A Dubious Crime (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 9) Read online

  A Dubious

  Crime

  A COLTON BANYON MYSTERY #9

  Gerald J. Kubicki &

  Kristopher Kubicki

  Copyright © 2014 Gerald J. Kubicki & Kristopher Kubicki

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 9781499766462

  ISBN-10: 1499766467

  This book is dedicated to Karen Gersch

  Other Books by Gerald J Kubicki

  A Dubious Mission

  A Dubious Secret

  A Dubious Dream

  A Dubious Terrain

  A Dubious Plan

  A Dubious Artifact

  A Dubious Position

  A Dubious Curse

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  Part One

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Part Two

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Part Three

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Part Four

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Part Five

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  Chapter Seventy

  Chapter Seventy-One

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  Chapter Seventy-Three

  Chapter Seventy-Four

  Part Six

  Chapter Seventy-Five

  Chapter Seventy-Six

  Chapter Seventy-Seven

  Chapter Seventy-Eight

  Chapter Seventy-Nine

  Chapter Eighty

  Chapter Eighty-One

  Part Seven

  Chapter Eighty-Two

  Chapter Eighty-Three

  Chapter Eighty-Four

  Chapter Eighty-Five

  Chapter Eighty-Six

  Chapter Eighty-Seven

  Chapter Eighty-Eight

  Chapter Eighty-Nine

  Part Eight

  Chapter Ninety

  Chapter Ninety-One

  Chapter Ninety-Two

  Chapter Ninety-Three

  Chapter Ninety-Four

  Chapter Ninety-Five

  Epilogue

  Special Author’s Note

  Author’s Notes

  Acknowledgements

  Bonus Reading from My Next Book,

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  About the Author

  Prologue

  It was late summer, August 25th, 1947, to be precise. The location was the bustling city of Washington D.C. The capital was booming with activity. The Second World War had been over for two years, but there was still much cleanup and recovery to be done. Additionally there was the threat of a new menace. It was called communism. Both issues kept the current President and his advisors very busy.

  The White House stood in regal splendor, with fresh-cut green lawns and flowering bushes accenting the President’s residence. The skies above were clear, blue and calm. The temperature hovered in the comfortable mid-eighties. It was a picture perfect day in the nation’s capital.

  The teeming flow of tourists who lined the streets around the White House were fashionably dressed and didn’t seem to have a care in the world. As they passed the center of the free world, they were awed by the strong sense of serenity, peace and power that radiated from the White House. America had not only won the war, but was poised to enter a period of unprecedented economic growth. Cars running on now abundant rubber tires streamed up and down the streets of the capital. Shortages were a thing of the past. The future was looking good outside the White House, but inside, it was a different story.

  Two men sat in leather chairs outside the oval office waiting for the President to call them into a meeting. They were both reluctant advisors to the president and they were very different.

  One wore the freshly pressed uniform of a General in the Army. He had a long history in the American war machine and had fought in the Pacific during the World War II. He was not afraid to speak his mind. He was invited to represent the military point of view and was heavily influenced by the desires of the still vast military complex headquartered in the newly built Pentagon across the river. He was the liaison sent from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to attend the meeting. His name was General Ernest Gray.

  The other man was also a veteran of the Great War, but had spent his fighting time in southern Europe. He was highly educated with degrees from both Harvard and Princeton in economics and history. His swarthy, southern Italian looks, combined with his slicked backed hair and fine custom tailored blue suit, with highly polished shoes, made him look like a car salesman. But he was actually second in command of the newly formed Central Intelligence Agency. It had been created by law a month earlier, on July 26th, 1947, as part of the National Security act of 1947. His name was Gerald Jones.

  Both men were there at the request of the President, Harry S. Truman. His motto was “The Buck Stops Here”. The current President did not like that congress had legislated who could advise him on matters of national security so he therefore kept the newly formed National Security Council in the dark and instead, gathered advice from people he trusted and from people who would give him both sides of the issue to consider. The President believed that he was a fair man. The two men in the outer office had never been to a meeting with the President before but they represented opposite points of view. The topic today was the volatile issue of immunity for war crimes.

  “Well, your boy has really done it this time,” Jones addressed General Gray sarcastically from across the room.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” the General repl
ied tersely.

