The Murdered Football Player Ch. 05

"Well, Don," she said, breathing heavily, "your methods of interrogation have not worked. I've admitted nothing."

"Well, we'll just have to have a few more hours of interrogation until you talk." I said, a grin forming on my face. Janet finally smiled, a very pretty, radiant smile that made her face glow and warmed my loins again.

"Let's get out of these clothes first." she said. "I want to feel your body on mine." I kissed her deeply and she returned it hotly and fully for the first time. We shared deep, wet kisses as we stood up and stripped naked. Janet slipped into her peep-toe pumps that were on the floor at the end of the bed, and the sight of her shapely legs and feet aroused me.

I lay back on the bed and Janet settled in next to me, leaning over to suck my cock. The beautiful trophy wife began giving me head, sucking my cock to harden it back up. Her mouth was hot, wet and wild, and her incredible oral talent and experience had me hard in no time.

I slipped on another condom and mounted her. We took our time, and our coupling was slow, deep and wet. Our kisses were hungry and seeking as we mated passionately, the heat of Janet's body against mine increasing my fires of lust...

Once it was over and we dressed, and I made sure to take the condoms with me so that there was no heavy evidence of what I'd just done to Janet Riordan.

"Au revoir, Don." she said as she let me out the front door, her face barely concealing her lust as she looked at me. "I'm sure we're going to be meeting again soon."

"I certainly hope so." I said, walking out the door, ignoring the furious look upon Grace's face as the thoroughly peeved administrative assistant stood by the door waiting to get back in.

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((Author's note: it is possible that the following information is a CLUE for future stories. Hope you're enjoying it, and we return you to your regularly scheduled mystery.))

I drove towards Buford on State Highway 142, which slanted southwest from the main road between our Town and the City towards Buford in Coltrane County. On the way down, I saw the signs that said "No stopping! Vehicles may not stop for next 5 miles. Keep driving."

I was approaching the State Asylum. The signs and stopping prohibitions were to keep people from helping Asylum inmates escape by providing them with a ride. Needless to say, this once was a problem until the 'no stopping' rule was put in place, and I knew the road here was carefully monitored.

This road went closer by the Asylum than the road from my County to Buford and on to Midtown. As I drove by, I glanced over at the forbidding gray buildings behind the fence. It looked more like a prison than a Mental Hospital from here, and that is truly what it was.

As I passed, I felt a sense of foreboding, that something was not right here... that there was something vitally important to me happening here, in this Asylum, and that I needed to investigate it. I put that thought into a compartment of my mind as I headed on, concentrating on the Jeff Jackson case.

Part 27 - The Vision

After meeting my colleagues at the Diner and finding they agreed with my assessment of the quality of the food there, I told them what our next plan of action would be: we would stop by the headquarters of The Vision as we headed back up the main highway towards home.

"What do you hope to find there?" Molly asked as I observed Crenshaw's peevish silence.

"Oh, I'm basically just going to leave my calling card." I said. "I do want to know if Jeff Jackson ever had anything to do with them, but I don't expect to find out a lot."

Molly insisted on picking up the lunch tab, saying she could expense it. We headed back north out of town. I saw the 'No Stopping' signs as we passed by the Asylum; it was much farther away from this road, but could be clearly seen in the distance as there was not a single tree blocking our view, and that was on purpose.

I was driving with Agent Crenshaw this time, and the ladies were following in Tanya's car, and I was listening to his diatribe.

"I don't see that I did anything wrong," Crenshaw said, "but they really hammered me over it."

"Ted, I know you're a good Agent, especially in the areas of Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking, but let me ask you a question." I said. "Did you learn something from that incident today?"

"I....." Crenshaw said, about to defend himself, but then he had to honestly assess the question. "Yeah, I guess I did." he conceded begrudgingly.

"That's what this SBI Reserve and exchange program is about." I said, bringing Crenshaw back to the lure, to use falconry lingo. "There's a lot to be learned from the local guys about a lot of things. Spend fifteen minutes with Tanya Perlman on a crime scene and you will be overwhelmed by what she is capable of finding."

"Oh I know about that." Crenshaw said. "That's why the SBI wants to hire her to run the State Crime Lab after they fire the bozo there now. He's going to take the fall for that humiliating fiasco, and they'd love to steal her from you." He then asked, a bit too shrewdly, "Think they'll succeed?"

