The Phyllis Files Ch. 02

The Phyllis Files: The Case of the Neighborhood Break-Ins.

The chronological order of my stories is as follows:

Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, The Murdered Football Player Series, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, The Case of the Black Badge series, A Case of Revenge series, Trilogy Series, Dark Side Of The Force series.

The Phyllis Files, Ch. 1-2

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

Part 0 - The Solution to The Case of the Executed Environmentalist

Paulina Patterson and I just watched as my mother and Cindy Ross interviewed the woman Lilac in Interrogation-1, listening in as the microphones transmitted their conversation. A lawyer had already been provided for Lilac, as she'd invoked immediately upon arrest.

"Lilac," Cindy Ross stated, playing the role of bad cop, "there are so many holes in your story that I can make a swiss cheese sandwich out of it. There is no way you could've been on the outside of the fence near the water treatment area that night; it was being watched by Crown Security. There is no way that Linda Ferris cut that fence and got in by herself; she had to have help. There is no way Gordon Snow's story holds up. We have further evidence on him, as well."

"You don't have a damn thing on any of us." Lilac said, her voice a snarl. "You can't prove that one word of what I said is not true."

"Miss Lilac," Phyllis said, playing good cop. "I don't think you killed Linda Ferris, nor did you know that she was going to be killed that night. But right now, if you don't help us, you're going down as an accessory to first degree murder, maybe even conspiracy to commit murder, which will bring the death penalty."

"I'm prepared to die for the cause!" Lilac said defiantly, and enjoying the moment. "I'm prepared to die for the environment, to save the earth from the filthy capitalist swine that are polluting our waters, killing our animals, and causing global warming across the globe!"

That path wasn't going to work, Phyllis realized, so she tried a new way: "Miss Lilac," Phyllis said, "You can't fight for your cause if you're dead, and dying for it won't help your cause. Linda Ferris died for your cause; you couldn't even generate press coverage from it. Linda Ferris died, and Crown Chemicals continues on. She was your colleague for the cause, but you don't have to die for Gordon Snow's sake."

The lawyer whispered something to Lilac and she nodded.

"We're done here," the lawyer said, standing up, "unless you're going to arrest her and charge her with a crime."

"She already is under arrest under a Court-issued warrant; she is not free to go." Cindy Ross said, in her best imitation of what her mentor the Iron Crowbar loved to do with Legal Beagles. "And charges will be coming in the morning at her arraignment if your client doesn't cooperate. Now sit back down, Counselor, or leave. But Lilac stays with us." The lawyer was red-faced but complied, sitting back down, his bluff thoroughly and brutally called.

"Lilac," Cindy continued, "you need to understand something. The Crown security people did not shoot Linda Ferris, which means that someone in your group did shoot her. I think you know this in your heart, you know that Gordon Snow committed the murder. And once we arrest him, he's going to turn on you and throw you to the dogs. He doesn't give a damn about the cause nor you; he only gives a damn about himself."

"He loves me." Lilac said.

"Yeah, right." Cindy said. "That's why he's banging female students, and has been for years. He got fired from his last job for it- oh yes, you know it to be true." The Detective had seen the change in Lilac's eyes. So had Phyllis.

"Dear," Phyllis said, "you must realize that Gordon Snow is not worth going to prison or dying for. He has no loyalty nor love for you."

"Oh geez..." said Lilac as tears began to stream down her face as the Truth slammed into her mind with ruthless force.

"Just tell us the truth." Phyllis said. "Gordon did not stay with your group that night, did he, Lilac?"

The dam burst. "NO!" Lilac screamed, releasing her anguish. "No... he went inside the fence after the Fat Bitch. He said he was going to make sure she got to the water treatment shed okay. We heard the shots, then he came back, running as fast as he could. He said the security people had shot the Fat Bitch and told us to scatter and run. We got back together at the house where her husband was, and told everyone there the story."

-----

I'd heard enough. I turned to Paulina. "You have probable cause. If you get the warrant, I'll get Nash to pick up Gordon Snow, and search his premises and University offices for a .45 ACP pistol."

"On my way." said Paulina, rushing out the door.

