The following day, Yuto made a phone call to the FBI Los Angeles field office before going to Rob’s house.
He asked to be transferred to Jefferson, an agent to whom he had been referred by Heiden, and asked the man about Rob Connors.
“Rob Connors? You mean the professor?” Jefferson said. “He’s still young, but a solid academic. He’s a little eccentric, but he’s trustworthy. If I remember correctly, it was thanks to Connors’ help that we caught the serial killer in the Burbank murders last year.”
“He says he doesn’t want to help the FBI anymore. Did something happen?”
Jefferson hesitated for a moment before answering. “I think I know why,” he murmured. “In the Burbank case, Connors narrowed down the suspect type through profiling, but the FBI ignored his input because it didn’t match with the evidence at the scene. Ultimately Connors was right, but the delay ended up resulting in more casualties. Connors was furious, and apparently he said that the FBI should just disappear altogether for the good of society, or something like that.”
Yuto couldn’t imagine calm Rob flying into a rage, but he could understand the man getting angry – not because he had been brushed off, but because the FBI’s negligence had resulted in more victims.
Although it was low of him to toy with Yuto and make fun of him for agreeing to a kiss in exchange for information, he wasn’t an outright bad man. Yuto decided that it would be safe to disclose some details of the investigation to Rob, and ask for his help.
As promised, Yuto arrived at Rob’s house at three o’clock.
“Hey, Yuto, great to see you. Come on in.” Rob greeted Yuto with a refreshing smile, as if nothing had happened yesterday. “How’d you sleep last night?”
“Like a baby, thanks,” Yuto said curtly as he sat down on the sofa.
“Are you still angry?” Rob asked with a concerned look.
“Yes, I’m angry. I’m not the type of guy who can smile and carry on conversation with a guy who tried to come on to me and get me to kiss him for laughs, alright?”
Rob sat down across from Yuto, looking offended.
“Sure, I was joking when I asked you for a kiss. But I wasn’t lying when I said I’d taken a liking to you. I really am attracted to you. I wish we could be more than friends, to be honest.”
Rob seemed to seize the opportunity to lay the compliments on thick, but Yuto was having none of it.
“Rob, let me make this clear. Please don’t try to flirt with me. I think I can be friends with you, but not more than that.”
“Are you sure? Maybe if I try hard enough, you’ll start to see things differently. You never know what life might bring. Don’t pigeonhole yourself, and just relax and go with the flow,” Rob said with a sly smile. Yuto shook his head.
“You’re so optimistic, it’s infuriating.”
“Yup. My positive attitude is one of my biggest virtues.”
Yuto started afresh and jumped into the main topic. “I want you to keep your promise and tell me about Nathan.”
“Wait a minute,” said Rob, putting his hand up. “I’ll tell you everything I know about Nathan, but before we get into it, I want to hear about your history. Yesterday you said something strange… that you used to be in prison.”
Yuto had brought the topic up yesterday to pique Rob’s interest. He thought it had ended in a dud, but Rob had surprisingly remembered it.
“I want to know more about you. I’ve never heard of an ex-convict turned FBI agent. If I recall correctly, it’s one of the requirements to be an investigator not to have any moral faults. How did someone with a criminal record pass the examination?”
Yuto decided to trust Rob and gave him a brief summary of his past – his previous stint as a DEA agent; how he had been imprisoned on false pretenses; his release from prison; and how he had been headhunted by the FBI. Rob didn’t seem to be satisfied with all the holes in Yuto’s story, however, and threw him a sharp question once he was finished talking.
“There are too many things that don’t make sense about your story. Why were you transferred from New York all the way to California? And when your partner’s real murderer was found along with decisive evidence – I know he confessed to it, but your retrial and innocent verdict was passed more quickly than I’ve ever seen. Something smells fishy. Not to mention why the FBI would headhunt someone like you, with all of your past issues.”
Rob spoke rapidly and astutely, his expression severe. When he wasn’t smiling, he looked even more like an intellectual.
“Sorry, but I don’t have the time to listen to half-baked made up stories. If you’re saying this is true, then I want you to tell me everything without omitting any details.”
It looked like Yuto wasn’t going to get Nathan’s story unless he told the truth. Yuto took a deep breath and girded himself.
“Fine. I’ll tell you everything. But I want you to promise that you absolutely won’t tell anyone.”
“I promise,” Rob said promptly. “I won’t tell a soul, no matter what you tell me. I can sign a written oath, if you want.”
“No need. I trust you.”
