This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman’s biography.
Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.
This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racism, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.
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Part 1 – Prologue
Saturday, September 12th. The dress fell in a puddle on the floor and she stepped out of it, totally naked except for the high heel sandals on her elegant, shapely feet. The young blonde stud looked over her body appreciatively, admiring her curvy calves, firm thighs, taut abs, her big breasts on her firm chest, and up to her beautiful face. Her eyes sparkled and her mouth was slightly open in anticipation of his kiss.
He did not waste time, but took her into his arms and mashed his mouth onto hers as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself into his muscular chest and six-pack abs, feeling his large cock pressing into her belly through his underwear, his last remaining garment.
“Mmm, let me get you out of these clothes.” she said huskily as their kiss broke and her hands slid down his sides. She sat down on the end of the bed, looking up at him as she slid his underwear down his hard thighs. His eight inch cock was half-hard, but lengthening and thickening as he stepped out of the flimsy garment. The half-Latina, half-White wife was the most beautiful woman he had ever encountered, and lust was urging through him in anticipation of copulating with her.
“God, I love your cock.” the woman said as she gripped it and began gently jacking it. “David, I’m going to suck Carl’s cock now.”
“Yes, suck his cock, Carla.” David said. He was sitting in the chair in the corner of the condo’s bedroom, watching with avid interest, his own cock, much smaller than the young stud’s, already throbbing and stiff with lust.
David had brown hair and a mustache and glasses, and looked and dressed a lot like Ned Flanders, Homer Simpson’s neighbor in the animated TV show. He tremendously enjoyed watching his wife having sex with other men, and Carla had found a magnificent specimen in Carl. The blonde stud was a personal trainer at Town Fitness Centers, and his tall, slender frame was chiseled to hard muscular perfection.
In addition to his good looks and charming manners, Carl was blessed with eight thick inches of cock and, more importantly, large balls hanging beneath it. Carla was gently jacking his meat as she kissed his abs and groin, shaved to hairless smoothness. He became rock hard, and pre-cum was forming in the slit at the top of the spongy, helmeted head of his weapon of lust.
“Mmmmf!” Carl gasped as Carla opened her mouth and guided his size past her full lips and over her outstretched tongue. He moaned softly as she closed her lips around his thick shaft and sucked hard as he slowly pulled his prick out of her mouth. He put his hand on the back of her head and gently guided her head back and forth as he began to slowly and steadily fuck her gorgeous face.
David couldn’t stand it. He opened his pants and took out his modest cock and began stroking it. He was careful not to jack it too hard, as he was intensely aroused watching this amazing young guy fuck his Carla’s face.
After some moments of her oral ministrations, Carl felt his nut rising too prematurely. She was just too beautiful, too hot and too good. He slid his prick out of her amazing mouth.
“Am I doing something wrong, baby?” the gorgeous woman asked as she looked up into her young lover’s eyes.
“No, babe.” he said. “You’re too good. My balls are like rocks, and you’re about to make me come, and waste my sperm. Why don’t you lay back?”
Carla’s eyes glowed with readiness as she scooted her luscious asscheeks back onto the bed until her head was on the pillow, then spread her shapely legs in welcome, exposing her pretty pussy. Her swollen labes and the bright pink hole between them made both men in the room iron-hard with lust. But it was Carl’s privilege to use that pussy for his pleasure, and he was going to exercise that privilege by fucking it until he filled it with his potent, virile semen.
The young blonde stud eased onto the bed. He took the woman’s right foot in his hand and gently kissed the top and side, then up her ankle. He alternated between her calves and her knees as he slowly made his way up her legs to the womanly treasure between them. David watched intently as Carl settled between Carla’s legs and slid his splayed tongue over her labes.
“Ohhhhh!” Carla moaned loudly. “That feels so good, Carl. Eat me, eat my pussy!” With a growl, Carl slid his pointed his tongue into her cunthole and clamped his lips over her labes. After swirling his tongue around her vaginal walls, he slid his lips over her labes, then began tracing letters of the alphabet over them. When he reached the letter ‘I’, he just began licking deeper and deeper until he was face-deep in her glorious womanhood.
“Ohhh… ohhh… ohhh… ohhh…” Carla moaned, her head back on the pillow as her left hand stroked through the blonde hair on Carl’s head, gently pulling his face deeper into her cunt. Waves of pleasure rocked through her beautiful body. As Carl’s tongue moved up and found her clit, she couldn’t stand it anymore.
“UHHH! I’M… COMING!” the gorgeous wife cried out as her sweet juices washed over Carl’s probing tongue. He pressed his face into her, sliding his tongue as deep as he could get it into her hole as she shivered through her orgasm.
“Oh baby, he made me come!” Carla called out to David as the last ripples flowed through her body. “I’ve got to have him. I’ve got to have Carl’s cock inside me.”
“Do it, baby.” David said as he stroked his cock. “Guide him into you. Fuck her, Carl. Fuck my wife. She needs your cock.”
“Yeah, I’m going to give your wife my cock.” Carl said. “I’m going to fuck her, and I’m going to come inside her. I’m going to knock your wife up, right here in front of you!” With that, he raised up and eased forward, mounting the married beauty. As he settled onto her, he felt her spreading her legs, grabbing his throbbing shaft with her warm, elegant hands, and guiding him to her wet slit.
“Ohhh!” Carla gasped… in frustration. Carl had not entered her, but slid his long cockshaft between her labes. He began dryhumping her with long strokes, getting the shaft of his cock wet with her copious juices, making it slick and easier to sink all the way into her.
“Please, Carl, don’t tease me!” Carla begged. “I’ve got to have your cock inside me.” Carl raised up slightly, and she guided the helmeted head of his prick into the folds of her cunt. He pushed down and they groaned together as he entered her, then slowly slid his entire length down into her until their pelvises met.
“Oh yeah, that’s good!” Carl gasped, the pleasure of being nuts-deep in this woman overwhelming him. He pulled back out, then plunged his length down into her again as she grabbed his hard, muscular asscheeks and pulled herself up to him. He began fucking her slowly, stretching her cuntal walls apart as she acclimated to his size.
David groaned as he watched Carl’s ass bobbing up and down as the young stud began deeply fucking the gorgeous woman. Her legs pulled up and back as Carl began plunging into her again and again, increasing the speed and power of his hard, driving thrusts. Soon they had a hot, steady rhythm going, and David matched the speed of his hand stroking his cock to Carl’s rhythm.
Carla wrapped her arms around Carl’s neck and pulled her to him as she wrapped her legs around his torso. The young stud smashed his mouth onto hers, and her tongue twined around his as his tongue explored her mouth and throat. His strong hands slid down her hips and cupped her luscious asscheeks, pulling her to him as he drove his cock all the way into her eagerly receptive cunt.
“God, you’re too tight!” Carl gasped, breaking their kiss. “I’m not going to last too long this first time. Your cunt is too good.”
“Yes!’ Carla cried out. “Come inside me! Fill me with your sperm! Give me your baby!” She was kissing his face and neck as he whispered into her ear his intent to pump his full climax into her, and she felt her own orgasm building s Carl’s cock got harder and he began fucking her with shorter, stabbing thrusts.
“Oh God, here it is!” Carl announced. “UHHH!”
“YES!” Carla cried out as her orgasm overwhelmed her. Her cunt clamped down on Carl’s spasming prick, milking his jism out as he pushed as hard and deep into her, feeling the pulses throughout his loins as he fired spurt after spurt of thick ropy jism against her cervix.
It was too much for David to bear. Spurts of thin, watery semen erupted from his cock as he furiously jacked it, coating his cockhead and dribbling down his hand. He felt spent as he watched Carl deeply kiss Carla after their mutual orgasm began to subside.
“Oh wow.” Carla gasped as she caught her breath. “That was amazing! You’re amazing, Carl.”
“So are you, babe.” said the blonde stud. “I think we have time to do it again.”
“Yes, please.” said Carla. “But this time, let’s take out time.”
“Sure.” said Carl, dismounting the beautiful wife and standing at the side of the bed. “Why don’t you suck me up hard again, and then I’ll fuck a baby into that fantastic body of yours.”
As Carla sat up and began orally worshiping his huge, half-hard cock, wet and shiny with their combined juices, Carl glanced over at David. The cuck hubby looked dazed as he watched, and his cock was already getting hard again. He would stroke it to two more climaxes as he watched the rutting couple on the bed fuck slowly, deeply, and passionately until Carl emptied his big balls into Carla a second time, planting his sperm inside her to find and fertilize her waiting egg…
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Friday, September 25th. Dr. Laura Fredricson came into the exam room in the clinic attached to her office in the Psychology Building on Campus.
“Congratulations, Carla.” Laura said. “You’re pregnant.”
Carla squealed with happiness. “I am? Oh my goodness, that’s so great!” she gasped with happiness, tears forming in her lovely eyes. She hugged Laura warmly as she said “Thank you, Doctor! Thank you for everything!”
“It’s my pleasure.” Laura said. “I’m very happy for you. Okay, this is just the beginning. Here’s some things you need to start doing to make sure your baby is healthy and develops properly…”
After getting the instructions, Carla said “I can’t wait to go tell my husband! Thanks again, for everything…”
Part 2 – Morning Coffee
“This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!” shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Monday, September 28th, from the back parking lot of the Federal Building, with said Federal Building in the background. “The US DOJ Civil Rights Division has filed lawsuits against Mayor Daniel Allgood and the Office of District Attorney Miriam Walters!”
Bettina began: “The Civil Rights Division filed the lawsuit in the Federal Court of Judge Ruth B. Taney in Midtown. The lawsuit accuses Mayor Allgood of institutional racism against People of Color. Previous charges of suppressing the voices of black and female Council members were augmented by more recent charges that Mayor Allgood fully supported the Police brutality against People of Color exercised by Police Commander Donald Troy and the TCPD that led to the deaths of civil rights activist Jacquez Wilson, our KXTC colleague Lester Holder, and six others, the arrests of 200 peaceful protesters at the time of their deaths, and charging those 200 with excessive charges, including Felony Murder.”
Bettina: “The lawsuit against Miriam Walters’s Office stems from charging and trying Breonna Bryant for Felony Murder, suppressing her Free Speech rights, pressing charges against the other ‘Jacquez 200’, the vast majority of them being Persons of Color, and using her Office to assist Mayor Allgood in suppressing the Free Speech rights of People of Color in general.”
Bettina: “A spokesman for the US DOJ Civil Rights Division issued a statement saying ‘These lawsuits are being brought partly because Allgood and the Town & County District Attorney’s Office are enablers of the abusive tactics of Police Commander Donald Troy and the Town & County Police Department!”
Bettina: “We have with us Karl Frazier of Public Policy Polling.” Karl Frazier was standing next to Bettina. Bettina said “Karl, are these lawsuits hurting Daniel Allgood, who many say stole the previous Mayoral election from its rightful winner, Eldrick X. Weaver?”
Frazier: “It’s too early to tell, Bettina. But the polls on the Allgood-Weaver race this time have not substantially changed for months. People are polarized about this race and these men, and the people supporting Mayor Allgood don’t really care what the US DOJ Civil Rights Division says.”
