Case of the Parole Officer Ch. 03

"Do you want new representation, Mr. Frost?" I asked.

"Yes." said Frost. "Yes, I do. Can I call someone?"

"Sure." I said. "When he gets here, I will come back in."

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

Mr. Dennison was a tall, middle-aged black man and a lawyer in private practice, making his living as a tax attorney, real estate attorney, and sometimes working for the County Employees Union. It was that Union that Frost had called, and who'd called Mr. Dennison.

He talked with Paulina about the charges, then conferred with Frost for ten minutes, after which Frost was ready to take a deal.

Back in I-1, Dennison said to me and Paulina "He'll give you Carter, he'll give you the burglary ring, answer to one count of forcing an unnatural act on a person in his custody, and he wants and needs protection in prison."

Paulina said "It's gotta be more. Two counts of sexual battery on persons in his custody at the very, very least, and on one of those counts it will be in conjunction with Sarah Carter when he throws her under the bus. It really should be a rape charge. And then an aiding-and-abetting charge, just one count."

Dennison whispered to Frost that the best Frost was going to get was the 2 sexual battery charges. When I said he'd have protection and would be relatively safe, Frost agreed.

"Okay, you're right." said Frost. "First, Sarah Carter would take me to women parolee's homes, and she'd force them into sex. Diane Buttercup was the only time I'd indulged in sex with a parolee; the other times was oral sex and then I'd come in Sarah's mouth as she sucked me to completion. I never came inside the parolee's in order to leave no semen that could be evidence."

"But you did sexually penetrate Diane Buttercup vaginally?" Paulina asked.

"And orally." said Frost. "I ate her pussy and tongued her ass, and she sucked my cock as well as the penetration."

"And you forced Lita to perform oral sex on you this morning?" Paulina asked.

"Yes." said Frost. Paulina turned to me.

"Mr. Frost," I said, "on at least seven occasions, you gave false alibis to perpetrators of burglaries in the Heritage Cloisters subdivision, did you not?"

"I gave false alibis for those crimes, but I didn't know where they were nor what they were doing." said Frost.

"Specifically, did you give an alibi to Howard Spratt, also known as 'Jack Spratt' last week?"

"Yes. I said I was surprise inspecting his home." said Frost. "In actuality, I never went there. You guys are saying he burgled a home at the same time, but I'm not sure of the details. I just know I was paid to give the alibi."

"How much were you paid, each instance?"

"It varied." said Frost. "At least five hundred dollars, and on two occasions it was two thousand dollars. I never really asked why the amounts varied; I assumed it had to do with how successful the crime was for which I was giving the alibi."

"I see." I said. "Who hired you to give these alibis?"

"Sarah Carter brought me into it." said Frost. "She was the one who showed me that I could force the women parolee's to suck me off or even fuck me, and she fucked me a few times herself. Then she suggested I give alibis to parolees in exchange for money. She set up the first two, including the Grumby one. I didn't know he'd been killed, since the perps never contacted me afterward. I just got money in an envelope in my desk."

"From Sarah?" I asked.

"I don't know." said Frost. "The cash just showed up in the desk, in an envelope. After the first two cases, I just got a note at home with a name on it, the name of the parolee. He'd come to the meeting and tell me when he needed an alibi, and I logged it."

"Paulina," I said, "get that in writing, especially about Spratt. I need to go do other interrogations."

Part 12 - Pressing the Hunt

I entered Interrogation-2 with Cindy Ross. "Okay, Ms. Carter," I said, "Frost has accepted a deal, and he has given me enough to put you away for a very long time. Unless you cooperate, you may never see the outside of a prison again."

"Go fuck yourself, cracker." said Sarah Carter. "I ain't talking to you. Ever."

"That's taking the Fifth, in my book." said her lawyer. "At this time I must ask you to stop interrogating her."

"She doesn't have to answer, but she can listen to me talk." I said. "As should you, Counselor. Ms. Carter is in deep kimshee. We are talking charges of rape, sexual battery of a person in her custody, sodomy, conspiracy to commit rape and sodomy, and conspiracy to commit burglary in providing false alibis to criminals committing crimes. Now I'm willing to seriously reduce these charges if Ms. Carter provides me one piece of information: who was her contact, who put her up to these crimes?"

"What reductions are you offering us?" asked the lawyer.

