Case of the Black Widow Ch. 04

"Certainly, Chief." said Paulina.

"What now, Crowbar?" asked the Chief.

"Paulina, take Hugh's sworn deposition right now, here in this room." I said. "After that, Hugh, if anyone asks what you were doing in here, tell them you were getting the Chief and me up to speed on your SWAT team formation. After giving your sworn statement, I want you to go get the officers that we're going to put on the SWAT team and all of you go to the outdoor range. If any other police are there, kick them out, tell them to call the Chief if you need to. Then close the range and stay there. Get in some shooting if you want to, but just stay there, locked away, for the rest of the day."

"As for me, I'm going to go visit Selena Steele, and I'll take Cindy Ross with me. I intend to get Selena to tell me the truth about New Year's Eve. And then I'm going to watch for the Black Widow."

"I still don't see how the Black Widow got hold of Selena's hair. So what's this all about?" asked Tanya Perlman.

"I don't know for sure," I said, "but it's clear that the Black Widow is trying to frame Selena. Additionally, the Black Widow became so desperate that she revealed to Bettina Wurtzburg the information about the three killings in our County. She gave Bettina just about everything about the crimes, which of course is all we have-"

"What? You think the Black Widow herself was the leak?" asked Tanya.

"I sure as hell do." I said.

---

As Cindy and I drove to J.P. Goldman Bank where Selena Steele was, she asked out of the blue "So did Hugh confess to being with Selena on New Year's Eve?"

"Yep," I said, "and you are not to say one word about it to anyone, not even the other MCD Detectives, nor Teresa nor your sister. Is that clear?"

"Crystal." Cindy replied. "But you're not asking me how I know?"

"Nope." I said. "I'm sure my mother told you to watch for Hugh hooking up with Selena, because if Angela ever finds out it's going to be hell in my MCD room, and my mother still believes she has to protect her little boy from big bad MCD-drama wolves."

Cindy laughed. "Yes, she did tell me that." She had that 'can't get anything by him' look on her face as she continued: "And after your speech this morning, Hugh looked like he wanted to throw up or cry. And when he said he was going to the restroom, I figured he was making a beeline to the Chief's office to confess he was with Selena at the time of the murder."

"You might make a good Detective yet, Miss Ross." I said.

"Stoppit." Cindy replied. "Well, here we are at the bank."

---

We were in Mr. Goldman's conference room again, with the Goldman lawyer present.

"Miss Steele," I said, "I'm going to read you your Constitutional rights." I did so, then asked if she understood her rights, and she said she did.

"Miss Steele," I said, "DNA evidence has come back with certainty that your hairs were found on the dead body of Bradley Hazelton."

"What?!?! How can that be?" Selena asked, then peered at me. "Is this some sort of trick?"

"Not at all, Ms. Steele." I said, pulling out a folder and showing her the report. "The hairs found on the victim near his loins and in his hand are matched to you with a certainty that will have you convicted by any jury on earth." Selena handed the lawyer the report. He examined it and told Selena that it was conclusive and solid as evidence.

"How?..." Selena said, tears forming in her eyes. "I swear to God, I didn't do it."

"Then Selena," I said, leaning forward and keeping my voice conspiratorially low, "you need to tell me the name of the person you were with on New Year's Eve. It is your only chance to save yourself from the death penalty... yes, Selena, this evidence is enough not only to convict you but for you to be executed for a crime you did not commit."

"I... I..." said Selena before turning to the lawyer. "What can I do?"

"Detectives, I need a moment alone with my client." the lawyer said. We left the room until we were asked back in five minutes later.

Once we were seated again, Selena asked "Is there any way we can keep this secret? Just between the two of you and me?"

"Maybe." I said. "I'll have to let the Police Chief know, and above all else we'll have to convince the District Attorney of your innocence. But it's absolutely in our interest to keep the information quiet- so that we can trap the person trying to frame you. I would also suggest that if you want to keep it secret, you ask your lawyer here to leave and just tell the two of us. No offense intended, of course."

"Yes... yes." Selena said. She turned to the lawyer and asked him to go, which he did without protest.

