(Article covers information from the Amazon Prime Series)
The Catskill Mountain Murder Case (tenant) was a police investigation into the deaths of former members of a U.S. Army Military Police unit. The deaths appeared to showed signs of torture and the result of being thrown out of an aircraft flying above the Catskill Mountains, 2 hours north of Manhattan.[1]
The Catskill Police Department was the closest agency to where the bodies were found, but since the initial victim was from New York, the case was handed off to the NYPD and lead detective Gaitano Russo who was working under Lieutenant Drew Marsh.[2] Eventually, Frances Neagley received a tip from Angela Franz of Calvin Franz's death, one of the victims. Neagley assembled Jack Reacher and the surviving members of the unit to tackled the case and avenged them.[1]
Prelude[]
In the 1980's, Shane Langston was a former corrupted detective in NYPD's 3rd precinct, only cared for his own self-interests. When he was the subject of an Internal Affairs Investigation, Langston took early retirement, causing the investigation to halt. Following retirement, Langston recruited fellow corrupted officers such as Pierce, Lennox, Parker, Grant and Brian Collins to join New Age Technologies as its latest Director of Security.[3]
When Malcolm Lavoy authorised and funded Little Wing project, a Surface to Air Missile (SAM) designed to bypass all existing anti-missile defenses, the project was in collaboration with New Age as its developer. A facility in Denver, Colorado manufactured its hardware and the control software chips were developed in New York. Soon, Langston learnt of the project and intended to steal some of the missiles. He conspired with his division to sell it to the highest bidder through arms broker A.M., infamous for selling experimental weapons to terrorists. Langston bribed engineer Russell Johnson to flag some operational chips and marked them as defective by falsifying test records and randomly flagged the guidance chips as faulty.[4]
However, Marlo Burns, Director of Operations started to noticed the unusual amount of corrupt NYPD officers. Burns hired private investigator Tony Swan and pushed him to the security division to detect any illegal activities. When she learnt of the project and Langston's doing, Burns realised the higher ups had no knowledge of the incident and Swan continued to relayed her information about the project and Langston.[4][3] Seeing the large scope of investigation, Swan asked former members of U.S. Army 110th MP Special Investigations Unit: Manuel Orozco, Jorge Sanchez and Calvin Franz for assistance.[4] Franz and Sanchez discovered A.M. who was being wanted by Interpol alongside a list of aliases and hid the information as a precaution in Franz's PO box.[1] The three uncovered the number of missiles that was stolen and how much they were being sold for, they coined the phrase "650 and 100K each". Together, they worked on the case in Lucky's Lounge bar where a waitress Milena took a photo of them as a commemorative token and overheard the exchange between the trio with Swan still maintaining his cover in New Age.[2] Just before their capture, Franz had asked Frances Neagley to help with their case but she is unable to respond due to her busy schedule.[1]
Eventually, their activities were taken noticed by Langston who had his men kidnapped all of them and tortured for information. [2][5] However, none of them spilled any info. Deeming them to be loose ends, Langston has his men fly above Catskill Mountains and dumped their body. Langston tried to bribe Swan to be part of their activity and keep his silence on the matter but was refused, leading him to be killed with his eyeball and thumb extracted in order to bypass biometric security needed to deliver the shipment to A.M. as well as framing Swan to be the culprit.[5] After discovering Burns involvement, Langston offered her cash in exchange for her silence, Burns is forced to take the bribe in order to protect her daughter Jane Burns when her family is threatened should they not take it or compromise Langston's operation. After Franz was killed, Langston decided to look into the surviving members of the unit and had them tracked down and killed due to his suspicion that the entire unit was in on his operation.[6]
In order to covered up his operation, Langston tasked Trevor Saropian, a former criminal released from prison during his time in NYPD to raid the members home and work places saved for Swan's in order to keep the illusion.[1][2] Sometime later, Angela Franz, Franz's widow discovered their house and his private office were ransacked but nothing valuable were taken and the burglar's identity remained unknown. Suspecting Franz to be missing, Angela called the NYPD only to be told it's not abnormal he went missing due to his profession. However, she didn't believe them as it did not match up with what she knew of him. Elsewhere, Saropian arrived at Lucky Lounge's bar and asked Milena if Sanchez had left a digital storage device with her. However, Milena sensed something off about him and did not disclose any information related to the case. After Saropian left, Milena quickly alerted her friends at the bar of the conversation out of fear for her safety.
