Ms. Madison and the International Thief:

Ms. Madison and the International Thief:

His Little Black Book of Secrets

When the back door slammed, I wanted to run, but the big guy was standing by the front door. A few minutes ago, when I walked in from the barn, I didn’t expect anyone to greet me, especially a stranger. I just stood there by the stove (and the knives), waiting for someone to speak, and it wasn’t going to be me.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to slam the door! Don’t be afraid, we’re officers of the law. Hey Joe, come show your ID to this nice lady. Here’s mine, see? Lieutenant Paul Gordon, Elmsville PD. This here, is Joe, an FBI agent from the capitol, who’s come to help out with an investigation.”

I finally spoke up, “So what are you doing here, I mean, specifically in my kitchen? Normally you can’t just walk in, can you? Do you have a warrant to search or something? I’ve never paid much attention to the police and protectors in this county… just moved here a month ago.”

“Miss, your name is Amanda Madison, right?”

“Yes, that is my name.”

“Well, let’s start off with some information you should know. Before you moved here, into this house, there was a gentleman—a feral sort, kept to himself for years, and the neighbors eventually didn’t pay any attention to him. He came and went, but wasn’t social, and didn’t seem to have a job or any friends or relatives around. Evidently, he was trying to stay ‘unknown’ as it turns out. He’s been identified as a Bolivian, here illegally, but wanted in his home country by the government for stealing large sums of money and national treasures from several museums and private collections. He was a government employee who had access to accounts and secret locations where thieves and some other foreigners hid their acquisitions and stores of valuables.

“I don’t know who lived here. Why does this have anything to do with me?” I asked quietly as I sat down at the kitchen table. “Would you like some tea or something to drink?”

“No thanks, ma’am. What we’ve recently discovered is a little black book that belongs to this man. He had it stashed in a case of books that got dumped out of a moving truck. Odd, but we wouldn’t have known except that a dutiful citizen picked up the books and box and the little black book and took it all to the police station, describing the truck, and providing a license plate number. Our officers called the FBI as soon as some of the information was translated and the books became the basis of an international ongoing investigation. We think there may be some of his stolen goods stored on this property, and we’d like to look around, and probably have the experts come out to do a thorough search.”

“Wow! Of course, I’m happy to cooperate, but even though the property is a couple of acres, there’s only the house and one other building—the horse barn.”

“What Joe and I will do, okay Joe?” Joe nodded, “is gather our crews tomorrow morning and come out and begin. Don’t know how long it will take, or really even what we’ll be looking for, but there’s a list to get us started, and I suppose you should be home in case we have questions, or need permission…”

I looked at these two guys and wondered how many uniformed people would descend on my quiet space and tear it apart, but I couldn’t say no. “I’ll be here. I will want the officers in charge to assure me there won’t be any damage resulting from the search, or that if there is, repairs will be made, and I’ll want a listing of anything that you remove from my property. Is that clear?”

“Most certainly. And we expect you to not move a thing between now and tomorrow morning. Is that clear?”

I replied with a half-smile, “Most certainly.”

“Oh, Ms. Madison, there is one more thing you should know. There has been a reward out for this character or any of the Brazilian assets and/or other stolen property that are found. I imagine you might be interested to know that currently, that reward is set at $20,000. Our costs will not incur any charges to be subtracted from that sum, but it’s possible if we find certain missing items, the amount of the reward may increase.”

I sat up straight, mouth wide open, and blinked. “Twenty thousand, you said. I could practically pay off my mortgage! Gosh, I think I need a drink!” The two men laughed, and said they each would like a glass of water… good ol’ country well water. I obliged, and we sat for another half hour or so surmising what might come of this bad fortune/good fortune situation. I asked for phone numbers to call in case the missing on-the-run man happened to drive into his former property in the middle of the night, and I was given a lesson on self-protection, how to lock up safely and securely, and to not tell anyone about the case, as they prefer not to have the news and TV people add to the numbers of people roaming around and snooping tomorrow. Snooping isn’t the word that I would expect them to use, and we all chuckled when I mentioned that I preferred the search-and-replace-precisely method over snooping. I was nervous, but excited as well. However, I want it over, and the sooner the better.

