Case of the Black Badge Ch. 06

"Well, gentlemen, it looks like we just caught you red-handed, and about to commit murder in my County." I said to them. "It really pisses me off when you think you can get away with murder in my County." The fear I saw in the perps' eyes pleased me.

Then I looked at my own group, consisting of the best of the Town & County Police. "Good work, everyone!" I said. "Excellent job by all of you. Take these bastards to County Lockup. We'll process and interview them there." The perps were taken to the County Jail, which was just on the other side of the River from the Fire Academy. No need to pollute my Headquarters' jails with this trash.

Part 42 - Identification and Interrogation

"Fingerprints: nothing." Tanya Perlman was saying at midnight. "We took a cheek swab for DNA, but I'm betting if he doesn't even have a set of prints on record with the FBI, the DNA won't be much, either."

We'd commandeered the front part of the County Jail, where processing and interrogations were set up to take place. Before the merger, it had been the County Police Headquarters in addition to the Jail, and so we were able to get the perps right into custody there, which meant not having to transfer them at risk to their lives, and we still had facilities for interviewing them.

Officer Billy Smith and Sr. Patrolman Ben Wesson were among the twelve black-clad perps, all of whom had Black Badges on their persons. Smith's said 'Friend', Wesson's said 'Trusted Friend'. Some said 'Associate', one (besides Brody) said 'Trusted Associate'.

Officer Billy Hatcher was NOT one of them; was it possible he was innocent of all this? One of the other perps was a Fireman in the Fire Department. The other perps were familiar to our Vice Squad as low-life drug runners for the Beanstalk Gang, the rapper 'T-Square's underground drug ring, and small-time theft rings.

That left one limo driver, who did not have a Black Badge and seemed to be dazed by all that was happening, and one middle-aged man wearing a very expensive suit and high-quality Rolex watch, a Black Badge that said 'Master', but with no ID on his person at all. The limo was rented, and I suspected we'd have to work through three or more false front companies to get to the real owner of the vehicle. When asked, the man said only that his name was 'John Doe', and he would simply ask for a lawyer in response to any other question. Tanya had just reported 'no joy' on fingerprints as ID for the guy.

"You know, he looks a bit familiar to me." I said to Cindy and Molly, who were observing him with me behind the one-way glass of the interrogation room. "I wonder if his name has come up before... oh, that's it. Okay, Tanya, come in with me." Going inside, I sat down opposite the man, who smiled benignly and pleasantly.

"So, sir, you don't wish to give us your name?" I asked.

"As I said," the man said smoothly and slowly, giving emphasis to each word, "my name is John Doe. I would like legal representation, please, and I'd like a phone to call my lawyer."

"Well," I said, trying to hide a smile, "we can hardly furnish representation or a phone to someone whose name we don't know."

"Come now, Lieutenant." the man said. He knew who I was, I surmised from his uttering my rank. "You can and should provide me with legal representation or the means to contact my lawyer right now."

"Detective," I said, looking at Tanya Perlman, "I'd like for you to bring in a cell phone for our friend here to call his attorney. While you're doing so, look up the records of the DMV and other sources, including the newspaper Lexus-Nexus search, for one 'Jack King'. I'll be surprised if we don't find a photograph that does justice for Mr. King here."

The man's face was no longer smiling as he stared at me. "I cannot recall us ever having met." the man said, his voice much less pleasant than before.

"No, we haven't." I said. "But I remember doing some research during the Joe Arruzio murder case. You were supposed to have an appointment with him the night he went and did something wet to his wife and her lover. I remember seeing your picture then. Hard to believe you've never been fingerprinted in your life, Mr. King."

"I see." the man said, nodding at his own thoughts. "I was warned about you... the man who whipped Sergei Molotov with a crowbar. I was wondering if Vladimir Putin would send you a medal or send assassins after you for that. Indeed, you are as formidable as I was told."

"You're too kind." I said. "So how did you get mixed up in these 'Black Badge' childhood games, here?"

King smiled, not falling for my attempt to get him to talk. "I do believe I've asked for legal representation. I'll decline to say anything further until that representation arrives."

Just then Jack Muscone entered the room. "Agent Muscone, meet Mr. Jack King." I said. "Mr. King has invoked and wants legal counsel, which I daresay is his absolute wisest course of action at this point."