Events[]
Franz's Body Discovery[]
A week after Franz was missing, his body was discovered by a group of hiking college kids and an investigation was open into his case, headed by Detective Gaitano Russo and supervised by the NYPD's Lieutenant Drew Marsh. In order to keep New Age's involvement in secrecy, Langston bribed Marsh into updating the case's progress with Marsh keeping it hidden from Russo. Meanwhile, Angela was devastated by the news and informed his passing to the remaining members of the unit but only Neagley received the news as the rest were unreachable. In turn, Neagley contacted Jack Reacher through a coded message in his deposits. Reacher contacted Neagley who informed him news of Franz's death and asked him to come to New York. While waiting for his arrival, Neagley compiled a case related to his death and tried to reach David O'Donnell and Karla Dixon but was unable to get in touch due to O'Donnell being in a remote location and Dixon in deep cover.[1]
Before Neagley and Reacher's investigation into the case, Russo investigated Franz's trashed workplace where he recovered a memory card inside a printer. After checking Franz's phone records, he discovered there were multiple calls made to O'Donnell, Sanchez, Swan, Orozco and Neagley but none to Reacher. When Neagley asked Reacher for help in solving Calvin's murder, Russo got alerted when she bought Reacher's plane ticket and started to follow them. Reacher's arrival in New York was alerted to Marsh through Russo. In turn Marsh relayed the information to Langston who sent Saropian to track the pair.[1]
At a local diner in Williamsburg, Reacher was updated on the case and went to Angela for more information. At their household, Reacher learnt the circumstances before Franz was killed, and his raided office and household. Shortly after, they arrived at the office and concluded whoever ransacked was searching for a small item. Neagley deduced he had hidden something inside his PO Box. and the pair discovered Franz's USB Stick. Meanwhile, Saropian discovered their hotel room and ransacked it in his attempt to find any valuable information but was forced to leave empty handed. Shortly after, O'Donnell received news and went to look for Reacher and Neagley at the hotel where they bumped into each other. Inside, Neagley discovered a list of A.M. aliases, a 7 page list of numbers of chips Franz, Orozco and Sanchez had been counting though initially they had no clue on what it stands for.[1]
In an attempt to contact Swan, they travel to his apartment in Queens where they find Swan's dog Maisi dead from dehydration. Reacher theorised Swan had been dead for some time as he would never let Maisi die. Fearing for their teammate's lives, Reacher came to the conclusion someone had a vendetta against the group. Accumulated with unfortunate circumstances, Reacher suggested they head to Atlantic city in search of Sanchez and Orozco.[1]
Atlantic City, New Jersey[]
In airport parking, Reacher met Dixon, the last person to received the news and boarded with the rest of the unit. She rented a car with her fake ID which Saropian noticed and informed Langston of their progress. Saropian was ordered to take them out by the next day. Meanwhile, Dixon looked over the list left behind but was unable to make sense of them. In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the team found Sanchez and Orozco's workplace to be in a similar state as that of Franz's office. Reacher came across a framed photo of Sanchez and Milena in the bar and decided that she was their next lead. They arrived at Lucky's Lounge bar where Reacher and Neagley questioned the whereabouts of Milena while Dixon and O'Donnell are stationed outside. Milena was warned about their presence by the Bartender who distracted the pair. Her escape was noticed by Dixon and O'Donnell, Reacher and Neagley thwart the staff's ambush attempt, and Dixon successfully caught her.[2]
Inside the bar, Milena apologised for her attempts to run away as she recognised their faces from Sanchez's old photos and reassured the bar staff were only looking out for her safety. Milena relayed every information about the trio's last encounter at the bar and the phrase "650 and 100K each". Reacher theorised the term was about the amount of money possibly stolen in a casino without detection. The team traveled to Neptune Casino and speuclated Sanchez and Orozco may have stumbled on the case, as freelance casino security and reached out to Franz for assistance. They met Director of Security David Wright who was familiar with the unit through them. Dixon asked Wright for his help on analyzing the numbers, but was told they didn't mean anything to him. Reacher informed him about a possible case of 65 million dollars gambling scam though Wright assured they had not lost money and all were accounted, but was willing to ask their competitors if they knew anything related to their case.[2]
