Boosted Pt. 09

"Morning Michelle," Sean said as he entered the office Wednesday morning.

"I have something for you," she said, her voice lilting and full of teasing good cheer.

"Oh, what's that?"

"Two hits last night."

"Hits?"

"Yeah. Fish saw a Porsche Panama and Ruize a 911."

He couldn't help but smile. He didn't bother correcting her incorrect pronunciation of Porsche, but the other was too funny to let pass. "It's a Panamera, not Panama."

Michelle looked at her note. "It says Panama on the note."

He snickered. "Who was working last night?"

"Terri."

"Oh, that explains it," he teased. He liked Terri, and she was good at her job, but what she knew about cars he could write on his thumbnail. "Doesn't matter, I know what she means. Were they clean?"

"That's what it says here. Both cars are owned by a Cynthia Jane Bowetan."

"Really? That's very interesting."

"You know her?"

"She owns BIGS Automotive Repair." He saw Michelle's eyes open slightly wider. She understood the implications. "Exactly," he said. He took the note from her. The plate numbers were scribbled beside the name of each of the cars. "This is perfect. Thanks."

He took the scrap of paper back to his office. Once his computer was booted, he logged into the state's database and verified the plates and wrote the VIN--Vehicle Identification Number, the number that uniquely identified every car built--down on the paper. He looked back through CJ's ownership history. Ms. Bowetan had expensive tastes, and she flipped a lot of cars. Not only did she own the dark grey 2017 Panamera, and the red 2018 911, but according to the records, she also recently owned a white 2016 Lamborghini Huracán and a silver 2017 Range Rover, two vehicles she'd recently sold. He copied the VINs down for those vehicles as well.

He next checked the stolen vehicle reports. Interestingly, all four of the cars on his list matched vehicles that had been reported stolen in Raleigh or Charlotte, the Range Rover a couple of months ago, followed by the Huracán, then the Panamera, and recently, a 911. A smile formed on his lips... until he cross-checked the VINs. None of them matched. That gave him pause, but double checking confirmed that none of the VINs of CJ's vehicles matched those of the stolen cars.

He looked up the previous four cars CJ owned before the Range Rover. He checked them as well, and three of them came back as stolen, but like the other cars, the VINs didn't match. Of all the cars he checked, the only car that she'd owned in the last year that hadn't been reported stolen was a 2015 blue Audi A6, a car that she still owned. Something wasn't right. It was entirely too much of a coincidence to assume she'd bought and sold fourteen cars in the past year that just happened to be identical to those reported stolen... and currently owned two more that were the same way, he didn't care what the VINs said. The problem was, as far as the law was concerned, if the VINs didn't match, it wasn't the same car, regardless of how outrageous the coincidence might be.

He quickly looked up the nearest Porsche dealer and dialed the parts department. "Porsche of Raleigh, this is Alec, how can I help you?"

"Alec, Sean McGhee, Brunswick PD. I'm hoping you can help me."

"If I can," Alec said slowly, his voice wary.

"Great. Can you check a couple of VINs and tell if they're valid?"

"Yeah... I guess I can do that. Give me the number." Sean slowly read off the seventeen-digit number. "That's to a 2017 Panamera 4S."

"So it's a valid number?"

"Looks like it."

"What can you tell me about it? Can you give me the color?"

"Volcano Grey Metallic."

"Is that a dark grey?"

"Yes, sir."

Sean grunted. "Okay, one more." He read off the number for the 911.

"That's a 2018 911 in Carmine Red."

He sighed. "Okay, thank you, you've been very helpful."

He hung up the phone. The VINs might be valid, but he wasn't buying the coincidence for a moment. He looked at his list and keyed the VIN for the Panamera into the national database. Two cars appeared on his screen and he smiled. There should be one, and only one, entry. One entry showed the car registered to Ms. Cynthia Jane Bowetan of Raleigh, North Carolina, but there was a second car registered to Madden and Associates of Chicago, Illinois. CJ was cloning VIN numbers.

"You clever bitch," he muttered.

Somehow, she was getting a list of VINs and stealing cars to match. She was then registering the car using the stolen VIN, and so long as the car donating its VIN was in a different state, nobody was the wiser. She was probably switching the VIN tags, registering the car in her name, and then selling the cars on to some unsuspecting buyer who had no clue he or she was buying a stolen car. He called up the contact information for the Panamera registered in Chicago and dialed.