Bettina: “What about Bruce Finneran in the important Inspector General race?”
Frazier: “Uh… ah… Mr. Finneran has a strong following among Blacks that want to something done about Commander Donald Troy’s aggressive tactics in breaking up protests.”
Bettina: “And candidate for Town Council Edgar Silas as well as Eldrick X. Weaver, had this to say. Roll tape.”
Tape rolled, showing Silas and Weaver together at a political rally, both saying variations of the words: “Daniel Allgood and Miriam Walters are enablers of the White Nationalist Donald Troy and the white D.A., Miriam Walters!…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“But there, they repeat themselves.” I said as the Sheriff, Chief, and my Angels drank coffee with me in the Chief’s Conference Room.
“Scripted?” Captain Tanya P. Muscone asked with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
“You betcha.” I replied. “They literally get their talking points and use them verbatim, perhaps not realizing they could be shown in sequence, like the US DOJ spokesman and then Weaver and Silas were in that report.”
“I have a question.” said Commander Cindy Ross. “Why didn’t the USDOJ Civil Rights Division sue the TCPD, too?”
“Last I checked,” barked the Sheriff, “nobody in the TCPD is running for office in November.”
“And there it is.” I said. “The Sheriff is right: that was purely political, designed to hurt Daniel Allgood in the polls, and intimidate Miriam Walters for daring to prosecute blacks that commit crimes.”
Police Chief Sean Moynahan said “I agreeeee about the timing with respect to the Electionzzz. And coming against the TCPD just helps Republicans, which is why the Press stopped reporting about violent black riots.”
Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle said: “I also suspect they’re prepping something else for the TCPD, something bigger, something worse.” I pointed at her and nodded vigorously in agreement.
“By the way,” growled Griswold, “Daniel Allgood made a rebuttal statement at a Press Conference, which Bettina did not show. I wonder if Fox Eight News will show it.”
“I just hope they show your speech, Sheriff.” I said with a wicked gleam in my eyes. The Sheriff said nothing, but his mustaches twitched with merriment.
Tanya said “I loved the way Karl Frazier had to dodge and weave after Bettina put him on the spot about that NAMbLA pedophile Finneran. He must be way behind for Frazier to avoid giving numbers like that.”
“He is way behind.” said the Sheriff.
Cindy queried: “So why did Bettina ask him that? Did she think the numbers were better than they really are? Didn’t she ask him about it before they went on air?”
I said “I think Betta fully expected Frazier to outright lie… you know, like Bettina herself does all the time. And it’s to his credit that he wouldn’t go that far…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Hello and welcome to Fox University Sunrise!” said Catrina Pierce. “I’m Catrina Pierce, and with me as always is Meredith Peller. And also joining us today is Priya Ajmani. Hello ladies!”
“Good morning, Catrina.” said Meredith Peller. “Welcome, Priya. Start us off today.”
“Thank you both. It’s great to be in studio with you today.” the lovely Indian reporterette said happily. “And here’s what’s in the news. Mayor Daniel Allgood filed a countersuit against the US DOJ Civil Rights Division in retaliation for what he calls a ‘politically timed and motivated harassment action’ after the DOJ filed a Federal lawsuit against him and District Attorney Miriam Walters. Roll tape.”
Tape rolled, showing Daniel Allgood saying calmly at an indoor Press conference: “It is obvious that the timing of this specious and unfounded lawsuit is deliberately intended to harm my political campaign against Eldrick X. Weaver, who I legitimately defeated in the last Mayoral election! My countersuit is intended to show the Federal Government that their tactics of intimidation, harassment, and political bias will be resisted, and I will take this all the way to the US Supreme Court if need be!”
Miriam Walters was then shown, saying “This lawsuit against the D.A.’s Office is designed to intimidate and harass me into not prosecuting blacks for any crime. They expect me to act like racist Democrat District Attorneys in Portland, Oregon, and Wilmington, Delaware, and just let murderers, rapists, and violent offenders be released based upon the color of their skin. In this Town & County, we prosecute the criminals that our Police arrest, regardless of their ethnicity, creed, or orientation! And I will not be cowed by the racist US DOJ Civil Rights Division!”
Back to Catrina live: “And in other news, the State Brotherhood of County Sheriffs formally endorsed Sharon Marshall for Governor! They cited Hoyt Stenson anti-gun-rights positions, but also pointed out that Mr. Stenson’s health appears to be failing. Sheriff Antonio Griswold of the Town & County said this. Roll tape.”
Tape rolled, showing Our Sheriff at an outdoor rally with Sharon Marshall, and he said: “As many of you know, my wife died last year. She was in the later stages of Alzheimer’s, of Dementia. I watched her go through that, and deteriorate. Ladies and gentlemen, I am seeing the exact same symptoms in Hoyt Stenson!”
Griswold: “The People of this State deserve to have Hoyt Stenson take a cognitive test and publicly release the results! And I call upon Stenson to stop hiding in his basement and publicly debate Sharon Marshall before a live audience and on live TV!”
Back to Meredith live: “The Stenson Campaign has denounced Sheriff Griswold as, quote, ‘a personal friend of the racist, White Nationalist Governor Val Jared’, unquote. They have demanded that Sheriff Griswold retract those statements and apologize for them, and are threatening to sue him for slander if he doesn’t.”
Catrina: “Sheriff Griswold responded that he hopes the Campaign will sue him, so that he can countersue and force Stenson to take a cognitive test, and show the People of the State that Hoyt Stenson is not mentally fit to hold public office.”
Priya: “The State Brotherhood of County Sheriffs declined to endorse either candidate in the Lieutenant Governor’s race, citing Corey Coons’s positions on wanting to defund the Police, but also expressing dissatisfaction with Establishment Republican Ruby Russell’s statements against supporting both National and State immigration laws…”
“Oooo-WEEEE!” I said enthusiastically as my Angels and the Sheriff watched in my office. “Sheriff got serious political game!”
“Iron Crowbar got serious asskissing skills.” growled Griswold in friendly retaliatory response. My Angles were laughing at our repartée.
“Sheriff,” said Cindy, “aren’t you worried the Stenson Campaign will sue you?”
“They’d be fools to.” replied the Sheriff. “If they do, I really can countersue and demand a cognitive test. And it keeps the story in the public eye… at least those eyes watching the Fox channels. KXTC and the SNN Networks won’t touch it.”
“Do they really think they can win, the way they are going?” Tanya said. “That line about hiding in his basement is accurate, and is hurting Stenson.”
“They must really be thinking that Sharon Marshall will be rejected by the Voters as being a Val Jared clone.” Cindy said. “And they may be right. Sorry, Sheriff, but Jared is despised.”
“Not nearly as much as you think, young whippersnapper.” the Sheriff replied. “And Sharon Marshall has a really strong following with Conservatives, and with the ‘Independents’… the ones that Crowbar correctly said used to be called ‘Reagan Democrats’. Marshall is well ahead in our internal polling.”
Cindy said “No disrespect to you, Sheriff, but I don’t agree. And I’ve heard some poll numbers that I believe, and show that Marshall is barely ahead at all. She could easily lose.”
I said “There is only one way Sharon Marshall can lose. And that’s if there is Election fraud so rampant that it will be obvious to the world.”
“I’ve got a question.” Tanya said with a gleam in her eye. “Is Priya part of the Fox Eight morning newscasts now?” For some strange reason, all eyes went to the Green Crowbar.
Cindy said “Priya told me that the KFXU Brass has been talking with her about appearing on the Fox University Sunrise show more often, and having more air time when she’s in the field, like when she’s in Midtown during the session of the State Legislature in the Winter. But I can’t really say more on it.”
I said “I might have a bit of a source on this also, for a rare change. Alison McFarland at the Town & County Examiner told me that there has been rising tension behind the scenes between Meredith Peller and Catrina Pierce, and between Peller and others there. Catrina is pretty Conservative, while Meredith is a moderate Leftist, but definitely Leftist. They’ve even sparred on-air at times on some issues, and they’re not leaving the bad blood behind when the cameras are turned off.”
I continued: “Meredith has objected to the negative coverage of Hoyt Stenson as well as the criminal allegations against his son Hunter Stenson, and on a couple of occasions outright refused to report on them. So if you’ve watched the newscasts, like the one this morning, you’ll see that Catrina does the negative reporting on the Stensons and positive coverage of Republicans, while Meredith gives neutral or positive reports about the Democrats.”
I finished up: “Soooo, the KFXU Brass is bringing in Priya more and more to show Meredith that she’s not inexpendable. She’ll either toe the network line, or she’ll be replaced.” Cindy nodded vigorously in agreement..
Part 3 – Stags And Vixens
10:00am, Monday, September 28th. Dr. Laura Fredricson’s graduate students took their seats in the classroom on the same floor as her office in the Psychology Building, but on the other side of the hallway. There were tables in a large square configuration that the group sat around, with Laura sitting with them at the center of one of the tables.
“Okay, let’s get started.” Laura said. “Does anyone have any questions from last week’s class?”
“I do, ma’am.” said Karyn, an extremely attractive brunette with flowing brown-black hair, doe eyes and full lips, and a saucy hourglass body. “I’m not quite sure of the difference between a ‘cuckold’ and a ‘stag’.” There were murmurs of agreement.
Laura said “Okay, let me back up just a bit. First, the technical and most widely understood definition of a ‘cuckold’ is ‘the husband of an adulteress’, and is usually applied derisively. The verb form, ‘to cuckold’, is the wife and/or the other man acting to have sex. The term comes from the same Old English term for the coo-coo bird, which lays its eggs in other birds’s nests. So a man who mates with and potentially impregnates another man’s wife, is cuckolding the husband.”
Laura: “In our studies of alternative relationships to the standard and most common monogamous man-woman relationship, some terminology developed. Decades ago… some would say in my heyday… the term ‘swingers’ was used to denote persons who engaged in extramarital or group sex. More recently, the term ‘hotwife’ has been used to denote the wife that has sex with men other than her husband. The man she engages in sex with is termed the ‘bull’.”
|Laura: “And that’s where we get to the ‘Stag & Vixen’ relationship. As I said before, the term ‘cuckold’ is often used derisively. If the wife is outright cheating on the unsuspecting husband, and everyone but him knew what was going on, they’d call him a cuckold. But what about a husband that willingly shares his wife with other men?”
“It’s not cheating if her husband approves, is it?” asked Peter, a white guy with a fit body and very black hair and a friendly, outgoing face. He was somewhat the class comedian, and was grinning as everyone chuckled at that latest joke.
“So they say.” said Laura. “And the point is a good one. Is a husband who knows about and permits his wife to have extramarital sex a cuckold? And that’s where the term ‘stag’ came in. A stag is a male deer, often a younger one. In humans, a male who goes to a party without a date (air quotes) ‘goes stag’, And male-only parties, such as a bachelor parties, were called a ‘stag parties’… back in my day.”
Laura: “In deer herds, the alpha-male gets to mate with the does and will force other stags to back off if they try to mount his does. And the other stags have to just stand there and watch as the alpha-male mates with the does. That alpha-male, especially in human sexual encounters, has become known as the ‘bull’.”