"I don't know." I said. "It's up to her if she wants to pursue something like that. Ah, here we are." I said, turning left onto a small road.

As we drove up the road, I noticed the cameras, concealed in things like birdhouses on poles and what looked like a scarecrow overlooking a farm of very meager growth. We were being watched all the way to the gate.

At the gate, I introduced myself with my badge, and asked if I might have a few minutes time with the leadership that was here at headquarters. They radioed in as they took our license plates, then waved us through with the instructions to stay on the road until we got to the front door, whereupon someone would greet us.

"Hi there." said a handsome, tall man in his early 40s as we arrived. "My name is Dennis Cole, I'm one of the five senior trainers here at The Vision. Welcome to our World Headquarters. How can I help you?"

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cole." I said, shaking his hand and introducing my fellow agents and detectives. Mr. Cole led us inside, past the front desk and around to an open area with chairs and couches.

"We can sit here, though..." Dennis Cole said, as if it were a sudden thought. "Would you like me to give you a short tour of the place first?"

"We'd like to ask a few--" Crenshaw started, but Molly interrupted and overstepped him immediately.

"That would be very nice, Mr. Cole." Molly said firmly. "We'd appreciate seeing your lovely facility here." Crenshaw looked peeved again as Dennis took us around. It was mostly seminar rooms on this ground floor, but the hallway was against the outer wall, and had a nice view to the outside grounds behind the facility.

"Yes, Lieutenant," Dennis said, in answer to my query, "the river is visible from here, though it's a much better view from one of our observation windows on the upper floors... yes, the dorms are in the other building, and I'm afraid those are off limits, and they are people's homes while they stay with us... yes, Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart is our leader, but I'm afraid he is not here today, he's preparing a new advanced course seminar."

We'd gone around in a near circle and were near the front desk from the other side. The windows overlooked the front drive and I could see our vehicles. The doors to the inside room revealed a large room with many young people inside at tables. Most were dressed in blue shirts with "The Vision" and their logo over their hearts, while some were obviously tourists or customers.

"Dennis," I said, "if you don't mind, I'd like to speak to some of your young friends here. Detective Evans, would you mind taking charge of the interview with Mr. Cole?"

"Certainly, Lieutenant." Molly said, right on cue. I was really beginning to like her.

I went into the room and sat at a small table with a young man who looked a bit nerdish. He had me place my hands on what looked like a crystal half dome in the middle of the table. A thin white current of lightning went from my hands to the core of the dome.

"Okay, just concentrate on your inner self and breathe." he said. I went along. He asked questions about where my tension spots in my life were, and I thought it best not to mention that a dead body and a murder were the answers to some of these questions. He also asked about my spirituality, though not asking direct religious questions. My father would've been apoplectic at this... and my sister Elizabeth would've loved doing this just to piss him off.

After the questions, the young man moved into the sales pitch. I had to admit he did a reasonably good job with it. He suggested the Enlightenment Camp and their spiritual seminars, not suggesting the full "Total Growth" package just yet, saying that I was already confident and empowered. Fancy that, I thought, remembering what I had forcefully done to Janet Riordan just hours before.

"Well, thank you for speaking with me." I said, showing him my SBI badge. "I don't think I'll be able to purchase anything today and I've got to catch up to my colleagues, but thanks for an enlightening experience." I bolted the room before had a chance to escort me or assign me an escort.

Seeing my group and Dennis talking in the open space with chairs, I snuck over to one of the elevators and punched in a keycode. It worked, as I knew that brand's master keycode from my days selling security equipment.

Riding up the elevator to the top floor, I prepared myself mentally, getting 'into the zone', so to speak. I knew that if things went well, I would be meeting a most formidable antagonist, not quite the level of Henry Wargrave, but still a most very powerful man.

I exited the elevator into a beautiful top floor room. The furniture was white and light blue, as was the carpet. The room was round, completely enclosed with glass windows giving a 360 degree view. I could see the river as I looked over the desk at the end of the room. I noticed and the chair behind the desk, turned to face the glass...