-----

"You are truly an idiot." Cindy Ross said as she faced Gordon Snow across the table of Interrogation-2. "You kept the frickin' gun all these years."

"I knew I could never legally buy another one after my association with PCGW." Snow said. "And I knew I needed a gun to protect myself. PCGW is a very militant group; sometimes they eat their own."

"What, you don't trust the police to be the only ones armed and to protect you?" Cindy said witheringly.

"Why are we still talking?" Snow asked.

Paulina Patterson picked up the conversation. "Tell us the whole story and the death penalty will be off the table. D.A. Krasney might even go to 25-to-life with possibility of parole if you spare him and the taxpayers the expense of a trial -and- tell us the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

Snow began talking.

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The next weekend we were on the back patio of the "Mountain Nest", talking about the now-solved cold case. Bettina Wurtzburg had somehow gotten the scoop on the story, which got her a bit of national attention as the Big Media types just ran with her pieces instead of sending their own peeps here. Fine by me.

My mother and Cindy were holding court talking about this one. Present to listen with utter fascination were the Chief and his wife, myself, Lt. Bill Hanson, Martin Nash and Sandra Speer. Laura was in meetings in Washington.

"Ten years ago, Gordon Snow wasn't saying a word." my mom Phyllis said. "Then with the Statute of Limitations expiring, he thought he could boast a bit more. But like most stupid but arrogant criminals, he said too much."

"What cracked it for you?" Martin Nash asked.

"Let me first tell everyone what happened, as Gordon confessed it." Phyllis said. "After the big riot, when most of the PCGW people realized they were badly outgunned and couldn't use violence without dying in large numbers, and with Crown itching for a fight and not negotiating with them in any way, the protests began dying off."

"It was Gordon Snow who had the idea of breaking into the Crown grounds and contaminating the water that was being dumped out. He also hoped that the radioactive materials would contaminate the pipes and shut down Crown's water treatment plant. He said he had a deal with one of the national news firms that as soon as the water was poisoned, they'd swoop in for the story."

"Wow, the Media would do that?" Sandra asked.

"Hell yeah, they would...and they DO, on a very regular basis." I replied. Have I mentioned that I am not exactly a fan of the Press? "Anyway, Mom, you were saying?"

Phyllis continued "Snow managed to convince Linda Ferris, who was not a very popular person, to actually go in and contaminate the water works. Her husband was aware that she was involved in the scheme, but did not know her level of involvement nor that she was going to be carrying radioactive chemicals. For that matter, she did not realize the level of danger from the radioactive stuff; she was not a particularly bright woman despite her purported education."

"So Gordon, Lilac and Brent helped cut the fence and get Linda through. Lilac says she didn't understand why Gordon had stayed away from Linda until she went through, not knowing that he was avoiding the radioactive materials-

"So Gordon obtained the chemicals?" Britt asked.

Sandra Speer piped up. "We're looking into that now, and Homeland Security is taking a big interest. We think that there might have been a mole in a Government lab that acquired the stuff. We're more interested in keeping that stuff out of the wrong hands in the here and now than in finding the supplier from 10 years ago, so don't get your hopes up on an answer any time soon. Phyllis?"

"Gordon did obtain the chemicals," Phyllis said, "and let me add here that there might have been a PCGW insider within the Crown company. A security chief with the too-simple name 'Bert Jones', who had two badly failing security plans, is my guess."

"But to continue," Phyllis continued, "Gordon followed Linda Ferris inside the fence, caught up to her when she was very near the water shed, and shot her from behind, the first shot being from some yards away, and the final shot being from fairly close after she'd fallen. He had planned to murder her all along and leave her body to be found with the chemicals. He high-tailed it back to the fence breach and everyone scattered for miles."

"The reason for Gordon's plan to murder Linda Ferris is that he expected the national Media to really work up the story that she was murdered in cold blood by Crown Chemicals. He was hoping that the deadliness of the chemicals would be heard about and read about as opposed to the fact that his PCGW colleague was actually sabotaging the plant. But his plan backfired: the overall story was getting old to the Press, and they realized that people were more interested in the fact of the attempted sabotage than anything else. So the Media squashed the story and let it die, and thus ended The PCGW's moment in the sun."

