Exigent Circumstances Ch. 01

Molly: "And before you 'mansplain' it to me, I read Webster the Riot Act about not only not telling us, but for taking the bodies out of our jurisdiction. I reminded him that murder is a State crime, not a Federal one. He said that he and the Feds consider it part of their ongoing Federal investigation of the Mystery Lake crimes. I asked if he was going to share the results of the autopsy and their investigation with the NCPD, and he said it was not his call to make. He's a Special Agent in Charge, but says it's not his call? Gimme a break."

I said "Are you, meaning the NCPD, willing to sue the FBI over this? Jurisdiction, if nothing else?"

Molly said "To be candidly honest, Don, I'd rather try to work with him and get him to cooperate. We can go the legal and adversarial routes, and we might win... about the time your lawsuit against KXTC gets resolved."

"Ouch." I said, feigning pain. "But your point is taken, well taken. Okay, let me know what you find or what they give you, if anything. And do me a favor and call Chief Moynahan, and let him know about it..."

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

3:00pm, Friday, July 1st. Chief Moynahan came to my open office doorway and said "Commanderrrr, I need you to come to Classroom 'Eeeeeee'. Bring your laptop." I immediately got up, disconnected my laptop from its ethernet cable, and headed to Classroom 'E'.

Deputy Chief Tanya Muscone was already in the room. To my slight surprise, her husband, FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone, was sitting next to her. Also in the room were SBI-DTD Agent Lorena Rose and TCPD Captain Claire Michaels As I was setting up my laptop, Lieutenants Mary Milton, Teddy Parker, Theo Washington, and Micah Rudistan came in, having been 'invited' (in the Japanese sense) by the Chief.

A moment later, Command Deputy Sheriff Cindy Ross came in, followed by FBI Special Agent Tim Jenkins. Cindy announced the Police Chief, and we all rose to our feet as Chief Moynahan came in.

"Be seated, pleazzze." the Chief said as he sat down, and we all did likewise, with Cindy taking the seat to my left. The Chief said "Loo-tenant Milll-tonnnn, patch us in to the NCPD."

"Yes sir." Mary Milton said. A moment later we were videoconferencing with NCPD Police Chief Molly Evans, and FBI Special Agent In Charge Clark Webster of their Missing Persons Bureau in this Region.

"What do you havvve, Chief Evans?" Chief Moynahan asked after initial greetings.

Molly said "Two bodies were found by the FBI along the road that leads into the Mystery Lake area from the east. SAC Webster took me, Captain Price, and Detective Folby up there a couple of hours ago. The bodies were buried five yards within the woodline on the north side of the road, and about five yards apart. The perps dug graves about 18 inches deep, and buried the bodies, apparently wrapped in plastic, maybe body bags."

Molly's voice turned withering as she continued: "Other than that, I have no more information. Perhaps SAC Webster can be persuaded to give you more than he's given me, the Police Chief of the jurisdiction where the bodies were found."

Clark Webster said "If I'm being reticent with details, it's because I'm forbidden from giving you the information---"

"Forbidden by whom?" FBI SAC for the Region, Jack Muscone, fired back. It was my first clue that these Federal Agents were not exactly marching in lockstep.

"Washington." replied Webster, looking very taken aback by Muscone's sharp question. "The Brass up there wants to identify the victims and determine if there's any correlation to the McAfee/Liddell murders, or if this is a separate issue before they disseminate the information." Then he added "Didn't they tell you that also, Jack?"

"No, they haven't said a word to me about it." Jack said. "And neither have you, for that matter. And I'm getting more and more pissed off about it by the minute."

Chief Moynahan said "Let's mooove on. Does anyone have questions?"

"As is always my first question at a crime scene," I said, "Who called it in? Or found it first?"

Webster paused for a moment, then with a seeming shrug of his shoulders said "We've been searching all around that area since the first six bodies were discovered last May. I don't know exactly who, but a couple of our Agents with a cadaver dog found those two bodies on Wednesday."

"Have any other bodies been found, any at all, in that area?" I asked.

"Not to my knowledge." said Webster. "These are the first ones since the first six were found."

Lt. Teddy Parker asked "Any idea how long the bodies were buried there?"

"I don't know." said Webster.

"He's lying." Cindy whispered to me. I nodded vigorously in agreement, then spoke up.

"Mr. Webster," I said with authority in my voice, "has the autopsy of either body been completed?"

Webster said "Yes, but I'm not permitted to release any information until we identify them."