... then I noticed movement as the chair turned slowly. A older man, slender and dressed in what was a simple white pajama-like shirt and pants as well as flip-flops, the clothing trimmed in a light blue American Indian design, that of the Echeconnee, if memory served me correctly. His shock of dyed-white hair was a 'blaze' of white fire from his head. He grinned at me as he stood up.

"Gruff?!?!" I said, amazed, then realized my mistake. "No... not Gruff. You're taller than he is."

"Ah, Lieutenant!" the man said. "It's so good to finally meet you. I've been looking forward to making your acquaintance for some time. Yes, I've kept track of your marvelous successes in the County to our north."

"Dr. Eckhart, I presume." I said, shaking the hand he offered me as he came up to me. I was in the presence of the legendary P. Harvey Eckhart, who was to seminars, self-help and enlightenment that Rev. Jonas Oldeeds had been to tele-evangelism and mobile Christianity. I noted a rune on a string around his neck; it was unlike the previous three runes I had seen before.

"Yes, my friend. Call me Harvey, may I call you Don? Or you can call me 'Gruff" and I will call you 'Crowbar', as your police chief does. Congratulations on the birth of your new daughter, I know you're just ecstatic to be a father. Have a seat, have a seat." he said, leading me to two very comfortable sofas in the middle of the room, the carpet upon which they were situated being very thick and comfortable to walk on.

"Yes, I have been a-mazed at how you have solved some very tough crimes, and you are cleaning out that Police Department very nicely." Eckhart said. "I don't know yet how you did it, but you got that imbecilic Mr. Ikea out of there. Very smart, very astute."

"Thank you, sir." I said. "I'm sure you're immensely busy and I don't want to take up too much of your time---"

"Oh, pshaw, we have all the time you need, young man." Eckhart said. "As I said, I've been looking forward to meeting you. I think we'll be meeting again, and perhaps we can help each other... oh no, this is not a Sergei Molotov speech, I'm not trying to bribe you, and I certainly do not want to know what an Iron Crowbar beatdown feels like. But I know that you are battling some pretty bad people, and there may come a time when I can help you. And there may be times you can help me, fully within the law and ethics, of course."

"Certainly, Harvey." I said. "And to start, obviously you and one Mr. Gruff had some kind of association; he's your twin... ah, he had plastic surgery to look like you... now why would you have him do that?"

"Ah, you are indeed as perceptive as I have heard." said Eckhart. "Wonderful! And to answer you, I had five men have surgery to look more exactly like me. At one time it was necessary, as there were threats upon my life as well as an FBI investigation... oh, what your friend Jack Muscone would give to be here with you right now! Fortunately none of my decoys came to harm, I didn't come to harm, and the threat dissipated when my enemies realized there were too many of me to track down... but not too many of them!"

That a man could induce five other men to have plastic surgery to look like him was impressive and bespoke of this man's power as well as his ability to persuade. I kept my senses on the fullest possible alert.

"This is not why I came to visit." I said, "but I get the sense that you didn't mourn very long when Jonas Oldeeds was gunned down."

P. Harvey Eckhart smiled, a mysterious smile full of appreciation for me... and of hatred for Jonas Oldeeds. "Your senses serve you well, young man. Jonas Oldeeds was a hideous man, a vile, evil creature that deserved the extermination he received. If you ever find out who killed him, Lieutenant, be sure to give the assassin my deepest heartfelt thanks."

"You don't know who killed him?" I asked, somewhat skeptical. I knew that a man like Eckhart knew a lot of things.

"No, indeed I don't." Eckhart said, then peered at me. "You know... I believe that you... and possibly FBI Agent Jack Muscone... are the only two people who might know who the killer of Jonas Oldeeds was."

"Besides the killer himself." I said. Eckhart looked at me, a sharp sideways glance.

"Like I said..." he murmured. Was that a clue he was giving me? I wondered. Alas, I had too little time to ponder it.

"Mr. Eckhart, was a young man named Jefferson Jackson associated with The Vision in any way?"

"Yes and no." Eckhart said. "Let me explain: his parents took my "Total Growth" package some years ago, it must be... almost ten years ago now, just as I was beginning to grow so large that I could not handle the whole thing myself. The Jacksons were, and are, wonderful people, and I remember Jeff Jackson as a boy when they brought him to some of the seminars. It was so... sad... hearing of his unfortunate death."

