Case of the Fertilized Fish Ch. 02

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

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, racism, 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.

There may or may not be discussion of political issues in my stories. If you are a Snowflake that feels you need to be protected from any mention of politics, then click the Back button now, and never attempt to read any of my stories ever again. You've been warned.

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This story is submitted for the 2023 Mickey Spillane Challenge. It is independent of my Iron Crowbar series, though it uses that series's characters in the first part of this chapter. And as always in all of my stories, there are NO minors involved at all in any of my stories's sex scenes.

Part 7 - A Moment of Reality

I opened my eyes to see that I had fallen asleep. I looked around to see that I was still sitting on the sofa against the far wall in the greatroom of my home, the Mountain Nest. On the other sofa was Sheriff Antonio Griswold, making notes for his next book on a notepad. Sitting next to the Sheriff, supervising with his eyes closed, was Buddy, my Cocker Spaniel. Sitting next to me was my white Lab, the redoubtable Bowser.

I looked at the printed manuscript in my hands, stapled together. I realized that I had been reading a Russ Ferrament story. And I further realized that there were no sex scenes in the manuscript; I had dreamed those!

"Well, Daddy? Did I fool you?" my eight-year-old daughter Carole asked me, her little face hopeful that her story had fooled me, the Iron Crowbar. And it had been a good try. A very, very good try.

I took a piece of paper out of my Police notebook, wrote something down, folded it, and handed it to Carole. She opened it and looked at it, then scowled mightily as she said "Awww, ma-annnnnn. You got it right."

"But it was a really, really good try." I said. "And if I wrote in some adult scenes, we could submit it for the Mickey Spillane Challenge on the Literotica site. Here, why don't you let Grandpa Grizz read it, and see if he can solve it."

"O-kayyyyy." Carole said, a bit grumpily. She took the manuscript over to Sheriff Griswold.

"Don't feel bad, Carole." Griswold growled as he took it from her. "The sharpest criminal minds in the world have failed to fool your dad. That's why he's the Iron Crowbar."

"I know." said Carole. "But I'm going to be the Iron Crowbar when I grow up, so I have to be as good as Daddy."

"You will be." the Sheriff accurately predicted. "Okay, let me see if you can beat me." He began to read the story.

"Here, Daddy." Carole said, bringing me another sheaf of papers. "Here's the rest of the story, even though you don't need it because you solved it."

"Good. I can't wait to see how Russ Ferrament brings the Perp to Justice." I said. I began reading...

Part 8 - Recovery

I opened my eyes to find that I was in a bed in a hospital room. When I tried to move, the pain shot through every part of my body. An all-cymbal band began playing a full symphony in my head. The orchestra was on a ten-city tour of my back and my ribs, and I had a season pass with front row seats.

"Easy, Mr. Ferrament." said the nurse. She was very pretty, with long dark hair, and she looked years younger than her age, whatever that age was. And she was wearing a wedding ring. All the good ones were taken, I thought to myself, and her husband is one lucky guy. And then I saw her name tag, which said 'Julie'. Nurse Julie...

"Uhhh, what time is it?" I gasped.

"Eleven o'clock in the morning." Julie replied. "The morning of April 10th." The shock of that woke me up. I fought the pain to sit up as the nurse adjusted the bed to help. "Is there anything I can get you? Aspirin?"

"Maybe a shot of Wild Turkey Rare Breed." I said. "That's one of your favorites, isn't it?"

"Yes it is." said Julie, realizing I was showing that I knew who she really was, and that she was here as my Guardian Angel, of sorts.

"How are the axolotls doing?" I asked.

"They're good." Nurse Julie said. "The eggs are about to hatch, so that little incident last week didn't hurt them too much. But I can't say the same about you, Mr. Ferrament. You are a lucky man. The Police got to the scene in time to scare the thugs away, though they weren't caught."

Nurse Julie: "They saw the coral snake biting you, so we were able to start you on antivenin as soon as you got here. They don't make coral snake antivenin anymore, but because we had one in the Pet Store, we had some in storage. Fortunately, you did not develop any severe symptoms from the snakebite."