Laura: “So in our discussion of human relationships, the Stag allows the Bull to mate with his hotwife… and in this particular relationship, she is called the ‘Vixen’. Often the Stag will ‘reclaim’ his Vixen after she returns to him or after the Bull has left.”
“So the Stag is a cuckold.” said Tamara, a wiry girl with stringy brown hair and big glasses that made her look nerdier than she really was. She had an annoyingly nasally voice.
“Technically, yes.” Laura said. “But in these relationships, the word ‘cuckold’ has come to be more specific. In the Stag-Vixen relationship, the husband may not be present as his Vixen copulates with her Bull. Or he may be present and simply watches his Vixen mate with her Bull. He may participate, but often doesn’t. And he’s not into the humiliation aspects.”
Laura: “The Cuckold, however, may be into the humiliation of his wife being taken by another man. He may get aroused on the jealousy itself… the psychology term for that is ‘zelophilia’… or he may not enjoy it at all. Also, in the Stag-Vixen relationship, the Bull rarely goes about humiliating the Stag… if he does, either the Stag or the Vixen, or both, might end the relationship right there. But the Bull as well as the Hotwife may humiliate the Cuckold, especially if the Cuckold wants that.”
Laura: “And last are the situations where the Cuckold either wants to or has sex with the Bull, whether forced or consentual. The Cuckold is often bisexual or has latent homosexual leanings. The Stag usually doesn’t.”
Karyn asked “So the difference is the humiliation aspect of it?”
Laura replied “That’s some of it. But I like to look at the two situations as almost totally different relationships between the husband and the wife.”
“What about when the husband also cheats… er, has sex outside the marriage?” asked Jill, a tall, cute girl with frilly light brown hair.
Laura said “I’m glad you asked! Because that segues right into today’s discussion, on Polyamory relationships….
Part 4 – Death and Anger
12:00 high noon, Monday, September 28th. Carl called his wife Wanda, who was a partner in the Town Fitness Centers operation. “Hey baby,” he said into his cellphone, “I’m done, I’m on my way back… yeah, I dropped my load in her… yeah, she came hard several times; that helps, doesn’t it?… okay, I’m on the Bypass, I should be at the gym in 20 minutes or so… love you, too. Bye…”
After disconnecting, the young stud put the cellphone in the cupholder between the front seats of his silver Toyota Corolla. As he neared the northwest corner of Town, where the Bypass met with North Street, he only saw the merest flash in his driver-side door mirror.
*CRUNCH!*
His head jerked left and he saw that a black muscle car with heavily tinted windows had smashed into his car just forward of the door hinge. As he instinctively hit the brakes, he realized that the car was pushing him off the road!
“What the hell, dude?” he shouted as he fought to resist, but the other car was too much. There was a sloping embankment to the right, and he realized that he was going over the edge of it at an angle!
He fought to turn the tires to the right, into the direction of his slide, and was able to prevent the car from flipping over. As the car hit something and came to a sudden stop, the airbag deployed, slamming him in the chest and lower face. The blow as well as the overall accident left him stunned for a second.
As he gathered his wits, he looked out the window to see someone in all black running down the embankment. As the man neared, Carl saw with horror that the man had a gun in his hand. “What the fuck!——” Carl started yelling.
*FWUP!* spoke the pistol, the silencer at the end of the barrel muffling almost all of the sound. The driver door window shattered. The man put the business end of the pistol almost to Carl’s head and pulled the trigger…
The masked man reached through the shattered window and unlocked all the doors. He opened the left-side rear door and disappeared inside the car for a moment, then came back out with Carl’s cellphone. He ran back up to the embankment and got into the black car, just as other cars were stopping and pulling up, likely to see if they could render aid in any way…
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I drove north on the Bypass in my Police SUV, with Teresa riding shotgun. As we neared the congregation of blue lights, mixed with some red and white lights, I noticed that Police had closed off the right lane, forcing everyone into the left lane.
“Very efficient.” I told Teresa. “Good plan, and good training. Well done, Commander Croyle.”
“Team effort, sir.” Teresa said.
We stopped on the side of the road, got out, and walked up to the scene. Patrolman Culver allowed us through the perimeter barricade. I noticed Firefighters putting away their equipment. “It never caught fire, Commander.” one of them said to me.
“I’m glad you were here anyway.” I replied. “Good job.” We went on until we were at the edge of the embankment. I saw the torn up turf that showed where the car had gone off the edge, and the tracks of shredded, dug up grass that led to the car. I also saw a lot of other tracks, of Police Officers and Firefighters that had walked along that same path to get to the car.
“Hendricks was the first on the scene, and said the guy was still alive, so we got him out.” said Sr. Patrolman Johnson. “The paramedics are rushing him to University Hospital, but it didn’t look good to me. He was shot in the side of the head, just in front of the ear. It looked like a small caliber bullet, and the wound was not bleeding much at all.”
“Where’s Hendricks now?” I asked.
“I think Sergeant Clarke sent him up to do traffic control, sir.” said Johnson.
“Okay, thanks.” I said. “So is Sergeant Clarke in charge here?”
“Right here, sir.” said Sergeant Clarke, coming up to us.
“Hello, Sergeant. Do you know who called it in?” I asked.
“All I know is that 9-1-1 was called, and dispatched the ambulance.” said Sergeant Clarke. “Maybe one of the people who stopped to help when they saw the accident called it in. We’re getting their statements now.”
“We’ll need them.” I said. “Just look at this terrain, Sergeant. It could not be more walked over if I’d brought a herd of cattle through here.”
“Yes sir.” said Sergeant Clarke. “And this isn’t meant to be excuse-making, sir, but a lot of that was Fire Department personnel.”
“Sir,” said a Firefighter Captain that I did not know as he came up to us. “We had to get to the car to put out any fires that might’ve started up, and the Paramedics had to get the guy out, since he was still alive.”
“I get that, Captain, I truly do.” I said. “Commander Croyle, we need to have much, much more thorough training in securing crime scenes like this. And I’ll have a word with the Sheriff to arrange for us to instruct the Fire Department on their role in helping us secure these scenes.”
“Yes sir.” Teresa said, making notes in her notebook.
“We’re about to clear out, Commander.” said the Fire Captain. “Is there anything you need before we go?”
“Just notify your Chief that I would appreciate it if any Firefighter that was up close to the car could either be interviewed by my people or make a written statement of what they saw.” The Captain promised to put out the word, and I dismissed him.
“Sir,” said Senior Patrol Officer Penny Scott of our Intel Branch, in uniform, “the guy’s wallet and ID were in a pocket of his clothes, and I ran the car tags. His name is Carl Ryder. He works at Commander Ross’s gym, Town Fitness Centers.”
“Yes, yes he does. I said. “Sergeant Clarke, put out the word that nobody is to put out the victim’s name on Police radio. In fact…” I took out my radio and hit the ‘Break’ button, then said “Break! Break! Break! This is Commander Troy. Absolutely no one is to put out the name of the Bypass car crash victim over Police radio. Stop all radio communications; use cellphones to communicate about this incident from this moment forward.”
I said “Sergeant Clarke, make sure that happens. Ms. Scott, the Press and their drones are not here yet, but they soon will be. Cover up that car tag. Go do that right now.” Penny Scott scurried off.
“Come on, Commander Croyle.” I said. “We need to get to the Hospital, pronto!…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
My blue lightbar was blazing and my siren wailing as we sped towards University Hospital. I had Teresa call Cindy on her cellphone and apprise the Green Crowbar of what was going on. After disconnecting, Teresa said “Cindy’s going to go to the gym and get Wanda and take her to the Hospital. And I guess you’re trying to keep the Press from identifying him so that they don’t start hounding Wanda about it?”
“That’s some of it.” I said. “I also want to get a headstart on finding out who shot Carl. But with him being an employee of Cindy’s gym, and his wife being Cindy’s business partner, you know that Bettina would just love to blab that out all over the place, which will hurt our pursuit of the criminals.”
“Yes sir.” Teresa said, then she said: “Sir, I apologize for the deplorable condition of that crime scene. I have utterly failed in my duty to properly train your Officers, and to make sure proper procedures were implemented.”
“I accept your apologies.” I said. “Just make sure it doesn’t happen again. And part of the re-training should be that We the Police have guns; the Fire Department does not. By that I mean that I can understand the Paramedics getting to the guy as fast as they could, and getting him out of there. But the Police do not have to let the Fire Department run roughshod over a crime scene like that, and they should take whatever steps are necessary to maintain the integrity of said crime scene…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
12:30pm, Monday, September 28th. We arrived at University Hospital and parked in the ‘Authorized Vehicles Only’ area behind the Emergency Room entrances. We went inside the entrance at the ‘T’, the place where the side wings connected to the main middle part. We went to the Nurses Station at the corner.”
“He was rushed into surgery on the 2nd floor.” said the Nurse on duty. “Dr. Morgan is with him now, as is Dr. Fredricson.”
“Dr. Fredricson?” I said, confused. “Last I checked, she’s a gynecologist.”
“All I know, sir,” said the Nurse, “is that she went in with Dr. Morgan to assist.”
“Okay.” I said. “When Police Deputy Chief Ross gets here with the victim’s wife, have them come up to the 2nd floor Waiting Room.”
Teresa and I went up to the waiting room ourselves. I remembered the day Cindy and I were in that room with Chief Griswold when his wife died. (Author’s note: ‘Vox Populi Vox Dei’, Ch. 02-03.)
I called Captain Tanya Muscone and asked which MCD Detectives she was assigning the case. She said “Julia Rodriguez and Teddy Parker. This one’s big, since it’s Cindy… er, Commander Ross’s business partner’s husband.”
“That’s true.” I said. “Have you got Carl’s cellphone?”
“No sir.” said Tanya. “It wasn’t found anywhere in the car. His wallet was in the pocket of his athletic pants, with over one thousand dollars in it. We bagged the wallet and money separately as evidence.”
“Okay.” I said. “Let me know what else they find.” After disconnecting, I called Lt. Mary Milton of Intel, and said “Mary, I need you to find out Carl’s cellphone number, and I’ll get a warrant to get the metadata for it, since the phone itself is missing.”
“Wilco, sir. I’m already on it.” Mary said. “Uh, sir, should I report my findings to Captain Muscone, or to you?”
“Both.” I said. “Send her the report, and cc: it to me.” Mary said she would, and we disconnected. Teresa noticed me shaking my head as I sent a text requesting the warrant.
“Problems, sir?” she asked.
“Ahhh, just having to play ring-around-the-roses between Tanya and Mary Milton.” I said. “Anyhoo, Carl’s cellphone is missing, and I suspect it was taken from his car. So we’re going to get a warrant to get metadata——”
Just then Wanda burst into the room, followed by her business partner Ariel as well as Cindy Ross. “Is there any news? What happened?” Wanda asked, her voice sounding shocked and miserable.
“We haven’t heard anything yet.” I said. “Why don’t you ladies sit down. Cindy, you’re officially recused from this case, so you can stay with Wanda for all the time she needs you to. I do need to ask you, Wanda, and you, Ariel, a couple of questions.”
“Like what?” Ariel asked.
