Case of the Black Widow Ch. 01

"Mmmm, that was quite tasty." Rita said, taking a drink from her glass on the bar. "I've never sucked off a cop's cock before." She pretended to assist as I tucked my shirt back into my pants and zipped up.

"Call Hotel and tell him to pull the car around front." I said to Tanya, who complied. "Okay, Rita, I'd appreciate any help you can give me in finding the killer or killers."

"I'll send you something soon. You two have a good evening. Cop." Rita said. I picked up the crowbar and no one impeded us as we walked back into the public bar and out the front door.

Climbing into the SUV, Tanya finally exploded with merriment. "Do you guys know what just happened?" She began regaling Cindy and Hugh with the story.

"Jesus, Don." Cindy said. "It's not like you guys weren't in a dangerous situation or anything."



"That's why I went along." I said. "Didn't want to put my fellow officer in danger, did I?"

"Think they'll send you any information?" asked Hugh.

"I hope so." I said.

Part 7 - Puzzle Pieces

Thursday morning at 8:00am sharp, Jack Muscone and his team came to our Headquarters, bearing gifts of doughnuts and assistance in the case. We met in the main conference room, and present were the Chief, myself, Cindy Ross, Tanya Perlman, Angela Harlan, Martin Nash, and FBI Special Agents Sandra Speer, Eduardo Escobar, and Lindy Linares. Eduardo was a thin Latino man who had been in the military's Special Forces (Green Berets). He seemed friendly enough, but had a tough edge to him. Lindy Linares was white, fairly short, not fat but potentially "big boned". Her hair was very black, very thick, and very curly. She was in her 30s, and I wouldn't have minded a roll in the hay with her.

Also in the room were my wife, Dr. Laura Fredricson and Dr. Bonnie Karpathian. Dr. Karpathian was a professor in Laura's Psychology Department, and her specialty was serial killers and serial abnormal behavior in general. She had worked with the FBI on many occasions. She was a bit taller than Lindy Linares, but also had very thick, very black, very curly hair. No, they weren't related... except for their curly hair styles.

"I first want to reiterate to my team that we are here entirely to assist the local police on this case, not to take it over." said Jack Muscone. "This is your big chance to work with the Iron Crowbar, guys, until I can find a way to kidnap him and make him an FBI agent."

"Not while I'm Chief of this Police Force," Chief Griswold said gravely but with a smile on his face. "But I'm glad you're all here. So what can you tell us about this killer?"

"Lindy is our specialist on serial criminals." said Jack. "She's worked with Dr. Karpathian, also. What can you tell us, ladies?"

Lindy went first. "I've looked at all the information that Detective Harlan sent, and I called Texas, St. Louis, and the City Police about their cases. They were all surprised to learn that this killer might be operating in multiple places, which means they didn't try to find out in the first place. That's good and bad, the good part being that this information is not widely disseminated."

She continued: "The standout features of similarity are the hourglass drawing, the victims tied to a chair and forced into sex, and a drug injection of some kind. In addition, all the victims had their heads crushed in by ferocious blows."

Martin Nash said "Doesn't that tell us that there are at least two killers working here?"

"Yes, we believe so." said Lindy. "The woman has sex with the male victims, but it is someone else, likely someone far stronger, who hits them on the head. Usually it's one blow, and the person must be strong to deliver that much damage with one swing. Could it be the woman? Possibly, but we're working on the hypothesis that she has a man helping her."

"And the weapon?" the Chief asked.

"The Texas people think a solid aluminum baseball bat was used." said Agent Linares. "I don't disagree with that."

"That would be consistent with what killed Burleson." Tanya said. "CMB- that's our medical examiner's nickname- said he thought it was a metal bat that had absolutely no 'give' to it, and delivered a crushing blow."

"What is interesting are the differences in the killings." Laura said. "Dr. Karpathian, would you like to comment here?"

"Thanks, and everyone please call me Bonnie." Dr. Karpathian said. Laura had told me she was a vivacious woman who took over any room with her presence, and I was agreeing as I observed her.

"Most serial killers use the same methods of killing, and very exactly." Bonnie continued. "Their victims also are very often similar or have very similar characteristics, something that binds or groups them. In the case of this 'Black Widow', the methods of killing are similar, but often just a bit different. The hourglass markings are always exactly alike, but the spider drawings are often different sizes and in different places, if they're there at all. Also, the victims don't fit any particular pattern, at least not that we've found yet. They're all males, but they range by age, looks, incomes, family status, and so on. Nothing to grasp here."