It was impossible to explain his history without mentioning Nathan. Figuring he would only paint himself into a corner if he tried to cover up parts of it, Yuto decided to lay bare his entire story, including the parts he had kept vague in his previous telling.
He told Rob about the bomb attacks happening across America and their connection to a mysterious cult; about Corvus, who had been impersonating Nathan as he kept a low profile in prison; and finally, about how Corvus had taken advantage of the riots and had escaped from prison with the help of the warden.
“The warden was found dead,” Yuto said. “It was probably Corvus’ doing.”
Rob’s grimace was even more pronounced than before. Yuto was worried, wondering if the outrageous nature of the story had made Rob lose even more faith in him.
“Rob, I’m not lying. Please believe me. I need to find Corvus no matter what it takes. Will you please tell me about Nathan?”
At Yuto’s plea, Rob appeared to snap back to the present.
“Ah, no, it’s not that I was doubting you,” he said, his face relaxing. “On the contrary, I found it quite entertain―ah, I mean, fascinating.”
“This is a photo of Nathan when he was arrested.” From his suit pocket, Yuto took out the photo he had borrowed from the LAPD and handed it to Rob. “Look carefully at his face and tell me if this is the Nathan you know. Do you think it’s someone else who’s had plastic surgery to look like Nathan?”
Rob looked at the photo for a long time. “Hmm,” he said. “Now that you mention it, he does look a little different. To be honest, I’ve only met Nathan in person three times, so this photo isn’t enough for me to go off of. But I’ll believe you. Nathan isn’t the leader, though. He was following orders from the organization.”
Yuto was taken aback at the sudden reveal of new information that went to the heart of the matter.
“What were you and Nathan, exactly? It’s your turn to talk, now.” Now they were getting into the meat of the story. Yuto steeled himself and waited for Rob’s words.
“Give me a sec,” Rob said as he left the living room. After a while, he returned holding a laptop. “I’m going to play you video footage of Nathan. I filmed it while I was interviewing him.”
“Interviewing him?
“Let me explain from the beginning. About six months before Nathan got arrested for killing his mother, I conducted this lecture about the horrors of mind control and brainwashing. I forgot to mention, I also do research in psychology. Anyway, at the lecture, I explained in laymen’s terms about what actions are used to control people’s behaviours, ideologies, and emotions, using real-life examples of crimes and cults.”
Yuto listened intently, eager to catch every word.
“Apparently, Nathan was coincidentally at that lecture. He phoned me later at my university office. He said that he belonged to a certain cult, but felt like what he was doing was wrong. He couldn’t see a way to leave the cult and wanted to know what he could do.”
Yuto couldn’t help but clench his fist. The cult he was talking about had to be White Heaven. Nathan had been part of Corvus’ outfit after all. This fact alone was worth the trip to LA.
“I was intrigued and decided to meet with Nathan,” Rob continued. “After we met twice and broke the ice, I invited him to my house and interviewed him here. I promised I wouldn’t divulge what he said to the police, and I would only use the information for my own research purposes. It took a lot of effort on my part to convince him. Are you ready? Here it is.”
Rob tapped some keys to open a video player. The footage appeared immediately.
“Your name is?” asked Rob’s voice from off-screen. A nervous-looking man sitting on the sofa replied.
“Nathan. Nathan Clark,” he said.
“That’s Nathan. Is he different from the guy you met in prison?” Rob asked. Yuto nodded.
“Yeah. He looks like him, but his stature and voice are different.”
“What is the name of the organization you belong to?”
“White Heaven. ―Hey, promise me you won’t tell anyone, alright? If anyone finds out I blabbed to you, I’m done for.” Nathan’s eyes were full of genuine fear.
“It’ll be fine. I want you to relax. What kind of organization is White Heaven? Do you have religious teachings that you follow?”
“It’s not a religious group, it’s an ideological one. We’re a gathering of volunteers who are trying to reform society, and we’re not afraid to resort to military force to do it. Based on the teachings of our great leader, we take on corrupt politics and the capitalistic society―”
Nathan droned on about the organization’s raison d’être and its objectives as if reading from a textbook. However, to Yuto, it sounded like nothing more than a selfish excuse for antisocial people to take out their dissatisfaction and frustration by engaging in terrorism.
“How can anyone be brainwashed by an ideology like this?” Yuto furrowed his brow incredulously.
“It’s not as hard as you think,” Rob said with a grin. “Listen to Nathan’s story to the end. Outrageous doesn’t even come close to describing this group.”