"It don't matter!" Sarah said to her counsel, nearly shouting. "I am not taking any deals. This cracker can go fuck himself in his lily-white ass. I am not giving him a god damn thing. You can sit and spin on that crowbar, Cracker!"

The lawyer looked at me with something of a shrug on his face. My dealings with Sarah Carter were over, until I would testify against her in Court... and we would be bringing a heavy, heavy hammer down upon her.

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

"Who do you think is behind Carter?" Cindy asked as we drove to County Jail and Third Precinct Headquarters.

"Who else?" I replied. "The Shadow Man. The burglaries fit him to a 'T'. Using parole officers to give the perps alibis is a brilliant step, also. The only reason we really got anything is because there were simply too many of them under one parole officer, that parole officer was also raping parolees as a separate issue, and of course one of the burglars was shot dead and Frost didn't know to not enter, or to erase, the log entry. That was the tiny slip that got him. Otherwise, we'd have nothing."

I continued: "You and my mom had that case where oddball stuff was stolen, and it led you to solving that crime. This was something similar, though the items were more valuable: an old set of books, some paintings stolen while a Greuze was left hanging right there in the study, then taking things like silver and baubles to disguise the real objects of the break-ins."

"Yeah, I see that." said Cindy. "What's next?"

"Spratt." I said. "I hope to turn him and find out where and to whom he delivered the stuff. And to get more evidence for the bust you are going to make."

"Me?" said Cindy, growing happier.

"Oh yes." I said. "You have come to the correct solution. It's your bust."

Cindy was smiling and happy the rest of the drive. And deservedly so.

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

As we entered Precinct 3 Headquarters, Precinct Captain Susan Weston came up to Cindy. "Captain, I would like to apologize to you for the other day. It won't happen again."

"Good." Cindy said. "And leave my Lieutenant alone, whatever your problems with her are."

"I certainly will." said Susan Weston. I could tell she was lying like a dog in the shade about that, but let it go.

"Bring Howard Spratt to Interrogation Room 1." I said. "If he wants a lawyer, let's get one up here quickly."

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

Spratt and his lawyer from Chase, Lynch & Berry were sitting in the Interrogation room, two uniformed guards behind them, when Cindy and I entered the room.

"Ah, Commander, you're back." said Spratt. "Come on now, you don't have anything on me."

"We've got Frost." I said. "He's confessed. He's thrown you under the bus."

"Oh, come on." said the lawyer. "Dirty criminal rapist saying anything at all to help himself, willing to tell you what you want to hear to save his own worthless ass."

"Which he has not saved." I said. "And how do you know about Frost being a rapist?"

The lawyer smiled, as if he had me. He pulled his cellphone from out of the breast pocket of his suit. "We lawyers talk." he said. "I got the call from Frost's attorney... his former attorney... telling me exactly what you were trying to do to frame my client here."

"I see." I said, smiling. "Your allegations of a frame-up aside, Mr. Frost's confession is enough to get a warrant to search your client's home, which is happening right now. Not that we need it, Spratt being a parolee... but we're not going to give you any loopholes to squeeze your client through."

"Oh come on." said the legal beagle. "Do you really think my client would leave the stolen property in his home all this time?"

"No." I said. "By the time all is said and done, he will be giving me the names of the people to whom he has delivered the stolen merchandise. I'm willing to bet that he didn't do away with his fake truck driver I.D. I'm willing to guess that he didn't throw away the hat and coveralls that not only the gate guard saw, but two cameras saw. We've long since been tracing the truck itself, and the sleazy little operation your client is a part of. They'll identify him."

"This is absolutely crazy talk." said the lawyer, getting up. "If that's all you think you have, then you have nothing. Come on, Spratt, let's go."

"Your client is under arrest, he is going nowhere." I said.

The lawyer looked at me. "You can't hold him for more than 72 hours, and every minute you keep him is a minute I'm in front of press cameras blasting your name."

"Go ahead." I said. "Frost's confession is enough to keep him. We've secured the arrest warrant already; the D.A. has the right to charge him without having to go to a Grand Jury. Your client is going all the way to trial... unless he confesses."

"You're so full of shit it's coming out your ears." said the lawyer, sitting back down. "This is absolutely ridiculous, Commander Troy. And I will have your god-damn badge because of this. Spratt, invoke your Fifth Amendment Rights, and if they try to even speak to you without me present, I'll have this asshole's head on a spike."