"Madden and Associates."

"This is Sean McGhee, Chief of Police, Brunswick, North Carolina. I need to speak to someone regarding a 2017 Porsche Panamera that is registered to your organization."

"I'm sorry, we can't give out that information."

"Would you prefer I have the Chicago PD pay you a visit to get the information I need? This involves a criminal matter, and it is very important that I speak to someone. I'm not looking to cause anyone trouble, I just need information." There was a long pause. "I assure you, Miss, this isn't a prank. I'm investigating an auto theft ring and I believe one of the car's registered to your organization is involved."

There was another long pause. "What's the car?"

"A dark grey, 2017 Porsche Panamera, license number MAD 16."

"I'll pass the information to the appropriate people. Please give me your number."

He read her his phone number. "When can I expect a call?"

"Perhaps today."

"Perhaps within the hour," he said firmly. "I only need five minutes of someone's time." If he wasn't talking to a law office, he'd eat his shoes.

"I'll pass your request on."

"You do that. Your name please?" There was another long pause. "Ma'am, your name please."

"Connie, uh, Constance Herrold."

"Spell the last name please." The woman did. "Thank you, Ms. Herrold, for your cooperation."

Sean hung up and chewed on his bottom lip. He decided to wait on the return call before calling anyone else, so he didn't have multiple people trying to reach him at the same time. He was busy entering VIN numbers into the database and jotting down information when his phone began to ring. Every number he'd keyed in had two entries, save one, and the Range Rover had three.

The number displayed wasn't local. He lifted the handset. "Chief McGhee."

"Chief McGhee? Reggie Curry. You called my office? Something about a car theft ring?"

"Yes, Mr. Curry. Thank you for returning my call. I'm investigating a car theft ring and the VIN number for your car came up. I'd like to ask you a few questions if I may."

"Sure."

"Do you, or have you ever, owned a 2017 Porsche Panamera 4S in Volcano Grey?"

"Yes. My firm leases the car on my behalf."

"It's still in your possession?'

"Unless it was stolen in the last couple of hours. I drove it to work this morning."

"Where was the car purchased?"

"Leased. I'm not sure. I think it was Remington VW, Porsche, Audi, here in Chicago."

"Has the car ever been reported stolen?"

"No."

Sean took a deep breath. "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. A car matching yours was stolen in Raleigh a couple of weeks ago. In my investigation, I've found the car, but the car now has the same VIN number as yours."

There was a pause. "What does that mean?"

"That means, Mr. Curry, someone has in effect, registered your car here in North Carolina."

"Wait! How's that possible when I still have my car?"

"It's called VIN cloning. Someone got a copy of your car's VIN, and--"

"I don't understand how that's possible!"

"The VIN is displayed in the corner of the windshield. Anyone walking past your car with a cell phone can take a picture of the VIN plate. In any case, because there is a duplicate of your car, any... incidents shall we say... for the cloned car is going to show up as being attached to yours."

There was another pause. "Like if the car was in an accident?"

"Yes, sir. Or seized as a stolen car."

Reggie was quiet as he tried to absorb what Sean had told him. "What can I do about it?"

"My suggestion would be to contact a lawyer as soon as possible and find out what your legal options are."

"Okay, but I don't understand how this can happen! I mean, I still have my car!"

"I understand, sir. That's what makes this crime so insidious. Had my department not stumbled across this you wouldn't have known anything was wrong... until you went to turn your car in. By then it might have been too late to do anything about it."

"Thank you, chief, for letting me know about this. My lawyer may want to contact you."

"You have my number. I'll be happy to assist anyway that I can. Good luck."

"Thank you."

Sean hung up the phone. "I think you're going to need it," he said softly.

He spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon following up on the VINs. Most people still had their cars, which they'd bought new or leased, and he'd given them the same information he'd given Reggie. There was one poor sap, though, who thought he'd gotten a steal on a silver 2017 Range Rover. He was not pleased when Sean informed him that he'd likely bought a stolen vehicle, and he was even less pleased when he found out a vehicle with the same VIN was about to be reported stolen in North Carolina. The vehicles whose VINs CJ had cloned had come from all over the country, and exclusively from large cities. He'd bet money that not only was BIGS chopping cars and cloning VINs, they were probably also providing VINs to other cloners around the country.