  “Come on,” a frustrated Jones replied has he flapped his arms. “MacArthur has, once again, over stepped his boundaries. Even you have to admit that.”

  “You must be referring to the letter he wrote on May 6th, 1947 to the President,” General Gray replied knowing full well what Jones referred to. It was the reason that they were called to the White House.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Jones admitted. “The letter makes no sense and will rile up the populace if it gets out.”

  “He did what is best for the country,” the General said smugly.

  “How is letting acknowledged war criminals go free any good for the country?” Jones argued. “We have tons of documented reports that say these criminals are responsible for hundreds of thousands of murders. Answer that, General!” They had just started their conversation but Jones was already red-faced and agitated. Sweat was building inside his expensive suit.

  “Because they have something that we want,” the General patiently replied as he picked at a piece of lint on his freshly pressed pants leg. “Something which could help us continue to be victors in wars of the future.”

  Jones now burst into a tirade. “MacArthur has upstaged the President before. He granted immunity to Emperor Hirohito, his family and several top Japanese officials; didn’t he? Think of all the death camps and the soldiers who we lost because of those morons. The American people want revenge.”

  “I’m not making excuses for them. But they have things that we want,” the General restated.

  “You know that nothing happened on foreign soil without the Emperor’s permission during the war. He was directly responsible for these atrocities. He knew all about these insane criminals and approved of them.”

  “This doesn’t have anything to do with the Emperor, Jones,” the General replied patiently.

  “MacArthur even addresses him as The Emperor Shōwa. He shows more respect for the Emperor than his own President.” Jones snorted.

  “It was necessary to absolve the Emperor to maintain peace in Japan and control the populace,” General Gray replied evenly. “If the Emperor had not broken the tie in the war cabinet, and voted for peace, we might still be fighting the war mongers. Besides, McArthur has stripped the Emperor of all his power. He is just a figurehead now.”

  “Okay, but these guys we are discussing today are different. They are cold blooded murderers. They conducted experiments on innocent people and killed them just to see how long it took them to die.” Jones persisted. “If that’s not a war crime, what is?” Jones was now standing and impatiently pacing around the room.

  “But they have something that we want,” General Gray repeated remaining calm.

  “You know what I think,” Jones said as he pointed an angry finger at the General. “I think MacArthur is doing all this for political reasons.”

  “What? That’s crazy,” the General dismissed the notion with a wave of his hand. “MacArthur is a loyal dedicated soldier. He knows nothing else. Let’s not turn this into a political issue.”

  “He is a world class conniver,” Jones exploded. “The presidential elections will take place in 1948. Do you know that MacArthur is planning on running as a Republican? He will be running against Harry.”

  “Well there is a rumor that some people want to draft him for the nomination,” General Gray admitted.

  “And wouldn’t it be convenient if the people of America saw Truman as soft by pardoning a bunch of asshole mass killers,” Jones said with more sarcasm.

  “Truman is not a weak president,” the General replied angrily. “He dropped two Atomic bombs on Japan. He has more balls than you or I do.”

  “And MacArthur disagreed with that,” the agitated Jones pointed out. “I’m telling you that he has been trying to upstage President Truman for some time now.”

  “But MacArthur is not the person that is even recommending the immunity. He has merely endorsed the findings of Special Representative Fell, who interviewed the nut-job Lieutenant General Shiro Ishii,” the General argued. “It is his recommendation that we give him immunity.”

  “Why him?”

  “Ishii is the one who headed up the research at unit 731 in China. He headed the research center for almost ten years,” the General explained

  “So, why give him immunity?” Jones demanded. “We should burn him on a stake.”

  “As I have tried to tell you several times,” the General said with expiration. “Ishii has the complete records of all the experiments conducted at unit 731. He has promised to pass them over to us if he is granted immunity.”

  “Yeah… records of the people he slaughtered,” Jones huffed.

  “Records of the experiments they conducted. They studied bio-chemical disease, effects of extreme weather conditions, damage caused by weaponry, surgeries, and other things over many years at Unit 731. He has a lot of conclusive data which we could not get, for humanitarian reasons, any other way. The people are already dead, that’s true, but the information from the experiments could prove very important in saving lives in the future,” the General told Jones.

  “Americans want revenge for all these atrocities, not coddling.”