“Like if either of you know if anyone wanted to hurt Carl?” I said. “Was anyone threatening him? Did he have any altercations with anyone at the gym? Dissatisfied customers? Or any problems with anyone that you know about, Wanda?”
“No, no, nothing like that.” Wanda said. “Definitely not at the gym.”
I said: “Wanda, and Cindy, we’re going to need the list of his personal trainer clients, both at the gym and any away from the gym.”
“Uh, sure.” said Cindy.
“We need to talk about that, Cindy.” Ariel said.
“Is there a problem with that?” I asked, a bit sharply.
“Yes there is.” Ariel replied. “I don’t want our clients harassed by the Police unless and until you have something on someone in particular. And then we’ll honor a warrant for those particular persons.”
“That’s a point.” Cindy replied, causing me to ‘look’ at her “We’ll talk about it later, Don.”
I’m not sure who was more in disbelief at that, me or Teresa, but I just said “Yes, we’ll have to discuss it later. I’ll go see what I can find out about Carl’s condition. Teresa, stay here with them.”
Teresa nodded and I went out into the hallway. I saw Laura come out of a door at the other end of the side wing hall, near the window that looked out over the backside ‘Authorized Vehicles Only’ parking lot. She stood there, not coming towards me. Not a good sign.
I made the walk to her, and looked briefly out the window at my Police SUV in the parking lot as Laura also turned to face the window. “He’s dead.” she said simply.
“Is he on life support?” I asked.
“No.” Laura said. “He was DOA when he got here. Everyone saw the shot to the side of his head, but he was also shot in the back of the head, which destroyed the parts of the brain that serve the autonomous systems. I’m not sure how the paramedics got a pulse, to be honest… to be candid, that is.”
“Okay, I’ll go tell Wanda.” I said, turning to go back down the hall.
“I can do that, or Dr. Morgan can.” Laura said.
“Thanks, but it’s my job.” I said. “We’ll talk later.” I walked down the hall, and Teresa met me just outside the waiting room. I just shook my head, and Teresa’s face showed her pain.
I went into the waiting room, and observed that Cindy had gotten the vibe as well as seeing my face, and I think Ariel saw my face also. Wanda, of course, was doing everything she could to avoid knowing. But I had to proceed to break her heart.
“I’m sorry, Wanda.” I said. “There was nothing they could do——”
“He’s… he’s… nooooooo.” Wanda wailed as Cindy took her in her arms and held onto her. Ariel also sat down, on Wanda’s other side, and tried to comfort her friend. Cindy allowed Ariel to take Wanda in her arms, then walked into the hallway with me at my silent ‘shoulder throw’ request.
In the hallway I said “I know this is a bad time, but there will be no better one. So I’m going to have Julia Rodriguez and Teddy Parker come over and interview Wanda and Ariel when they get done with the crime scene——”
We were interrupted by the athletic blonde Alison McFarland coming up the hall. As she got to us, she said “I heard something happened to Wanda’s husband——”
“WHAT IS THAT BITCH DOING HERE?” yelled Ariel, her face a mask of pure fury. “GET OUT OF HERE, YOU FUCKING BITCH!”
“I… I just came to see if I could do something to help…” Alison started, but Ariel launched herself past Teresa to attack Alison.
“I SAID GET OUT OF HERE, YOU BITCH!” Ariel yelled. I grabbed her just in time to stop her from grabbing Alison by the neck. As Ariel turned, I spun us around so that I was between them.
“Ariel!” I said loudly as Nurses and Hospital employees began popping into the hallway to see what was the matter. “Stop! Get ahold of yourself!”
“GET THAT PRESS BITCH OUT OF HERE!” Ariel yelled, her fury bordering on insanity. “I’LL KILL YOU, BITCH!” To me she yelled “LET GO OF ME!” and grabbed me to throw me off of her. She was very strong, but she didn’t have leverage on me. So when that didn’t work, she resumed her efforts to get to Alison by pushing me in the chest.
Oops. Wrong answer.
*WHAM!*
I executed an outstanding takedown, and Ariel found herself face down on the floor. I had one handcuff affixed to her left wrist, but she was too fast and got her other hand away, still struggling. I pressed down on her sciatic nerve, which caused pain, as Teresa got her other arm behind her and the handcuffs fastened. We got Ariel to her feet, but she was still filled with rage and struggling against us.
“Ariel!” yelled Cindy, who’d come out and gotten in front of Ariel. “Stop this!”
“Get that BITCH out of here!” Ariel screamed, still fighting violently despite being cuffed and restrained. Just then two Hospital Security Officers came up.
“Teresa,” I said, handing her the keys to my Police SUV, “take Ariel to Headquarters. She’s under arrest, for assaulting a Police Officer. Full booking, then put her in I-1, handcuffed to the ring.” By that I meant the ring embedded in the table in the Interrogation Room. Teresa and the security people took the still-furious Ariel with them.
“I’m sorry, I was just trying to help.” said Alison
“Your help is not wanted here.” Cindy said coldly to Alison. “Ariel is right, you need to leave.” Fortunately for me, Julia Rodriguez and Teddy Parker came down the hallway.
“Cindy, help the Detectives talk to Wanda.” I said. “Alison, come with me.” I ‘guided’ her down the hallway, whispering along the way “I know you just came to help, but as you can see, they don’t want it.”
“I get that,” said Alison, “but why was Ariel so outraged? She looked like she literally wanted to kill me. And by the way, that was a nice takedown; Ariel is very strong, and good with martial arts, and you treated her like a rag doll.”
“That’s why I train like hell in the martial arts myself.” I replied. “And part of the reason for Ariel’s anger may be that you’re officially the Press now. At any rate, why don’t you do me the favor of driving me back to Headquarters, and I’ll promise you a scoop if I’m able to give one. On another story if not this one.”
“Fair enough.” Alison said. So after I made sure Julia had things well in hand at the Hospital, I left with Alison.
Part 5 – A Swift-Flowing River
1:45pm, Monday, September 28th. After going by the Courthouse, I got to Headquarters and went to the anteroom of Interrogation-1. Inside, Ariel was sitting in a chair against the wall (to the one-way glass’s right), hands handcuffed behind her, and ‘chained’ with a second pair of handcuffs to the rail that lined the wall.
Teresa joined me in the anteroom and said “Sir, I know I’m good enough to take her down like you did, but she struggled against us the whole way here, and just would not calm down. So I just left her cuffed and chained her to the wall rather than try to cuff her to the table.”
“Good.” I said. “Now let’s think about this. We’ve known Ariel for years, and we know she’s normally a good person that would never act like she’s acting now. And I know she hates Alison McFarland with a passion; that’s leftovers from their days with the ‘Miss Physical America’ competitions. But that kind of rage requires an explanation. So let’s go inside and have her give us one, shall we?”
I led the way into the room. Ariel looked up at us, her eyes still showing anger, but much less rage than before. I pulled a chair up next to her, leaving her restrained, and sat down.
“Your audition for the Red Lantern Corps went very well.” I said. (Author’s note: if you don’t get that reference, google it… particularly Queen Mera, wife of Aquaman.) “Still, going through me to attack someone else is not a good idea. It leads to a thing called ‘felony charges’. So why was an intelligent woman like you doing unintelligent things back there?”
Ariel said “I didn’t mean to attack you. I don’t know how much Cindy has told you, but there is no one I hate more on this planet than that bitch Alison McFarland. For Christ’s sake, Wanda just lost her husband, and that fucking bitch shows up…” Ariel began shaking with rage again.
“Is it because of your past,” I asked, “or is it because Alison is part of the Press now?”
“Some of both, maybe.” Ariel said. “Either way, for that bitch to show up in the middle of what must be the worst moment of Wanda’s life, that’s just rude, disrespectful, and… reprehensible. And if she goes anywhere near Wanda again, the next time I see her——”
“Stop.” said Teresa. “You’re not helping yourself, here.”
“She’s right, you know.” I said. “Assaulting a Police Officer is a felony, so you might not see Alison again for ten years if you keep up the threats. Now I really don’t want to do that, but you gotta calm down. And you’re not helping Wanda by doing any of this.” I was observing Ariel carefully, and I noticed the merest flash in her eyes… ahhh, she must think she is doing Wanda good by doing this. But why?
“Okay,” I said after a minute. “If you stay calm, I’ll uncuff you, and we’ll go over to that table and have an intelligent conversation.” I began uncuffing Ariel, and she did not attempt to attack either of us.
Teresa guided Ariel to the table and had her sit down, then stood by the jail side door as if she were the Uniformed Presence. I sat down opposite Ariel. “Okay,” I said, “so why don’t you want me to have the list of Carl’s clients?”
Ariel said “I never said I didn’t want you to have the list. I said I think you have to have a warrant, and only for those persons you can connect to the murder. Big difference, there.”
“Okay.” I said. “So without naming names, is there anyone on the client list, or those client’s spouses, that might have a reason to do Carl harm.”
Ariel said “No. I’m not playing your fishing game.”
“You’re obstructing a Police investigation.” Teresa said. I winced; I love Teresa more than life itself, but she’d just made a huge mistake.
“Then if you’re charging me with a crime,” Ariel fired back, exploiting Teresa’s error, “I want a lawyer, and I will answer no more questions without a lawyer present.”
“All right, no more questions, then.” I replied. “But do consider that the husband of your business partner and friend was just murdered, so if you think of anything that can help me find and catch that killer, consider telling me.” To Teresa I said “Escort her to the desk to get her things. We’re dropping the charges… as long as she doesn’t try to assault anyone again.”
As Ariel got up, I said, “Oh… one more thing.” I handed her a document. “That’s a Restraining Order. You and Alison McFarland are ordered by Judge Watts to stay at least 500 feet away from each other. I’ve already given her her copy. Don’t give me reason to think you’re violating this.”
“What about Wanda?” Ariel asked. “Why don’t you have a Restraining Order to keep that bitch away from Wanda?”
“Because,” I said, “I’m expecting you to be helping Wanda through her time of grief, and that you’ll be with her all the time for the next few days. So if Alison gets near her, she’s violating the Order regarding you.”
“Flawlessly logical.” Teresa added helpfully… and cattily.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As I headed back to my office, Corporal Inga Gunddottar came up the hallway. “Sir!” she said almost breathlessly. “Commander Ross called, and asked you to contact her. She says it’s urgent!”
“Roger that.” I said, fishing out my Police iPhone. “Thank you, Corporal.” Inga went back to the Intel Center while I speed-dialed the Green Crowbar.
“Don!” Cindy said when she answered. “I need you to come over to Wanda’s house. Someone’s broken in and ransacked the place!”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
2:15pm. I came into Wanda and Carl’s home, which was in a decent suburb to the northwest of Town. A lot of Police and firefighters lived a little further west, and the nicer gated neighborhoods were to the east. The house was a one-story ‘ranch’ style.
As Teresa and I walked up to the front door, more vehicles arrived. They were the TCPD’s CSIs. “Wow, how did we get here ahead of them?” Teresa asked in some astonishment.