Morning came sooner than I was ready to face the day, but a pot of coffee and a decent breakfast helped me start out with some strength and an attitude my mother used in stressful times: If it has to be done, just get to it and get it over with. I know that’s perhaps an over-simplification, but it fits. Just to be hospitable, if that was even necessary, I baked a double batch of bar cookies and set out plastic cups, fresh water and paper napkins on the porch table to keep people from coming in unless they were authorized to search inside the house. By 9:00, several vehicles and a forensics-labeled truck pulled in the drive, and half an army of uniforms piled out and stood basically still until they were given instructions, divided into groups, provided with various tools and gear, and introduced to me en masse. I got comfortable in the porch rocking chair with a book, and my little camera, and my hyper hearing to watch.

Fascinating as it was, it was also a mess of “snoopy” people, and I did my best to ignore them, although there were questions, comments, and relative silence once the process seemed to get somewhat organized. I don’t know what happened for bathroom usage, but I assumed there was a porta-potti in one of the large vehicles. At lunch time, they all gathered in the shade to eat some sandwiches from Ollie’s Quick Stop down the road and discuss progress. I stayed away, and went for a walk down the lane to get the mail. By late afternoon, there were boxes of items that weren’t mine, and some cases of unknowns that were found in the haymow in the barn. I guess there were also some interesting smaller packages tucked away under the floor of the basement. There were hints that there might be more, but that the base team would be back the next day to be even more thorough. I was good with that. Lt Gordon had compiled a list that would be typed and provided later, and FBI Joe was the chief herder of people and property. And I was impressed that it all went quite well, considering.

After they were finished itemizing and labeling and counting and identifying the cache, I was given a certificate that stated I had been helpful and accommodating, and am due a certain amount of the reward of $20,000, or more, according to the governments of Bolivia, the United States, and the Maldives, and it would be presented at a small local ceremony at the conclusion of this part of the case against Mr. Arsenio Vargas, the at-large international thief and art collector and for whom a warrant is still outstanding. His whereabouts are still unknown, although a separate FBI contingent is working on finding him soon.

Before the whole search and research and itemizing actions were completed, there were a few holes in the yard, some flagged markers here and there, and heavy equipment being utilized to look at suspect spots likely to have been dug up and refilled at some time in the past. I’d noticed some of those spots, but how does one suspect that there might be valuables hidden in one’s yard, or under it?

Lucky for me, and these professionals, it was a month or so until spring planting season, so there were spaces now plowed up and ready for seeds—a job I won’t have to do! I may even spend some reward money on a nice fence, a small shady retreat, and lots and lots of flowers!

At the probable end of the search process, most things were back in good order, and I was grateful to have the busy crew back in their caravan and out of my sight. Personally, whenever the inventory and tabulation are final and the findings are itemized and accounted for, I’ll be happy to accept a reward. Turns out that the little black book is the source of the information responsible for the subsequent quest for stolen property on my small acreage, and I was given an opportunity to look at it when I went to the police station to retrieve a couple of personal items mistaken for stolen ones.

It was a learning opportunity indeed! I have more trust in our community protectors, and more awareness of my surroundings. And ‘most certainly’ have a bigger circle of acquaintances in the county, and I think that’s a good thing.

A side note is that I purchased a number of ‘little black books’ to distribute as souvenirs-with-a-purpose. I plan to keep one or two for my use for whatever seems worthy of noting and recording and for my own interest, or the future interest of someone, some future time. I haven’t decided where I’ll bury or hide the books when I’m finished filling the pages… Maybe I’ll even stash a couple of hundred dollar bills in one as an incentive to solve the mystery of Ms. Madison and the man she’s happy she never knew!

Janna Kohl Bruns

02-09-2021