"Gordon was arrogant enough to think he'd committed the perfect crime." Phyllis said. "He only had his friends Lilac and Brent to worry about. Brent, if that's even his real name, disappeared. I suspect Gordon killed Brent, though he has not confessed to that. However, he couldn't bring himself to kill Lilac, with whom he was having a sexual affair that continued for years. So he brought Lilac to his schools with him as his secretary, to keep a watchful eye on her as well as enjoy sex with her. And he indulged in sex with other women, as well, particularly female students."

"And to answer your question, Martin," Phyllis said to wrap up, "when I saw that the angle of the bullets were from almost directly behind rather than from the side or in front, as I would expect from security personnel intercepting Linda Ferris, I realized that the killer was someone who crept up behind her. And it was far more likely that it was one of the other PCGW people than the security people to do that. After that, just about everything else fell neatly into place."

Bill Hanson then asked "I guess my only question is: why wasn't this solved back then?"

"Ah," Phyllis said, "that is the beauty of cold cases. Sometimes information comes out with time. Sometimes people talk that had not talked in the past. Sometimes the Detectives, like Cindy here, are much better than those in the past."

"And sometimes we have Phyllis on the case the second time around, giving the perps no chance." Cindy replied.

Everyone laughed, but Phyllis said "Seriously, I think politics played a part back then that aren't as strongly felt today. The tensions were high then, and nobody really wanted to look at the FBI's ballistics data, which showed she was shot from almost directly behind. And everyone was distracted by Linda Ferris's act of sabotage, not realizing that someone else's plan was for her to be found dead as their act of sabotage... and so it all fell apart until we could re-examine it."

"Well," I said, "at this rate, I expect the two of you to solve one cold case every day. We'll have the storage rooms cleaned out in no time." Everyone laughed.

"Bring it on." Cindy said as she and Phyllis did a fist-bump. "At least until I get off this damned light duty."

Part 1 - The Case of the Break-Ins: The Crime Scene

"Good morning, Lieutenant Ross!"

The voice was Phyllis's. Cindy looked up to see the Auxiliary Policewoman enter her office. It was early September, and Cindy was not yet re-qualified with her gun to be on full field duty.

"Did you hear about the break-in at the Jones's home, in the Lakeview subdivision?" Phyllis asked.

"Yes, the patrol officers went over there this morning. Sergeant Thompson and Senior Patrolman Hicks. They're filing their police reports now." Cindy replied. "I was wondering if I should even send a Detective over there."

"Oh, but it's the second crime in that subdivision within a month. The Smith home nearby was robbed just a few weeks ago." said Phyllis. "Don't you find that interesting?" Cindy knew enough of Phyllis to know that the older woman had something in her head.

"How so?" Cindy asked.

"That's what I want to find out. I suggest that we not waste your busy Detectives' time, but that you and I take a quick glance into the case." Phyllis said. "I'll clear it with Don to let you out of the cage for a few hours. We'll only go around to look at the crime scene and talk to the Smith family."

"I thought it was the Jones house that just got robbed." Cindy said.

"Oh, yes, that must be what I meant." said Phyllis, her voice mysterious. Cindy knew for sure Phyllis was up to something.

"Okay, if you can get Don to let us, I'll go out there with you." Cindy said.

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"Ah, there's the lake." said Phyllis as they drove into the subdivision. "Such a difficult time they've had."

The Lakeview community was a gated subdivision to the north of Town, farther north than other super-rich gated communities. They developers had wanted to dam the River to create a lake, but that would've flooded the entire Fire Academy Range, the Water Works, and other buildings and farms, so the Town & County Council put the kibosh on it.

Instead, the developers had to tap an underground spring, then build an outflow to the River. The lake looked nice, but was not the huge development they'd wanted; they had wanted something to rival the Big Reservoir between the County and Nextdoor County, where the Police Chief lived on one side and the Riordans on the other, amongst others.

"Yes." said Cindy. "And after the economy took a downturn, the development hasn't sold nearly as well as they'd hoped. It's only a third full, and that's just Phase I of the construction."

