A Tiny Slip Ch. 04

"I could also see the influence of the Consultant in the 'Medical Murder Mystery'." I said. "John Clifford consulted with his pastor, Raymond Westboro, and the pharmacist Lockhart was murdered soon after. Doesn't take much to mentally make that connection, though proving it is virtually impossible without a confession, which I did not get."

"In the 'Disappearing Act' case, Westboro had helped Jimmy Tolson with that boy's plans to steal insurance money related to his brother's death." I said. "And Tolson was Westboro's spy in the company he was working at. And Willa was having a sexual affair with Westboro. He was using them against each other, which was par for the course for him."

I then said "So, let's look at the other thread that ran through this whole saga: the Trojan War, and the Moriarty lines about being 'Seriously Inconvenienced' and 'Hampered in His Plans". When Westboro first sent that painting of the Fall of Troy, through Julie Newton, we all understandably thought at the time that it was from Wargrave. And then I got that wonderful match-and-toothpick Trojan Horse. We thought it was a play on my name, 'Troy', but I realized that it was more. Westboro was into the Trojan War itself, and he revealed that a few times."

I continued: "During the Lance Priemus execution (Dream Within A Dream), Pastor Westboro was in Jacksonville, and we now know it was to make sure Priemus didn't reveal what he knew. But he made an interesting comment, and I believe Captain Ross glommed onto it and realized who he was. He said of my crowbar: 'it is his Palladium'."

"It was a slip, another tiny slip." I said. "He was not referring to the element palladium, vis-a-vis my crowbar made of iron. The 'Palladium' was the statue of Pallas Athene, a wooden sculpture of the goddess Athena that resided in the Trojan Temple. The legend was that it had to be stolen from there in order to defeat the City-State of Troy, and Odysseus and Dionysus did steal the Palladium from the Temple, if memory serves me correctly."

"And it usually does." growled Chief Griswold, generating laughter.

I grinned, then said "I also seem to recall Westboro saying something to my Lieutenants about Paris and the golden apple; that is also part of the Trojan legend: Paris was the son of King Priam, and Paris was given Helen of Sparta, who you all know as Helen of Troy, in exchange for the apple."

"And when Priemus died," I said, "I noticed a slight gleam in Westboro's eyes as Priemus died... painfully." I didn't mention that karma on that had come back to Westboro in his final moments.

"Also, I did tell some people that the Consultant was the 'Alpha and Omega' of certain criminal organizations... a very direct clue to Pastor Westboro." (Author's note: 'Six Degrees', Ch. 4)

"In addition," I said, "on the note about being hampered in his plans, he wrote the word 'Troilus', who was a young son of Priam that had to die before his 20th birthday in order for Troy to fall. That was a precursor to Westboro attacking the Feeley family, killing Pamela, paralyzing Tanya, and thank God! baby Pete's mother found a way to save his young life." Murmurs came up, then applause for Tanya as she and Teresa fist-bumped.

"So those were big clues, there." I said. "And once I was onto Westboro's trail, I was determined not to let him get away from me. Of course, he quickly figured out that things were not right for him, helped by having an insidious mole inside our Police Force, whom he called 'Sinon'... and we called 'Julie Newton'." There were groans at the mention of that traitor's name.

"When the 'Silverfish' case began," I said, "we talked to a man named Mr. Harkins of the Second National Bank. He realized his life was in danger from Westboro as details of that case came out. So he disappeared. Fortunately, I was able to send intermediaries to get him to hide here in this County, and he is now helping the FBI nail Westboro's carcass to the wall for numerous crimes, and lead us to elements of the Consultant's Syndicate. Harkins had to hide until I was ready to arrest Westboro, though, and I'll mention no names but I appreciate the help of those who took care of him in that time."

"And then I went to Apple Grove last year." I said. "I found a document for 'Victory Christian Ministries', an Oldeeds offshoot, and it had Westboro's name on the document. That was my first documented evidence of him. And from there, it became a game of weaving my tapestry against him."

"I began getting more and more stuff on him as we went through last Fall and Winter." I said. "And more of you began learning who he was. He was in the Emma Washburn photos which were on the tablet Dr. Robin Grayson gave me, and which I put into sealed evidence. He was behind the burglary of Cassie Sanderson's home, looking for photos of himself with Emma Washburn. And that reminds me... well, that will have to wait its turn. Jack, can I talk about the Fake Badges case?"

