The year was 1963. Armin Henry, a detective from Holland who has lived in the U.S for many years was assigned to find the Babushka Lady, the mysterious lady that appeared during the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The Babushka Lady, as he heard from rumours, was a lady that was standing between Elm and Main streets, taking photographs before and during the tragic incident. What was interesting about this lady is that, when the shooting happened, she was still there taking photographs when everyone else around her was taking cover. After the shooting, she crossed Elm street and joined the crowd that was going up the grass knoll, in search of a gunman. "Babushka Lady" was a nickname given to her, because of the headscarf she was wearing, much of which was mostly worn by elderly Russian women.
"She could be a hand in the assassination. She could even be one of the secret agents working together with the suspects behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Who.. who is she? The Babushka Lady. So mysterious." Armin thought to himself, in his little gloomy office. Suddenly, the telephone rang, knocking him out of his daydream bubble. A voice of a woman can be heard in the call.
"Hello? Yes. Correct. You're speaking to Detective Armin Henry."
"Armin Henry. I might be your greatest possession."
Armin was shocked and confused.
"Uh, hey. I have no time for any prank calls. Please do not call again. THANK YOU."
"Who is talking about prank calls, Mr. Henry?"
Armin, catching his breath replied, "May I know who am I actually speaking to?"
"For now, you shall only know me as 'Leidi'. If you are keen to know my identity, meet me at the one and only cafe in your area. 3 p.m sharp."
"You mean La Charlotta's?"
"Correct. I'll be waiting there, expecting you to show up at 3.pm. Don't disappoint me."
The phone call ended. Armin checks the clock, it was 12 p.m. Three hours before his appointment with the mysterious Leidi. He called up his client, the man who assigned him for his investigation, Mr. Bennington, to ask about Leidi.
"I'm sorry Mr. Henry. I have no clue to this Leidi you're talking about. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to attend an important meeting right now."
Armin flips through his files, reading about the John F. Kennedy's assassination and the Babushka Lady. There, he finds a few pieces of newspaper cuttings about tragic murders, and there in the pictures he finds something strange. In every picture, there was this lady looking at the scene. If it was a murder in a restaurant, she will be there, standing outside looking. If it was in a bank, she'd be around there, looking. And the same goes for the rest of the cases. To put it simply, it just wasn't normal enough to say that the same lady would always appear in tragic murders. "This might be related to John F. Kennedy's case.. But wait. It was just a gunshot, no splatted bodies, no tragic beheading.. But this is very strange. Didn't anyone notice her presence? Who is she? " As he did his research regarding the case, he realized it was already 2.30 p.m. He should be getting ready, or at least be on his way to his meeting with Leidi.
Briskly, he put on his best clothings and went on his way to La Charlotta's. As he enters the cafe, he sees a reserved sign on one of the tables, that read "Leidi". The table was unoccupied, hence he waited outside the restaurant for a few minutes. About 10 minutes later, a lady walked by his direction, gazing upon him and entering the restaurant. There she sat down where it was reserved for "Leidi". She wasn't an elderly woman after all. In fact, she was quite young and attractive. Maybe 28 or 29 years old. "Oh. So it wasn't a prank after all." Armin walks in the restaurant and towards the lady. "Leidi?" With a smile, she says "Yes. But now you shall know me as Aleidia Morrison. Please, have a seat Mr. Henry." "So, why did you call me here?" Armin asked. "Actually, I wanted to discuss about Kennedy's murder. As you can see, I was there. I was there taking photographs. I was there, wearing a babushka. I was there, being the mysterious lady everyone and the media have been describing, The Babushka Lady." Armin was shocked to hear such words coming from a lady he met for the first time. "And your proofs are?"
"Will these photographs do your investigations any good?" Aleidia showed Armin the photographs she had taken during the incident.
"What?! This can't be. You are.. the Babushka Lady?!"
"Quiet, you silly young man. You do realize this restaurant isn't empty."
