Can You Solve This Great Mystery? Many Seem Unable To Do So.

Part of my legal career was spent as a prosecutor.  The district attorney who I worked for gave me the ability to operate as I saw fit. His belief was that he hired attorneys with enough brains and skills that they could  handled matters assigned or what they got themselves involved in without any interference from him. His approached worked well because most were self-motivated and capable.

Capable. That’s a word often used by the gangsters when talking about someone who could well take care of himself among the fellow gangsters which usually meant he had the wherewithal to murder someone else either by himself, in the company of others, or by having people killed for him. As a prosecutor because of the freedom given me I liked to investigate these type criminals using various forms of electronic surveillance.

Some situations were not amenable to that so we had to use our human resources. That would mean we used undercover police officers or former gangsters who had seen the light, usually the light came from looking at a long prison sentence, who decided to assist us in some of our work.

The mystery I speak of comes from dealing with a former gangster named Jeremy. We had done a wiretap and produced evidence to convict Jeremy of a conspiracy to murder a guy named Vincent. It was one of those conspiracies that really would have been a murder except the man Jeremy sent out to do the hit had either a faulty gun or ammunition. When he pointed the gun toward Victor’s chest from a distance of four or five feet all the Victor felt was pressure from the discharge and what he described as some bbs hitting him. Victor then told how he quickly ran away.

The incident took place in Rhode Island. The planning for it took place in my country. That’s why it was only prosecuted as a conspiracy. In discussions prior to trial I told Jeremy’s attorney my recommendation was going to be 20 years in prison. Jeremy was one of those tough guys who couldn’t do time, well maybe a year or so, but when he heard 20 he decided to assist me in going after the leader of the local family, Gerry, who operated out of an office on Pr—- Street.

Jeremy was a trusted member of Gerry’s family. We knew we could get the evidence we needed if we wired him up and sent him into Gerry’s office. That we did.

Jeremy told us before going in that Gerry had heard he had criticized him in his discussions with other members of the family. He heard that Gerry was not too happy with him. That was why he tried to have Vincent, a guy Gerry didn’t like, killed. He hoped that would smooth over the waters.

Jeremy followed by our top undercover guy John S. walked down Pr—- Street. John S. saw him walk into Gerry’s office. He noted the time. It was just before one in the afternoon.

Other undercover guys had been placed throughout the neighborhood earlier in the day.  The plan was after he had the talk with Gerry he’d come out, hook up with John S., and they’d be quickly brought back to my office.

The hours passed. We never took our eyes off Gerry’s office. Jeremy didn’t come out.

While waiting I was told that earlier that day some members of Gerry’s family from out-of-state had arrived in two black vans. These were parked in a garage besides Gerry’s office. Our guys watched as the vans left the office a couple of hours after Jeremy walked in.

We covered Gerry’s business until he left for the day at about five thirty. After he did we gained entrance to it. Jeremy was not there.

That is the mystery. We could never figure out what happened to Jeremy. Any ideas?