"You sure can." said Jack Muscone. "Louise Belfort and Watch Captain Lockhart, as well as several others, were arrested over the weekend. Charles Roland gave us enough on them to make those arrests, and we're getting more."

"Good." I said. I took another drink of water, then continued: "So, let's talk Fake Badges. For those who don't know, I'll simplify it by saying that it was a group of people who used paroled convicts for manpower, especially armed firepower. The Consultant was the man who conceived the idea, recruited Louise Belfort and others to do it, and they in turn provided him with manpower when he needed and called for it, such as in the 'Eyes Only' case, as well as the attack on the Feeley home."

"The 'Fake Badges' case would've been just some simple robberies and murders," I said, "until someone started planting badges of the perps from the Belfort Badge gang. This one really got to Westboro, as it was exposing his assets, and neither he nor Julie Newton could figure out who was doing it. Turns out... it was my sister Elizabeth. She wanted to capture some guns that were being smuggled, and so did Westboro... neither succeeded... and she needed that gang suppressed or out of the way. Westboro didn't take kindly to that, though... so he tried to kill her in the Standard Tools explosion."

"So... your sister is alive?" asked Joanne Warner, who was also in that building when the Consultant detonated its explosives.

"Yes." I said. "Trying to keep people alive, especially my family, has been the hardest part of this whole thing. Elizabeth got out alive, and she paid the Consultant back... and avenged your mother-in-law's death... by being the one to put a gun in Westboro's earhole and forcing him onto the helicopter with me. Once that happened, Westboro had to choose either cyanide or being placed under arrest by me. He chose to end his own life."

"So," I said, "back to Robin Grayson, which turned into a big hullabaloo with BigPharmaCorp. There was some evidence that would've exposed the Consultant of Crime secreted in an apartment. The reason so many people were after the Jack Burke tapes was because he accidentally recorded that material being secreted in his apartment." I saw many people nodding at that.

"Westboro thought that information could harm him badly, and he worked to retrieve or destroy it." I said. "I believe that Westboro was the man dressed in the suit and white mask like Slender Man in the video transmission of Jenna Stiles's ordeal, as he was trying to get those tapes. Unable to get the tapes, Westboro set three buildings on fire. We also stumbled onto a couple of people trying to steal research material from BigPharmaCorp."

"But the big thing, and a crime we can now close, was Dr. Laramie Wilkins and his wife ('Ensigns of Detection'). I'd surmised that Abby Wilkins was part of the evil group that had Dr. Wilkins killed, and that she supposedly committed suicide over a broken heart... but for whom? And who did she turn to when she supposedly found her husband dead? Her pastor ------ Raymond Westboro. He'd been having an affair with her, then forced her to take sleeping pills, as he knew I'd figure her out sooner or later, and that she not only witnessed her husband's death, but was a part of it. And then Westboro left that 'Dear me, Mr. Holmes, dear me.' note in the bottle of pills."

"And then..." I said, knowing this one was going to hurt, "... we had the Steven Moschel case. Westboro was making a lot of money on organ thefts; he was the power and money behind Moschel's business." I saw Teresa's head bow down as I said the words, and Tanya reached over to put her arm around Teresa's back.

"If there is a silver lining to that dark cloud," I said, "it was that we began getting very solid links to Westboro through Vauxhall and the laundering of money for the organ theft business. And that put tremendous financial pressure on Westboro, leading to him making desperate moves that would eventually bring him down, including attacking the Feeley family, then trying to assassinate my nephew Todd." I saw Todd grinning out of the corner of my eye.

"So..." I said, "now we can talk about Raymond Westboro's past, and his beginnings. I think he was always a bad man, and he chose the Cloth as his profession perhaps out of deep sarcasm. Of course, it was great cover for what he intended to do."

"But a few events helped shape his life. He was spurned by Pamela Feeley back in his high school and college days, which embittered him. But worse, he then met and married a woman named Alice. I kept hearing about him having had a wife in the past, from some of the elderly ladies of the Community Center and elsewhere, such as the disc golf course. Information was spotty about whether this wife had died or had left him, and it turned out to be both."

