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The Drug Bust Murder

by Chris Trower

190 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #05-0226; ISBN 1-4120-5331-5; US$19.50, C$22.20, EUR16.00, £11.50

The shocking murder of mediator Gordon George begins a story that reveals the dark inner workings of the Vancouver drug trade.

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About the Book      About the Author      Excerpts      Catalogue Information

About the Book

The main character in the story is Gerry Jones. He is a labor consultant who has been hired by the union as its negotiator. There is a crowd in the opening scene, a picket line. It is made up of about 50 people. About 12 are union members who are supposed to be there. It is their picketing shift and they have been required to report to this unusual place, a warehouse that doesn't belong to the company, at this late hour, about midnight. About 12 more are union members who are there to help out. The balance are non-members, who may include members of other unions, some of whom may be troublemakers. The others will be non-members who may also include troublemakers.

Gerry would not normally be there but he has come to see what is happening. He was standing back out of sight of the picket line. He decided to step out and take a closer look. Then the pickets could see him and the first 12, at least assumed he was in charge.

The picket line is there to stop a truck. It is a loud and noisy crowd. They are undisciplined. They are shouting and screaming things like "Fucking Strike breakers" "Stop that truck" "Get out of that truck" and maybe a few more shouts or screams. When the pickets saw Gerry, at about the same time some one saw the body, the crowd parted so Gerry could see. It is the mediator who should not have been there.

This starts as a murder mystery. That's not yet clear. Part of the mystery is the shot. Did it happen during the noisy picketing? Did anyone hear the shot? Is this the crime scene or is it some where else? The first police unit to show up doesn't care.

They have come for a different reason. They have been told the truck will hold drugs in the load of refrigerators. In fact there is 200 kilos of heroin hidden there.

The second police unit is the murder squad. They investigate that crime which they later discover happened some where else.

Gerry thinks about these facts and he decides the time is ripe to settle the strike. This was the company's last chance to try and break the strike. It has gone on for a few weeks without the union making a move. Now the company not only has a union that is holding all the cards, the company may now look like a drug smuggler

So the first action in the story is settling the strike. The union then hires Gerry as an investigator. He is not a member of the union or an employee. He is a consultant who was hired as a negotiator. Now he is hired in a new guise.

As the story unfolds he begins to cooperate with the police. The story also develops into a love story, but not without some complications. Gerry travels to Europe. He cooperates with the French police. He finds out where the drugs are coming from. He finds out where the money is in Zurich and Geneva. He comes back to Toronto and reports. He travels to Vancouver and participates in a drug bust.

Along the way the murder is looked at from time to time. In the end the detective who has been investigating the murder assembles the characters in the dead mediators mansion. He conducts a meeting like Hercule Poire. At the end of the meeting, detective Smith solves the murder and it is no longer a mystery.

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About the Author

I quit school when I was 15 and went to work as a B.C. logger. Ten years later I went back to a cramming school and passed the government high school exams. For four years I worked as a business agent for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, then for 10 more years I worked as a staff representative for the United Steelworkers of America. I wrote a book, Arbitration at a Glance. The dean of Osgood Hall Law School invited me to attend law school. First I worked for one year as the negotiator for the Ontario Public Service Union. Then I attended law school, became a lawyer, and ran my own practice until I retired.

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Excerpts

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Catalogue Information

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