That night, Saropian and his men tailed Dixon and Reacher in their attempt to ambush. However, the pair had noticed and led them to an construction site where Reacher and Dixon kill them. They found no ID on the bodies, but discover the man's burner phone with Langston's number. Initially unaware of Langston's identity, Reacher called him, only to be warned things wouldn't end well for him. Inside the car, they discovered their profiles and a New Age Technologies parking lot pass which had been stamped yesterday morning. Reacher realised the tailing men were professionals before heading back to the hotel.[2]
The next morning, Reacher and Dixon inform the team about their findings and ordeal at the construction site. Wright updated them Atlantic City P.D. have discovered Sanchez and Orozco's bodies in Catskill Mountain with injuries similar to Franz's and had been there for some time based on decomposition. Additionally, no one had checked into any hotel in the area with the given A.M aliases, and Orozco and Sanchez didn't work for the casino's competitors. When inquired about the scam, the competitors pulled their overnight audits and verified any losses were within acceptable loss margins. Dixon determined the case was centered on New York based on current evidence and facts.[2]
Investigation into New Age Technologies[]
Back in New York, Neagley used Jade East Motel as their hideout. Meanwhile, Russo tracked down the group through a patrolman who had identified their license plate, currently being traced by NYPD. Reacher and O'Donnell went with Russo while Dixon and Neagley was tasked with investigating New Age. When the latter pair arrived at New Age's HQ to ask information in regards to Saropian, Langston was spooked about their visit as they were getting closer to the truth. Langston instructed Burns to hand Saropian's address in an attempt to catch them off guard and killed. Shortly after, Burns decided to take Jane on the run, fearing Langston would now see her as a liability and left behind bag of cash at their home. Elsewhere, Reacher and O'Donnell were brought to the interrogation room by Russo, who told them their efforts were actively interfering with his investigation. Reacher realised he was brought for possible information as he was not processed. He relented and proposed a deal in which they share details, Russo announced they had a suspect through a memory card left in Franz's printer, and revealed Azhari Mahmoud, known to INTERPOL as a weapons broker for terrorist organizations, and Sanchez's notes indicated he was a man of interest. Noticing the name had A.M. initials, Reacher wrote the list from before and told Russo to have DHS flag all of his aliases.[6]
Afterwards, they rejoin Dixon and Neagley in the motel to discuss Saropian's home. Reacher asked Saropian's next door neighbour Barbara Gottlesman and confirmed he still lived there. Knowing they were set up for an ambush, they infiltrated the area after acquiring tools and weapons. Meanwhile, Langston sent Brian Collins, his subordinate to oversee the progress and report results. After killing everyone inside, Reacher spotted Collins who tried to leave. However, Reacher intercepted his escape and attempted to interrogate him only for Collins to succumbed to a heart attack. Shortly after, the team left with Russo rushing to report the scene and took Gottlesman's statement and purposefully misstates their descriptions. Collins's body and his vehicle were recovered. Later, they were confronted by Russo who was appalled at their reckless actions and warned their partnership would only work if their reckless actions stopped putting Russo in a tight spot. Additionally, Russo informed A.M. had never made to the airport which invalidated the list of aliases, and A.M. initials as the man now knew he was being watched. Russo offered to warrant a search into New Age, but warned them to stay put until they hear more from him. Reacher gave Russo their burner number but disregarded his warning as they raided New Age for valuables in H.R, Server Room and Director of Operations office. While looting, Reacher grabbed a photo of the employees. The team burned their disguises and discovered Swan to be one of their employees though they did not know it was his cover.[6]