"Which is what I'm trying to help you do." I replied. Then I added "As Chief Evans alluded to, were the bodies wrapped in plastic or something else that might've preserved information?"

"I can't answer anything related to the autopsies." Webster said stiffly.

"Come on, Clark!" Jack Muscone all but shouted. "These people are trying to help you! And the FBI is already on thin ice for taking the bodies out of Nextdoor County's jurisdiction and not even notifying their Police Department about any of it. Now this is not a request: I'm telling you to cooperate and answer these guys's legitimate questions!"

"Then maybe I just need to disconnect this call and walk away from here." Webster said. He reached his arm forward as if to end the videoconference.

"Don't you dare disconnect -my- conference call." Molly warned. "Or I'll borrow my sister's green crowbar and beat the fuck out of you with it." Webster turned and stared at Molly, shock on his face. Molly stared back, determination and anger on hers.

"C'mon, Mr. Webster." Cindy said. "I'm beginning to wonder whose side you're on."

"Geez, people!" Webster said with exasperation in his voice. "Look, I'm not trying to keep anything from you, but I have orders! Don't you realize I'm hamstrung here?"

After a moment of tense silence, I said "Okay, I'll just ask you one question, then leave it be. Did either of the two women have red hair?"

Webster just about jumped out of his skin, and his eyes bugged out. "Have you already seen the autopsy report, Commander Troy?" he asked, his voice connoting an accusation.

"No I haven't... yet." I replied. "But I take it by your reaction that I'm right."

"This is not a confirmation nor a denial," replied Webster, "but how would you know to even ask that if you haven't read the report?"

"Elementary, my dear Watson." I said. "I simply approached it from the other end. I always keep abreast of the tactical situation regarding crime within my purview. Only women have been found out there, to my knowledge anyway. And it was overwhelmingly likely that the perps Cox and Fenton, who buried Sage Garrett out there, and likely buried Katherine McAfee and Tamara Lidell out there, are the ones that buried these latest victims in that area... them or their Swamp Frog buddies."

Me: "And for someone in Washington to make the effort and take the risk to remove the bodies from the local jurisdiction, then to forbid you to talk to us about any of it... well, that just confirms in my mind that the disposal of these bodies was the work of the Swamp Frogs. And if memory serves me correctly---"

"And it always does!" said a lot of people in Classroom 'E', making Molly Evans burst out with laughter in her trademark fashion.

"Thank you." I said without missing a beat. "I'm just remembering that just short of one year ago now, a redheaded woman met with Timothy Geiger and Keith Madden with information about Claude Cardinal O'Leery. Keith Madden came over all dead just minutes after that meeting, and the Swamp Frogs worked hard to keep us from bringing Cardinal O'Leery to Justice." (Author's note: 'Deliver Us From Evil', Ch. 01-02.)

Me: "Ergo, it occurs to me that the only woman I know of that is missing -and- that the Swamp Frogs had reason to make disappear, is the woman that met Madden and Geiger that day. They only knew her first name: Lana. And Geiger described her as having red hair. So I'll bet the mortgage that one of the bodies you found is a female, that she has been dead and buried there for about a year, and that -if- she was buried in plastic or a body bag then you'll find or have found red hairs. Q... E... D."

The ensuing silence was broken by snickers of laughter at the stunned look on Clark Webster's face. Finally, Tanya Muscone broke the silence by saying "I believe this is where my husband would say 'Four hundred years ago...'." The room did explode with laughter at that.

"Come on over to the Federal Building here in Town." Jack Muscone said to Clark Webster, reeling him back in. "We've got a lot to talk about..."

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

Carole and Marie looked around in awe as the van drove up to the front of the Belvedere Plantation mansion. "Wowwww, it's just like the moo-vies!" Marie exclaimed.

"It's very pretty, Aunt Clarissa." Carole said politely.

"Thank you, Child." said Clarissa. "Let's go inside."

Charles the Butler opened the door for them. "Hello, ladies." he said. "Just leave your luggage in the hallway, here, and I'll take them to your rooms. Madame Clarissa, your family is in the drawing room."

"Thank you, Charles." Clarissa said. She led the way to the drawing room, which was her favorite room to be in. As they came into the room, the family members stood up.

"This is my son Colin and his wife Wendy." Clarissa said, indicating her relatives. "My niece Clara and her husband, State Senator Bobby Edwards. And you know Beatrice and Eugenia." (Author's note: For descriptions of everyone, please see 'Sugar and Spice', Ch. 01.)

