Don't Shoot the "Messenger", Ch. 33

Carlo had been busy working out his plan since the blackout. He had received word from Kipling that Mitch was not dead as reported, but still very much alive. Kipling had in turn also gotten him valuable information regarding various guards at the prison and he had found the one who best fit his needs. Carlo had been an exemplary prisoner since the riot, and as a result of his good behavior, he was assigned light duty in the prison laundry. Today was the day he would make his escape.

Harry walked up to get Carlo and escort him to his daily chores. At first glance, you might have thought they were twins. The only difference between the two was the uniforms they wore. Harry was about Carlo’s height and coloring, with just a few strands of hair lingering around his nearly bald head. His guard hat covered those few strands, even his walk was slow. He was a loner having been on the job at the prison going on twenty years. He had been assigned Carlo when Hesser had been assigned the Laundry.

“Harry, my man, how has your day gone so far?"

“About as expected Hesser, and I ain’t your man.”

“Harry, don’t begrudge me my little idiosyncrasies. It’s just a figure of speech. Are your knees still acting up? I have to tell you, my friend, mine have been hating this damp weather.”

Harry hated that Carlo always wanted to talk. He reluctantly responded “ Yeah, mine too. You got light duty because of your legs, Hesser. Don’t knock it. Now shut up and get to work.” They had arrived at the laundry.

Carlo didn’t say anything but smiled thinly. He knew that Harry’s day was about to take the turn for the worst, but it was a dog eat dog world.

While Harry watched, Carlo started to work.. Shortly before lunch, Carlo appeared to be struggling with a particularly awkward bag of laundry. The rest of the prisoners and their guards had already departed for the lunch room. Suddenly, Carlo went down under the huge bag and Harry shaking his head in disgust, went to help him up. He never saw the makeshift blackjack Carlo hit him with.

Carlo made sure no blood touched the floor and he carefully wrapped Harry’s head. Grabbing a cart, he lifted Harry into it and took him to the far side of the laundry. He pulled him back out of the cart as he reached the vats of lye used to wash down the prison showers monthly. He had chosen that day because it was the day they opened the vats. He undressed Harry and removed his own orange jumpsuit. Dressing Harry in his jumpsuit and shoes, he proceeded to don Harry’s uniform, taking the keys and his hat. Carlo tossed the makeshift blackjack into the vat of lye and watched it sink along with the cloth he had wrapped Harry’s head in. 

Then it was Harry’s turn. After pouring some soapy water on the floor and soaping up Harry’s shoes, Carlo lifted Harry and dropped his hands and upper body over the side of the vat, face-first into the lye. He jumped back as lye splashed over the edge of the vat. It had to look like he, Carlo, had slipped and gone into the lye accidentally. He then walked over to a small area behind the dryers and pulled out a small box. Inside he found the latex pieces he had formed from gloves they gave them to work with. Using a spoon he had commandeered, he had carefully scraped out several bars of soap and used them to make molds. Then with the aid of a lighter smuggled into him, he had carefully managed to meltdown the latex gloves and poured the result into his makeshift molds. Now he carefully applied the molded nose to his face as well as the additional bags and cheekbones under his eyes, using a homemade mixture of flour and water paste. As well as the lighter, Kipling had managed to smuggle in some face powder and Carlo used that to cover and blend the pieces to match the rest of his face. Taking a look at his reflection in the window of the dryer, he made a pretty presentable Harry. He set his hat on his head and walked over to Harry. He finished disposing of the box and soap molds into the vat. Giving one final pat to his victim, “You should have stayed in bed. Harry,” he quickly turned and went to report the incident.

Several guards came to his aid and they removed Harry from the vat or rather what was left of Harry. He wasn’t a pretty sight, his face and hands had been eaten away by the lye, and he was clearly dead. As Harry, Carlo told his story, and soon all were believing that Hesser had had an unfortunate accident. Carlo was pleased that the face and hands were no longer recognizable. His word was accepted that he had gone looking for Hesser when he didn’t come to the door of the laundry for the lunch bell. As soon as he had found the body, he put out the call for help. The prison doctor pronounced Hesser dead at the scene, knowing the lye was still eating away at his brain and through his chest. There would be an inquiry into the death but for now, it certainly looked like an accident.

The warden walked over to Carlo, unsuspecting he was talking to Hesser. “Harry, go home, take some days.” Carlo nodded, he had been waiting for this moment, and he casually left the prison, no one stopping him. Using Harry’s ID and money, he made his way to Harry’s apartment. Once there he made himself at home and pulled out the throwaway phone he had just purchased. He texted Kipling. “I’m out, what’s your status? Call me at this number.”

Ivan was surprised when his phone went off in his pocket as only a few knew of it. He smiled as he read the text. Then he placed the call. “Carlo, so good to hear from you. I trust everything went like clockwork.”

Carlo sat back in Harry’s recliner. “It worked like a charm. Report.”

Ivan sighed. With Carlo, it was always business first before pleasure. “We’re still here at your compound. We did have some unwanted visitors a few days ago, but it’s been quiet since. Mitch is beginning to regain his memory, a little more each day, and you’ll be pleased to know, our Ms. Perkins is expecting his child. I’ve also received word from our contact at the hospital that the lovely Mrs. Manning is also pregnant.”

Carlo’s eyes gleamed at this new information. “Excellent, I’ll be making my way to your second lab sometime later today. It wouldn’t be wise for me to linger in this apartment for long. I’ll contact you when I’m settled.” He hung up.