Nurse Julie: "But you did suffer a lot of soft tissue damage. Hairline fractures of your ribs, bruising everywhere that is just starting to work out of your muscles to the surface of your skin. They'll look even uglier in the next few days. And you had a concussion, but fortunately no skull fractures. You're very hardheaded, Mr. Ferrament."

"I'll say he is." said FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Shellac as he came into the room, followed by Special Agent J.P. Dobbs, Lieutenant Bentley Bayse of the Spring Valley Police Force, and Sergeant Trev Graves of the SVPD. "Someone Above must've thought you were Irish or something, what with your red hair and the luck you just had."

"I'll take it. Better lucky than good." I said. "What happened?"


Sergeant Graves said "Sharon Akira of the Spring Valley Chronicle called and said you were being attacked at the Pet Shop. Detective Adrian and I were in the area, and we got there in time to chase off the thugs, though we didn't catch them." In the area, eh? I thought to myself. Yeah, they were tailing me.

Lieutenant Bayse said "Why they didn't just shoot and kill you instead of fooling around with the snake, I don't know. And what were you doing in that place, anyway? I should arrest you for trespassing."

"Ask the shop owners if they want to press charges." I replied witheringly. Nurse Julie just arched her eyebrows and turned her back to us.

Bayse scowled, then said with great relish in his voice: "I've put out an APB for Laura Thornwell. She was seen in the area around the time of the crime, and we can't find her anywhere. Was she behind this, Ferrament? Is she the one who lured you down there, into the trap?"

"I don't think so." I said tiredly, realizing that I was extremely hungry. "Nurse, can I get a piece of chocolate or something?"

"We're about to serve lunch." said Nurse Julie. "Okay, guys, you need to leave. You can talk to him later. He needs to eat."

Her words made me realize that I was more than hungry. After they all left, another nurse brought in a tray of food. And you know I was starving when I say that the hospital food was actually good. I even ate the jello cubes.

As I finished, the door opened to reveal the lovely face of Sharon Akira. "It's okay." I said to Nurse Julie when she looked at me. "Come on in, Sharon."

"I'm glad to see that you survived." Sharon said as she came up to my left side and stroked my hair on my forehead. "I was worried for a moment, there."

"Thanks." I said. "I'm glad they didn't catch you. What happened?"

Sharon said "Laura and I ran to her car and got out of there. She drove me to a nearby phone, and I called the Police, then called the City Desk at the Chronicle. The Poliee were there by the time we drove back. Laura dropped me off, and I went up to cover the story when the news van arrived. You looked pretty bad when they took you out of there and put you in the ambulance."

"Thanks for calling the Police." I said. "So what have you found out in the last few days?"

Sharon said "Huxtable Distributors has been under investigation by the State and the Feds; the State, upon the request of State Senator Mitt Willard; and the Feds, looking into Willard's involvement with it." She outlined several of the situations where Huxtable was crossing the line, then said "David Griese's name constantly came up in connection with the violations, and he may have been killed before he could go to the FBI."

"Or he was already an FBI undercover agent, or maybe a C.I. for them, and he was found out." I said. "Willard said he was buying out Huxtable from Laura. Is that true?"

"I don't think so." Sharon replied. "About a month ago, Willard filed Articles of Incorporation for a new distribution company, and began the process of getting permits like the ones Huxtable has. Sources speaking on condition of anonymity told me that he intended to destroy Huxtable by competing against it, stealing its clients, and bankrupting it. He was targeting Huxtable employees, too, though most of them rejected his offers of more money."

"So where is Laura?" I asked.

"That's what I need to know." said a voice in the doorway. We looked to see that it was FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Shellac. Special Agent J.P. Dobbs stayed in the hallway and guarded the door as Shellac came on inside.

"I don't know." said Sharon, more to Shellac than to me. "After she dropped me off, she left. And I haven't been able to get in touch with her at all. I think she's gone into hiding."

"Yeah, things don't look good for her." I said, a tinge of sadness in my voice.

Jack said "I could tell you didn't want to talk in front of the local LEOs, especially Bentley Bayse. So... is it Laura Thornwell behind all this?"

"I don't know." I said. "Things sure seem to be lining up against her. But I don't see her motive for killing Griese, nor for trying to kill me after hiring me in the first place."