"The man's name is... Hugh Hewitt. He's one of your detectives." Selena said. "He and I were together at the bar New Year's Eve, and then he came home with me and we were together all night."

"How long have you been dating Hugh?" I asked, my eyes boring into her to mask any sign that I already knew and was ecstatic to be hearing her confirm the information.

"We're not dating, he's dating that tomboy harpy Angela Harlan." Selena said. "New Year's Eve was the third time Hugh and I met and had sex. He's good in bed, but that's all we have between us."

"You'll be happy to know, Ms. Steele," I said, "that Hugh was not going to let you take the fall. He was discreet, but he's given a sworn affidavit that you and he were together the night of the Hazelton murder. You have confirmed what he said, though you'll have to sign a sworn statement also, which Detective Ross here is writing right now for you to sign. Also, we need you to keep this a secret, because we believe we can flush out the real killer. Now I need to ask you some further questions..."

Part 24 - Speculation, Redux

"Well, your reputation just shot up again." said Teresa Croyle several nights later. She and Cindy were dinner guests of Laura, Carole and myself at The Cabin. It was too cold to sit outside with the baby, so we were in the main room. And despite there being three women in the room, it was me holding my little girl... with absolutely no intention of relinquishing this most pleasant of duties.

"I'm not worried about that." I said. "But Selena Steele was literally one hour away from the death penalty, and I'm glad we could save her."

"I'm just glad the Chief and ADA Patterson trusted you." said Cindy. "By all rights, Paulina should've gone for that warrant immediately."

None of the Detectives had said much when Cindy and I had returned from our visit to Selena Steele without having made an arrest. The Chief told everyone that Selena Steele had a possible alibi that was being checked out, and he also said that FBI was taking over the Black Widow case. That was true, that the FBI was handling it on a national level... but Cindy and I were still secretly working on it with no one else knowing, as we feared a leak or mole within our own Police Force.

The Press never got wind of the DNA report, which Tanya and Barry Oliver conspired to bury. To mollify Bettina, I gave her a comprehensive sit-down interview about the Black Widow case, saying that it was now in the hands of the FBI.

We had other things to worry about, as well. Senator Nathan Allen was making noises again about taking action against Teresa for beating up his drunk son at a DUI checkpoint, but other politicians had suggested he shut his mouth, all the while working to get Teresa another police job by February 1st.

Senator Allen's poll numbers had taken a beating as well after the Press reported on the sweetheart deal he pulled to get his son out of vehicular homicide charges... yeah, reporting on that might have been my deal with Bettina in exchange for the Black Widow interview.

"So, do you have any idea who the Black Widow is?" Teresa asked.

"No." I said. "I'm still trying to put the pieces together, and there are so frickin' many of them. But one thing is for sure, I think she's still around... and right under our noses." Indeed, I could sense the dark clouds swirling, and I just needed to pierce through them to see the light and solve the case. The clouds tried to take shape, they were trying to show me the image of the deadly woman and her evil rampage. The piece of the puzzle I needed was right in front of me, if only I wasn't too slow...

Part 25 - Rejection

February 1st. Teresa had gone to her new job in Midtown the day before. I arrived in the MCD room at 6:00am, and there was already a buzz around "the clubhouse", as Police HQ was called. Promotions were announced on February 1st and August 1st, and today was the big day. But even bigger on this day, we were announcing the selection of those uniformed personnel who would be placed on track to become Detectives.

"Good morning!" Tanya Perlman greeted me, her face glowing, her cheeks rosy. She was anticipating the announcements as much as anyone else.

"Good morning, Detective Perlman." I said, somewhat formally. "Come to my office." Once there, I bound her to silence for a few more hours, then told her the selections... including the names of those who didn't make it.

"I'm going to tell him before the announcements are made." I told Tanya. "He deserves at least that much. It's really going to hurt him, but it can't be helped."

"I appreciate you doing that." Tanya replied. Her cheeks were no longer rosy.

----

"Come on in here." I said at 7:30, entering the Chief's conference room. Patrolman Pete Feeley strode in, along with Detective Cindy Ross, who sat unobtrusively to one side. Feeley's face was a portrait of barely restrained excitement, and had been so since he'd walked into the building half an hour before.