"I'm sorry, but I am shocked and couldn't believe what is happening to me right now. Am I really talking to the Babushka Lady? Wait, since you are the one, can you tell me who you are and what's your intentions during the incident? And, why are you so direct to me, telling all of your details to a detective like me?"
"Mr.Henry. I'll be frank with you again, I'm actually working with a secret organization in Russia. You see, my job is to help the gunmen carry out their assassinations, and sometimes, I assassinate victims myself. Because I look so innocent, nobody would have imagined what I have up in my sleeves, and -"
"You just told me something I shouldn't have known. You are innocent but you have bad intentions. How can I trust you? Because of your deceiving looks, you could also be planning an evil plot to kill me, for all I know."
"That's why you should not cut me off, Mr.Henry. Let me finish talking. You see, as much as I have done bad deeds, I come to learn the meaning of.. good. I realized, what I'm doing is wrong, and I can't bare to keep up all of these sins. I want to repent. I want to live like a normal human being. I want to feel what is it like to become a lady, to find true love, to build a family, and to die happily.-"
Armin cuts her off again.
"Okay, okay. Enough with all of this fairy tale, Miss Babushka Lady. I know how women can fake a lot of lies to men. Don't ever think I'll fall for it. I am -"
"Mr.Henry, could you please shut your mouth and stop cutting me off? Believe me, you won't like it if I'm pissed. Allow me to FINISH. Do you want to know why I'm seeing you? Of course you do. I want to help you in your investigation. I am what everyone is looking for. I am an important element to solving Kennedy's murder. I know everything behind the murder, Mr.Henry. I want my organization to be put down, I am tired of working like a slave! Mistreated. Pressured. If the head of that damned organization gets caught, that would put an end to my misery. Right now, I can't get out. If I do, they will kill me. Literally kill me. So please. I'm begging you. Please help me."
"Wow, you sure talk a lot, Miss Aleidia. Now, don't get me wrong. I wasn't sarcastic. I am quite moved with your story. Now, then. How do I get access to your organization? I don't even know where it is. Do they have a some kind of port here?"
"Yes. They do. It is not very obvious as it is located in the very quiet part of the city. Opposite the bar, Johnny's and Clarke's, lies a little building that is masked as a supermarket. In the supermarket, there is a small door that's locked and can only be accessed by the supermarket's 'upper people'. Usually the people working there has affiliations with the organization. That's why they don't simply employ people. There's a question that they'll ask after training, and each answer is like a code. Different codes lead to different decisions. For example, if they ask, "What is the serial number of the product X?" If your answer is simply, 'I don't know.' or a random number, they will not hire you. But if you answer '10209XPMZ', immediately they will know that you are affiliated with the organization. If you answer '1909TXMI", they will immediately know that you were sent there by their superior affiliations."
"I'm bad in memorizing numbers. Is that how I can get access to your organization? But pretending to be some kind of unemployed guy looking to work in a supermarket? So you're going to give me your serial number right?"
"Correct, Mr.Henry. I have everything prepared. All you have to do is go to there, and 'get a job'. So, what do you say?"
"Fine by me. I'll do it."
Armin was fully convinced with Aleidia. The next day, Aleidia took him to see the place she was talking about. It was a very ordinary-looking place. The only unusual thing about the place is that there were one or two luxury cars parked outside in the parking lot. Aleidia asked Armin to stay in the bar and only come in to the shop 15 minutes after she did. Aleidia then walked away from him and entered the supermarket. He peeked from afar, seeing Aleidia conversing with the man working at the counter. As she walked, he saw her walking into the restricted room, locking the door once again. He waited for 15 minutes. Before he went out of the club, he made a phone call to call the police, in case anything bad happens. "In case anything bad happens, I want some polices to be there. But don't wait directly outside the supermarket. Somewhere hidden, preferably." After the call ended, he began walking to the supermarket. Some parts of him is telling him that he is making the biggest mistake of his life. Some parts are telling him otherwise. His heart beats faster than usual and he felt the blood rushing through his body. He has to keep his cool, he can't be seen afraid or nervous. It will blow his cover. He walks in and sees the chubby hairy guy at the counter.