Jack said to Sharon "Would you give us a minute?"

Sharon said "I'll check in with my Editor." She left the room, as did Nurse Julie.

Jack said "The Police found your revolver at the scene, and they turned it over to us for examination. The cartridges were fakes. They were made to look real, but the shells were empty and the primers were just metal discs. Now who could've had access to your gun to change out the cartridges like that? The most likely person... is Laura Thornwell, while you were asleep after banging her in your office."

"Yeah, but there's no proof of that, nor of her involvement with any of this." I said, knowing that Sharon Akira could have switched out the cartridges. "What we need is proof. And there are a couple of things that will go a long way towards proving that. The first is the discrepancy between what Willard told you, that he's buying out Huxtable versus reports that he's creating a competing business to bankrupt her."

Jack said "And what's the second?"

I said "We need to find out the truth about the gas explosion that killed Knox Thornwell and Lenore Thornwell Willard..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The rest of the day was a torture session gleefully provided by the physical therapist. It hurt to get out of bed. It hurt to walk. It hurt to go through the stretching exercises. It hurt to be put through the deep breathing exercises.

The next morning I was released from the hospital. I had no insurance, and I figured that the hospital bill would wipe out the money I'd gotten from Laura Thornwell and from Jack Shellac. I was stunned when I was told the bill was taken care of. They would not tell me who it was that paid it. I felt grateful, and chose to not look that gift horse in the mouth.

Sharon gave me a ride home. We stopped by Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, and I got two triple cheeseburgers and biggie fries to go. And that was for me; Sharon declined my offer to buy her lunch. She helped me up the stairs to my office, then said she had to check in with the Chronicle, and left.

As I polished off the second triple cheeseburger, there was a knock on my door. It opened to reveal FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Shellac.

"Here you go." he said as he reached across my desk. My revolver was in his hand. As I took it, he said "Make sure you have real bullets in it from now on."

"No doubt." I replied.

As he sat down in the chair on the other side of the desk, Jack said "I found out this much. Mitt Willard did file paperwork a month ago to start a new LLC, though he did not list its purpose. And he did file distribution permit applications, but just two days ago, and in the name of his new LLC."

"That's one for Laura, then." I replied.

"As Coach Corso says: 'Not so fast, my friend'." Jack said. "It actually gives her motive, especially if David Griese betrayed her and was going over to Mitt's side. Anyhoo, I haven't been able to get anything on Willard's loan application at the bank. The bank president, who is a close friend of Willard, vouched for him being at the bank on April 1st. But when I asked to see the loan documents, he told me to get a warrant. And then his lawyer called me and told me to stop violating his client's rights."

"It's just as well." I said. "Mitt Willard never got that loan. And I think we can prove it, even though it's a negative. Do you still have that audio recording you made of his interview?"

"Yes." said Shellac.

"Good." I said. "It proves he lied to a Federal Agent. And I've got it on tape, too. So here's how I propose to get proof of who the criminal mastermind is..."

Part 9 - The Sting

And now it was the afternoon of Friday, April 13th. I picked up my phone on my desk and made three phone calls. In each of them I said "Hey, listen. I found the stove from the Thornwell home, that was involved in the explosion. It wasn't a gas stove, so any leak could not have come from it. It was put in the Fire Department's evidence warehouse in the Denny Jordan Building at the corner of Bryant and Toomer Streets. I'm headed there now. Get there as fast as you can."

The bait was being dangled. The trap to smoke out the arch-criminal, the Perp that had David 'Greezy' Griese murdered, was set.

And then everything went to Hades in a Handbasket.

First, the clouds that had been lowering finally opened up, pelting Spring Valley with heavy rains. This would have the effect of making it harder, much harder, to hear what was going on around me.

But I forged on, anyway. I put on my trenchcoat and Tilley hat, and left my office. As I walked down the street, the hard steady rain let up and finally stopped, leaving the streets and buildings glistening wet. The clouds stayed low, and streetlamps had begun coming on in the gloom.