He had more than enough hard evidence for a warrant now. He spent another couple of hours entering all the information he'd collected into PISTOL. In one stroke, with a simple license plate check, the case had broken wide open. He smiled as he typed. Too bad he didn't have the same luck with the theft of his safe, but that was peanuts compared to the value of the bust he was about to make. His smile spread. Paul was going to be annoyed he missed all the fun, especially since he was the one that tipped him that something might be going on.

He printed out a copy of his report for the magistrate and read it over. It included far more detail than necessary, so he exported a copy of his report to Word and trimmed it down to make a summary. He printed another copy of his detailed report, and two copies of his summary, and stacked them on his desk. Before he left for the magistrate's office, he had a couple more things he wanted to do. He owed someone a favor. He called the Siouan County Sheriff's office and, now that he had a name, asked to speak to Captain Lindly.

"Lindly."

"Captain Lindly, Sean McGhee, Brunswick PD."

"How are you, chief? Did the car work out for you?"

"Two arrests, but not who I was looking for. I have some news for you, though. I'm about to make an arrest on the car theft ring, and Buddy Squire Auto Salvage is, at the very least, an accessory. He's outside my jurisdiction, but if you're interested, I have some information."

"Let me hear what you got."

"I'll email it to you. It'll be easier than trying to go into it over the phone."

"Okay, do that and I'll take a look at it."

"I'm on the way to the magistrate right now to get an arrest warrant that I'm going to execute tomorrow. I thought I'd give you a heads up in case you wanted to, I don't know, pay an official visit before evidence started disappearing."

Lindly chuckled. "I like the way you think. If I think there's enough there to justify a warrant we'll go for it."

"Trust me, it's enough."

"That good, huh? What time are you going to execute your warrant?"

"Say, ten?"

"That'll be perfect. It'll give us time to get our act together over here. I guess I owe you one."

Sean typed Lindly's email address into PISTOL and clicked send. "I may take you up on that someday. I've just sent the report to you. It's all spelled out there."

"Okay. I'll look for... just got it. Let me take a look at it. Ten o'clock tomorrow you said?"

"If that works for you."

There was a pause. "Oh man, this looks juicy. We'll make it work." There was another pause, a little longer this time. "Holy shit, McGhee. I haven't read it all, but yeah, I think we want in on this party. Thanks for the heads up."

"My pleasure."

"Maybe I'll see you in the magistrate's office."

"I'm leaving as soon as I put a BOLO on the cars."

"Okay. Good hunting."

"You too."

He hung up and then picked up his reports, stopping in the dispatcher's office. "I need you to put out a stolen vehicle BOLO for these cars." He placed the list with all the cars he'd verified having duplicate VINs in front of Michelle.

"Those are the two cars Fish and Ruize checked last night? What are all the rest of these?"

"Cars that I'm almost certain have been stolen."

"I'll get it right out."

"Thanks. I'm headed to Falkner to get an arrest warrant."

"You got them?"

He couldn't help but smile. "I've got them."

Falkner, the county seat for Siouan County, was about thirty minutes away. As he drove, he ran over in his mind all the questions the magistrate might ask so he'd have his answers ready. He pulled into the parking lot of the county courthouse and trotted up the steps. The magistrates were busy this afternoon and he had to wait his turn.

"The magistrate is ready to see you now," the small woman who served as Hank Vison's assistant said.

Sean walked into the Honorable Henry Vison's office. There were several magistrates that could issue warrants, but everyone had their favorite. Sean and Hank had developed a good working relationship over the past year, so Hank was who Sean wanted to speak to, even if he had to wait in line. The magistrate's office was nicely appointed, the décor reminding him of a court room without the jury box, raised judge's desk, witness stand or visitor's gallery. The wall behind Hank's large wooden desk was paneled in glowing oak, with the American and State of North Carolina flags flanking the Siouan County seal affixed to the wall.

Hank might only be a magistrate, but he looked the part of a judge with his silver hair and flowing black robe. "Sean, good to see you again. Have a seat. What can I help you with?"

Sean settled into one of the comfortable leather guest chairs. "I need an arrest warrant for Cynthia Jane Bowetan, also known as CJ Bowetan." He placed the thin stack of papers on Hank's desk. "The top is a summary, the bottom four pages give the specifics for the charges I want to bring."