  The General paused for a few seconds. “Ever heard of ‘Operation Paper Clip’? The General countered. “You know where we liberated many German scientists at the end of the European campaign. Many were Nazis. Some of them worked on our atomic bomb programs. You know the ones we dropped on Japan.”

  “It’s not the same,” a frustrated Jones declared even though he was not sure.

  “Look, we may have just finished a huge war, but we will have more wars to come and maybe very soon. Just look at Korea, it’s a complete mess. How long before war breaks out there? Maybe the research will help prevent unnecessary deaths from upcoming wars. That’s why it is worthwhile to make Ishii immune.”

  “Hmm, I didn’t consider that,” Jones said sheepishly.

  “Then there is the Soviet Union. They want to be allowed to interrogate Ishii. If they do, he will surely make a deal with them. When we start our next conflict, they will have the advantage of all that data. Do you want that?”

  “I hadn’t considered that,” Jones admitted.

  “Your oldest son might be fighting in the next war. Wouldn’t you want the best chance of keeping him alive? As repugnant as it may seem, we need to get Ishii and some of his staff into our labs and see if any of his conclusions have a chance of saving American lives. We owe it to our children.”

  “I would not want my son to experience the horrors I have seen,” Jones said as he hung his head as he remembered his war career.

  “Look, we’ll give him immunity, bring him over to a secure location in the USA and have him produce the data from the experiments. After we take all we can from him, we’ll cut him loose,” the General reasoned. “Then you can seek revenge.”

  “The thought of giving war criminals immunity is loathsome to me, but at this point I’m more concerned about the safety of our future generations,” Gerald Jones admitted sadly. “I too believe that there will be more wars in the future.”

  “Good, are we in agreement then?” The General asked.

  “Yes,” the CIA man replied.

  The President’s secretary soon approached the men. “The President will see you now,” she said. The two men entered the oval office and recommended Ishii and several other leading Japanese captives be granted immunity.

  Part One

  Unit 731

  Chapter One

  The initial meeting of the major project took place in the middle of the summer of 1935. The meeting room was steamily hot in the late afternoon. Dust could be seen floating in the room. The shades had been drawn to prevent snooping eyes and not allowing for any breeze. This was a secret planning meeting.

  The man who was in charge of the meeting stood at the head of the conference table. He remained at rigid attention as the other men filed into the room. He had not moved a muscle nor acknowledged
anyone as they took their seats. He stared at the wall at the end of the long narrow room. To him, this was the beginning of a glorious path and he wanted to show everyone he was in control.

  Before the meeting, he had ritualistically shaved his head. He thought it made himself look wiser and tougher. He saw himself as a man of heavy discipline. He did, however, sport a small black mustache like many leaders of his day, like one of those leaders whom he admired. He was dressed in an immaculate, freshly pressed, army uniform with several decorations adorning his small chest. Around his torso hung a huge sword, secured around his waist by a red sash. The long samurai sword almost reached the ground. But the leader made up for his short, five foot stature by attempting to radiate divine authority. He believed his will was stronger than everyone in the room. He displayed a perpetual scowl on his oval face and stood as rigid as possible. The small round eyeglasses made him look intelligent, but he did not expect to impress the men attending the meeting with his knowledge. His goal was more important than that. His goal was to intimidate everyone in the room.

  To ensure his success, once the chairs were filled, he had ordered three armed guards to stand inside the locked room, with bayonets attached to their rifles. They stood at attention, with their rifles at the ready. It was not lost on the men in the room.

  He surveyed the room and counted the men sitting at attention around the big conference table. Today, there were sixteen concerned men, all with medical degrees. Just a few months ago the men were common, every day doctors spread throughout the “Land of the Rising Sun”, but today they were all members of the celebrated Kwantung division of the Imperial army. They had all been drafted into the organization.

  He knew these men were more comfortable sitting on the floors of their homes, and comforting sick and injured people, but their expertise was now needed by the Imperial government. Their future roles and lives would be more difficult. He needed to teach the men the discipline which was required for them to achieve their destiny. As a result, his invitation letter demanded they sit at attention around the conference table in the center of Tokyo, Japan. Talking was forbidden, until called upon. Discipline was the cornerstone of the modern Japanese army and the leader was considered a battle hardened veteran. He knew he could mold them into loyal military personal. He held the power to bend the men in the room to his will. After a few minutes to create drama he spoke softly to the men in the room.