"So you think this may not be a serial killer in the classical sense?" Jack Muscone asked.

"I wouldn't go that far just yet." Bonnie replied. "It may be this particular killer's method to deliberately slightly alter things, doing that on purpose as part of his or her handiwork. That would be somewhat new, but still consistent with the general theory."

"Don, any ideas?" Jack asked.

I said "First, let me ask this: don't serial killers normally act alone?"

"Yes." said Bonnie Karpathian, "and 90% of them are males, so if a woman is involved here, it's a fairly rare thing. Also, the vast majority of the male serial killers are white men. But you're right, Don, it's not common for serial killers to work in teams. They almost always act alone."

"Interesting." I said. "Just one more thing: I read over Detective Harlan's report, and by the way Angela, it was an excellent report, well done!" I said, being sure to publicly praise my Detective for her good work.

Angela blushed as I continued, "I would like you FBI guys to use your greater resources to see if the victims were similar not necessarily to each other, but in that there was some reason for them to be singled out for death. By that, I mean if the 'Black Widow' is a contract killer and these victims had reason to have a price on their head, then that would be their reason for being targeted. Or perhaps there are unrelated but big stories around each of the victims that drew the Black Widow's attention to them."

"Ah, so you think the Black Widow might be a contract killer using serial killings as a cover?" Martin Nash astutely asked, having picked up my reasoning before the others did.

"That's one working hypothesis I have." I said. "Especially with a team of at least two persons working together."

"Those are good thoughts." Lindy Linares said as she made a note. "I'll dig into that."

"You think Burleson had a price on his head, Crowbar?" Chief Griswold asked.

"I don't know." I said. "Jack, you guys looked into Ward Harvester some months ago. Anything?"

"No, not on the surface." said Muscone. "His records and his books are clean, but that just means he may be good at whatever he's trying to hide. He certainly has a way of showing up whenever we look into things around here, especially at companies that are doing work that involves military secrets or new technologies, be it research drugs or whatever manufacturing secret that died with that Tim Olivet fellow."

"Yes." I said. "And I'm wondering if Burleson either had some knowledge of this, or else he found out something he wasn't supposed to know, and this 'Black Widow' was contracted to kill him in her and/or his unique style or styles."

"But if Ward was behind it," Martin Nash asked, "would he want it to be done on his own property? I'd think he'd want it done elsewhere, especially after what happened to Don there and with you FBI guys all over him."

"Ward strikes me as a man who thinks he can't be touched." I said. "The morning of the murder, he was ripping into the police to the point that I was compelled to place him under arrest. Now who in their right mind provokes police while they're investigating a murder on his property?"

"I do want to ask these professors of psychology, both in serial killings and sexual matters," Chief Griswold said, "if they think the BDSM objects that were on the crime scene had anything to do with the murder."

"From my husband's experience with the undercover operation at Lashes & Lace," Dr. Laura Fredricson said, "I'd have to say 'no'. My sense is that those items were planted and are meant to throw you off the trail. BDSM materials have not been found at any other crime scene where this killer was believed to be involved. There is a sexual component of these killings, but it's more along the 'she mates and she kills' theme, to steal Don's phrase."

"I agree, but even so," I said, "I'm hoping that the B&D peeps will be able to find out something and give us a lead. I think they want to help us, if for no other reason than to get us off their backs."

"Doubt they'll be good for anything." growled the Chief, which drew several looks of shock his way.


Dr. Bonnie Karpathian said "As we discussed earlier, this particular killer might leave deliberate differences at each crime scene, and those items might have been to fulfill that. I agree with Laura that BDSM is not an integral part of this murder, unless it's a copycat killing."

FBI Special Agent Lindy Linares reacted quite strongly to that: "Bonnie, I would be shocked if this is a copycat killer. The 'Black Widow' cases we're studying haven't even been linked together by the FBI or local agencies until now, and certainly never by the Media. There's no information out there for a copycat to copy."

"Excellent point, Lindy." said Jack Muscone. "Okay, guys, I'll have my team gather data. We're here to help through next week if you need us, as well."

---

"Damn, this is good food!" Jack Muscone said as he and I ate lunch at the Cop Bar. "My favorite reason to visit you guys!"

"So Jack," I said, ambushing him as he enjoyed his delicious cheeseburger, "here for all of next week, eh?" Jack smiled, knowing I'd figured out that he and his team were here for a reason, and that I wanted him to tell me what that reason was.