Informally, the guy asks him, "Yeah, what'd ya want?"
With a bright smile on Armin's face, he says "Yeah. I.. I need a job. Err, I've been unemployed for the past six months."
"Yeah sure. First I'd like to know somethin' about ya. Also, I'd like to know what'd ya made of."
"Yeah, sure. So uhh, what do I have to do?"
The chubby man and Armin gets to know each other and he learned that the man's name is Sanchez. Sanchez teaches Armin the bits and pieces of how things work. Towards the end of the lesson, he asks him a question.
"What is the serial number for the product X?"
"1177VXZ"
Sanchez was surprised to know of his answer. He grins, and says "My..my. You're affiliated with Sir Vitaly? What a surprise. To show respect of your presence, I want you to come with me, Mr. Armin Henry."
"Damn, did I take the right move? What should I do next? Didn't Aleidia told me that she has EVERYTHING under control?" He speaks in his mind, and gets lost with his thoughts. Sanchez then pat his back, knocking him out of his thoughts. "Yeah? Sorry. Was thinking about what Mr. Vitaly said to me this morning. Anyway, shall we go?" Both walked to the restricted door, and Sanchez unlocked it with an old worn-out key. Both walked in the room and down the stairs. There, Armin found himself walking in the dark. where he suddenly feels a cold metal touching his head and stops.
As the lights go on, he discovers that he has been duped. Four gunmen were surrounding him with two of them aiming a revolver directly touching his head, just waiting to pull the trigger. He stood there, frozen. To his most biggest and unexpected surprise, Aleidia showed up, with another woman and three men, having an evil grin up on her face. "Well, well. The young, handsome and smart detective, Armin Henry Frederik. Surprised? I bet you are." Angry, Armin shouted, "You IDIOT! What is all this? I knew it all along! You're a liar!" "One more bad thing about me I hear coming out from you, Armin. Well, say bye-bye to this sweet world of yours." The woman standing next to Aleidia speaks, "Armin Henry Frederik. I know who you are. That's why I planned your fate here. Your good reputation shall bring you to your bad death, Armin. You are one the best detectives in the country. You also have a lot of private information relating to the government. If you share your knowledge, you'll be set free. If not, your soul will. Oh wait. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Veronica Fox Vladimir, the real Babushka Lady. Aleidia was just a mere play I've planned. She's good in what she does, but I'm quite surprised she could actually trick a smart person like you." Hearing those intimidating words, Armin stood there quiet. Silently, thinking of an escape plan. Suddenly, a few gunshots were released, penetrating and killing the four gunmen surrounding Armin. Aleidia, Veronica and the three men took cover. Armin quickly ran up the stairs, and to his amazement, Mr. Bennington was there. "Mr. Bennington! Thank God you saved me." "Yeah, save the thanking later." Bennington ran down the stairs followed by Armin, pointing their guns to the the the five individuals. Slowly, the individuals pull out their guns and aims at the two. The ladies shot Armin and Bennington, leaving them unconscious. All of them ran out, fleeing from being discovered.
Later, the two men regains conscious and found themselves lying on the hospital bed, side by side. Opposite them, they find a policeman sitting. The policeman investigates them regarding their meeting with the Babushka Lady. However later on, as the police investigates the case further, they could not find anyone with the name of Aleidia Morrison nor Veronica Fox. They could not find any evidences of the Babushka Lady, no photos, nothing. It was as if the people came back after the shooting to quickly clear all evidences. According to the police, the whole place was burned down and left no evidences. They could not even find any official letters regarding the supermarket's business, their registration with the authorities nor any official receipts. The case of the mysterious Babushka Lady remains unsolved, even after years. Until now, it remains a mystery. Several people have stepped forward as the Babushka Lady, but none were the truth. The case of the Babushka Lady, remains a case unsolved for Armin Henry Frederik, and also to us all.
NOTE: This is just a fiction, based on the real incident about the Babushka Lady and JFK's murder.
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