Hank read the summary and then flipped over the page to read the rest of the report. "What this says is she's changing the VIN numbers on stolen cars, registering them as hers, and then selling them?"

"That's right."

"How can she do that? I thought the VIN plates were stamped and affixed to the car."

"They are, but with the proper equipment, it can be done. It's a growing problem."

Hank shook his head in sorrow or disgust. "If people worked half as hard at an honest job as they do stealing other people's stuff, they'd probably make a pretty decent living."

"Yes, sir, but then I'd be out of a job."

Hank snorted out a laugh. "I guess there is that. I'll issue you the warrant. When do you want it dated?"

"Tomorrow."

"Okay. Wait outside please."

"Thanks, Hank."

He waited in the outer office until Hank's assistant brought him the document. "Good luck."

"Thanks," he said with a smile. Gina, Hank's petite assistant, always said the same thing as she handed over the document.

He hurried out of the courthouse and back to his car. He was going to arrive back in Brunswick just in time to go home, and that suited him fine. He dialed Maggie's number as he settled into his car.

"Hi!"

"Hello, my love," he said, pitching his tone and cadence to sound like a romantic hero from ages gone by. "We're going out for dinner."

"We are?"

"We are."

"You've had a breakthrough on your case."

"You could say that."

She knew he wouldn't give her any details, so she didn't press. "Okay, where do you want to go? Loch and Castle?"

"No, I don't think so. We've been there a lot lately. You pick. I'm leaving Falkner now. I'm going to stop by the station, grab my laptop, and then I'll be right there."

"Okay, sure. How about bar-b-cue?"

"Smiley's?" he suggested, picking the place they liked.

"Sounds good."

"Okay. See you in about forty minutes."

"Okay. Love you."

He still felt a tingle every time she said that. "I love you too."

Because Sean didn't know how many people were involved, or how the employees of BIGS would react, he decided he wanted to make the arrest using plenty of force. He didn't expect trouble, but he'd changed over to his hip holster and added his Taser to his equipment, just in case. He was going to take CJ into custody at BIGS Automotive Repair, they were seizing all the paper records and computers, and they were going to secure all the cars they found. As soon as they sorted out what was what, he'd let the car's owners come get their vehicles, but he wanted time to check them all to make sure none of them were stolen. The arresting officers consisted of Sean, along with Will Donner, Tyrell Pickerling, and four additional officers from their shift.

"We're going to do this quickly and quietly," Sean said Thursday morning. "I'll take care of CJ. The rest of you fan out in the workshop. I have no evidence anyone else who works there has any involvement, but we're going to hold them all for questioning. Will, you take charge of that. If they cooperate, catch and release. If they don't cooperate, or you suspect they're involved, take them into custody on suspicion." Sean didn't worry about Donner or Pickerling, so he glanced at the other four men. "Keep it calm and lowkey, but watch your backs. Remember these may all be regular guys that just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, so we're not going to start busting heads unless we have to. Got it?" The four men mumbled their understanding. "Any questions?" Nobody had any. Sean nodded. "Okay. Let's go ruin some people's day."

The seven members of the Brunswick PD drove to Tilley, running silent. Sean had thought about waiting until the chop shop was in operation one night, so he could swoop in and they could catch them in the act, but decided he didn't want to risk it. He was relatively sure that CJ was the head of the operation, and he didn't want to risk tipping her off somehow. He had plenty to arrest her on, and once he had her, maybe she'd give up the rest of her crew. He'd rather be sure of getting CJ and risk losing her crew than catching her crew and risk losing CJ.

They swarmed into the parking lot of BIGS Automotive Repair, taking over many of the spaces. There was a vintage, air-cooled, 911 sitting in the parking lot, likely belonging to a customer. He would've preferred to do this without anyone being here except for the BIGS employees, but it was what it was.

Sean banged the front door open. "Cynthia Jane Bowetan, I have a warrant for your arrest! Hands on your head!" he ordered loudly, holding the warrant up where it could clearly be seen as he and his officers came through the door.

The man standing at the counter froze as his eyes opened wide. As they crossed the area that had once functioned as a showroom, Sean pointed to the door that led into the shop. Will waved his arm as he and the other five officers quickened their step and burst through the door into the shop area.