“I’ll bet it’s because a certain Green Crowbar called me before she called them.” i replied. Indeed, Julia Rodriguez and Teddy Parker were pulling up behind the Technicians as they were getting their stuff out. I waited for Julia and Teddy to get to the door, then we all went inside.
The place was ransacked, but not totally destroyed. Sofa and chair cushions were thrown onto the floor, books were thrown out of the bookshelves on the floor, and drawers and cabinets in the kitchen were left open. But the television monitor on the wall was still there.
Seeing wires from both the monitor and the wall, Julia said “Looks like they had an Xbox or other device to stream movies from, and that was taken. Maybe their cable box, too.”
“We didn’t have cable.” said a distraught Wanda, who was standing with Cindy to one side. “Just a Roku box and a Playstation. They’re both gone.”
One of the three bedrooms had been converted into a study/den, and drawers were emptied and papers strewn about. “Looks like a computer was taken from the desk.” Julia said. “Internet router missing, too. But a television is mounted on the wall, and is sitting on the floor now. Ergo, it was not taken, and that’s strange.”
I looked into the bathroom between that bedroom and third second bedroom. The medicine cabinet with mirror door had been pulled out of the wall and placed but not thrown onto the floor.
We went to the main bedroom suite. Drawers in the bathroom vanity were pulled out and set on the counter. The medicine cabinet on one side was pulled out like the other bathroom’s had been. The bedroom itself had been ransacked. The television monitor had been torn off the wall, but was left on the floor, leaning against the wall. The mattress was pulled off the bed, drawers opened and clothes thrown about. The bedside tables had also been treated to a search.
“Check out the third bedroom, sir.” said Julia. I walked in and saw that the bed’s mattress had been thrown off the bed, sheets removed, the box springs’s flimsy covering torn open. But I saw what Julia was looking at. There was a circle of adjustable lights attached to a metal ring that was mounted on the ceiling, and there were white sheets set up like a photography studio, to reflect the bright lights pointing up at them. There were tripods in one corner, but no cameras nor video equipment.
“Looks like something you and Dr. Fredricson would put together, sir.” Julia said. I chuckled, but Teresa was offended.
“Detective Sergeant!” she said sternly. “You forget yourself!”
“It’s okay.” I said. “I get the point… this room was created as a studio, and no, it does not take my wife to figure out what was being recorded here.”
After our tour, as the technicians worked diligently, I went with Teresa and the Detectives to the main room. I said to Cindy and Wanda “I need to see the two of you outside.” We went outside. I said “First, Wanda, I don’t think you can stay here tonight. Is there anywhere you can stay?”
“She can stay with me.” said a voice behind us. I whirled around to see Ariel coming up the path. She hugged Wanda, who looked like she needed that lifeline of support.
“Good enough.” I said. “But there will be Officers watching over you. I fear that whoever ransacked Wanda’s home may come after yours next, since I don’t think they found what they were looking for here.”
“How can you tell that?” Cindy asked.
“I can’t tell you,” I said, “because you are officially recused from this case. Why don’t you help your business partners with whatever they need in Wanda’s time of grief.”
The Green Crowbar’s ice-blue eyes flashed fire at me for that, but she astutely observed that I wasn’t playing around and I wasn’t in the mood. She nodded and relented.
“Okay,” I said, “I have to ask this: Wanda, what’s that third bedroom about?”
Wanda understood. “We made some fitness videos in there. And we also liked to film ourselves having sex.” she said.
“Was your camera and video equipment stolen?” I asked.
“If it wasn’t in the room, yes.” Wanda said. “We would download the digital files to our computer in the den room. It was missing, also.”
I nodded. “Okay, then. Cindy, why don’t you take Ariel and Wanda to Ariel’s place for the time being? And ladies… I may have to call you back to Headquarters for more questions, so don’t leave the County without telling the TCPD… and that means me personally… where you’re going…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
4:15pm, Monday, September 28th. The meeting in Classroom ‘E’ was attended by Sheriff Griswold, Chief Moynahan, Me, Lt. Commander Croyle, Captain Muscone, Lt. Davis, Lt. Mary Milton, Lt. Myron Milton, Lt. Micah Rudistan, Detectives Teddy Parker and Julia Rodriguez, and Penny Scott and Inga Gunddottar from Intel.
“Welcome to the party, Corporal Gunddottar.” I said. “How are you liking Intel?”
“I am learning a lot, sir.” said Inga. I did not take time to analyze that comment, but put it away in its compartment of the mind for the moment.
“She’s doing a really good job helping us out in there.” said Mary Milton, ever the good leader.
“Good.” I said. “With your permission, Chief?”
“By alllll meeeeens, Mister Crowbarrrr.” drawled the Chief.
“First, I want to say that this one is hitting close to home for some of us.” I said. “The victim was the husband of Commander Ross’s business partner, and some of us knew him to varying degrees. Commander Ross is recused from this case, and you, plural, should not discuss the case with her, except for formal interviews and the like. I don’t think I need to recuse myself at this point, but I would like to be in the background as much as possible.”
After letting that sink in, I said “Okay, Captain Muscone.”
“Okay, Lieutenant Davis.” said Captain Muscone.
“Okay, Detective Rodriguez.” said Lieutenant Davis.
“The ‘okays’ and the bucks stop here.” quipped Detective Sergeant Julia Rodriguez, generating some chuckles. “First, the crime scene. All Police Officers at the scene have filed their Police reports… even Justin Hendricks. So have the EMTs that responded to the scene. The Fire Department is not getting their reports in as quickly as we’d like, though.”
“I’ll take care of that.” muttered Our Sheriff. He took out his Sheriff iPhone and began sending texts.
“From all the reports, as well as Teddy’s and my observations at the scene,” Julia said, “it appears that Carl’s car, a silver Toyota Corolla, was struck by a black vehicle that was described as a ‘muscle car’ by Hendricks and some of the civilians that stopped to help. It was a hit-and-run, and no one got the car tags on the offending car.”
Julia: “There are no cameras in the immediate vicinity of the accident scene…. I guess I should say ‘crime scene’… but we did get a camera shot at the intersection of the Bypass and North Street, which becomes the Hammondsville Highway going west out of State. The car tags looked like they were smudged with mud or something, and we can’t get a clear reading on them. The car went east and disappeared in a low-coverage area; it may have gone behind the buildings of a strip mall of stores. We then picked it up going west, and crossing the bridge at the State Line.”
Julia: “Carl’s car was run off the road, and it appeared to a passerby in the other lanes, going north-to-south, that a man in the shotgun seat got out of the black car and went to help Carl. The passerby said the man was wearing a black sweater with a hoodie that was on his head, so he didn’t see anything in the way of facial features. Another passerby who was coming up from south-to-north said he saw the man just as he was getting back in the black car, and the man was wearing a hoodie and possibly a mask over his eyes. That passenger stopped, but a Police vehicle pulled up right behind him, and the Officer told him to wait in his car, which he did.”
Julia: “That Officer was Hendricks. He worked his way down to the car, said he checked for a pulse and got a faint one, and yelled that to the next Police cruiser that came up, which were Officers Wagner and Buchannan. An ambulance appeared just then, having been notified by 9-1-1, who apparently was called by passersby right when the accident happened.”
Julia: “Wagner and Buchannan began the proper procedures to divert traffic to the left lane, which was later joined by other Officers. In the meantime, Hendricks told the paramedics coming up that he’d felt a pulse, so he and they and Johnson got the driver side door open and got Carl out, and they rushed him to the ambulance and to the Hospital.”
Julia: “Other Officers and CSI techs that came up began searching the car. His keys were missing from the car’s ignition, and the trunk had been popped open, so maybe the perp took the keys to open the trunk. In any case, they found no fingerprints at all, but they did find blood spatter on the driver’s seat top, that the shot to the side of the head wouldn’t cause.”
Julia: “They think the perp opened the back door, got in, shot Carl in the back of the head as well as the first shot from the side, then found his cellphone and took it, along with anything else in the car. But they did not search him for his wallet, apparently. As to the caliber of the weapon, Officers that saw it thought it was small-caliber, but we’ll have to wait for Martha the M.E.’s autopsy for that.”
“Which she is not releasing, even to me.” said Tanya, almost pouting.
“That’s because I texted her and told her not to release it to anyone, until she had a full and complete report.” I said. “And I did that to keep the God-cursed Media from finding out anything before I am good and ready for them to.”
“Har!” barked Our Sheriff. “Good luck with that!” I just shrugged.
Julia: “The car was towed to the Crime Lab’s new garage, and they’re excited to have something to use all their new toys on. They’re still examining it.”
Back when we’d worked on the Charlie Griswold car crash (Author’s note: ‘Fathers and Sons’, Ch. 02.), we realized we needed better facilities for examining vehicles. So on the far side of the Crime Lab building (next to The Fairgrounds), a small annex was built that could house a vehicle. Tools inside could do everything from spread a crushed car back out to sonar analysis to computer analyses. It had taken two years to fully ‘furnish’, but it was now a world-class facility.
Julia said: “Intel got got the meta-data for Carl’s cellphone. There——”
“Did they get a warrant for that?” Tanya asked, rather sharply.
“Yes.” I said. “I got the warrant for them myself.” Tanya’s look seemed to be one of… disappointment? I thought to myself.
Julia said “There was one ‘strangeness’ about it, to use your term, Commander. Carl called his wife’s cellphone about two minutes before the accident, and the call lasted about a minute. Then, a burner phone called him, and it had to be right at or after the time of the accident, from all the accounts and data we have.”
“Hmmm,” I said, then it hit me: “Do you have an approximate location of the burner phone? Was it right at the same place as Carl’s phone?”
“Uhhh,” said Mary Milton, looking up the data on her laptop, her fingers flying faster than my vision could comprehend. “Wow. Yes, sir, it was… at least the cell tower triangulation data matches perfectly. How did you know that?”
“It confirms the criminal got into the car to search for Carl’s cellphone.” I said. “He dialed the number… which he knew, I’ll point out… so that Carl’s phone would ring and the perp could find it. It probably flew into the backseat or under the front seats; hence, the perp got in the back to retrieve it.”
Seeing the ‘how does he do that?’ looks on everyone’s faces, the Sheriff barked a laugh, his mustaches twitching merrily. “And he waves the magic crowbar again, folks.” he growled amusedly. “Good job, Crowbar. So what’s next?”
I said “What about Carl’s wallet, and the money in it?”
Tanya replied: “Carl’s wallet had his ID, his credit cards, a photo of him and Wanda at their wedding, and $1050 in cash, of which $1000 was a folded wad of ten one-hundred-dollar bills. The serial numbers were not sequential and appear to be different ages and different conditions of wear. We’re analyzing for any significant drug residues, and Martha said she’d look for signs Carl having had drugs in his hands or in his system. There was nothing else in the wallet, no slips of paper with any codes or passwords, or anything like that.”
“Good report.” I said. “Detective Rodriguez, you interviewed Wanda at the Hospital?”
Julia said “Yes sir, with Commander Ross present. Wanda said she had no idea who might want to harm her husband. She said he normally is at the gym in the morning, but he was running errands this morning, and he called and said he was on his way to the gym. That must be the call just before he was run off the road.”
I nodded. “Did she say what the errand was that Carl was running this morning?”