"Ah, you seem to know something about it." Phyllis said.

"I was considering investing in two lots in the Phase II area, and building two houses for re-sale or rent." Cindy said. "But they didn't even start that phase yet. So, do you want to visit the Jones house or the Smith house? They're close together, and both houses' backyards are on the lake."

"Let's visit the Jones home first. The crime that occurred this morning." said Phyllis. Cindy drove to the location. Upon their knock on the door, a handsome woman in her late 40s or early 50s answered the door, and admitted them. She was Mrs. Jones. As they were seated in the living room, Mr. Jones came in. He was in his upper 50s, tall and spry, with glasses and wild hair that seemed to jut out in places. His graying beard also seemed to jut forward, creating the impression that he was jabbing at you as he talked.

Cindy introduced herself and Phyllis, then said "We're following up on the break-in. Our officers were here this morning."

"Yes, they were." said Mr. Jones. "As I told them, the burglars apparently came through the back door into my study. They took the darndest group of things imaginable."

"May we see your study?" Phyllis asked. They were led by Mr. Jones to the room that was the scene of the crime. Mrs. Jones did not follow them.

Papers were strewn about the desk and on the floor, some books thrown out of the bookshelves on the side wall. "Not much was taken." said Mr. Jones, pointing at the bay window. A clean spot could be seen on the window shelf where something had been. "There was a statue there, of one of the gods holding what looked like a half-globe. When the sunlight hit it, it cast a funny shadow, and could be used as a sundial of sorts. There was also a globe on my desk that was taken, as well as the stapler and a clock that sat on the desk. They took a deck of cards that was in the drawer, that I played Solitaire with. My computer is gone, but they left the copier there, and left the TV and radio in this room. They didn't take any TVs around the house, either."

"How very odd!" said Phyllis, her eyes darting all around. "So nothing of value taken?"

"The computer, and some of our silver plate was out." said Mr. Jones. "My wife was polishing it in anticipation of a party I was planning to throw. They got all of that."

"So was the plate insured?" Phyllis asked.

"Fortunately, yes." said Mr. Jones. "The computer was, also."

"Who are your insurers?" asked Phyllis.

"State Farm." said Mr. Jones. "Mr. Tennison is my agent."

"Were any papers stolen? Any important documents?" Cindy asked.

"No... well, not that I can tell." said Mr. Jones. "They certainly made a mess of things, and I haven't gotten everything back in order. But my most valuable papers are upstairs, in the gun safe. And that also reminds me, they didn't even try to get in the safe. There are some antique guns in there that might be worth something, but the safe wasn't bothered."

"So, they came in through these French doors?" asked Phyllis. As Mr. Jones affirmed it, the lovely mature woman opened the door and went through to the patio out back.

"Well, Lieutenant," Phyllis said as she and Cindy looked at the lake that was at the end of the backyard, where sprouts of grass were beginning to get tall. "I seriously doubt the criminals swam through the lake to get here. So they must've come around from the side." Phyllis was looking closely at the patio planks, then the grass. She walked to the edge of the fence gate, looking out towards the driveway and front of the house.

"So what do you make of this, dear?" Phyllis asked as she made her way back to the patio.

"Grass needs cutting," Cindy said. "I can see your track marks where you walked to the gate. Other than that, I don't see anything."

"Indeed, we seen nothing." Phyllis said. "It's very interesting that the burglars decided to come up the driveway to get here, very much in view if the street lights were on and working. And to risk going into a fenced yard, where a dog would likely be- Oh, Mr. Jones, do you own any dogs?" she called out to Mr. Jones, who was inside the study.

"No ma'am." said Mr. Jones as he stepped to the door.

"Well, I think that concludes our visit." said Phyllis. "I'm sure a police report will be ready soon, so that you can make your insurance claims."

"Thank you, ma'am." said Mr. Jones. Cindy and Phyllis took their leave of the Joneses and went back to Cindy's car.

"Where to now?" Cindy asked.

"Oh, to the Smith's. They're a couple doors to the left of the Jones's here, and the house between them is empty. It was foreclosed upon a couple of months ago."

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