"This woman Alice saw the evil man that Raymond Westboro truly was, and she left him. She had a relationship with another man, became pregnant, and had the baby... but she died in childbirth. That baby grew up to be Selena Steele, who was raised by Edward and Stephanie Steele."

People were looking at Selena Steele, now beginning to understand some things. Still, I told the story: "What also happened was that Detective Angela Harlan, who at one time was a really, really good Police Detective, had issues with Selena. Raymond Westboro found out somehow, and also somehow corrupted Angela Harlan to begin pursuing Selena... not to kill her, but to cause her to be accused of murder and given the death penalty for it. This would bring pain to the Steeles as well as the daughter of Westboro's estranged wife."

"Fortunately for me, Chief Griswold, ADA Patterson, and my fellow Officers trusted me enough to give me time to prove Selena's innocence... but in that, I also failed completely, and the Black Widow murdered Pete Feeley. Feeley wasn't a random killing; the Consultant targeted him and had the Black Widow kill him because he was Pamela Feeley's son, and Pamela had rejected Westboro's advances years before. He was a deeply vindictive man. By way of contrast, Angela was not; she killed Pete on orders, not out of personal passion."

It was Teresa's turn to put her (left) arm around Tanya. I had to fight not to get emotional at my failure to save Pete.

"My last comment," I said, "is that Pastor Raymond Westboro was the most unforgiving man you're likely to ever meet. He was of a brilliant, philosophical mind... but he was also the most paranoid man in the world. His organization was tremendous and rigid, and brutal for those who trespassed against it. His wife left him; he considered that a betrayal to the point he plotted to have the woman's daughter framed and executed. He thought Henry Wargrave betrayed him, though it was exactly the opposite: Wargrave remained loyal to him. Still, Westboro threw Wargrave under the bus, forcing Wargrave to jump 30 stories to his death. He believed Lance Priemus had betrayed him; so he had drugs put into Priemus's death cocktail to cause Priemus pain. He shot Thaddeus Ward, and he tried to murder my sister Elizabeth and Seth's sister Karen Warner Harlan."

"So." I said. "Any questions?" That got some laughter, as my stunned audience was still barely processing what I'd just told them.

"Yes sir." said Christopher Purvis of Vice. "What about Julie Newton, Captain Malone, and Steven Ikea?"

I nodded. "First of all, Captain Malone was part of another group, a group that the FBI is still chasing down, and I'm now going to concentrate on helping the FBI take this group out. They're a race-based group of national scope, and we've defeated them in Teresa's hometown, here in our Town & County, and more recently in Apple Grove and Fillmore County, where I grew up."

"And righteously." Cindy murmured. I just nodded.

"Captain Malone worked with the Consultant on several occasions, though. They were behind the attempted assassination of Daniel Allgood while he, Daniel Allgood, was running for Sheriff." I continued. "Malone might've become more involved in those bad things in this County, but Chief Griswold made a few hires into his Police Department that didn't work out so well for Malone."

"Ain't that the truth." said Chief Sean Moynahan. There was laughter and some applause.

I went on: "Julie Newton was having an affair with Malone, and we're beginning to find her ties to racially-based hate groups. But she was co-opted by the Consultant, and I am really wondering if he had some kind of brainwashing technique that he used on her as well as on Angela Harlan. They both had some very unnatural loyalties, there. But... it is likely I'll never get any proof on that."

"As to Steven Ikea," I said, "he's just a dirtbag that thinks he's better than everyone else, when in reality he's as dumb as a box of rocks... and I apologize to the rocks for the insult." That got some laughter, as I continued: "Well, let me just say further that Ikea is an ideologue and a religious nutcase who is beginning to find that the people he revered most, from Jonas Oldeeds to Harold Malone to Raymond Westboro, were in reality Agents of the Devil himself, insidiously evil men."

"What about Julie's sister Yvonne?" asked Theo Washington.

"She's innocent, as far as we can tell." I said. "She's in total shock that her sister was a criminal and a spy within our midst. But like Goth Girl Kathy's mother, Yvonne will not be able to work for Paulina Patterson anymore. We're getting her a job somewhere else, perhaps in the library system or the Public Health Department."

"Are you going to be able to get the Oldeeds Organization, through Westboro?" asked FBI Special Agent in Charge Les Craig.

"I don't know." I said. "They're certainly scurrying like cockroaches in the night. But I think we'll do well not to say much more on that, as there is still an ongoing investigation. Ditto that for all Federal investigations right now."

