of involvement from us. The news made it sound like the investigation originated in Europe.”
“That was to protect the informant,” Jack explained.
Mortimer frowned. “That was dumb. The press coverage would have benefited us all.”
“Not the informant,” Jack said sharply.
Isaac glanced at Mortimer. “I think it best to let Corporal Taggart call the shots on informant safety.”
Mortimer stared silently at Jack.
Isaac said, “I won’t keep you any longer, Corporal. I’m sure you’d like to go home and get some much needed rest.”
Rose cleared her throat. “Sir, there’s been a further development you need to know about. I think it best to let Corporal Taggart explain.”
Jack felt the dryness in his throat and swallowed. Talk about a bad day at the office. “It was Damien’s wife, Vicki, who provided me with the financial information allowing us to seize his money and assets.”
“His own wife was your informant?” Mortimer asked in astonishment.
“Yes, sir. Her son, Buck, is a member of Satans Wrath. I recently videoed him beating a drug dealer to death.”
“You what?” Mortimer’s gaze swung from Jack to Isaac.
“I was aware of it,” Isaac said.
“In exchange for keeping her son out of jail, Vicki gave me the information on her husband. When we seized Damien’s assets, I staged a phony situation where it looked like Vicki tried to attack me as we were searching his house.” Jack paused. Firing a bullet into my Kevlar vest … I think that qualifies as an attack. “Damien then told me about the cocaine shipment, believing he was saving his wife and son from going to jail.”
Isaac stared at Jack. “What you described as an attack — it’s the first I’ve heard about it. Was it something you’d planned all along?”
“Yes, sir,” Jack admitted.
“You arranged this so Damien wouldn’t suspect his wife had informed?”
“Yes, sir.”
“The attack must have appeared realistic, perhaps even deadly, for Damien to think she’d receive a serious jail sentence,” Isaac noted. “So serious that he gave us a tonne of cocaine.”
Please don’t go there. Rose already gave me shit. Mortimer would probably have me committed. “I’d already shown Damien the video of his son beating the drug dealer to death. I believe his reason to co-operate was a combination of factors.”
“I’m sure it was,” Isaac said. “Continue.”
Good. You see through the layers. You know there was more to it. Jack cleared his throat. “Unfortunately Damien didn’t tell me about the cocaine until after he’d obtained a lawyer for Vicki.”
“Basil Westmount?” Isaac asked. Before
