Environmental Hazards Ch. 04

"You know something? They may be right." Cindy replied. "Robert Ferris said several times that he had no idea if anyone outside FENL really knew what was going on. He didn't know if Steinhart had his plane crashed on him because he knew something, or out of fear he might've been a whistleblower, or just as a distraction... what?" She asked upon seeing me shake my head vigorously.

"We'll probably never prove it," I said, "but causing a plane crash is a big-time operation. Westboro could've done it. Laura did do it, with dead bodies on the plane, to smoke out Wargrave, which coincidentally led to me discovering who Westboro was. But my point is that it takes serious power to make that happen... Government power."

"You mean... U.S. Senator Russell?" asked Cindy, catching on.

"That's my guess." I said. "Steinhart was Russell's marked card in the company. When Shell was murdered and the links of the chain began forging, Russell or one or more of his people panicked, and they took the precaution of wiping out Steinhart."

"Wow, this is deep." said Cindy. "That reminds me of the scene in The Godfather, when Kate said that Senators don't kill people, and Michael Corleone just looks at her and says 'Now who's being naive?'."

I chuckled as Cindy continued: "This makes Superior Bloodlines look tame by comparison. By the way, any idea who murdered Good Time Charlie?"

I stared at my cousin. "Isn't it obvious? Am I really the only one seeing it?" Cindy just looked back at me, total confusion on her ruggedly pretty features.

"Okay," I said, "you're excused from the Chief's big Wednesday meeting. Get a few hours of sleep in your locked office."

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

12:00noon, Wednesday, March 29th. At the luxurious home of Paul Brandon, the Lab Manager of Forbes Environmental National Laboratories was getting bad news from his lawyer.

"As of now," said the lawyer, handing Brandon his card, "Forbes & Sehgal is no longer furnishing your attorneys, including me. Out of a sense of honesty and fairness, I will turn over all I have on your case to your personal attorney once you've hired one; give him or her that card to contact me."

"What's this about?" asked Brandon. The lawyer gave him a look that connoted watching a condemned person finally die.

"You'll be finding out shortly." said the lawyer. "Good day, Mr. Brandon... and good luck."

Five minutes after the attorney left, I entered the house with Detective Sapper Warren of the City Police and SBI Agent Norm Chow. "Mr. Brandon," I said, handing him a piece of folded paper, "this is a warrant for your arrest, for conspiracy to commit murder, that being the murder of Jimmy Shell, a human being. Your bail is revoked. Stand up."

Finally, that perma-grin was wiped off Brandon's face. He stood up and I stepped behind him to affix handcuffs. "You have the right to remain silent..." I said, beginning the ritual.

A moment later, Brandon was walked through a crush of reporters and their cameras, with me guiding him. People who knew me well said that there was a hint of a smile on Your Iron Crowbar's face as I led the bastard on his well-publicized perp walk which would be televised into the homes of the People of the State...

Part 20 - Solution

Friday, March 31st. The back room of the Midtown Luigi's Restaurant was reserved by me for the victory dinner. From the TCPD, I invited Cindy, Joanne Warner, Theo Washington, and Chief Moynahan. I also invited Chief Griswold. From Midtown PD came Chief Frank Soltis and Detectives Steve Ruger and Kimberly Wesson. David Krueger had been invited, but had sent regrets. I also invited City Detective Sapper Warren, but he could not come down.

From the SBI came Norm Chow and Ted Orosco, and SBI Director Conlan came and offered to split the entire bill with me, which I accepted. From the FBI came Jack Muscone and Martin Nash, though I'd invited his entire team and also Julius Jefferson. Tanya Perlman came with Jack, as well.

As we ate, we had our first surprise guest. The owner of Luigi's, State Senator Jimmy 'Coffin' Cerone, came in, congratulated us on a successful case, and asked how the food and service were. Everyone told him that the lasagna was every bit as good as the Iron Crowbar had promised them it would be, which pleased Cerone greatly.

"There was once a time," Cerone said, "when this many police officers in my restaurant would worry me very much." We all laughed. "Now... I just worry about other politicians. Please do enjoy the food, and the dessert is on the house."