"Before you do, Spratt," I said, "I'll tell you one last thing. The person you conspired with to burgle the Myers home... we're about to go make an arrest. And when we do, you will be thrown under the bus yet again. You're going to get it from both ends... and your parole will be violated, and you'll go back to prison. Too bad, too... you almost made it out, but you were tempted into a relapse. I could've helped you, but your lawyer has now put you in a world of shit."

I got up to go. "See you around." Cindy got up to follow me. Spratt looked like he wanted to say something, but his lawyer quickly whispered to him, and Spratt stayed silent.

As we walked back to the car, Cindy said "You know, I have to admit it: he's right... our case on Spratt is thin. We don't have too much, and Frost's confession might not be enough to swing a jury."

"No, we have him ice cold." I said. "But I was willing to go easy on him. He really was trying to go straight, and then slipped up. He may have even been forced back into crime. Okay, let's go make your arrest."

Part 13 - Reading the Riddle

Paulina met us at the Myers home in the Heritage Cloisters subdivision, warrant in hand. "Judge Folsom needed some persuading, but the phone records got us over the hump." the beautiful black A.D.A. said.

"Good." Cindy said. Four uniformed officers were accompanying us, led by Sergeant Rudistan. "Commander, you're going to talk to Mr. Myers?"

"Yep." I said. "Lead the way."

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

"Ah, Commander," said Mr. Myers. He was seated in his study behind his desk as I entered the room, no other officers with me. "Any new information?"

"We have hopes, Mr. Myers, we have hopes." I said. "And we're still working on recovering your valuables, though it might take a bit more time."

"Splendid!" said Mr. Myers.

"Mr. Myers, allow me to ask you a question." I said. "Has anyone ever told you that you might be mildly autistic?"

"Uh... yes." said Mr. Myers. "My doctor said I had a mild condition of something, and that it was like autism, but I'm not badly affected. I seem to be good with numbers, and it's easy to see the patterns of the Markets. But I don't seem to have the same emotional reactions as others to some things. I just do what I like, enjoy the things that make me happy, then move along..."

"Yes sir." I said. "By the way, why did you withdraw from the Markets? Your ability to see patterns suggested that?"

"Oh yes, son." said Myers. "Those idiots that think they are experts, the idiots of the Federal Reserve and the other big banks of the world. But they have screwed up everything. A big crash is coming... a very big crash. You better believe I got out almost completely. My money is in safe instruments, Erlene and I will be okay in the remaining years that we have. But do be cautious, Commander... do be cautious of the markets."

"Thank you for the advice." I said. "Mr. Myers... why didn't you tell anyone that the Greuze is real?"

Mr. Myers was not fazed by my surprise comment. He looked at me with something of a twinkle in his eye. "That Silverfish man you captured easily defeated some of the best bank vaults in the world. Truly, there is no safe place for it, so I hide it in plain sight. It has worked so far."

"And you did not tell anyone about it." I said. "Not even those closest to you..."

Mr. Myers peered at me again. "That is true. I love my wife, and always have, even though there are times that love was not deserved. There are some secrets that remain secrets because they are told to no one at all."

"Like whispering down a well at noon..." I said, referring to an ancient Japanese custom.

"Exactly, Commander." said Myers. "And I did notice that pattern of which of my things were stolen. I know that's why you're here..."

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

"I have a couple of questions for you, Mrs. Myers." said Captain Cindy Ross, sitting in Mrs. Myers's sitting room with the now-elderly trophy wife. Detective Joanne Cummings was also present, and positioned as Cindy had directed her.

"How can I be of help?" asked Erlene.

"There's just a few things I am having trouble understanding," said Cindy, "and I need your help to clear up. First of all, Mrs. Myers, why do you suppose that the only paintings stolen were those sea portraits by that recently deceased painter? But the other paintings were left behind, including the ones in your husband's study?"

"I... I really don't know." said Erlene. "The thief must've known their value and taken them."

"I entirely agree." said Captain Ross. "By the way, do you know the value of the paintings left behind? I understand you have a degree in Fine Arts, and worked at the City Museum of Art years ago."

"That is true," said Erlene, "but to be very honest with you, Captain, my degree was an 'M-R-S' degree. Back in those days, women like myself looked for good, eligible husbands to marry. I was fortunate enough to meet Hamilton. But I never was an expert in art. And according to my husband, the only paintings of real value in the home were those three that were stolen, and only after the artist had died."