"Ah, that's too bad." said Muscone. "I was hoping to enjoy a pleasant conversation with him about some of the Federal charges we'll be bringing against him."

"And with what am I being charged?" asked King, his smile firm and set, as if he were not in any trouble at all.

"For openers, murder and attempted murder, as well as conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder." I said. "We had the Fire Academy wired for sound; we could hear what the crickets were talking about. We've got you bragging about what you did to Carroll and Blondie and what you were about to do to Brody and Gunn."

"So you knew we were using the Fire Academy." King said. "Impressive. I do believe what one of my colleagues said about you: that you are psychic like that Eckhart cult fellow."

"Again, you're too kind." I said. "I can also predict something else for you: a death penalty trial, but then they'll take death off the table in exchange for your cooperation."

"And once the FBI starts digging into your businesses, King," said Jack Muscone, "I'm sure a host of drug charges and other Federal charges will be added to your one-way ticket to a Federal Supermax prison...

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The biggest problem about hiring low-lifes is that once caught, they talked freely and openly about everything Black-Badge-Gang related. They were essentially moles within their various crime rings or the Police Force, and delivered information to their leaders. They tried to finger each other for the Carroll/Blondie murders, but there was enough evidence that all of them were there for a nice murder conspiracy charge that would stick pretty well. We would not be seeing these perps on our streets for many, many years.

Even Tommy Gunn had a change of heart: after seeing that he was going to be murdered by the gang, however humanely, he turned State's evidence and revealed all he knew, including the names of the other members of the 'Inner Circle', which included several mid-level lieutenants of the Beanstalk Gang, a shift manager at Ward Harvester, and a couple of truck drivers that would smuggle their goods from time to time. The FBI cleaned up a large haul based upon the information.

However, Tommy Gunn would not admit to any connection with Harold Malone, saying only that he never received any order from Malone that was in any way outside the bounds of the law. He said he got orders through emails from an intermediary. Myron Milton's research was unable to lead us to any solid human beings that had sent those emails. The higher-ups were only partially wiped out... so far.

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"King, let me add one more thing." I said to King some days later as his lawyer... the same wily lawyer with hair on both sides but not the top of his head... sat next to him, harassing and haranguing me constantly. "What you did to Carroll and Blondie and was going to happen to Brody and Gunn... is going to happen to you. I'd suggest you talk if you want to live. You know I'm not kidding, here."

"Lieutenant, I know that you do not fear Death. You've shown it, you've proved it." King said, smiling that same, calm smile, and after telling his lawyer to stop badgering him about not talking, he continued "I've always known that the consequences of failure would be full, and final. Joe Arruzio knew it, and he did what he had to do when you caught up to him. I'm at peace with my fate and my future."

"Joe Arruzio didn't have to do what he did." I said. "And you don't have to die to protect other, evil men, letting them live and enjoy life while you rot in the grave. Think about it, King."

"I already have." said King. "Lieutenant, you think you've done something big here, but you've barely scratched the surface. This is something much bigger than you, run by people much, much bigger than you."

"Like your father?" I shot back.

King smiled a short, brief, unpleasant smile. "My father is a great man, but what I am talking about is much more than any one man, no matter how great those men and women are. You are but a puny ant to them, a mere speck of dust."

"And they go on living the high life while you rot in Supermax... or a grave." I said, getting up to go. "So long, Mr. King. I don't envy you."

"If I were to say something, it would only be: 'Dear me, Mr. Holmes, dear me'." King said. I turned to face him, totally shocked and frozen in place. He just nodded at me. "That's all I'll say. Farewell, Lieutenant, and may the living God have mercy upon your soul."

I didn't really hear the lawyer yelling at me to get out, that the interview was over. I simply walked out, knowing that Jack King had just given me the one huge clue I needed to continue my pursuit of the Evil that was corrupting my County.

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Approaching The Cabin at lunchtime on April 21st, I noticed the small red and black motorcycle parked next to the garage. It was not the same one that had careened through Town streets to kill two perps, and I knew who it belonged to. I headed around to the back. Yep, there was Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart, founder and leader of 'The Vision', hair dyed almost bright white, sitting in one of the table chairs, enjoying the view.