“Let’s take a break. I’ll make us some coffee,” Rob said as he stood up, ever attentive. Yuto was sitting with his arms folded, deep in thought. Once he was alone, he gave a deep sigh and fell back against the sofa.
The interview had lasted about one hour. It was a goldmine, to say the least. He had been able to obtain a mound of information on White Heaven, having gone in with nothing.
Drugs were a large source of revenue for White Heaven. Nathan had confessed that he had dabbled in dealing cocaine on orders from the group. He had been a mule of sorts, transporting the large amount of drugs smuggled in through Mexico to LA.
Yuto also found that most of the founding members of White Heaven were MSC (Military School for Security Cooperation) graduates. According to Nathan’s testimony, apparently the leader – Corvus – was a graduate as well.
The MSC was a military training camp located in Texas. Although it was federally authorized and was being operated legally, Yuto knew little about its true picture.
His mind was confused from being overloaded with so much information simultaneously. He needed to ask a specialist like Rob to give him a rundown and organize the information he had obtained.
When Rob returned with fresh coffee, Yuto took a mug and thanked him.
“What’s wrong? You look glum. Didn’t find anything useful in Nathan’s story?”
“Quite the contrary, actually. I didn’t think I’d be able to strike such a goldmine. I’m just having trouble catching up. About MSC, though – I don’t hear good things about them. What’s the purpose of their operations?”
“Outwardly, it’s a support organization that aims to protect peace and human rights. Anyone can join the camp as long as you pay the enrolment fees and pass the screening. They say the training is for peacekeeping and disaster rescue, but it’s more like a terrorist training camp.”
Yuto was familiar with the rumour. It came from the fact that many Latin American graduates of the MSC went on to be infamous dictators or national terrorists.
“That camp receives financial assistance from the government. It was established during the Cold War to shore up other countries’ militaries, under the banner of stamping out the left-wing guerrilla forces in Latin America. In other words, it was to control Latin America and prevent its shift to socialism. The legacy of a dark history, if you will. I’m guessing White Heaven must have ties to the government.”
“I don’t think so,” Yuto said.
“How can you be sure?”
Yuto hesitated. “I didn’t mention this before, but the CIA is trying to assassinate Corvus. It wouldn’t make sense for Corvus to have links to the government, then, would it?”
“What? The CIA’s involved, too?”
Yuto had deliberately left the CIA out of the story because he didn’t want to mention Dick.
“Yeah. There was a CIA agent in Schelger Prison who was after Corvus. His name was Dick – an alias, of course – but he was undercover as an inmate. Dick was a former US Army soldier and his teammates were murdered by Corvus during a hostage standoff. Dick took on the assassination mission from the CIA to avenge his fellow men, and that’s how he ended up at Schelger Prison. Dick had a watch on me because he thought I was an FBI agent. He ended up escaping during the riots to go after Corvus.”
Rob sighed in exasperation and ruffled his hair agitatedly.
“Jeez, you’re like a jack-in-the-box. One surprise after another.”
“Sorry. I couldn’t just divulge everything at once.”
“No worries,” said Rob breezily in understanding. “I’m an outsider, after all. And we just met. Understandably there’d be things you wouldn’t want to talk about. Anyway, let’s get back to Nathan and White Heaven. What else did you get from listening to the interview?”
“Well, the part about White Heaven dealing drugs gets to me. It’s what I’ve also felt about their bomb attacks. The members supposedly joined the group out of belief for some profound philosophy. Didn’t they feel any conflict at what they were doing?”
“Nathan said over and over that the government was responsible for the spread of cocaine across America in the first place, as if to justify himself. And he’s right – if you look at what happened behind the scenes in history, you can say it’s true that the government intended for the cocaine epidemic to occur. As long as he has the psychological excuse that the government smuggled cocaine, too, he’ll feel less guilty about partaking in evil. Not to mention that the members of White Heaven were given liberal amounts of money to fund their activities. Corvus had all the bases covered. He probably drew members in with the ideology, and gradually blinded their judgment by plying them with money.”
According to Rob, many people who joined cults cut off all ties with family and work before joining. Acknowledging later that their choices were wrong caused them great suffering and pain.
So in order to avoid that, these people averted their eyes from reality and only doubled down on cementing their self-justification. Ultimately, they ended up committing outlandish crimes out of their blind belief.