Later, they sifted through information. O'Donnell suggested Swan may have played a role in tracking them down, Reacher instantly disputed the accusations owing their time together in the unit. Swan was working as Assistant Director of Security, under Langston who Reacher now believed to be the person he contacted back in Atlantic City. They also learnt Collins was Associate Security Officer. Additionally, Neagley suspected Burns knew she was setting them up for ambush back in Saropian's residence. By morning, Neagley discovered Swan had private mails addressed to her, detailing cryptic meanings in the form of "Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold as Love. The 6th song is amazing", Dixon recognised the track as "Little Wing". Immediately recalled a document from before, Reacher pulled out a federal defense project titled Little Wing, the biggest contract New Age had acquired with Lavoy's involvement. O'Donnell suggested to question Lavoy's legislative director Daniel Boyd as they knew details of laws being passed and may have information about the project, and it was a position with no security detail attached.[4]
Elsewhere in New York, Russo was reprimanded by Marsh about the burglary incident as the act had made their department slow behind in their investigation. Marsh blamed Russo for his failure in keeping his watch on them. He ordered Russo to find out the newly acquired information. Shortly after, Reacher tasked Russo of running background checks on New Age's security roster and was informed of their next location.[4]
Back at the motel, they discovered Boyd's criminal past and learnt he would be attending a fundraiser event in Boston. Before departing, Neagley and Dixon head to the Burns house only to found they have fled and discovered the bags of cash left behind.[4]
Project Little Wing[]
In Boston, Massachusetts, Reacher contacted Oscar Finlay for assistance. They devised a plan in which Neagley would oversee the events in the opera where Dixon would lure Boyd and got him arrested while Reacher and O'Donnell posed as FBI agents. During the operation, Reacher oversaw the numbers list and realises what Franz and the others were counting. Eventually, the plan succeeded as Boyd was relocated to Boston PD's interrogation room where he was questioned by Reacher and O'Donnell. Boyd demanded his lawyer but the pair threatened to leak his infidelity and drug use. However, they offered to let the story go in exchange for information about Little Wing. Boyd was initially hesitant but relented after O'Donnell threatened to call his wife. Boyd revealed every information about Little Wing and Lavoy's involvement, helping him greenlight it by burying its proposal under a pile of documents while Lavoy gathered congressional votes. After obtaining needed information, they left.[4]
Meanwhile, Marsh relayed their location to Langston who sent a group of bikers to confront them.[7] They were ambushed but successfully thwarted off their attacks. Reacher recovered the leader's phone and informed Langston his attempt on their lives had failed. Langston tried to bribe him only for Reacher to only demand his life. Later, Dixon and Neagley went to New Age's Colorado facility to sabotage the hardware while he and O'Donnell head to Homeland Security in D.C. where they would learn more about A.M. with his brother's contacts.[4]
In Denver, Neagley and Dixon pose as representatives from DCMA (Defense Contract Management Agency) to survey over the missile shipment, Neagley asked the secretary to see a foreman. They inquired Little Wing shoulder-fired launchers and missiles specs, manufacturing controls and delivery schedules. Upon hearing the last request, he told them all 650 missiles had already been shipped ten minutes prior and handed Dixon the shipment papers. Realising they were too late, Neagley and Dixon quickly leave. Elsewhere, Oleg and 3 other men hired by A.M. was to hijack the truck by using the GPS Langston had provided. Knowing the route, they positioned another truck as if it was disabled, forcing the driver to stop and render aid. As the driver approached, he was killed and disposed by them. At that moment, Dixon and Neagley came across and was fired upon, leaving Oleg to steal the truck and drove towards New York. The pair took out their assailants and anonymously reported the scene to cops. As they tried to get the license, Neagley discovered Swan had apparently authorised its shipment, further contributing the group's suspicion towards him.[8]
Eventually, the shot-up truck was switched with a traile, containing crates of bricks equal to the weight of missiles and launchers, and was planned to dropped in Los Angeles port, as a decoy. The truck was discovered in a filed outside Denver where it is presumed to have been loaded to a private plane and shipped to nearby New York as its skies are heavily watched since the 9/11 attacks.[8]
