Minneapolis, March 16, 1975

 

Yuri Kolenko and the rest of his four-person KGB team landed in Minneapolis on different flights and times. They were all tourists from Finland, Ireland, Italy, and West Germany. Weapons were delivered to Yuri’s room at the hotel. By the next day everyone had checked in and been briefed on what Yuri wanted done.

He was younger than the others but had been on the fast track for years. This mission could make or break his career. They were all given the same briefing. “When you read the file I’ve given you, read it again,” Yuri told his team. “Ivan Kalin is a very intelligent and dangerous man. Without help he killed four of our best with a .22 pistol without anyone getting off a shot. Three of them had weapons in their hands. Before he killed them he emptied the bank safety deposit box of all its currency, gold, and diamonds. He did the same in two other banks, here in Minneapolis and another in Chicago.

“He made us believe he was going to hit the bank in Cleveland next. He set us up with a clever phone call he knew we would get. Then he drove overnight from Chicago to Pittsburgh through the worst storm of the year. His wife is an accomplice. She is intelligent, can handle a handgun, and like most Poles doesn’t like Russians. We believe she emptied the Pittsburgh safety deposit box while our man inside watched, and she was carrying a baby in her arms. I tell you this because she is also dangerous and will be difficult to capture. So don’t try and don’t get caught by the local authorities.

“Control the kill zone. Don’t give either one a chance. If the children survive, leave them. Someone will care for them and we cannot take them back. Killing infants is not part of our training or mission.

“Kalin has several problems. Running with two young children is difficult. He has to carry the loot with him. Not only is it heavy, he has to watch over it. Without a fixed address he cannot open a bank account, especially since he cannot give a plausible explanation of where the money came from. Then there is the tax problem. So he will be paying cash for everything.

“Kalin has had the same training we have. He probably used his first alias we gave him to use in St. Cloud, a two-hour drive north from here, until he got to the first big metro center. That is here. From here he needed to change cars and to change cars he needed to change aliases. We don’t know what name they are now using. He had to arrange for other aliases without our help once he got to America.

“He has too many problems to last long running and changing cars and names. So he will try to find someplace he can hide and wait us out, while he improves his cover and defenses. He may be in such a place right now. To find him we must find where he changed cars. His need for cars is a big weakness for him.

“What I have told you so far is fact. Now, for some supposition. He would not have gone to a big car dealership. So we leave those for last. He made the purchase maybe weeks before he took off. In that case he had to hold the car somewhere safe. Probably in a pay-for-parking covered garage. Remember, it was bitter cold when he ran. If the car was held outside it would have been covered by snow and ice. With two infants he wasn’t going to risk being stranded by a car that wouldn’t start or if the doors were frozen. He had to transfer baggage and enough supplies to care for two kids on a long road trip.

“So while half of you cover outlying car agencies, the other two will check indoor parking garages. He will have paid cash in advance for parking. I’m sure nobody was in disguise. He also paid cash for the car. Anticipating bad weather, he would have selected a new or late model with 4-wheel drive. With two kids and baggage and with the possibility they might have to sleep in the car, he would not have bought a small sedan, nothing with only two doors. Concentrate on big station wagons or cars. I doubt he would have opted for a van of some type. Few of them are all-wheel drive.

“Okay, you know what to do. Go out and start showing pictures. Show his. Hold hers back for now. Use your P.I. creds. You are looking for a guy who ran out on his wife and young kids. Nothing sensational or spooky and don’t act important. Use small bribes if needed. Nothing over 50 dollars. Check back in here tonight.”