"Splendid job you did on that case, young man." said Eckhart as I approached. "Absolutely amazing work. I must say, that SWAT team you created is already working like a cohesive, seasoned unit."

"I think their mutual combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan is not hurting their teamwork." I said. "What brings you to my humble abode, Harvey?"

"Thank you for not making me browbeat you about proper name use." Harvey said. "I came to enjoy the view for a moment, and to mention some information that might, unofficially anyway, wrap up a few threads on this Badge case of yours."

"I appreciate it." I said, then noticed Eckhart glancing back at the windows of the house. "Ah, Harvey, still wondering about those windows?"

As Eckhart nodded, amusement in his eyes, I said "It seems that Old Mr. Bonniker, who lived here before me, had some trouble with environmentalist terrorists at his chemical plant. He had the glass put in as a precaution following the trouble at the plant."

"Ah, I remember that." said Eckhart. "And that does make sense, now that you mention it. Another case solved by the Iron Crowbar."

"You were saying about loose threads?" I asked.

"Yes... first of all, the attack on your young nephew and his lovely wife was ordered by a diseased, deranged man with limited connections to this gang. He pulled strings to get that done, Brody and Gunn were sacrificed to make it happen, and now it's led to the destruction of their gang. They are not happy with this man, and he may find himself a man without friend or favors before long."

"Senator Nathan Allen." I said, seeing the light that P. Harvey Eckhart was shining onto the path.

"Yes." said the white-haired man. "They're going to have to totally rig the election to get him back in office, and unfortunately for some of the powers-that-be in the County and State, it is going to be necessary to have him in the Legislature. What's going on there is beyond your imagination, my boy."

"I dunno, I can imagine a lot." I said. "So, what else can I do for you, Harvey? You didn't come here just play connect-the-dots on a wrapped-up case, did you?"

P. Harvey Eckhart laughed, his dog-bark-growl of a laugh. "Excellent. I came here to let you know that something else is going on, something of which you need to be aware, which could bring danger to you and your family. Someone has been inquiring about your college days, especially about a young friend of yours, the one who was caught in bed with that woman and murdered with her by her husband."

"Jack Burke? Yes, I'd heard about some P.I.s snooping around my past and about him."

"Yes, that is the young man." Eckhart said. "One of your enemies has been inquiring very hard about Burke and some of his associates, and what he was doing when he left your School. That's been some time ago, but I am seeing that it's something that could be potentially harmful to you... and your family. Do be careful, son, do be careful."

"I will. Thank you for telling me." I said.

"My pleasure." said Eckhart, who began getting up to go. "I must be off, but let me reiterate that anytime you need my help, feel free to give me a call; I am at your service any time. And I do think you might want to avail yourself of that offer of help, and fairly soon."

"As long as the price is not too high." I said.

"That will be for you to judge." said Eckhart. "For now, au revoir, and congratulations again on solving that very difficult case." A moment later, I heard the motorcycle screaming as it sped down the road at unbelievable speed.

Part 43 - Solution and Wrap Up

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" blared the lovely reporter precisely at 7:00am on April 22d. "The Town and County are still buzzing over the daring raid that led to the arrest of an entire gang of criminals known as the 'Black Badge' gang. International businessman Jack King, son of the retired tycoon Conrad King, was at the scene of the raid and was arrested along with several rogue Police Force officers and a number of high-level drug pushers in the County. While the FBI has made several arrests on Federal charges in connection with this case, the Deputy Director of the FBI issued a statement giving full credit for this case to the Town & County Police's own Lieutenant Donald--"

A cheer went through the MCD room as both MCD and Vice Detectives gathered to watch and applaud me, which caused me to blush as Bettina continued, "--who has added yet another difficult case to his already large number of successes. District Attorney Krasney and Daniel Allgood, candidate for Sheriff, issued statements praising the Lieutenant and the Police Force, followed by a similar statement of praise from the campaign office of Harold Malone."

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"You did it, son." Chief Griswold said, patting me on the back. "You actually did it, and nobody got killed in the process. Damn fine work!" We were in the back room of The Steakhouse on the night of April 22d, where the owner John "Jack" Colby had insisted up us coming to celebrate the successful case. We had already eaten, and The Chief was already working on sampling some select bourbons, while I tried a couple of single malt Scotch varieties.