“No sir, I didn’t get that far.” Julia said. “Wanda started breaking down, and Commander Ross asked if we could talk to Wanda later.”
“Hmmmmmm.” I said, and it ended up being a growl. “That is… unfortunate. Yes, you need to re-interview Wanda and interview Ariel, good thorough interviews. You also need to talk to Carl’s fellow employees at Town Fitness Centers, see if he said anything about any problems he was having, or if his mannerisms had changed in the last few days or even weeks.” Julia nodded and made notes.
“O-kayyyy.” I said. “The break-in at his home. Anything on that?”
Teddy Parker said “The Crime Lab techs are still processing the scene, but so far they’ve found no fingerprints other than Carl’s and Wanda’s. Entry was gained via the back door, apparently by using Carl’s keys taken from the car crash scene. The alarm was turned off at 12:10pm, with a company code that isn’t normally known by anyone except Commander Troy, and it was not turned back on.”
“So the perps went from the accident scene straight to his house?” said the Chief. “But the black car went west, and on out of State?”
I said “Sir, it turned east first. The passenger, the perp that did the shooting, may have gotten out of that car and into another one, and he or they drove to Carl’s house. Or they handed off the keys to others.” The Chief nodded, and I nodded at Teddy to keep going.
Teddy: “It appears they did a very rapid but very thorough search. Wanda said a lot of their electronic devices, such as their Roku, Playstation, computer, and video cameras were stolen. But they left three television monitors on the walls or the floors, the camera tripods in the third bedroom, which Wanda says are expensive in their own right, and an expensive radio that has expanded bandwidths, including short wave and the Police bands.”
“Did they have any CDs or DVDs?” I asked. “And were those stolen?”
“Uh, I don’t know, sir.” said Parker. “I’ll need to check with the CSIs and Wanda on that.”
*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*
It was my Police iPhone, and it was Mark Walker of my CSI team. “Commander,” he said, “we’ve found something strange in the car that you need to see…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
4:45pm, Monday, September 28th. Teresa, Julia, Teddy, Jerome Davis, and myself came into the Crime Lab’s auto annex. We were met by Lead CSI Technician Mark Walker, who led us to the trunk of the car.
“Sir, there’s a hidden compartment back here.” he said, showing where a panel had been removed. “It’s also accessible from the back seat by pulling the seatback forward. There’s not a lot of room, but we found this inside the compartment.”
He led us to a nearby table, where a black gym bag was, with athletic wear piled on the table next to it. “The bag was mostly full of gym clothes, sir, and they’re all clean, freshly laundered. But inside, we found this.”
He handed me a rectangular plastic box, about 5″ x 3″ x 1″ in dimension. “It looks like a Wi-Fi router or modem.” I said.
“Yes sir, it does.” said Walker. “But it’s not. Let me show you.” He pressed a spot on the side, and the side opened to reveal a very thin video screen, and a tiny keyboard and mousepad.
“This is technically a laptop.” said Walker. “But if I’m right, it’s not an ordinary computer. It has one USB port and a tiny port for a connector. And if you look inside this black gym bag, you’ll see a very thin wire under this side flap, which plugs into that tiny port on the computer. We haven’t analyzed any further, and to be honest sir, I’d like to have Lieutenant Milton… Myron Milton… help us with this.”
“By all means.” I said. “Make sure it’s under two-man control at all times, and the same with this bag. Take them to Headquarters and analyze the crap out of them…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was 7:00pm, and we were at The Cabin, on the back deck. Molly and her boys were there, as always. I’d offered to have Ariel and Wanda stay there, but they’d declined.
“Ariel and Wanda are at Ariel’s condo.” Cindy said. “It’s not far from my mom’s condo, and it’s gated. It also has cameras that the TCPD is tapping into, and watching over. Teresa told 1st Precinct to increase Patrols in that area, and have cars park every so often for a few minutes.”
“Good.” I said. “We’re also watching Town Fitness Centers. It closes at 10:00pm, and the cleaning crews will be there until midnight or so, and then we’ll have the 2nd shift Uniformed Officers Captain Hewitt is sending there go on home once the building is vacated. Third shift will patrol the parking lot regularly.”
“You really think something’s going on, that someone will try to break into there?” Cindy queried.
“It’s possible.” I said. “The perps broke into Carl’s home looking for something. They didn’t find what they were looking for in his car… if they had, they likely would not have gone to his home… and I have a nagging feeling they didn’t find what they were looking for at his house, either.”
I did not mention the gym bag and the computer device we’d found in the car. Instead I said “Julia Rodriguez is going to interview Wanda again in the morning, and I hope Wanda can tell us something. And where I could use your help is getting Wanda to fully cooperate with us. She could be in danger, also.”
“I’m sure she will, if she can.” Cindy said.
I then said “I also need the names of Carl’s client list, the people who have hired him as a personal trainer through the gym. And away from the gym, if you have that information.”
Cindy said “Yeah, about that. Ariel came to me about it, and she is dead set against giving out that information without a warrant or subpoena… and a specific warrant for specific names at that, based upon leads developed elsewhere. She says our clients deserve privacy, and should not be subjected to a ‘fishing expedition’ (air quotes).”
“And she’ll be served that warrant in the morning, if I can’t get that information voluntarily.” I said. “Look, I get it about the privacy, and I understand her… and you… wanting to guard your clients’s privacy. But I am going to get that data, and through a warrant if I need to.”
“And think of this, ma cousine.” I continued. Even if I get a warrant from Judge Watts or the Magistrate Court, Harry Nance will find out about it, and he’ll be calling KXTC faster than Jamaal Washington can run the hundred. And the Press can make an Open Records Act request for the details of the warrant.”
Your Iron Crowbar: “Even if we don’t give it to them, if and when Bettina finds out, she’ll blab it all over the place, especially that Cindy Ross’s gym’s clients are being investigated by the Police. Whaddya think that’s going to do to your business? And you know Bettina would love to harm you that way.”
“You’re good with the psychology. What, did you marry a psychiatrist or something?” Cindy replied. Seeing what I was doing, she was. Successfully persuading the Green Crowbar, I was not.
I chuckled, then Cindy said “Look, I understand. But while I’m majority partner, Ariel and Wanda have a say in this. I’ll talk to them, but if Ariel digs in, then it might be better for my professional relationship with her if you do go the route of getting the warrant…”
Part 6 – News Of The World
“This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!” shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Tuesday, September 29th, from the roof of the building at Riverside and College. “A home invasion and murder directly affects the Town & County Police!”
After the opening ‘hard charging’ music, Bettina began: “Carl Ryder, a personal trainer at Town Fitness Centers, was run off the northbound Bypass road and then shot to death yesterday. As his death was being investigated, it was learned that his home had been burgled and ransacked. Mr. Ryder’s wife Wanda is a minority Partner at Town Fitness Centers, and the majority Partner is TCPD Deputy Chief Cindy Ross.”
Bettina: “Mr. Ryder was pronounced dead on arrival at University Hospital after being shot twice in the head after his car was run off the northbound Bypass road. Sources tell Channel Two News that his keys were removed from the vehicle. Shortly afterward, Police were called to his home, and sources tell Channel Two News that his own key was likely used to effect entry. The house was ransacked, and a number of electronic items and video equipment were taken.”
Bettina: “Channel Two News has learned that TCPD Commander Cindy Ross has been recused from investigating the case. Commander Ross is the first cousin of Police Commander Donald Troy, but he has not recused himself from the case despite that family connection. Neither Commander Ross nor Commander Troy responded to numerous requests by KXTC for comment.”
Bettina: “In other local news, the Town & County Council is expected to take up the issue of the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s lawsuit against Town & County Mayor Daniel Allgood, who some say stole the last Mayoral election from its rightful winner, Eldrick X. Weaver. Some members of the Council are expected to demand that Mayor Allgood resign as well as drop out of the current Mayoral race, while others will pledge their full support for the Mayor in opposing the US DOJ’s legal action.”
Bettina: “And with early voting beginning on October 12th, many of the local and State races are very tight. We have with us Karl Frazier of Public Policy Polling.” Karl Frazier was brought in on a split-screen. “Karl, how are the races shaping up?”
Karl Frazier: “Bettina, we’re seeing a mixed bag in this State unlike any I’ve seen before in my over 30 years of professional polling. Rather than consistent Party-line support, voters are really looking at the individual candidates. For example, Republican Sharon Marshall leads Democrat Hoyt Stenson in the Governor’s race 54-42%, with 4% undecided, while Democrat Corey Coons is crushing Republican Ruby Russell 58-39% with only 3% undecided.”
Frazier: “In the State Attorney General race, Republican Gil Krasney, your County’s former District Attorney, leads State Attorney Glenn Alberts 55-45% among respondents with a preference. Glenn Alberts is best known as the State Attorney that defended the University against Dr. Jan Camp and lost very badly, angering many University alumni.”
Bettina asked “What about the local races, Karl? Are the Democrats ahead like Senator Coons?”
Frazier: “Again, Bettina, it’s a mixed bag. Daniel Allgood and Eldrick X. Weaver are neck-and-neck, literally 50-50 among respondents expressing a preference. However, there is a whopping 14% undecided component to that race. Democrat Kelly Carnes is ten points ahead of her Republican challenger, industrialist Bill Redmond, and the experienced Edgar Silas leads Republican newcomer Katina Jones 90-10% in the race to replace Reginald B.F. Lewis on the Council.”
Bettina: “And what about the important Inspector General’s race, Karl? How is Bruce Finneran doing?”
Frazier said: “Uhh… there’s just no sugarcoating those numbers, Bettina. Ahh… SBI Director James ‘Curly’ Goodwin has a strong lead over Mr. Finneran right now——”
Karl Frazier’s image on the screen went to color-bars-and-tone. Bettina quickly said “We’ve apparently lost the connection with Mr. Frazier. We’ll try to get that back for you. Meanwhile, let’s go to Sports with Jeff Hull. Jeff!…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Wow.” said Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle as she, Sheriff Griswold, Chief Sean Moynahan, Captain Tanya Muscone and I drank coffee in the Chief’s Conference Room. “They cut him off when he started telling the truth. Just when I think KXTC can’t surprise me any more, they find a way to do it.”
“How bad is that pedophile Finneran looo-zinnng, Sheriff?” drawled the Chief.
“I’ll put it this way.” said the Sheriff. “I am envious of the numbers Goodwin is leading Finneran by. We’re talking over 80% support for Goodwin by likely voters, across all spectrums: political Party, ethnicity, creed, and even orientation. Not even the LGBTQ faction is supporting Finneran.”
“Looks like Karl Frazier had a random act of journalistic integrity, there.” I said.
Tanya Muscone said “What did you guys think of Bettina’s reporting of Carl’s death?”
I said: “Bettina mentioned Cindy and her business as often as she possibly could, almost to the point of making that the story instead of the murder. Bettina also made a point to mention the business’s clients. The reason I noticed that is because I told Cindy that if have to get a warrant for Carl’s client list, Bettina would find out and blab it all over the place to try and hurt Cindy’s business as much as possible. Silly me… Bettina is blabbing it all over the place and trying to hurt Cindy’s business anyway.”