After Cerone left, Cindy executed her part of the tradition by tapping spoon to glass. "It is time now," she said, "for the Iron Crowbar to explain the links in the chain that have now imprisoned Paul Brandon, and may yet wrap around others." There was general acclaim as I stood up.

"First of all," I said, "I feel very fortunate and grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the finest law enforcement officers in this State, from Detectives Ruger and Wesson in Midtown, and their Chief of Police, Frank Soltis; their mentor and now our Police Chief, Sean Moynahan; to our City Police friends such as Detective Warren; to some very good SBI Agents in Norm Chow and Ted Orosco; our great Crime Lab Director, Lieutenant Perlman; and of course to our friends in the FBI, led by Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone. And saving the best for last, I could have no better partner than Captain Cindy Ross, and no better mentor than Chief Griswold."

Everyone cheered, then Chief Griswold growled: "And all of them now know what I've known all along... that the Iron Crowbar is the very best there is." There was applause, which I accepted for a moment before moving along.

"I could not have succeeded in this case without all of you." I said. "So, about this case... I do think it was pretty straightforward, and we simply followed the clues as they came to us. The Midtown PD did a great job processing the crime scene of Jimmy Shell's murder. We naturally followed the path to his place of work, where we confiscated a lot of lab data. A few small points did stand out, and Paul Brandon immediately made himself a suspect in my eyes by repeated lies when he didn't need to lie."

"But only the Chemistry major among us, that being you, sir, saw those things." said Joanne Warner.

"True," I said, "but I think you guys would've started seeing the patterns. I just saved us a little bit of time. Anyway, our actions were helped by Forbes Environmental National Laboratories packing up and leaving in the middle of the night like the Baltimore Colts when moving to Indianapolis. And then the hostile reception at Pine Valley."

"We also got Jimmy Shell's phone records," I continued, "which pointed us to the State EPA and to his attorney. This got us some evidence against Brandon, and also provided some motive to the murder of Shell."

"We followed up by going the City labs of FENL, where we found some anomalies in their finances as well as some selectively spotty record-keeping." I said. "And at this point we had some huge neon signs pointing right at Paul Brandon."

"Either Brandon or people around him panicked." I continued. "They tried to 'drain the swamp', so to speak, the swamp being the Bexall Chemicals plant that was contaminating the Pine Valley land and water. They tried not giving us all the phone records, records that would show ties between the dirty State EPA official and Paul Brandon... and folks, that bespeaks some serious power behind the throne to be able to do that."

I drove on: "So after taking down the tanker trucks before they could pour the chemicals into the State Line river and possibly kill all the inhabitants of Columbus, we got warrants to re-test the Pine Valley soil and water. The Mob backers of the project knew the game was up, and tried very desperate measures to stop the re-testing. Their efforts have failed, including an attempt to murder my child and/or my wife, and there will be payback for that one. Okay, what are your questions?"

"Mai Ling and Chris Maple." said Kimberly Wesson. "They're still missing?"

"Mai Ling and her husband packed up and left in a big-time hurry." I said. "I believe they fled the State, if not the country. I would not be surprised if Mai Ling had knowledge of what was going on, whether as part of the scheme or figuring it out on her own. She obviously had a plan for her and her husband to get out in case something went wrong. After Jimmy Shell came up dead and the call came to shut down the annex, Mai Ling decided to do her own thing for her and her family's survival."

"Chris Maple... "I said. "Well, his bank accounts showed some additional monies coming in. I believe he not only knew, he was part of the scheme. His apartment was left virtually untouched; in other words, I fear that he did not just vanish on his own but was 'disappeared' by criminal elements."

Jack Muscone asked "Was this just Paul Brandon? Or were higher-ups involved?"

"That's a good question." I said. "Forbes & Sehgal are saying they were duped by Brandon, and are working hard to pin it all on him... and they may succeed. The main link between them and the Pine Valley project was Fred Steinhart, may he rest in peace. With him dead, we're hard pressed to find any solid proof that the engineering company had knowledge."