"Yes." I said. "It was. So Jeff had no association with you on his own, nor recently?"

"No, none at all." Eckhart said.

"That is an interesting rune around your neck." I said. "It's unlike the ones I've seen, such as the ones Janet Riordan wears."

"Ah, Janet is a lovely, lovely woman." Eckhart said. "She's come such a long way, and she is a very enlightened woman now. I will also tell you that she came to accept her sexuality much more fully while working with us. Your wife, the lovely professor at the University, would say Janet was a 'nymphomaniac', and she was a professional sex worker until we helped her lose the guilt and learn to enjoy her life and herself for what she truly is."

"As to this rune," Eckhart said, "it is called 'the fourth rune' by our members. I only give them to a few most special friends, such as my chief trainer Mr. Cole, who is probably unable to stall your fellow detectives much longer. Come over here, if you will."

Eckhart led the way to his desk. Behind the desk, on two posts between the windows, hung two 'fourth runes' from small hooks.

"One of these, Don," Eckhart said, "is going to be yours one day, after you come to accept me as a friend and we work together much more closely. You will know the right time, as will I when I award it to you."

"Well, uh, thanks, Mr. Eckhart, but I'm not seeing myself at any of your camps any time soon."

"We shall see." said Mr. Eckhart. "And this other rune... it is going to be for someone you know, someone you know quite well. It will be accepted... when it is the right time, of course."

At that moment, the elevator opened and two rather burly men in suits appeared, obviously part of the Eckhart security staff which had utterly failed as I breached them and made it to the man's office.

"Ah Don, I have to go, but it's been so wonderful getting to know you today." Eckhart said, coming around the desk and shaking my hand. "Why don't you take the elevator and join your friends, while my friends here and I conclude some business."

"It was indeed good to meet you, Dr. Eckhart." I said. "And thank you for your time and help."

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Back in the lobby, my three colleagues stared at me as I got off the elevator.

"What happened?" said Tanya.

"Oh, I found enlightenment." I said, smiling as we exited the building. "With one Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart. Let's head home. Molly, ride with me and I'll tell you all about it. Tanya will just have to wait. She can spend the time trying to get Ted to ask her for a date."

"You're a bad man, Lieutenant. You need more than just enlightenment." Tanya said, feigning pouting before grinning.

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As the elevator doors closed, a virtually-concealed door opened on the other side of the office. The click of high heels echoed through the room as the woman came up to Eckhart.

"You were right, my dear, he's every bit as impressive as you said he would be." Eckhart said, his eyes still watching the closed elevator doors.

"Yes, he is." the woman replied softly. "Do you really think he knows who killed Jonas Oldeeds?"

"He was inscrutable, I simply could not tell." Eckhart said. "I don't even know who it was. But if there is one man on earth, besides the killer himself, that knows who did me the immense favor of exterminating Oldeeds, it is the Iron Crowbar..."

Part 28 - Consolidation Of The Objective

At 4:00pm, Tanya Perlman and I headed to a meeting with my confidential source in the University's Psychology Department, that being my lovely wife Laura. Molly Evans and Ted Crenshaw had to attend a meeting with DD Conlan.

Entering Laura's office (after knocking, of course), we found her seated at her desk. On one of the two sofas, his back to us but standing as we entered, was a tall man in his late 40s to early 50s, very distinguished looking with a little bit of gray just beginning to work into his black hair. Tanya's eyes lit up a the sight of him; she was impressed.

"Don, Tanya," Laura said in introduction, "this is Dr. Richard Searles, the chief cardiologist on the staff at University Hospital. Laura introduced us to the renowned heart surgery doctor and we sat on the other sofa facing him.

"I asked Dr. Searles to discuss with you about the drugs found in Jefferson Jackson's body." Laura said. "I'm not nearly as experienced in these medications as he is, and he was kind enough to come over today."

"I really appreciate it, Doctor." I said. "Your help will be invaluable to us."

"I'm glad to help." Dr. Searles said, "though I think Dr. Fredricson is far too modest in describing her considerable medical abilities and knowledge of medications." I don't know if that was a compliment or a bit of a dig at Laura, whose knowledge of experimental drugs was immense, not to mention the nature of her 'underground' work.