“In psychology, it’s called cognitive dissonance theory. When you’re engaging in something bad, you don’t change your behaviour; instead, you change your perception of it. It’s easier that way, isn’t it? You choose only the information that is convenient for you and that’s how you reassure yourself. But Nathan acknowledged he was doing it, and wanted to do something about it. There hasn’t been much research done on the process of breaking free of a cult, so I was hoping that by working with him, I could also gain some valuable knowledge.”
“When was the last time you met with him?”
“At this interview. After that, I couldn’t get in touch with him. I only knew his cell phone number. Then, a few months later, I saw on the news that he’d murdered his mother. I went to the LAPD, but they wouldn’t let me see him. I had no idea which prison he’d been transferred to after that. I blamed myself for not being able to save him, but somewhere I also thought that this was good for him in a way, because he’d finally been liberated from the cult. Cognitive dissonance, indeed,” Rob said with a shrug.
Yuto had no words to say. For Rob, the incident with Nathan must have been a bitter memory that he’d preferred not to recall.
“But if it was fake Nathan who got arrested, what happened to the real one?” Rob wondered aloud.
“This is just my guess, but… in the worst case scenario, he might have been finished off by Corvus already.”
Rob appeared to take the answer hard, and fell silent.
“Was Corvus also the one who killed Nathan’s mother?”
“Probably. He’d already undergone plastic surgery when he was arrested. He probably already had everything meticulously planned.”
Yuto decided to share his hypothesis with Rob.
After the hostage standoff incident, Corvus, fearing for his safety, came up with the idea of hiding in prison disguised as someone else. Out of his subordinates, he chose Nathan. Nathan had no previous criminal record, and had a similar build and hair colour. He was the prime candidate for sacrifice.
Once Corvus underwent plastic surgery, he killed Nathan and also his only family, his mother. All he had left to do was to turn himself into the police and get sent to prison as Nathan.
“That may as well be the gist of it,” said Rob. “But that knowledge doesn’t help you with Corvus’ whereabouts right now. What do you plan to do next?”
“I’m going to head to Schelger Prison. There’s someone there I want to talk to. After that, I plan to find Nathan’s former contacts from his cocaine-running days. If I can find any White Heaven members, I might be able to get information about Corvus from them. Rob, do you know anything about the gangs Nathan associated with in his drug running?”
“He mentioned that he had dealings with a Chicano gang. I think it was called Ara Roja. The police might know something about them.”
“I’ll ask my brother, then. He’s a detective with the LAPD.”
Rob gave him a look of surprise. “Your brother’s a detective? What a family.”
“We’re technically stepbrothers through our parents’ remarriage, so we’re not related by blood. He’s a Chicano.”
“Uh-huh. And Yuto, are you Chinese? Or Korean?”
“Neither. I’m Japanese.”
They exchanged stories about their upbringings and families for a while before Rob asked him if he was going to Schelger Prison tomorrow. When Yuto said that he was, Rob said he wanted to come along, too.
“Can you take me with you? I promise I won’t get in the way of your investigation. I’ve always wanted to go there, actually.” Rob awaited Yuto’s answer, his face glowing in anticipation. Despite being a fully-grown man, he had a boyish side to him. What a strange guy. Yuto couldn’t help but smile.
“Is this part of your research, too?”
“It’s highly valuable field work, if you must ask. I do research on prisons, too. Prisons are a very representative symbol of the judicial and penal systems. I’d like to dive deeper into the issue of prison privatization and the state of the correctional industry ― what? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Yuto had unconsciously reached out and clasped Rob’s hand. Rob’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected move.
“Y-Yuto? What’s wrong?”
“…Wow. You’re the jack-in-the-box here, Rob.”
Before parting ways, Dick had mentioned that an important clue lay in the state of the prisons that Corvus had talked about at length. Yuto had been at a loss of how to interpret the vague message, but if Rob was familiar with prison issues, he might be able to give Yuto a hint.
“I think you’re the best thing to come out of my trip to LA,” said Yuto.
“I’m glad to hear that,” said Rob, looking a little sheepish.
“If you’re willing, I want to bring you on as an official collaborator in this investigation. I’m hoping I can turn to you for advice while I’m doing my work over here.”
Yuto half-expected Rob to refuse, since he had already mentioned once that he didn’t want to help the FBI again. But there was no way he was letting such a valuable potential collaborator just walk away.
“Fine. I’ll help,” Rob said simply. His answer threw Yuto off, who had been expecting the man to be reluctant.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’d welcome an intriguing case like this with open arms. Besides, there’s Nathan, too. I want to know where he is – even if he’s dead.”
With that, Yuto outstretched his right hand to exchange a firm handshake with Rob.