Elsewhere in Washington, D.C, O'Donnell and Reacher meet two DHS Special Agents Omar Karim and Hernandez. From their intel, A.M. was first spotted in Luxembourg six years prior, helping terrorists acquired experimental nerve gas, but the agents had intercepted the trade and apprehended all terrorists involved except for him. A.M's ideology was money as he only helped the highest bidder to obtain experimental or advanced weaponry and used them for many purposes. Reacher and O'Donnell realised the buy was to occur with bearer bonds, a financial instrument for tax evaders and money launderers. The form of payment had been discontinued by the Treasury Department in the 1980s but other countries still used them. Reacher realised A.M would use bonds as he could transport millions in a briefcase without revealing the identity of the bondholder and was likely to make the payment in person rather than sending a third party.[8]
Afterwards, Neagley and Dixon called Reacher and O'Donnell to inform them of their situation. Sometime after, Reacher was picked up by Malcolm Lavoy's agents Seaver and Hart. Lavoy offered his resources in assisting with their case, to avoid exposure of his wrongdoings.[8]
Closing in on Langston[]
At Franz's funeral, they were attacked by two snipers employed by Langston under the guise of Swan. They killed one while Reacher captured the other with Russo's help. They found he was to meet his employers in an abandoned building in Queens. They coerced him to play along and implanted a listening device and threatened to kill him if he exposed them. The sniper entered the building only to be killed in the explosion.[8] Following after, NYPD responded to the scene and Russo learnt the building was rigged with tripwired IEDs and only the sniper's body was found with no signs of Swan or his employers. Russo concluded someone had military training in setting up the explosion and presumed Swan's plan was to have them killed in the building while taking out the sniper in the playground. Shortly after, Russo was informed Burns's car was found abandoned in north of Manhattan near Cortland and relayed this to the group. [3]
They arrived and discovered Burns's car was left near a convenience store. Checking the building's security footage, Neagley determined she could find the family's location with Jane's Nintendo Switch and tracked them down to her friend Chad's residence. Elsewhere, Russo confirmed Marsh had been bribed by Langston.[3]
At Chad's residence, they learnt of Swan's connection with Burns and affirmed his innocence, New Age's lack of involvement with Little Wing aside from its security division, Burns's reason of going into hiding with her daughter, and Swan's further discoveries on Little Wing in which operational chips were marked as defective and to be sold due to an engineer but not before they demonstrate on how to install the chip first. Taking advantage of her connection, Reacher had her arranged a meeting with Langston in an abandoned location and planned to ambush him. [3]
Beforehand, Reacher tasked Russo with protecting Jane who he planned to escort to his cousin's house in Staten Island. At the meeting, they prepared their ambush but it was undone as Russo called Reacher about his pursuit by Langston's men. Langston realised the meeting was a setup from Burns's reaction and rushed to kill her though Reacher and the others intercepted. Reacher ordered the others to assist Russo while he remained behind and killed the men present in the meeting saved for Langston who escaped in a helicopter. Elsewhere, Russo realised he was cornered and told Jane to flee while he provided cover. Russo was critically wounded but not before taking out 2 men. The last of Langston's men, Grant, cornered Jane but Neagley severely injured him by running him over with the car. Neagley instructed O'Donnell to call for an ambulance but Russo succumbed to his wound.[3] The group flee the scene though weren't aware the ambulance had recovered a severely injured Grant.[7]
Dixon and O'Donnell's Abduction[]
After the shootout, they converged back in Jade East Motel. Neagley suggested to shelter the Burns in Margrave, but Reacher objected, citing Lavoy had found out their roles in the counterfeiting operation 2 years prior, suggesting Langston might also found them, and did not want to endanger Roscoe or the Burns. Dixon offered to hide them in her private residence in Buffalo, only reachable through her cell phone as it was in a non-local area code and trusted her landlord with their safety. Reacher tasked O'Donnell and Dixon with the Burns's safety while him and Neagley confronted Marsh.[7]
At Marsh's residence, Reacher found him attempting to flee with the bribed money but Marsh was pinned against the wall. Marsh was forced to give up Grant's survival and had been taken to intensive care unit and had info related to his case. After interrogation, Marsh tried to grab for the gun but was shot in the head by Reacher. Heading towards the hospital, the pair disguised themselves as nurses and tracked down Grant who was forced to give up the timing of the meeting after being subjected to torture. Afterwards, Reacher forced an embolism, by injecting air into his IV and bloodstream as payback for killing Russo and his attempt on Jane's life. On their way out, they killed one of Langston's assassins, posing as a nurse and ordered to kill Grant who Langston deemed as a loose end.[7]