Ivan put the phone down as Mitch entered his lab. 

“Who were you talking to Doctor?” Mitch was becoming increasingly paranoid and he was finding it hard to keep trusting the man. His memories had started returning but they were fragmented. 

Ivan looked at his test subject and noted the edge in Mitch’s tone. “That was an acquaintance of ours. He was letting me know he was free and clear of the problem that had been keeping him from joining us. His name is Carlo Hesser.” Ivan watched to see if Mitch showed any signs the name meant something to him.

A scene flashed through Mitch’s head, of himself, the doctor and another man sitting in a yard. They were in ugly blue shirts and the third man appeared to be in charge. “Would he be a bald man with a hawkish nose?”

“Excellent, Mr. Laurence, that is indeed Mr. Hesser. I’m pleased you’re getting your memory back. Have you had any other memories you would care to share?”

“None I’m going to tell you about. I came down to tell you to keep your inquisitive hands-off Alison. She’s my fiance, not community property.” He turned and left the doctor, sure he had gotten his message across. He was perturbed by the memory of the three of them. As far as he could tell, Kipling was a snake, and couldn’t be trusted, and he sensed Carlo Hesser was equally dangerous. Why had he been associating with them? It was time to get some answers from his fiance.

***

John was in his office when he received the call. “This is McBain. Richard Evans, to what do I owe this call? We’ve been unable to capture either Kipling or Perkins.”

“I have news. I’m calling to let you know Carlo Hesser died this morning.”

John paused. “Did I hear you correctly? Hesser is dead? What happened?”

“He had an accident while working in the prison laundry. He slipped and ended up in a vat of lye. His guard was unable to save him.”

John was disquieted by this news. It was all just a little too cut and dried for his taste. “You’re sure it was Hesser? Remember how Mitch got out.”

“All personnel are accounted for, but Hesser. We’re pretty sure. There will be an inquiry but we anticipate it will verify the original findings, that it was an accident. I thought you might like to know since he created so much havoc in Llanview. Shaun told me that Todd Manning took in Cole Thornhart, and I know that Hesser had an agenda when it came to both of them. I guess he’ll never be able to carry it out now. Anyway, thought you might like to pass the news on to them?”

“Evans, will they do an autopsy?”

“It’s standard procedure, John, but don’t be in a big hurry for results. Accidents get a lower priority behind the regular killings that go on around here.”

“Understood. I’ll be checking in with the coroner. Thanks for the call.” John hung up and sat behind his desk. He thought back to the trial and Kipling and Hesser watching Todd dispassionately as he almost killed himself on the stand. While everyone else in the room could see the pain the man on the stand was in, they had just sat there. Then when he had collapsed, John remembered how his stomach had turned seeing joy on both of their faces. They were scum, both of them, and they hated Todd. John sat back in his chair. He had gotten word from a contact, that Todd had spent another night in the hospital after they had attempted to catch Kipling, Mitch, and Alison. He picked up the phone wondering if he should tell Todd this latest news. The man deserved to hear something good. But if this turned out to be an escape on Hesser’s part, Todd might just end up losing it completely. John put the phone down and stood up, grabbing his jacket. He needed to know now before he told Todd anything. “Fish, I’ll be out of the office for a little bit,” he said as he left the squad room. A few minutes later, he stood outside Nora’s office. He knocked and waited.

“Come in.” Nora looked up, surprised to see John standing there. “What can I do for you, John?”

“Nora, I just got a call from Statesville prison. It seems Carlo Hesser is dead.”

“When did this happen? Who killed him?”

“Nobody, supposedly it was an accident.”

Nora looked at John, “You don’t believe that do you?”

“I don’t know what I believe. What bothers me is the manner of his death. According to the chief of security, Richard Evans, he was found face down in a vat of lye.”

“You talked to Richard. He’s not going to tell you some fake story. But I sense you’re not sure it was Hesser.”

“You’re right. It’s too pat. With the face and hands eaten away by the lye, how do we know for sure it was Carlo?”

“I’m assuming they’ll do an autopsy, we’ll just have to wait for the results.”

“I agree, but I was hoping maybe you could light a fire under the prison coroner, get them to do the autopsy now. Evans said accidents are a low priority there. If Hesser staged all of this and has gotten loose, we can’t let him have any more time to get good and clear of us. You know as well as I do, he’ll go after Todd and Cole if he’s free to do so.”

“You really think Carlo would try for revenge right now?”

“I gave up a while ago trying to figure out what makes Hesser tick. He got loose from Bo and the Interpol agents all those months ago and instead of going back into hiding, he came here and proceeded to play cat and mouse with Samuel. The man is ruthless and now he has even more reason to hate Manning. We’ve already established that Kipling and Perkins hid out in Carlo’s compound while Laurence healed. Now all three of them are running loose out there. If Hesser is alive, you know he’ll be trying to reach them. I can just imagine the terror that could land on Llanview if they’re all working together.”

Nora felt a shiver run through her as she envisioned those monsters banded together. “I’ll call the prison. What are you going to do?’

“I’m headed for the prison, I want to get a look at the body. Thanks, Nora.”

She watched as John left. Then she reached for her phone and made the call to the prison. After talking to John, she had a sinking feeling he was onto something. Hesser had died once before and then had reappeared. Could he have perpetrated a con once again?