"I have a really great team around me." I said. "They made it happen."

"I have a great team around me, too," said the Chief, "and mine includes you right where you belong: right at the top."

Suddenly the ring of a spoon against a glass filled the air, quieting everyone. Jack Muscone stood up and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I just want to be the first to raise a toast to the man who brought this case to such a successful conclusion, the Iron Crowbar." Everyone stood up and clapped for me, and I was finally made to stand up and accept the toast. As they sat down, I remained standing.

"Folks, despite the public accolades for me," I said, "I know full well that I did not do this alone. You all had a hand in it, you all did great work, and you all are part of the success, so I'm here to raise a toast for all of you and your hard work."

"Hear hear." said the Chief, as we all drank and applauded.

"Okay," Cindy Ross called out, "it wouldn't be a victory party without me asking Don how he solved the case. C'mon Don, quit holding out on us!" A chorus of agreement rose up.

"I'm not kidding when I say this case was a group effort with a group solution." I said. "But to wrap it up, let me go through what happened, and then how we got here."

"First, we've been hunting around for dirty dogs in the Police Force for some time. Little clues came up here and there, but we got a real break when that low-life Blondie was arrested and began talking about the Black Badge without any prompting. Blondie was as sharp as a marble, and he paid for his mistake with his life.

"Second, and I believe Jack Muscone has authorized me to talk about this," I said, seeing Jack nod, knowing where I was going, "our old friend Sergeant Carroll's name popped up again. He had been caught trying to set up a ring similar to what was going on here... a couple of cops at a time acting as brokers of the drug trade in his county. He was found out rather quickly, and it also came up that he was an associate in a white-supremacy group.

"The FBI and local police in Colorado gave Carroll a choice: become a double-agent and work with the Feds, or go to prison. Carroll pretended to go along, but he thought he was a lot smarter than he really was. He went to Arizona at the Feds direction, but as soon as he hooked up with the white-supremacy group in question, he told them that he'd been forced to be a double agent, and was hoping they'd get him out of the mess or that he could pass along false information to the Government on their behalf.

"Unfortunately for Carroll, when someone becomes exposed and therefore useless to this group, they simply get rid of the person. Carroll didn't realize that he'd signed his own death warrant by trying to be loyal to this group that doesn't seem to take loyalty into account, and telling them that he'd been exposed.

"So what they did was tell Carroll to come here, back to this County, and hook up with a couple of his old Black Badge gang buddies, who happened to be Brody and Gunn. He did, and then the whole gang went out and picked up Blondie on the way, who Gunn had told them had betrayed the Black Badge to 'a reporter disguised as a lawyer', but was really me disguised as a lawyer. Gunn was totally shocked when I told him during his interrogation that that had been me."

"You missed your calling." Martin Nash said, evoking laughter. "You should've been in theater."

"I think I'm happier where I am now." I said. "Anyway, Carroll and Blondie were taken to the Fire Academy Range, where they were tortured and murdered. It seemed that a couple of the gang members as well as Jack King had had experience in Iraq, and had heard of the methods of torture used there. They had the means at the Fire Academy Range to wash away all the blood and gore, and even took the cars back there to be washed out after delivering the bodies to the meat packing plant.

"Speaking of which, they took the bodies to the meat packing plant... by the way, the 'King' in 'King & Ebenezer' is not Jack King... and they hung them up there and left, sending our Duty Desk a message in the morning at a time where it was unlikely Brody and Gunn would be called upon to be the first investigators. In all that, they showed attention to detail, and to that point our chances of solving this case were slim and none.

"What also was going on was a drug and stolen goods trade by one Jack King, under the guise of legitimate businesses. He was behind the drug deals that Joe Arruzio did from time to time before Marie Arruzio and Jack Burke were murdered. King was well connected, and used his connections in this County to help implement his gang. He'd been using variations of the Black Badge in other places, not getting too large anywhere at any one time, keeping the police presence to only two at any one time while recruiting dormant officers for the future -- I'll get back to that in a minute-- and working with contacts already in the County to get around some obstacles and flourish.