The following day, Yuto made a phone call to the FBI Los Angeles field office before going to Rob’s house.
He asked to be transferred to Jefferson, an agent to whom he had been referred by Heiden, and asked the man about Rob Connors.
“Rob Connors? You mean the professor?” Jefferson said. “He’s still young, but a solid academic. He’s a little eccentric, but he’s trustworthy. If I remember correctly, it was thanks to Connors’ help that we caught the serial killer in the Burbank murders last year.”
“He says he doesn’t want to help the FBI anymore. Did something happen?”
Jefferson hesitated for a moment before answering. “I think I know why,” he murmured. “In the Burbank case, Connors narrowed down the suspect type through profiling, but the FBI ignored his input because it didn’t match with the evidence at the scene. Ultimately Connors was right, but the delay ended up resulting in more casualties. Connors was furious, and apparently he said that the FBI should just disappear altogether for the good of society, or something like that.”
Yuto couldn’t imagine calm Rob flying into a rage, but he could understand the man getting angry – not because he had been brushed off, but because the FBI’s negligence had resulted in more victims.
Although it was low of him to toy with Yuto and make fun of him for agreeing to a kiss in exchange for information, he wasn’t an outright bad man. Yuto decided that it would be safe to disclose some details of the investigation to Rob, and ask for his help.
As promised, Yuto arrived at Rob’s house at three o’clock.
“Hey, Yuto, great to see you. Come on in.” Rob greeted Yuto with a refreshing smile, as if nothing had happened yesterday. “How’d you sleep last night?”
“Like a baby, thanks,” Yuto said curtly as he sat down on the sofa.
“Are you still angry?” Rob asked with a concerned look.
“Yes, I’m angry. I’m not the type of guy who can smile and carry on conversation with a guy who tried to come on to me and get me to kiss him for laughs, alright?”
Rob sat down across from Yuto, looking offended.
“Sure, I was joking when I asked you for a kiss. But I wasn’t lying when I said I’d taken a liking to you. I really am attracted to you. I wish we could be more than friends, to be honest.”
Rob seemed to seize the opportunity to lay the compliments on thick, but Yuto was having none of it.
“Rob, let me make this clear. Please don’t try to flirt with me. I think I can be friends with you, but not more than that.”
“Are you sure? Maybe if I try hard enough, you’ll start to see things differently. You never know what life might bring. Don’t pigeonhole yourself, and just relax and go with the flow,” Rob said with a sly smile. Yuto shook his head.
“You’re so optimistic, it’s infuriating.”
“Yup. My positive attitude is one of my biggest virtues.”
Yuto started afresh and jumped into the main topic. “I want you to keep your promise and tell me about Nathan.”
“Wait a minute,” said Rob, putting his hand up. “I’ll tell you everything I know about Nathan, but before we get into it, I want to hear about your history. Yesterday you said something strange… that you used to be in prison.”
Yuto had brought the topic up yesterday to pique Rob’s interest. He thought it had ended in a dud, but Rob had surprisingly remembered it.
“I want to know more about you. I’ve never heard of an ex-convict turned FBI agent. If I recall correctly, it’s one of the requirements to be an investigator not to have any moral faults. How did someone with a criminal record pass the examination?”
Yuto decided to trust Rob and gave him a brief summary of his past – his previous stint as a DEA agent; how he had been imprisoned on false pretenses; his release from prison; and how he had been headhunted by the FBI. Rob didn’t seem to be satisfied with all the holes in Yuto’s story, however, and threw him a sharp question once he was finished talking.
“There are too many things that don’t make sense about your story. Why were you transferred from New York all the way to California? And when your partner’s real murderer was found along with decisive evidence – I know he confessed to it, but your retrial and innocent verdict was passed more quickly than I’ve ever seen. Something smells fishy. Not to mention why the FBI would headhunt someone like you, with all of your past issues.”
Rob spoke rapidly and astutely, his expression severe. When he wasn’t smiling, he looked even more like an intellectual.
“Sorry, but I don’t have the time to listen to half-baked made up stories. If you’re saying this is true, then I want you to tell me everything without omitting any details.”
It looked like Yuto wasn’t going to get Nathan’s story unless he told the truth. Yuto took a deep breath and girded himself.
“Fine. I’ll tell you everything. But I want you to promise that you absolutely won’t tell anyone.”
“I promise,” Rob said promptly. “I won’t tell a soul, no matter what you tell me. I can sign a written oath, if you want.”
“No need. I trust you.”