"M&C Developers have already sued Forbes & Sehgal." I said. "Probably M&C will at least be made whole by Forbes & Sehgal's liability insurance, which they'll have to pay regardless of whether F&S is at fault. Then it'll get hashed out over years in the Courts."

"My own personal theory, based upon my own observations and deductions but currently lacking proof, is that Jeremy Forbes did not know, and that for the most part the Engineering company did not know. But I have some suspicions about A.U. Sehgal himself."

Cindy Ross spoke up, and I noticed a wee tad of enthusiasm in her voice as she asked "What about the attack on Keith Rollins? Any idea what happened there, and if those perps will ever be caught?"

"Looks to me like the attempt to kill Rollins was aborted." I replied. "Maybe someone came up on the scene before the perp or perps could finish the job. Most very lucky for Mr. Rollins... and lucky for us, as Rollins came correct and made a plea deal with the State. His testimony is devastating to Paul Brandon. Might even get Brandon a syringe at Jacksonville, though I won't hold my breath on that."

"Last, but not least," I said, "Captain Ross showed her sterling abilities in crime solving by getting Robert Ferris to turn State's Evidence against Brandon. That was the final nail in Brandon's coffin when it came to Forbes & Sehgal backing him. Okay, any other questions?"

"I have one question." said a voice at the doorway. We all turned and were shocked to see Val Jared, Governor of the State, standing there. He came in, followed by a couple of aids and security people. "And that question is: may I join your party for just a moment?"

"About time you had a little fun outside that Governor's Mansion, Val!" said Chief Griswold, his mustaches twitching merrily. "Get on in here!"

"Thanks, Grizz." said Jared. "I just came by to express my appreciation to all of you for an outstanding job in rooting out some serious corruption in our State offices, as well as preventing a lot of people from possibly being harmed by the environmental hazardous waste infesting the Pine Valley project. You all deserve recognition, but there are two people I especially want to honor tonight."

With that, the Governor read two proclamations, one for me and one for Cindy. Along with the proclamations went Citations of Merit, State-level awards issued by the Chief Executive of the State. Those came with ribbons that we could wear on our uniforms with our other ribbons. Everyone applauded as the photographer got pictures of the Governor giving us the Citations and ribbons.

And it was no great feat of observation and deduction to see the face of a certain retired-Chief-turned-fisherman and know that he was behind the actions of his good friend, the Governor of Our Great State.

"So, Chief," I said to Chief Griswold as I brought him a drink after eating dessert, "I get the feeling that some strings were pulled to get the Governor to give us those awards. And I don't mean fishing line."

"Har!" barked the Chief merrily. "Yes, I might've made a suggestion or two, but the Governor was really happy in his own right when you busted Forbes & Sehgal and the State EPA like you did. Those are really huge wins for the Governor against his political enemies. Val and A.U. Sehgal hate each other with a deep and abiding passion, so don't be surprised if the SBI is asked to continue to pursue Sehgal..."

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

After the Governor left and the free desserts were brought in, we were seated in clumps and talking amongst ourselves.

"One thing that bothers me about all this." said Jack Muscone, who was sitting by me. "Why didn't they just move on once they found the contamination? Why try to hide it and build that site? They'd be found out, eventually."

"Like Don was saying earlier," Cindy said, "perhaps they didn't know."

"Well, let me try the question from another angle." said Muscone. "If Brandon acted alone, why do this? Where is his real profit in hiding the truth? Why not just tell the truth, and be the lab for the developers somewhere else? Ditto that for the Engineering Company if theyknew."

"I get where you're coming from." I said. "Once they started building and the money committed, the motive is clear. But why jump into that briar patch in the first place? you are asking."

"You're reading my mind again." quipped Muscone, which made Tanya grin her beautiful, cherubic grin.

"They had to have not known." said Frank Soltis. "Because you're right: why take the risk of getting caught if you know? Not to mention the possibility of children dying or becoming very sick."