"Yeah." Jack said. "Don, the truth of the matter is that this 'Black Widow' murder is potentially stepping on my team's investigation. What I told you in the meeting was true: Ward is technically as clean as a whistle. But we have gathered information that two possible things are happening."

Jack took another bite of his burger and took his time enjoying it, deliberately slowing down telling me the information he had. But I knew I could outwait him. Finally he wiped his mouth with a napkin and began speaking.

"The first thing is something you already stumbled onto when that football player got killed: there's a White Supremacy group out there called 'Superior Bloodlines'. They're not your white-trash, motorcycle-gang type of white supremacy group, they're not the stereotypical Southern rednecks. These are guys who are in big businesses, wear five-thousand-dollar suits, and who stay under the radar. They are powerful people."

"Anyway, we think Ward of Ward Harvester has an association with them." Jack continued. "We think he is making extra ammonium nitrate and other explosives 'off the books' and selling it to this group. They sell most of it to raise money, but they're keeping some of it, somewhere. Homeland Security wants to know for sure; they're very nervous about Thaddeus Ward."

"And the second thing?" I asked.

"This is what I may need your help on." Muscone replied. "As we've investigated Ward as well as the late Anthony Warner's DynaCorp, we're finding a shadowy group of figures around Ward. We've been trying to watch Karen Warner, the adopted daughter of Anthony Warner, but she is a slick one. She is onto us, and leads us in circles just to watch us spin. Her real father, as you know, is the late Reverend Jonas Oldeeds, and she's trying to work herself into his empire."

"Yes, you're right, she's young, but she's got the potential to become a female 'Moriarty'." I said, referring to the arch-criminal in Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.

"Yeah." said Jack. "And if she's helping Ward, it's no wonder we can't get near him. She's too damn good. She needs a good spanking, perhaps by an iron crowbar."

"I suspect I'll be running into her quite a few more times before all is said and done." I said. "So is that why you're in Town for the week?"

"Yeah, that and some more leads into Jonas Oldeeds that have led us back to here... to the University, specifically. I can't say any more about that to you right now, though."

"Let me guess, then." I said. "Henry Wargrave's connections to the University, to the Oldeeds Empire, and their joint ventures of smuggling of guns in the Western Hemisphere."

Jack Muscone just stared at me for at least 30 seconds. I just finished my own cheeseburger. It was indeed delicious.

"Damn, the Chief is right: can't keep anyfuckingthing from you." Jack finally said, though I noticed the relief in his face as he thought I didn't know the full story. "What do you know about Wargrave?"

"Only that he is probably the most dangerous man in the world right now, at least among non-big-banksters." I said. "His only weakness, at least that I've found to this point, is his love for the University and its football program. He's been connected to the CIA for years now, but he's also gone rogue a number of times, and he has no compunction about breaking national and international laws to enrich himself through the arms trade."

"And by the way," I added, "I was just being kind to you so that you wouldn't have a heart attack if I mentioned the rest of the story: that you're also investigating Wargrave's connection to a CIA group that may be doing things not authorized by the Agency itself, particularly involving acquiring Ned's drug recipes and Tim Olivet's secret, whatever that may be."

After another thirty second staredown, this time with no relief showing on Muscone's face, all he could think of to say was "I'm surprised you're alive. He and they probably know that you know."

"Oh, of course he knows I know about his own connection to the CIA... and that my wife knows, as well. But he thinks I'm like Sherlock Holmes... I'm harmless to him unless and until I cross his path. I've confronted him once already, on a small matter related to the deaths of Marie Arruzio and Jack Burke. We agreed that the Town is mine and the University is his, and we keep that uneasy truce." I said.

"And he does know one other thing," I said, my voice growing cold, "if he fucks with me or my family, I'll simply kill him. In cold blood, if need be. And if he gets me first, then Laura and some of my new friends in this Town will avenge me. It's as simple as that."

"Glad I'm on your side." Jack Muscone said. "You're generally correct, though: the CIA works as a bunch of independent units. One might not know what another is doing. One of these units may have gone out of bounds, but the rest of the Agency doesn't know it. Your wife likely doesn't know anything about this, so keep it between us, huh?"

I nodded as Jack continued "We're not even sure anything is wrong, and we don't want to step on anything legitimate. That's what the top brass wants me and my team to glance into. It's really nothing more than that."

"I hear ya." I said.

"And your lunch is courtesy of the Federal Government; I'll expense it. I'll say it's your last meal before you're burned at the stake."

"Mmm, barbecue." I joked, grinning as we got up to leave. "About time I get something for my tax dollars..."

To be continued...