The Murdered Football Player Ch. 05

"Doctor," I said, "Jeff Jackson was found with three drugs in his system, as well as a small amount of alcohol. One of the drugs was viagra, one was his medication to regulate his heart rate." I handed him the sheets of paper from the toxicology reports. "I can hardly pronounce some of these names, and won't try. The third drug is some kind of booster, stronger than the PEDs Jackson had been taking, but similar to them in composition. Can you tell us more about their interactions?"

Dr. Searles read over the report with considerable interest. "Hmmm, very interesting. Did he take these drugs all at one time?"

"Pretty close." I said. "I'm thinking he took the viagra himself, anticipating a night of several sexual encounters. The others may have been taken by him, or perhaps given to him without his knowledge."

"He had erectile problems?" Dr. Searles said.

"Uh, no sir." I said. "Doctor, we find there is quite a black market in viagra amongst the college set. Kids take it to be able to perform for hours during parties."

Laura added from behind her desk, "The porn industry also has a black market for it. The male porn stars use it to, shall we say, 'keep going' during hours of shooting their films."

"Well, I wouldn't know much about that." Dr. Searles said. "But as I look at these drugs, let me just say this: the prescription drug he was taking absolutely should not have been taken with this booster drug. I agree that it's similar to performance enhancers, but much stronger. The chemical composition is very similar, but the effect of this booster are stronger and more immediate."

"In the case of this person," Dr. Searles continued, "if he took the drugs at the same time, they could cause an adverse reaction to his heart. If taken at different times, when they're both not at their strongest in his system, then the effect probably would be less noticeable and certainly less dangerous to his life."

"Does the viagra enhance the interactions?" Tanya asked.

"Yes, Detective, it sure does." Dr. Searles said. "It looks like, as you said, Lieutenant, that Mr. Jackson here took the viagra, then strong doses of the other two drugs were ingested at the same time. The effect of all three could easily have had the effect of stopping his heart or dropping his blood pressure to such a low point that he went into shock and his heart then stopped."

"I can see him taking the viagra, maybe his medication, but would he take that booster at the same time, or any PED right then?" Tanya asked.

"No, he didn't take the booster himself, and probably takes his medication in the morning, so he likely would not have taken it then." I said. "Doctor, if these two drugs were mixed into a drink, could it have brought harm to anyone that drank it, not just Jeff Jackson?

"Yes, if they were administered together, anyone taking them might have suffered a heart stoppage or blood pressure drop." said Dr. Searles. "But I also have to say this: if you mixed these drugs in one drink, especially in an alcohol drink, they would interact beforehand and chemically change enough the the efficacy is reduced, in other words the drugs would be less effective and I would not expect the person to have that heart stoppage. It's only in the bloodstream where they all act on the heart at the same time that there's a problem."

"So they should be administered separately and not mixed in order to have the most powerful effect?" I asked and Dr. Searles nodded.

"Now that IS interesting." I said. After saying our goodbyes to Dr. Searles, Tanya and Laura settled for chatting with each other about sexual matters as I fell deep into one of my thought-trances for several long minutes.

-------------------

At 5:55pm we convened in the main conference room to watch the News then have our conference. Present were: Chief Griswold, myself, Martin Nash, Molly Evans, Cindy Ross, Theo Washington, Tanya Perlman, Ted Crenshaw and Teresa Croyle.

To our shock, Deputy Director Conlan came in, accompanied by SBI Director Jack Lewis. Lewis insisted on taking the Chief's chair at the end of the table, which the Chief acquiesced to, though with a red face. I offered the Chief my chair at the other end of the table, but the Chief bade me to sit down and took a chair between me and Cindy Ross to my right. Director Lewis then began taking charge, trying to throw his weight around.

At 6:00pm, those not familiar with her were introduced to a heavy dose of Bettina!

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said the lovely redhead reporterette on the TV screen. "In earlier reports today, Channel Two News brought reports that the State Medical Examiner's office was prepared to declare that Jefferson Jackson's death was by natural causes, that he suffered a heart attack, and that the SBI was prepared to close the case."

"However, Channel Two News has more recently learned that the SBI interviewed University student Kip Starnes today in their offices in the State Building just off the Town Square, unhindered by the presence of the local police force. Sources close to the investigation have told Channel Two News that Jefferson Jackson, the young man found dead early last Saturday morning in a ditch in the southern part of the County, had dated Kip Starnes' girlfriend, and that Starnes and Jackson had a physical confrontation over the incident. Starnes' girlfriend, one Abby Winters, has admitted that she had a relationship with Jackson while dating Starnes. The SBI considers Kip Starnes a person of interest in the death of Jeff Jackson. We now go to Tim Dawdle, Channel Two Sports. What have you got, Tim?"