It was impossible to explain his history without mentioning Nathan. Figuring he would only paint himself into a corner if he tried to cover up parts of it, Yuto decided to lay bare his entire story, including the parts he had kept vague in his previous telling.
He told Rob about the bomb attacks happening across America and their connection to a mysterious cult; about Corvus, who had been impersonating Nathan as he kept a low profile in prison; and finally, about how Corvus had taken advantage of the riots and had escaped from prison with the help of the warden.
“The warden was found dead,” Yuto said. “It was probably Corvus’ doing.”
Rob’s grimace was even more pronounced than before. Yuto was worried, wondering if the outrageous nature of the story had made Rob lose even more faith in him.
“Rob, I’m not lying. Please believe me. I need to find Corvus no matter what it takes. Will you please tell me about Nathan?”
At Yuto’s plea, Rob appeared to snap back to the present.
“Ah, no, it’s not that I was doubting you,” he said, his face relaxing. “On the contrary, I found it quite entertain―ah, I mean, fascinating.”
“This is a photo of Nathan when he was arrested.” From his suit pocket, Yuto took out the photo he had borrowed from the LAPD and handed it to Rob. “Look carefully at his face and tell me if this is the Nathan you know. Do you think it’s someone else who’s had plastic surgery to look like Nathan?”
Rob looked at the photo for a long time. “Hmm,” he said. “Now that you mention it, he does look a little different. To be honest, I’ve only met Nathan in person three times, so this photo isn’t enough for me to go off of. But I’ll believe you. Nathan isn’t the leader, though. He was following orders from the organization.”
Yuto was taken aback at the sudden reveal of new information that went to the heart of the matter.
“What were you and Nathan, exactly? It’s your turn to talk, now.” Now they were getting into the meat of the story. Yuto steeled himself and waited for Rob’s words.
“Give me a sec,” Rob said as he left the living room. After a while, he returned holding a laptop. “I’m going to play you video footage of Nathan. I filmed it while I was interviewing him.”
“Interviewing him?
“Let me explain from the beginning. About six months before Nathan got arrested for killing his mother, I conducted this lecture about the horrors of mind control and brainwashing. I forgot to mention, I also do research in psychology. Anyway, at the lecture, I explained in laymen’s terms about what actions are used to control people’s behaviours, ideologies, and emotions, using real-life examples of crimes and cults.”
Yuto listened intently, eager to catch every word.
“Apparently, Nathan was coincidentally at that lecture. He phoned me later at my university office. He said that he belonged to a certain cult, but felt like what he was doing was wrong. He couldn’t see a way to leave the cult and wanted to know what he could do.”
Yuto couldn’t help but clench his fist. The cult he was talking about had to be White Heaven. Nathan had been part of Corvus’ outfit after all. This fact alone was worth the trip to LA.
“I was intrigued and decided to meet with Nathan,” Rob continued. “After we met twice and broke the ice, I invited him to my house and interviewed him here. I promised I wouldn’t divulge what he said to the police, and I would only use the information for my own research purposes. It took a lot of effort on my part to convince him. Are you ready? Here it is.”
Rob tapped some keys to open a video player. The footage appeared immediately.
“Your name is?” asked Rob’s voice from off-screen. A nervous-looking man sitting on the sofa replied.
“Nathan. Nathan Clark,” he said.
“That’s Nathan. Is he different from the guy you met in prison?” Rob asked. Yuto nodded.
“Yeah. He looks like him, but his stature and voice are different.”
“What is the name of the organization you belong to?”
“White Heaven. ―Hey, promise me you won’t tell anyone, alright? If anyone finds out I blabbed to you, I’m done for.” Nathan’s eyes were full of genuine fear.
“It’ll be fine. I want you to relax. What kind of organization is White Heaven? Do you have religious teachings that you follow?”
“It’s not a religious group, it’s an ideological one. We’re a gathering of volunteers who are trying to reform society, and we’re not afraid to resort to military force to do it. Based on the teachings of our great leader, we take on corrupt politics and the capitalistic society―”
Nathan droned on about the organization’s raison d’être and its objectives as if reading from a textbook. However, to Yuto, it sounded like nothing more than a selfish excuse for antisocial people to take out their dissatisfaction and frustration by engaging in terrorism.
“How can anyone be brainwashed by an ideology like this?” Yuto furrowed his brow incredulously.
“It’s not as hard as you think,” Rob said with a grin. “Listen to Nathan’s story to the end. Outrageous doesn’t even come close to describing this group.”