“Commander Ross didn’t just give you that data?” asked Chief Moynahan.
“Not yet, sir.” I replied. “She said that Ariel and Wanda have input as partners, and I can understand that.”
“I don’t.” growled the Sheriff… rather sharply, I might add. “She’s a Town & County Police Officer.”
“With respect, Sheriff,” I said, “she’s a business owner, too, and with partners that absolutely do not want to turn the data over voluntarily. I’m going to get the data anyway, sir, one way or the other.”
It was very rare for Our Sheriff and Your Iron Crowbar to not be on the same side on something, and I could sense everyone else’s amazement at what they’d just heard. The Sheriff looked back over his shoulder at me, and I met his look.
“I still don’t like it.” growled Griswold.
“Sheriff,” said the Chief, to change the subject, “did the Fire Department get back to you on their tardy reports?”
“Yeah.” said the Sheriff as he turned to face the table, and all of us. “Fire Chief Davies called me last night. He apologized for what he called a ‘misunderstanding’. He said he thought our Officers were going to interview the Firefighters that were at the scene, so he told them to hold off submitting their reports until the interviews were done. I might add that that’s not uncommon due to the influence of the Union, so I told him the TCPD would send some Officers over to interview his people.”
“What, they can’t submit their reports anyway?” asked Tanya Muscone, with some (okay, with great) skepticism.
“Like the Sheriff said, it’s a Union thing.” I said. “I wouldn’t be totally shocked if the Firefighters getting interviewed either have or ask for Union reps. And to that point, Teresa, I wouldn’t be shocked if Hendricks wants a Union rep when our guys talk to him. If he does, get him a Rep in there.”
“I also have some great news.” said Paulina. “The ‘Jacquez 200’ cases are almost a done deal. All but 20 of them took plea deals that included at least one serious felony, and State prisons will have 182 new visitors for at least the next two to five years, including Breonna Bryant. Those other 20 are going to be tried as one group, and Judge Watts is not entertaining Motions to Sever. So we’re in good shape on that.”
“That’s great news!” I said enthusiastically.
Tanya said “Miriam really backed us up on all that. How are things in the D.A.’s Office?”
Paula shook her hand in a see-saw motion. “The jury’s out on that, to coin a phrase. I think she was sincere in her stand against the Haters, and she intends to give the US DOJ holy hell. But Franklin and I aren’t sure just how much of that was political motivation, and if she still wants to ultimately get rid of me. We’ll see how things go with my caseload.”
“And the Election.” I said. “No one’s talking about the Solicitor’s race. Any idea how that’s going Sheriff?”
“Most voters don’t even know who’s running.” growled the Sheriff. “And worse, many don’t even know what the Solicitor position is, nor what it does.”
“They don’t teach Civics in our Public Schools anymore, Sheriff.” said Teresa. “I’m stunned at what my kids tell me that they’re being taught in school.”
“That’s true.” said the Sheriff. “Anyway, to answer your question, Ted Mason is leading Savannah Fineman… 39-31%, with a whopping 30% undecided…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Between the Bettina broadcast and the Angels Meeting, I did what I normally do during that time: I went over the duty logs from the night before. And I saw an entry that Police had responded to the burglar alarm at Town Fitness Centers at 2:00am.
TCPD Officers had been patrolling nearby; indeed, one car was parked nearby at my ‘suggestion’ to Teresa and 1st Precinct Captain Hewitt. The fire exit door had been jimmied open, probably with a crowbar (how dare they, I thought to myself), but had fled before the Police arrived, literally a couple of minutes later.
I remembered that side exit door… from that landing outside, the Reverend Jonas Oldeeds had been assassinated at long range by one of the best snipers in CIA history. (Author’s note: ‘Case of the Executed Evangelist’ for the murder; ‘A Case of Revenge’, Ch. 05, for the full solution.)
As I reminisced, two of my Angels came in with the Sheriff and parked themselves. I said “Let’s watch some TV.” and turned on the Fox Eight broadcast:
“Hello, and welcome to Fox University Sunrise!” said Catrina Pierce at 8:00am. “I’m Catrina Pierce, and with me are Meredith Peller and Priya Ajmani. Good morning, ladies.” After they said good morning back and chit-chatted, Catrina called upon Priya to give the news.
Priya: “In a heartbreaking story, Carl Ryder was shot to death yesterday after being run off the northbound Bypass road. Carl was an employee at Town Fitness Centers, which is part-owned by his wife Wanda. Police also discovered that Carl’s home was broken into and ransacked at about the same time he was attacked, and Police believe that the criminals took his keys from his car and used them to enter his home.”
Meredith: “Police have not determined the motive for the crimes, but experts believe that he may have made enemies in the past. As a college student at the University, Mr. Ryder was involved in the case where student Jeremy Moreland was attacked. Mr. Moreland died of his injuries after his parents won a lawsuit against the State Right to Life Committee to remove his life support.” (Author’s note: ‘The Knave of Jacks’, Ch. 01; ‘In Black And White’, Ch. 01.)
Catrina: “Sources tell Fox Eight News that Carl Ryder was popular with his co-workers and customers at Town Fitness Centers. The Town & County Police have issued no statements on the case, saying that it’s too early in the investigation to determine the root causes of the crimes.”
Priya: “And in other news, with early voting beginning October 12th, the State as well as local races are very close. Let’s bring in Peter D. Gordon of Clear Call Polling. Peter, how are the big races shaping up?” The camera panned out to show Peter D. Gordon sitting in the ‘hot chair’ in the studio with the ladies.
Peter Gordon: “It’s a mixed bag, ladies. Sharon Marshall leads Hoyt Stenson, while Corey Coons is running roughshod over Ruby Russell. Mayor Daniel Allgood and the Democrat he defeated in the last Mayoral election are evenly divided with a large undecided segment, but in what may be the biggest race this cycle, SBI Director James ‘Curly’ Goodwin is destroying NAMbLA member Bruce Finneran by nearly 60 points among likely voters.”
Priya: “So despite our competitor KXTC strongly backing Bruce Finneran, he’s losing big?”
Peter: “That’s right, Priya. KXTC’s endorsement of Finneran has not helped him at all, and his name on the Democrat ticket could drag down other candidates, such as Eldrick X. Weaver and Edgar Silas…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“That’s the advantage of going second.” I said as the Sheriff, Teresa, Tanya and I watched in my office. “They watched Bettina’s propaganda—— er, broadcast, and were able to not only have Peter Gordon give the real poll numbers, but they could take shots at Finneran, and KXTC’s endorsement of him.”
“They also didn’t say one word about Cindy.” Teresa noted. “Is that because of her close friendship with Priya?”
“Likely.” I said. “Okay, Sheriff, do you want to stay for the Angels Meeting, even though you will never qualify as one of my Angels?” My Angels giggled.
The Sheriff stood up as he said “Yeah, I’ll let you get to it——”
*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*
It was my Police iPhone. “Troy.” I answered.
“Sir, this is Myron Milton. Can Mary and I come up to your office for a moment?…”
Part 7 – Making Progress
The Sheriff stayed; my Angels got out. When Helena admitted Mary and Myron, I had them sit down in the hot chairs with the Sheriff on the sofa behind them. For the record, Mary’s hair was very bright pink today. “Whaddya got?” I asked them.
Myron brought out the gym bag found in Carl’s car, in an evidence bag. He also brought out the small computer box found in the bag.
“Sir,” said Mary, “we analyzed that small computer box. It’s technically a laptop, with a screen and keyboard, but it’s specially made.”
“Custom job?” I asked.
“Er, no sir.” said Myron. “Well… let me put it like this. It looks like the motherboard was CNC-machine drilled… and by that I mean that someone programed a machine to cut out this and many other boards. The components do not appear to be a hodgepodge of individually bought parts, but all from the same company. My guess sir, is that it’s one of many similar devices, either made by the Government or under contract for it.”
“Okay, convince me.” I said.
Myron: “This box doesn’t have a lot of computing power nor RAM, but it has a boatload of storage. A hundred terabytes total.”
I emitted a low whistle. “My God. For a personal trainer to have a device with that much storage is a… ‘strangeness’, for damn sure.” I said, knowing that a terabyte was 1024 gigabytes. One or two terabytes was what most individuals had with the newest home computers.
“Yes sir, it is.” said Mary.
“Now, sir,” said Myron, “we’d like for you to examine the gym bag.” I noticed the slightest of gleams in their eyes, and realized something was going on. Maybe they had a bet going on?
I put on latex gloves and took the bag from it’s evidence bag. “The sides are stiff, as if they have cardboard in them to keep them upright.” I said as I looked at it. I then followed where the small wire went to the inside of where the carrying strap snapped onto the bag.
“Hmmm,” I said as I looked at the outside. “This button on the strap looks like abalone, but there’s a tiny circle in the middle that’s clear.” I unsnapped it, seeing Mary begin to smile as I examined the other half of the button, that was attached to the bag. “Oh yeah, clearly a camera in that hole in the middle. Really tiny, though.”
I looked up, then said “So yes, Myron, I agree with you that this is likely U.S. Government issue, more specifically from within the Intelligence Community. So… who won the bet?” Myron, Mary, and the Sheriff all broke out laughing at that, especially Mary.
“I did, sir,” said Mary, “though Myron thought you’d find it, too, just not as quickly as I thought you would. Anyway, sir, we have the stored contents of the computer for you to watch, but I have to warn you that the Sheriff is not old enough to legally be allowed to view it.”
“Har!” barked the Sheriff, his handlebar mustaches twitching merrily as I chuckled.
“Okay, let’s watch some TV.” I said as Mary closed the blinds to the windows to the anteroom, then came behind my desk and closed the blinds to the window to the outside.
The video began playing. On her knees was a gorgeous woman with long, flowing blonde hair, her head resting on her crossed arms, her ass high in the air. Kneeling behind her, holding her hips and deeply fucking her dog-style, was Carl. His large penis was pistoning in and out of the woman’s obviously wet hole, and his groin made loud slapping sounds as it smacked hard into her bare, lovely ass.
Carl groaned, and I saw that his thrusting cock was beginning to be coated with frothy white semen. He was coming inside her, blasting his seed into her magnificent body. He pitched forward, riding her flat to the bed as he ejaculated his full, potent load deep into her stretched, receptive vagina.
“That’s just an excerpt.” said Mary. “The whole video starts with them undressing, followed by rather brief foreplay, then sex. After that, they talked a few minutes, but we couldn’t make out what was being said. They had sex again in the missionary position, and he came in her again. Then they got dressed and left, and it was more like a business transaction had occurred than a love affair. There was never an exchange of money, at least not on camera.”
“Hmmm.” I said. “Do you recognize the woman, Mary? Is she a known prostitute?”
“You know, sir,” mused Mary, “I feel like I’ve seen her before, but not as a prostitute that Vice became aware of. We haven’t shown anyone else the tape, but I sent Penny Scott a still frame of just her face, and Penny’s putting it through facial rec now.”
“That’s fine.” I said. “But for now, let’s keep this completely under wraps. We have knowledge that people don’t know we have. And come to the meeting in Classroom ‘E’ at 9:00am., but don’t mention the bag, nor its contents, especially the computer.