"This is Tim Dawdle, Channel Two Sports. Today Coach Brian Harlan gave his Thursday press conference, the last before the University's season opener on Saturday. Coach Harlan was asked repeatedly about the use of PEDs by his football team, especially by reporters from Channel Two News. Despite our reporters' fearless questions, Coach Harlan refused to give any straight answers, finally walking out of the press conference to avoid having to tell the truth about PED use by his team. Let's go to the tape."

The tape showed Coach Harlan being interviewed. It was badly edited, cutting back and forth, clearly intentionally edited to make the Coach look bad. The coach at first said the issues of PEDs had been addressed, then began asking if anyone had questions about the game. Those questions were edited out, making it look like the only questions were about PEDs.

Have I mentioned that I have a deep hatred of certain members of the Press?

"Somebody go give Angela Harlan some Ritalin." I said. "She's going to go bonkers over that one. I'm pretty close to it, myself."

"Oh I'm just fine." Angela said, her voice husky, walking into the room. "But I think I'll sit in here with you so you can babysit me before I do something regrettable."

"Yes, come on in, and sit here by me." I said, indicating the empty chair I had just pulled up to my left side.

"What about Kip Starnes?" the Chief asked.

"Another innocent man we've got to save from being lynched." I said.

Director Lewis spoke up. "No, he may well not be innocent. Let me tell you about that situation. Jackson seduced Starnes' girlfriend and had sex with her. He might even have impregnated her, though she won't admit it. Starnes confronted Jackson about it in the football locker room, accused Jackson of raping her. What ensued was basically a Fight Club, where Jackson beat the living crap out of Starnes in front of everyone."

Deputy Director Conlan took up the bit, relishing his words as he spoke them: "From what I hear, it was a real beatdown... like the one Steven Ikea got from an unknown source recently." That was Conlan's shot at Lewis; I could tell these two men deeply hated each other. Lewis was totally aware; his glance at Conlan was full of hatred and fury.

Lewis took back over. "I don't know about Agent Ikea, who is already proving to be a strong asset on his first day of work with us. Anyone who did engage him in personal combat is wanted by the SBI, and that person will be fully prosecuted." Director Lewis looked straight at me, and I deliberately yawned.

Lewis's words got him some glares that matched his at me, but he pretended he did not see them as he continued: "Starnes not only nearly died from that beating, Jackson allegedly was standing over him, telling Starnes that he, Jackson, would bang any girlfriend Starnes ever had any time he damned well pleased. So while we haven't proved Starnes retaliated by murdering Jackson, he's certainly a suspect until something shows otherwise."

"Crowbar?.... Crowbar?" the Chief said, looking at me.

"He's in the zone, Chief." Cindy Ross said. She was right; I was in a deep, deep reverie. It was five minutes before I came out of it, during which time the meeting continued.

"Nothing." Martin Nash said, replying to the Chief's question. "We didn't get anything. The SBI beat us to Kip Starnes; as you heard, they've questioned him where we can't get to him, and they're making a point about keeping him away from us." Nash had no fear of saying that in front of SBI Director Lewis.

"I talked to several of the black players." Theo Washington said. "They were pretty open and honest with me, despite the coaches telling them not to talk to us. None of them had a problem with Jeff Jackson. They knew about his full name, but he'd told them his parents had named him that when he was too young to complain about it, and he never showed any racist attitudes himself, though he never hung around them as friends, either. But there's nothing at all in the racial angles or anything involving his parents' racial issues that we could find."

"Well, at least we've eliminated that angle." said the Chief. "Good work, Theo. By the way, is that your brother that was just hired in our District Attorney's office?"

"Yes, Chief." Theo said. "Franklin Washington. He's younger than me. He may dress better, but I'm the better looking guy." Everyone laughed (except me, I didn't realize I'd heard it until later).

"That's great." said the Chief. "Crenshaw, I heard your team didn't do so well today, either. Janet Riordan lawyered up. What happened?"

"I can answer that." I said, saving Crenshaw as I came out of my reverie, my thoughts thoroughly marshaled and ready to go. "Janet Riordan was absolutely correct to invoke her rights, if what I am thinking is true."


"Which is?" asked Director Lewis.

"That Jefferson Davis Jackson was murdered, and was murdered with premeditated intent. I think I know what happened that night, how the murder was done, and who it was committed by. This is what happened..."

To be continued...

Dear Readers, you have the clues to solve the Case of The Murdered Football Player. What do you think happened, and who murdered Jefferson Davis Jackson?