Mary Mahoney Milton asked "Sir, how did Westboro communicate with others without giving himself away?"

"Oooh, good question." I said. "First, he used a lot of burner phones. As you know, Mary, we were able to trace some of them, including some communications between him and Julie Newton. But you guys found out that someone was using computers in University Hospital to access the Internet. And that's another place where Westboro's cover as a pastor came into play: he was a frequent visitor to the Hospital, and was hardly noticed walking down the halls. So he'd go to the Hospital, and could access their WiFi without being noticed."

There was a silence as I looked around. "Okay, any more questions? Cindy?" I asked, seeing my cousin's eyes.

"I think I'll hold my question for a more private time." Cindy said.

"Party pooper." Teresa replied. Tanya and I laughed out loud.

"Okay, let me make some announcements now." I said. "Detective Joanne Warner will be reporting to Detective School next Tuesday, July 5th. And when she gets back, we'll help her un-learn everything she learns there. While Lieutenant Croyle is recovering from her wounds, this is a good time for her to report to Advanced Course on Tuesday July 5th, so she can learn a bit less about leadership than she already has shown."

I finished up; "Okay, I see some children that are up way past their bedtimes. I'm sure I'll be talking with many of you about this for weeks to come. Everyone have a good night, and get home safe and sober."

The room again broke out into applause before everyone began dispersing.

Part 25 - Above and Beyond

I stopped by my office at Police Headquarters before going home. Somewhat to my surprise, as I secured the tiny slip note in its frame in my safe, Cindy came into the office.

"Have a seat." I said, which she did on a hot chair instead of her normal place on the sofa. She put her purse and keys on the edge of my desk as I asked "You had a question?"

"Yes." Cindy said. "I didn't want to bring this up in front of others, but it's been bothering me... did you know the Church was rigged with bombs?"

"Yes and no." I said, and truthfully, and you better believe my bug-killer was full-on. "I knew Westboro was up to something, and he was going to do something that night. I had an idea that he'd do something somewhere else, perhaps at County Jail, take Police Officers hostage to rescue Julie Newton."

"But you pre-empted that with the FBI." Cindy said.

"Well, to some extent. But having said that," I continued, "it was just like the bastard to attack his own church and the people of it. I should have realized something when I heard that Reverend Patterson was taking care of security in bomb detection. We should've insisted on having Sergeant Seymour go through; that's something to note for the future." Cindy nodded vigorously; she also had thought about using Sergeant Seymour but had been assuaged by bad information.

I went on: "I also should've realized Patterson might not show up, and we could've evacuated the Church, or prevented its occupancy for the event. But just between us, I'll tell you this: you remember that Priemus died of those chemicals being mixed, and Dora Ellis and her crew were planning to murder blacks with deadly chemicals?"

"Yeah." Cindy said, then she caught on. "Oh my God, you thought Westboro was going to gas the Church?"

"Or Third Precinct and County Jail. And yes, something along those lines of nerve gas." I said. "I thought Patterson's 'Security' team would bring in the chemicals at the last minute, and dogs couldn't detect them like they do bombs. And then Westboro would force me to take the helicopter up to prevent people from being killed by nerve gas. Why he went ahead with bombs, I'm not sure."

"Wow..." Cindy said, thinking of the monstrosity of that possibility. "But you had to have known something."

"I had ideas, but there was no hope for early detection, or so I thought. I certainly did not want to put 2000 people at risk, of course." I said. " And, of course, I knew for over a year that it would involve a helicopter. I got that fortune cookie in Rome, near Apple Grove, and then the bastard actually paid for me to get lessons to fly a chopper. I just didn't know his exact plan until he pretty much had sprung it."

"So you found out..." Cindy said, her ice blue eyes showing cold fire, "... by walking straight into his trap."

"Well, sometimes springing the trap is the best way to defeat it." I said. "I intended to have you arrest Westboro while I took the chopper up. But someone who shall remain nameless, but her initials are (C)indy (R)oss, got a bit impatient and ran into the church before I could stop you. As it was, it worked out. I still say seeing the baptismal pool was really, really good thinking."

"Stoppit." Cindy said, not allowing me to distract her by heaping praise upon her, however well-deserved. "I'm still not over you being willing to die to stop him."