I then said: “You’re welcome to come, too, Sheriff, despite not being old enough to view this material.”
“Why, thank you very much, young Crowbar.” the Sheriff growled. “Thanks for letting me be in charge for a while.” Mary was almost rolling on the floor with laughter, and Myron was blushing but also laughing, as was I…
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
9:00am. The Sheriff, Chief, Me, Teresa, Tanya, Jerome Davis, Mary Milton, Myron Milton, Micah Rudistan, all of the MCD Detectives and Intel personnel, and Joan Laurer from Vice were in Classroom ‘E’.
“How about I let yoooo be in charge for a while, Mis-ter Crowbarrrr.” drawled the Chief, who’d obviously heard about the repartée in my office with the Sheriff.
“Thank you, sir. Most kind.” I replied with a grin as Mary Milton began laughing. “Okay, let’s get serious, folks; we have work to do. First, any new information?”
Senior Detective Christopher Purvis of Intel, our financial guru, said: “Yes sir, I have a workup of Carl and his wife Wanda’s personal finances. They file their tax returns jointly, and have had them professionally done since they married a few years ago. That is very understandable, as Wanda has a legal partnership in Town Fitness Centers, as well as her and Carl’s incorporated company, called ‘Best Fitness Solutions LLC’.”
Purvis: “Best Fitness Solutions, LLC’s incorporation paperwork with the State says that they are a fitness company that makes fitness videos as well as tailoring fitness programs for individual clients. It’s basically a passthrough entity, and any money they’ve earned has gone straight through and into their personal bank accounts. I’ll ‘circle back‘ to that in a moment.”
Purvis: “Their personal finances are in relatively good shape, with only their mortgage and car payments for her car, as his was paid off. They pay off their personal credit cards, one Visa and one Mastercard, every month, and don’t generate a lot of expenses to begin with. Wanda has a Town Fitness Centers credit card, also. Neither of them have amassed any sudden big debts and then paid them off, nor had any large windfall deposits of cash in these personal accounts that I can’t see and explain.”
Purvis: “Carl gets a salary as an employee of Town Fitness Centers, and also is paid through the company for any clients that hire him as a personal trainer. Those clients are not itemized on his pay stubs nor his taxes, so we don’t know who they are. He did not list any additional income, as in private clients that might’ve hired him separately from within the company.”
Purvis: “However, there are occasional cash deposits into their joint bank account, and always for an even $500 or $1000. I determined that these deposits are from their LLC passthrough company. They’re technically legal, and they’ve paid their taxes on them, but I have no further information from their public filings.”
“What about Town Fitness Centers?” I asked… and the room suddenly somehow went even more dead quiet than it already had been.
“Er, sir… I didn’t want to look into them without your explicit instructions, or the Chief’s.” said Purvis. “I’ve heard that green crowbar beatdowns hurt even more than red ones do.”
I nodded. “I’ve heard those rumors, too, though I’ve never been on the losing end of one. And you’re correct, Mr. Purvis: with Deputy Chief Ross being the majority owner of Town Fitness Centers, we’ll have to handle that at a higher level. Okay, anything else?”
“Yes sir,” said Lt. Mary Milton. “First, on the Town Fitness Centers break-in last night: cameras in the area recorded nothing at all; no humans driving or running anywhere. Cameras inside briefly showed a person masked and wearing dark clothes come in the back door, then running back out just seconds later; apparently they knew the Police were already approaching. We’ll keep looking into that.” I nodded.
Mary continued: “We tried tracking where Carl’s cellphone went yesterday. It was pinging from his home, then it went offline, completely, as if he’d put it in some kind of shielding that would prevent its signal from reaching the cell towers It was offline for three hours until noon, right before he made his final phone call to his wife.”
“What about the car tracking? The THEFT light tracker?” Tanya asked.
“Ma’am,” said Myron Milton, keeping his voice as polite as possible, “those can’t really be used to track a vehicle’s past actions, not like a GPS system in a car. We can find a car’s location with it, and track it once we’re locked on and following it. But nobody that I know of keeps that metadata, not like the way the Government records and keeps the metadata of every cellphone call made in the country.”
“That’s true.” I said. “Anything else?”
“What about GPS?” Tanya asked.
“He didn’t have one in his car.” said Myron.
“Okay, good report.” I said. “Anything else?”
“Yes sir.” said MCD Detective George Newman. “Roark (Coleman) and I interviewed the employees at Town Fitness Centers, particularly his fellow personal trainers. Everyone said he was well-liked, no enemies, no altercations with anyone that anyone knew of. We also determined that his wife Wanda was there all morning, and on the floor of the co-ed side with customers all morning.”
Newman: “One caveat to this is that they also told us that Carl didn’t really hang out with anyone, except his wife. He would stay at the gym with her or go home with her rather than go out for a beer or drinks with the others. They said he was totally devoted to her despite their age difference and what they said were the ‘very lovely women’ that asked to work with him.”
“That’s good to know. Good work.” I said. “Okay, folks, here’s what we need to do going forward. Lieutenant Milton and Lieutenant Milton, I want you and your people to continue working to get cellphone metadata, and expand your search to trace any cellphone, burner or otherwise, that has communicated with either Carl and Wanda’s cellphones. I also would like to see a record of where Carl went for the last several days, as far back as you can.”
Me: “I’m going to get Carl’s client list from Town Fitness Centers, via warrants if they won’t voluntarily give us that information. I want you guys in MCD to get ready to go interview people when I have names for you. We will want to be as discreet as possible about it. This is an initial investigation, not a forensic audit of them.”
Your Iron Crowbar: “Mr. Rudistan, Mary Milton is going to send you a photo of a woman that we’ve obtained, who we think may possibly related to the case. See if Vice recognizes her as a prostitute or in any other way. And no one else in here is to ask Lieutenant Rudistan nor either of our Lieutenants Milton what that’s about until the woman is identified. Do I make myself clear… especially to Captain Muscone and Commander Croyle?”
“Yes sir.” Teresa said immediately. Tanya’s confirmation was slower in coming, but as my eyes bored into her, she said “Yes sir.”
“Okay, I have a particular mission for you, Detective Rodriguez, and I want you to take Detective Laurer with you. You’re going to go interview Wanda. If she balks at giving the interview or answering any of your questions, bring her here to Headquarters and put her in I-A or I-B, and let me know. And stay here a moment. Chief, I’d appreciate it if you stay, too. Everyone else can go.”
As people got up to go, I said with a grin: “Sheriff, of course you can stay also, if you like.”
“Why, thank you for letting me be in charge again, Crowbar.” growled the Chief merrily.
“Must be some inside joke going on about that.” I heard Jerome whisper to Rudistan as they exited. Rudistan nodded jovially in agreement.
Once it was only Julia, Joan, the Chief, the Sheriff, and me, I fiddled with my ink pen in my pocket, then told Julia what questions I wanted her to ask and get answers for, as well as any other questions she had on her own based on her own experience and instincts.
“Joan,” I said, “this will be excellent experience for you to get, so learn from it. Also, you are there as Julia’s bodyguard. She can take care of herself, but Wanda and Ariel are fitness gurus and may know some martial arts. And their partner, Commander Ross, may be there, and she definitely knows how to fight.”
“And to that point, ladies,” I continued, “Commander Ross outranks you, but if she tries to interfere with your interview in any way, Julia you get out your cellphone and call me immediately. And Joan, you text me the word ‘Help’, just that word.”
Julia and Joan’s eyes were wide with shock. So were Chief Moynahan’s. But Sheriff Griswold just sat back with a look that showed my words were a few steps behind his vision…
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
At Ariel’s apartment, Julia knocked on the door. It opened to reveal Cindy Ross, who was holding her green crowbar.
“Ma’am, may we come in?” asked Julia. “We really need to interview Wanda.”
“Let’s see if she’s up to it.” Cindy said as she stepped to the side to admit the Detectives. They all went into the main room. Wanda was in a chair, her eyes a bit puffy from sessions of crying. Ariel was at the doorway to the bedroom.
“Wanda,” said Julia, “we’re very sorry to have to impose on you at this time, but we really need to ask you some questions to help us find your husband’s killer.” Wanda nodded, and extended her hand for the Detectives to sit on the sofa, which they did.
“Can’t this wait?” Ariel said quietly but harshly. “She just lost her husband.”
“Yes ma’am,” said Julia politely, “but time is of the essence if we’re going to find his killer… and all of your lives are possibly in danger, also.”
“What do you want to know?” asked Wanda.
“Ma’am,” said Julia, “When was the last time you heard from your husband?”
“He called me right before…” Wanda said, then her voice broke “… before he was run off the road.”
Julia said “And before that? When was the last time you saw or heard from him?”
“When I left to go to the gym that morning.” Wanda said. “He stayed at home.”
“Did he normally go to work with you? At the same time?” Julia asked.
“Sometimes.” said Wanda. “Sometimes we rode to work together, sometimes he’d go in earlier, sometimes me earlier.”
“Why did he not go in early yesterday morning?” asked Julia.
“He… he said he had some errands to run, and would be in around noon.” said Wanda.
“That wasn’t uncommon.” Ariel said ‘helpfully’.
“What errands was he running yesterday?” asked Julia, a bit more incisively. “Do you know where he went?”
“Sometimes he’d go to the grocery, or to buy some clothes, or get stuff for our fitness videos.” Wanda said.
“And specifically yesterday?” Julia asked. Wanda didn’t answer, so Julia pressed: “Look, there were no groceries in his car, no newly purchased stuff, there’s nothing on his credit cards to show he bought anything. We really need to retrace his steps yesterday. Do you know where he was, Wanda?”
“No, I don’t know where he was.” Wanda replied.
Julia peered hard at Wanda and said “Wanda, do you know if your husband was having an extramarital affair?”
“NO!” Wanda shouted. “He was not cheating on me!”
“Are you sure?” Julia asked.
“She just said he wasn’t cheating on her, Detective.” said Cindy.
“I don’t want to talk to you anymore right now.” Wanda said, getting up as if she were going to leave the room. “You guys need to go.”
“Okay.” said Julia, also rising to her feet. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I think we’re going to have to continue this at the Police Station. I’ll need you to come with me, Wanda.”
“No.” said Cindy, stepping forward. “She said she’s done. Y’all need to go.”
Julia got on her cell phone. “What are you doing?” Cindy demanded to know.
“You outrank us, ma’am.” said Julia. “I can’t go against you on this… but Commander Troy can.”
“What?!” Cindy roared. She stepped forward, ripping the cell phone out of Julia’s hands. “How DARE you try to go over my head like that! I gave you an order to leave!”
She noticed Joan sitting on the sofa, texting something. “Give me that!” she ordered, grabbing Joan’s phone out of her hands. Then she put both phones on the table in front of the sofa, and began smashing them with her green crowbar. The electronics did not survive the crowbar beatdown; they were soon worthless shards of glass, plastic and metal pieces. The Detectives were totally stunned, and did not move but just stared at Cindy.
“Now both of you get the hell out!” Cindy yelled, pointing at the door. “That’s an order!”
To be continued.