"Well," I said, "from what I gather, this was mainly to be a retirement village. Old people getting sick and dying off wouldn't be as quickly noticed. But you're right... any children that did live there and were affected... wow, that'd be ugly..."

"All the more reason the Governor was right to reward you for solving this." said Tanya. But I was already in a reverie...

"I dunno." said Muscone. "I don't have proof, but my instincts are that someone knew and went ahead with this, anyway. They didn't care about the contamination; they had Brandon go through the cover-up. My guess is the Mob... they invest their money, pull their money out when the homes are being sold, and they're running away while that community sits on a contaminated wasteland. And that's what it was becoming... Martin and I visited the land on our way down here, and you can already see some of the pine trees are getting sickly and dying."

"That's why they build golf courses on landfills and other properties like that." I said. "They can put down plants that absorb the bad chemicals, even thrive off them. They can use the water for irrigation, and those plants suck out the bad stuff. But that still would not clean the place up enough to be safe."

"So, Jack," I said, "to answer your question... I'm not sure why they chose to go ahead with Pine Valley if they knew. As to Brandon, he's a filthy slug, and I cannot tell you how happy I was to wipe that grin off that arrogant bastard's face when I put the cuffs on him..."

Part 21 - Epilogue

It was very late, after midnight, when we arrived home and went to The Cabin, where Callie, Molly, Laura and the kids and dogs were all staying for the weekend. I asked Cindy if she wanted a drink before bed, and she surprised me by saying to bring the drinks out to the deck.

It was still cold this time of year at night, and Cindy had a blanket which she wrapped around us as she sat next to me on the metal mesh loveseat. As we toasted our case success and sipped our drinks, I noticed the headlight of a train coming out of the western horizon towards the twinkling lights of the Town.

"There was one other thing I wanted to ask you about." said Cindy. "After talking with Theo, I went to the site where Keith Rollins's apartment was attacked. Very interesting... verrrry interesting."


"What's that?" I asked, my face totally passive.

"Well," Cindy said, "the Midtown Police reported that no one in the apartments on the other side of the creek heard a gunshot or loud noise around their buildings. Some did say they thought they heard a door slam or a backfire around Rollins's apartment complex."

"In his backyard?" I asked.

"It'd have to be." said Cindy. "So the window was shot out, then another shot fired. Now one would think the perp would fire the shot to break the window, then go up to the window and fire inside and kill Rollins."

"Yes, one would think." I said.

"But that didn't happen." said Cindy. "Just a second shot... from the backyard, and immediately, almost as if..." She paused, letting her words hang in the air.

"As if?" I asked, not playing.

"As if the shooter wasn't even trying." Cindy said. "I know this world is going to hell in a handbasket, but it's really bad when the Mobsters start doing things that half-assed."

"They should go into the restaurant business and make great lasagna." I said.

"No doubt." Cindy said, then peered at me as she said "Oh, I also forgot to ask... that same night, after Eddy the Bounty Hunter told us the trucks were at Bexall, he didn't just hang around. Where do you think he might have gone?"

"Why... I'm sure he found something exciting to do." I replied. "He's in good with all the hot ladies... just ask Callie."

"Mmm hmm." said Cindy. "Mighty lucky for Rollins that he was not killed, wouldn't you say?"

"Even luckier for us, in that Rollins turned himself in, and made a plea deal and handed us Brandon on a platter." I replied.

Cindy just stared at me for a second, then turned to look at the Town and snuggled into me for warmth against the chill of the night air. I kept my face passive, but was inwardly elated that she was seeing what Theo hadn't. If something ever did happen to me, I was confident that Cindy could lead the Detectives in defeating criminals in our fair Town & County.

And that's also why I took Theo down to Midtown that day instead of Cindy. Sometimes she gets a righteous streak up her back, which I respect. In this case, she had 'concerns' about me not coloring within the lines. I could see that she could see that I was 'into' it and really wanted to bust Brandon's balls.

Yes, I thought to myself, that bastard Brandon's perma-sneer really, really ticked me off. And yes, in the spirit of 'Blood Orange', I am a very, very tricky Iron Crowbar. Very tricky, indeed...

Finis.