"Yes, interesting." Cindy said. "And the guns... could you tell which were the antiques and which were real?"

"Oh, no, certainly not." said Erlene. "In fact, I hate guns. Only the police should have guns. But Hamilton loved his guns, and loved his cowboy competitions. They bored me to tears, so I stopped going to them with him."

"I see." said Cindy. "Mrs. Myers, did you lock the doors before leaving for your Florida trip, the trip you were on when the burglary was committed?"

"To my knowledge, yes." said Erlene. "And I set the alarm just before leaving, as well."

"The outside door to the garage, you locked it?" Cindy asked, peering hard at Erlene.

"That door usually remains locked." Erlene said... peering back at Cindy. "I can't really recall if I went over and checked it."

"That's curious." said Cindy. "Most people make a point to check all doors and windows before leaving on a trip. I'm surprised you would overlook it."

"Again, Captain, I might have but simply don't recall." Erlene said levelly.

"Mrs. Myers," said Cindy, "did you know the combination of the wall safe in your husband's study?"

"Yes, of course." said Erlene. "I stored my most valuable jewelry pieces in it."

"How do you think the burglar knew the combination to the safe?" Cindy said. She noticed the look on Mrs. Myers's face and in the older woman's eyes. It was surprise, but not the surprise of hearing something unexpected... it was surprise mixed with fear.

"I don't know that I would assume the robber knew the combination, Captain." said Erlene, a bit severely. "I understand thieves have very sophisticated safecracking tools, these days."

"Yes, that is true." said Cindy, looking hard into Erlene's eyes. "But the Police also have tools, and our Commander was once in the security and alarms business. He is very familiar with both the alarm system of this house and the safe in the study. He helped our Crime Lab team discover, in a manner which they can prove in Court, that the safe was opened by simply entering the keycode combination and not using any sophisticated devices."

Cindy continued: "Mrs. Myers, the criminal knew the combination of the safe and opened it with that knowledge. Now how do you suppose the perp obtained that information."

"I have no idea, Captain." said Mrs. Myers. "Now if that is all..." She acted as if she was about to stand up.

"No, ma'am, it is not." said Cindy. "Mrs. Myers, do you have a cellphone?"

"Er, yes, yes I do." said Mrs. Myers.

"Did you make or receive any calls on it while in Florida?" Cindy asked. Mrs. Myers's eyes showed real fear now, to Cindy's amusement. She also was feeling the mental energy of Mrs. Myers's discomfort.

"I don't really recall." said Mrs. Myers.

"Where is that cellphone now?" asked Cindy.

Mrs. Myers sat up very straight, her face a mask of steel, her eyes blazing. "I don't know, Captain Ross. And right now, I think I have a desire not to know."

"Then I shall help you find it." Cindy said. She pulled a cellphone out of an evidence bag and dialed a number.

Detective Cummings was standing next to Mrs. Myers's purse. A phone began ringing inside. Cummings went into the purse, pulled out Mrs. Myers's phone, answered it, then came forward to the two women.

"Interesting, Captain." said Joanne Cummings. "Why, the number appears to be that of the cellphone you are holding now."

"As the Commander loves to say: 'Withhold my surprise.'." said Cindy, gleaming at Mrs. Myers. She got up. "Stand up, Mrs. Myers."

Mrs. Myers stood up. Cindy moved behind her with handcuffs and began affixing them to the older woman's wrists behind her back. "Erlene Myers, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit burglary. You have the right to remain silent..."

As Cindy read Erlene her rights, Hamilton Myers walked into the room, a redheaded man with a red crowbar behind him. As husband and wife made eye contact, he said "Woman, you have betrayed me for the last time. Get thee gone! Captain, get her out of here."

Part 14 - Circular Arguments

I entered Interrogation-1 at Headquarters, my voice full of song.

"Jack Spratt could eat no fat,... the wife could eat no lean..." I sang, "and so betwixt the both of them... they robbed the mansion clean."

"Is there a point to this?" Howard 'Jack' Spratt's lawyer asked. Spratt was sitting next to him. They'd been transported to Headquarters per my instructions.

"Indeed there is." I said. "Apologies for the bad singing dramatics. Allow me to make up for it. Let's watch some TV." I pointed to Rudistan, who turned on the monitor. It showed what was going on in Interrogation-2. Paulina Patterson and Cindy Ross were interviewing Erlene Myers. The sound to the TV was off.