I walked along the wet streets, the sounds of my steps seeming to echo eerily as I wrapped my trenchcoat around me against the chill of the air. As I approached the Denny Jordan Building, which was empty and all but abandoned, the second disaster happened: Laura Thornwell was running up the sidewalk to me!

"Laura!" I screamed. "What are you doing here?"

"You found the stove?" Laura cried out. "You found it?"

"Laura, you've got to go! You have to get out of here!" I yelled as she came up to me.

"Where is it?" Laura kept asking. "Where is the stove?"

I grabbed her upper arms and yelled "Laura, you're in danger here! You have to go! You have to leave before you get hurt!"

*click!*

Too late.

The sound of a revolver being cocked behind my head has a way of making me focus like nothing else can. I wondered if the dame was setting me up, or if I was being caught in the same swirling vortex that had already swallowed her. Laura screamed out as I looked over my shoulder, to see Mitt Willard pointing a very large revolver at my back.

It was a .44 Magnum, like the one Clint Eastwood carried in the 'Dirty Harry movies. That was the man's ego, using a powerful handgun to offset his weaknesses between his legs, I thought to myself.

I did not like the the way this story was shaping up, and I hoped to write a new ending, with my trusty six-shooter as co-author. But he had the drop on me. I needed a break. And I got one.

"Willard! What are you doing?" I heard a voice yell out. It was Lieutenant Bentley Bayse, yelling from across the street. Willard looked over at him for one split-second, distracted. It was enough. I turned to face him, drawing my gun, and putting myself between Laura and Willard's gun. And this time the bullets in my gun were real.

My trusty friend was an eloquent speaker, and it made three powerful arguments. Two taps, center of mass, into Willard's chest. As he looked back at me, the third shot drilled through his forehead and liquidated everything behind it...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As Officer Kira David took my statement, FBI Agents Jack Shellac and J.P. Dobbs came up to the scene. Dobbs and Bayse began talking as Shellac came up to me and Laura, who was huddling against me as I wrapped my left arm around her.

"Looks like your sting worked, Ferrament." Jack Shellac said. "Willard got desperate when he heard that you had found the stove in the Thornwell house, and came after you himself."

Laura said "You mean... it was a ruse? You didn't really find the stove?"

"No." I said. "It's long gone, probably in the county landfill somewhere." And then I remembered. I peered at her and said "And by the way, how did you find out about that, and came running down here? You almost got yourself killed. If I hadn't have known Willard was the Enemy, I might've shot you myself."

"And any of us Police or Federal Agents staking out the scene could have shot you, too." said Jack Shellac.

Laura said "I got a call from... a friend. Someone who was informed of your phone call to the Police. I won't say who it was."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Was it truly a friend? Or maybe you were being set up, too." Laura just shrugged her shoulders... then moved away from my side and stood apart from me.

Detective Nick Adrian came up to us. "Lieutenant Bayse is ticked off that he wasn't told that this was a sting, but Dobbs convinced him not to arrest you, and to say this was a good shoot in self defense. As for me, I only have one question... how did you know for sure it was Willard, and not Mrs. Thornwell here?"

Jack Shellac and I both grinned as I said "When Agent Shellac and I went to interview Mitt Willard, he said that on April 1st, the day David Griese was murdered, he was at the bank getting a loan, then at the Federal Building submitting paperwork. The bank president is a close friend of his, and lied for him and said he was there."

Me: "The problem is that there is a little quirk in our calendars. Whenever there is a Friday the 13th in a month, it means the 1st day of that month is on a Sunday."

Me: "And that bank president may indeed have let Willard into the closed bank to do their transaction. But as Agent Shellac will tell you, Federal Courts and buildings are virtually never open on Sundays, and Shellac confirmed the building was completely closed two weeks ago, on April 1st."

Me: "So Mitt Willard lied to a Federal Agent, which is a Federal crime. And it means he lied when he said he was getting a loan to buy out Mrs. Thornwell. That was enough probable cause to get Federal warrants to dig deep into Willard and his businesses."

I continued: "But more importantly for me, it showed Willard did not have the alibi he'd tried to establish to explain his whereabouts on April 1st. And why would he lie? Because the place he was at was the Fish Store, supervising his thugs tying up Griese and dunking his head into the axolotl tank, and drowning Griese."