A Hitman For Hire Gets Half The Money Up Front.

SOMEWHERE ON THE COAST IN NEW ENGLAND

I'm beginning to piece everything together.  

Andrei Wolfgang Morozov, the hitman Sophie splattered, was no slouch in the close-knit world of international troublemakers.

Andrei existed in the "World Class" category of people who get bad things done. The belief is Morozov pulled in "Top Dog" pay for assignments, and the rumors of his starting price, three million dollars, separated lucrative offers from frivolous ones. 

Before his last assignment in Stratham, New Hampshire, Morozov kerplunked an American businessman in London while he ate the beans in his full English breakfast.

Scotland Yard assumed a Russian Oligarch floating in the Mediterranean Sea on a yacht that would require two zip codes in America issued the order to kill the man in London. Getting to him would not be easy.

Other killings associated with Andrei include deaths in Marseille, Brussels, Moscow, and Barcelona, where Morozov eliminated the whole family of an international money launderer while they celebrated The Feast Of Sant Joan.

What a charming, hard worker who puts a premium on family time.

Stratham, New Hampshire, seems out of place, doesn't it?

Stratham is a fifty-five-minute drive north of Boston in New Hampshire. It's a former farm community with green fields, expensive houses, and no crime.  My friend Ron Strier built a quiet life in the quiet town, writing tickets for out-of-towners with burned-out taillights. Morozov didn't expect a nice place like Stratham to be the last stop in life.

Whoever wanted Tanner dead and the computer paid a hefty price and they didn't get what they wanted. 

The standard deal from clean-up hitters like Morozov includes half the money upfront and the remainder upon completion of the job, which was the norm acceptable to both parties.

Paying someone that much money to move things like a small computer is an expensive gamble. This brings up questions in my little mind.

Thousands of people worldwide would have done this easy task for thirty thousand dollars; why would someone pay three million?

The buyer could not afford to fail is the answer. They needed the computer at any cost.

Why?

Stratham is a geographical anomaly, an outlier. It is not like the word locations that Andrei spent time in. 

The location and logistics Stratham, New Hampshire, presented to Andrei created problems only solvable by deep pockets.

After the recent London hit, Morozov's image appeared at multiple surveillance points, including the usual facial recognition spots and Andrei's face on INTERPOL's Red List meant his photo appeared at almost every law enforcement agency worldwide. 

Flights, passports, rental cars, hotels, and credit cards are not the easiest to navigate when your mug is on the Red List. Every bit of travel presented a risk for the hitman.

The expensive communication gear found on Andrei's body, a satellite headset, allowed Morozov to speak with an operations director anywhere in the world in real time. Sophie mentioned Andrei spoke with someone through the headset before leaving her father's home office. She did not know the language she heard.

Strier said, "The communications gear came from China like everything else does these days."

Ron also said the "Fed Techs started having nerdgasms when they figured out the headset did not include alien technology." It was all new to them.

Ron went on "Not to be outdone by China the high-quality military grade firearm and the suppressor Andrei held came from Russia.."

The mid-size rental car found a mile from the Tanner home was traced back to a rental counter in New York. A review of the video showed a young Asian man, a woman, and a small child renting the car. 

We have a dead Russian and two dead Afghanis who were on the Chinese payroll. The China Angle is stronger than the Moscow angle.

I think I'll eat more General Tso's chicken for lunch today.