“Let’s take a break. I’ll make us some coffee,” Rob said as he stood up, ever attentive. Yuto was sitting with his arms folded, deep in thought. Once he was alone, he gave a deep sigh and fell back against the sofa.
The interview had lasted about one hour. It was a goldmine, to say the least. He had been able to obtain a mound of information on White Heaven, having gone in with nothing.
Drugs were a large source of revenue for White Heaven. Nathan had confessed that he had dabbled in dealing cocaine on orders from the group. He had been a mule of sorts, transporting the large amount of drugs smuggled in through Mexico to LA.
Yuto also found that most of the founding members of White Heaven were MSC (Military School for Security Cooperation) graduates. According to Nathan’s testimony, apparently the leader – Corvus – was a graduate as well.
The MSC was a military training camp located in Texas. Although it was federally authorized and was being operated legally, Yuto knew little about its true picture.
His mind was confused from being overloaded with so much information simultaneously. He needed to ask a specialist like Rob to give him a rundown and organize the information he had obtained.
When Rob returned with fresh coffee, Yuto took a mug and thanked him.
“What’s wrong? You look glum. Didn’t find anything useful in Nathan’s story?”
“Quite the contrary, actually. I didn’t think I’d be able to strike such a goldmine. I’m just having trouble catching up. About MSC, though – I don’t hear good things about them. What’s the purpose of their operations?”
“Outwardly, it’s a support organization that aims to protect peace and human rights. Anyone can join the camp as long as you pay the enrolment fees and pass the screening. They say the training is for peacekeeping and disaster rescue, but it’s more like a terrorist training camp.”
Yuto was familiar with the rumour. It came from the fact that many Latin American graduates of the MSC went on to be infamous dictators or national terrorists.
“That camp receives financial assistance from the government. It was established during the Cold War to shore up other countries’ militaries, under the banner of stamping out the left-wing guerrilla forces in Latin America. In other words, it was to control Latin America and prevent its shift to socialism. The legacy of a dark history, if you will. I’m guessing White Heaven must have ties to the government.”
“I don’t think so,” Yuto said.
“How can you be sure?”
Yuto hesitated. “I didn’t mention this before, but the CIA is trying to assassinate Corvus. It wouldn’t make sense for Corvus to have links to the government, then, would it?”
“What? The CIA’s involved, too?”
Yuto had deliberately left the CIA out of the story because he didn’t want to mention Dick.
“Yeah. There was a CIA agent in Schelger Prison who was after Corvus. His name was Dick – an alias, of course – but he was undercover as an inmate. Dick was a former US Army soldier and his teammates were murdered by Corvus during a hostage standoff. Dick took on the assassination mission from the CIA to avenge his fellow men, and that’s how he ended up at Schelger Prison. Dick had a watch on me because he thought I was an FBI agent. He ended up escaping during the riots to go after Corvus.”
Rob sighed in exasperation and ruffled his hair agitatedly.
“Jeez, you’re like a jack-in-the-box. One surprise after another.”
“Sorry. I couldn’t just divulge everything at once.”
“No worries,” said Rob breezily in understanding. “I’m an outsider, after all. And we just met. Understandably there’d be things you wouldn’t want to talk about. Anyway, let’s get back to Nathan and White Heaven. What else did you get from listening to the interview?”
“Well, the part about White Heaven dealing drugs gets to me. It’s what I’ve also felt about their bomb attacks. The members supposedly joined the group out of belief for some profound philosophy. Didn’t they feel any conflict at what they were doing?”
“Nathan said over and over that the government was responsible for the spread of cocaine across America in the first place, as if to justify himself. And he’s right – if you look at what happened behind the scenes in history, you can say it’s true that the government intended for the cocaine epidemic to occur. As long as he has the psychological excuse that the government smuggled cocaine, too, he’ll feel less guilty about partaking in evil. Not to mention that the members of White Heaven were given liberal amounts of money to fund their activities. Corvus had all the bases covered. He probably drew members in with the ideology, and gradually blinded their judgment by plying them with money.”
According to Rob, many people who joined cults cut off all ties with family and work before joining. Acknowledging later that their choices were wrong caused them great suffering and pain.
So in order to avoid that, these people averted their eyes from reality and only doubled down on cementing their self-justification. Ultimately, they ended up committing outlandish crimes out of their blind belief.