"I wanted to talk to you before the announcements come out." I said to Feeley after we'd sat down at the table. After a pause, I said "I'll just come right out with it, Feeley: you're not on the Detective list. You didn't make it this time."

"Wh...wha..." Feeley stammered, his face now a mirror of shock. "Wh...what do you mean I didn't make it?" The young man's face began to look as if he were going to cry as the import of my words fully registered with him. "Wh... what did I do wrong? What made you decide this?"

"Feeley, you didn't do anything 'wrong'." I said. "And it's not just my decision." I felt bad at these cop-out words; it really wasn't just my decision, but making excuses like that was not the mark of a good leader. "You're a good police officer and you still have a great career ahead of you with the Force. You're definitely on track to become a Sergeant early, which is pretty rare around here. You've got a great career ahead of you."

"But... but what can I do to become a Detective? Even a Detective Apprentice..." Feeley said, groping for words.

"You can try to make it in the next cycle, Feeley." I said.

"But... but that could be two more years!" Feeley exclaimed, emotion beginning to overcome him.

"That might be," I replied, and as I was trying to keep this hard moment as positive as I could for the young man, I continued: "And in the meantime, you keep sharpening your skills, and you keep being the best officer you can be. The Uniform track is wide open for you, Feeley. Captain Charles is ready to pin Corporal stripes on you today."

Feeley didn't say anything more. His eyes glazed a bit, and I realized that he was now internalizing and attempting to come to grips with what he considered to be the greatest failure of his young life. I knew there was nothing more I could say to help him.

"Okay, Feeley, I've talked to Captain Charles and let him know I was going to break this to you early. You can-"

I was interrupted by the door opening. Chief Griswold entered the room.

"Peter Feeley, you're being promoted to Corporal today. Make sure your uniform looks damn sharp this morning. I expect you to present yourself as the leader you are, is that clear?"

"Uh... yes, Chief." Feeley said. He was about to get up but then remembered his manners and forced himself to remain seated.

"You're dismissed." the Chief growled. I nodded and Feeley got up and left, his look and bearing betraying his sheer misery.

"Crowbar, come to my office, but give me five minutes."

"Yes sir." I said. As the door closed, I caught Cindy's look.

"Well, Detective Ross," I said, "that goes under the heading 'hard parts of the job'."

"You did all you could to make it easier for him." Cindy replied. "It was nice of you to tell him early."

"Yeah." I said. "I know how much he wanted it and how hard he was trying. Maybe too hard."

"He is right, though." Cindy observed. "He's probably got at least two years before he can be up for it again. Think he'll make it then?"

"Between you, me, and the lamppost... no." I said. "You've watched him all these months like I have." Cindy nodded as I continued "I wasn't going to force him to go through the promotion ceremony and take the Corporal stripes, but the Chief changed my suppositions."

"Pete looked absolutely devastated." Cindy said. "Maybe we should send him to the counselors instead of the ceremony. I hope he'll take things better than he looked when he left."

"Yep, me too." I replied. "All right, I'll go check in with the Chief, and then we can go announce who the new Detective track candidates are going to be."

---

The Chief waved me into his office as I approached the open door. "Rudistan and Morton are being promoted to Senior Patrolman today. They both asked for you to pin their new stripes on. You willing to do that?"

"Absolutely, sir." I said. "And if Feeley wants, I'll do his, too, though he may want Tanya to do it. By the way, Chief, thanks for stepping in there and giving him the kick in the pants."

"Sometimes you gotta give a guy a little push." Chief Griswold said. "Feeley is disappointed now, but he'll get over it, and he'll grow into those Corporal stripes, then the Sergeant stripes that will quickly follow. But what I called you in here about was to tell you that we're meeting Jack Muscone and his team this afternoon. They want to re-hash the Black Widow case with us..."

To be continued.

Dear Readers, the clues are all there. Do you know who the Black Widow is? Who killed Tom Burleson, Tim Dawdle, and Bradley Hazelton? And how did the Black Widow so nearly successfully frame Selena Steele?