At the parking lot, Reacher called Langston, learning he had captured Dixon and O'Donnell through Russo's GPS in his car and demanded the pair to surrender themselves to a R&D facility in Rockland County. Reacher decides to fake Neagley's death, claiming the assassin had successfully killed her but was then slain by Reacher. Langston threatens to kill O'Donnell and Dixon if he alerts the authorities, Reacher promises to arrive later in the night as not to draw police's attention to the meeting location and demands proof of life upon arrival. After the call, Neagley warns Reacher that Langston will know her body won't be at the coroner but he assures her that he had bought them time. Reacher immediately calls Lavoy and asks for his security team's assistance.[7]
Outside the R&D facility, Reacher and Neagley oversee the premises and noticed it was secured. After overseeing the area, Reacher took a pin, holding New Age's binder from their loot in the company's New York HQ.[7]
The Final Confrontation[]
After Reacher turned himself in, Langston was informed Neagley's corpse was never recovered. Realising his ruse, Langston attempted to torture him and others for information but Reacher refused to gave in. In his attempt to break the group's spirit, Langston revealed Swan's fate, and his investigation into their operation before being killed, and shown Swan's detached eye as evidence and revealed he had taken his body parts in order to pass New Age's security before disposing him. Realizing time was running out, Langston ordered Parker and Lennox to load O'Donnell and Dixon on the chopper.[5]
Meanwhile, Neagley and Lavoy's security formed their own distractions with the former by blaring music outside and the latter cutting power to the facility. Successfully breaking in, the offensive group began to kill any hostiles on sight, Reacher broke free of his cuffs with the pin and assisted the group before chasing after the chopper, boarded by Langston and Parker. On the chopper, Dixon is prepared to be thrown overboard but Reacher is able to climb in and tackled Parker and Langston with O'Donnell's assistance. Parker was killed by Dixon and Langston was thrown overboard by Reacher as revenge for his deceased unit members. Dixon threatened the pilot who offered to take them to the meeting. Sometime later, they arrived at Russell Johnson's house and took Russell and the pilot captive in the barn.[5]
Short time later, A.M. arrived with Oleg who had transported the missiles to New York, but was confronted by the unit. Oleg and A.M. were both killed for their crimes, and the bearer bonds were recovered. They interrogated Russell and the pilot who were both complacent in Langston's plan. They opted to let them go to the chopper but was killed by Neagley with a Little Wing missile when it flown over Hudson River. Seeing Little Wing worked, Lavoy's security betrayed them as they were ordered to silence anyone who had knowledge of Lavoy's complacency. However, Reacher had anticipated this and called Karim who apprehended both Lavoy and his security detail. Before departing, Omar asked for the bonds only for Reacher to feign ignorance and they walked away.[5]
Aftermath[]
The bearer bonds were distributed to the victim's families: Angela, Milena, Orozco's sister, Anthony Russo, Gaitano's brother and a portion to an animal shelter in the name of Swan's dog Maisi. With the remaining money left, Reacher dedicated a portion to O'Donnell's children, Neagley's father who was provided with around-the-clock medical care from Chicago Home Health, and Dixon who was given her own Delaware LLC. The unit spent their last night together, commemorating their fallen friends and comrades before departing back home and Reacher left to wander once more.[5]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Reacher, Season 2, "ATM".
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Reacher, Season 2, "What Happens in Atlantic City".
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Reacher, Season 2, "New York's Finest".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Reacher, Season 2, "A Night at the Symphony".
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Reacher, Season 2, "Fly Boy".
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Reacher, Season 2, "Picture Says a Thousand Words".
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Reacher, Season 2, "The Man Goes Through".
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Reacher, Season 2, "Burial".
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