“In psychology, it’s called cognitive dissonance theory. When you’re engaging in something bad, you don’t change your behaviour; instead, you change your perception of it. It’s easier that way, isn’t it? You choose only the information that is convenient for you and that’s how you reassure yourself. But Nathan acknowledged he was doing it, and wanted to do something about it. There hasn’t been much research done on the process of breaking free of a cult, so I was hoping that by working with him, I could also gain some valuable knowledge.”
“When was the last time you met with him?”
“At this interview. After that, I couldn’t get in touch with him. I only knew his cell phone number. Then, a few months later, I saw on the news that he’d murdered his mother. I went to the LAPD, but they wouldn’t let me see him. I had no idea which prison he’d been transferred to after that. I blamed myself for not being able to save him, but somewhere I also thought that this was good for him in a way, because he’d finally been liberated from the cult. Cognitive dissonance, indeed,” Rob said with a shrug.
Yuto had no words to say. For Rob, the incident with Nathan must have been a bitter memory that he’d preferred not to recall.
“But if it was fake Nathan who got arrested, what happened to the real one?” Rob wondered aloud.
“This is just my guess, but… in the worst case scenario, he might have been finished off by Corvus already.”
Rob appeared to take the answer hard, and fell silent.
“Was Corvus also the one who killed Nathan’s mother?”
“Probably. He’d already undergone plastic surgery when he was arrested. He probably already had everything meticulously planned.”
Yuto decided to share his hypothesis with Rob.
After the hostage standoff incident, Corvus, fearing for his safety, came up with the idea of hiding in prison disguised as someone else. Out of his subordinates, he chose Nathan. Nathan had no previous criminal record, and had a similar build and hair colour. He was the prime candidate for sacrifice.
Once Corvus underwent plastic surgery, he killed Nathan and also his only family, his mother. All he had left to do was to turn himself into the police and get sent to prison as Nathan.
“That may as well be the gist of it,” said Rob. “But that knowledge doesn’t help you with Corvus’ whereabouts right now. What do you plan to do next?”
“I’m going to head to Schelger Prison. There’s someone there I want to talk to. After that, I plan to find Nathan’s former contacts from his cocaine-running days. If I can find any White Heaven members, I might be able to get information about Corvus from them. Rob, do you know anything about the gangs Nathan associated with in his drug running?”
“He mentioned that he had dealings with a Chicano gang. I think it was called Ara Roja. The police might know something about them.”
“I’ll ask my brother, then. He’s a detective with the LAPD.”
Rob gave him a look of surprise. “Your brother’s a detective? What a family.”
“We’re technically stepbrothers through our parents’ remarriage, so we’re not related by blood. He’s a Chicano.”
“Uh-huh. And Yuto, are you Chinese? Or Korean?”
“Neither. I’m Japanese.”
They exchanged stories about their upbringings and families for a while before Rob asked him if he was going to Schelger Prison tomorrow. When Yuto said that he was, Rob said he wanted to come along, too.
“Can you take me with you? I promise I won’t get in the way of your investigation. I’ve always wanted to go there, actually.” Rob awaited Yuto’s answer, his face glowing in anticipation. Despite being a fully-grown man, he had a boyish side to him. What a strange guy. Yuto couldn’t help but smile.
“Is this part of your research, too?”
“It’s highly valuable field work, if you must ask. I do research on prisons, too. Prisons are a very representative symbol of the judicial and penal systems. I’d like to dive deeper into the issue of prison privatization and the state of the correctional industry ― what? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Yuto had unconsciously reached out and clasped Rob’s hand. Rob’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected move.
“Y-Yuto? What’s wrong?”
“…Wow. You’re the jack-in-the-box here, Rob.”
Before parting ways, Dick had mentioned that an important clue lay in the state of the prisons that Corvus had talked about at length. Yuto had been at a loss of how to interpret the vague message, but if Rob was familiar with prison issues, he might be able to give Yuto a hint.
“I think you’re the best thing to come out of my trip to LA,” said Yuto.
“I’m glad to hear that,” said Rob, looking a little sheepish.
“If you’re willing, I want to bring you on as an official collaborator in this investigation. I’m hoping I can turn to you for advice while I’m doing my work over here.”
Yuto half-expected Rob to refuse, since he had already mentioned once that he didn’t want to help the FBI again. But there was no way he was letting such a valuable potential collaborator just walk away.
“Fine. I’ll help,” Rob said simply. His answer threw Yuto off, who had been expecting the man to be reluctant.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’d welcome an intriguing case like this with open arms. Besides, there’s Nathan, too. I want to know where he is – even if he’s dead.”
With that, Yuto outstretched his right hand to exchange a firm handshake with Rob.