Clara went on: "You all know Teresa, of course. This is my friend Phyllis Troy, her granddaughter Carole, and Carole's friend Marie. They might as well be sisters."

"Hello everyone." Carole said, her eyes having already examined the Belvedere descendants. "Hello again, Beatrice and Genia."

"Hi Carole. Hi Marie." Beatrice said politely. Clarissa had everyone pour drinks from the side table. Teresa had single-malt Scotch, as did Clarissa. Phyllis had bourbon and water. Robert Edwards had bourbon on the rocks. Colin and Wendy had rye with ginger beer, and Clara Edwards had what appeared to be a mint julep but had no alcohol in it. Beatrice and Genia had lemonade, Marie had sweet tea, and Carole introduced herself to the 'Arnold Palmer', 50/50 tea and lemonade, which Clarissa suggested she try.

As they talked, Beatrice said to Carole and Marie "You're staying in my old room this weekend."

Phyllis said "Oh, I certainly don't want anyone to be displaced by our visit."

"It's okay, Mrs. Troy." Beatrice said. "My room and Genia's room have two double beds, so we can have visitors for slumber parties, or we can sleep in the same room if we need to."

Phyllis said "That is very interesting, but why---"

Clarissa interrupted by saying loudly: "Teresa, you'll be in the guest room you've been in whenever you've stayed here. And Phyllis will be in my daughter Jen's old room."

"Has anyone heard from Jen?" Phyllis asked.

"She's in prison." Robert Edwards said.

"Yes, I know." Phyllis said with some acerbity. "My son was the man who prevented her from being murdered. I was wondering if she has been able to contact any of you, her family." (Author's note: 'Big In Japan', Ch. 05.)

Wendy Esterson said "I seriously doubt Jen will ever contact any of us. Even if she could."

Teresa said "I sent her a card at Christmas. I don't know if she got it, and I haven't heard back from her... and I may not, if they don't allow her to write back."

"Speaking of Christmas..." said Robert Edwards. As everyone turned to look at him, he said "Teresa, is it true you flew a Life Flight at Christmas that saved two children's lives, and disappeared off radar then seemingly magically appeared out of nowhere to land the plane?"

"Oh yes, it's true." Phyllis said. "And the TCPD's Catholic Chaplain says it was a true miracle."

Teresa said "Unfortunately, the little boy on the Life Flight died three months later. But the little girl fully recovered; she's back home with her parents now."

"You're too modest, Cousin Teresa." Eugenia said. "You did a great thing... just like the Trust you created, that's helping those kids be cured."

Just then, Charles came in and announced that dinner was ready...

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

7:00pm, Friday, July 1st. Cindy, Tim Jenkins, Molly, and I were at the Cop Bar, on the outside deck, having beef nachos and either beer or Cherry Coca-Cola Zero. We were joined by Lt. Teddy Parker and his wife, Captain of Personnel & Records Janice Holloway Parker.

"It's my party, everyone." I said. "Eat and drink as much as you want."

"And be merry." Molly added whimsically.

A few moments later, Jack and Tanya Muscone came up to us and were invited to join the group. Jack just 'looked' at me, and Tanya's eyes were sparkling as she looked at me. Then everyone realized what they were doing, and they just looked at me.

And then the bubble burst, and Jack Muscone began whimpering with laughter, which caused everyone else to. And I knew why: the knowledge bomb I'd dropped on Clark Webster, and all of them, at the meeting earlier in the day.

"My God, that was something." Jack said through his laughter. "I think Clark Webster really did pee in his pants; he smelled funny when he came to the Federal Building."

"And as always, sir," said Teddy Parker, "we're left wondering how the hell you were able to put that together."

"You all have seen and heard everything I've seen and heard." I said.

"Still, Don..." Tanya said, "no one does things like that the way you do. I've seen it a million times, it seems, and I'm amazed every time." There was a chorus of agreement.

"Yeah, I know." I said. "The only thing I did that y'all didn't was that I -remembered- that that woman Lana was missing. And everything else lined up like ducks in a row."

Cindy said "The next difference is that you have the confidence to state out loud what you put together. The rest of us may figure it out, but we hesitate to say anything out loud, lest we embarrass ourselves if we're wrong."

Molly said "But Don is never wrong."

"Au contraire! I've been wrong many a time." I said. Then I said "Just not this time." That drew another round of laughter around the table.

Jack Muscone said "Clark really does believe that you somehow had already seen the autopsy report. I asked him how you could've known, when I didn't know until this afternoon. And that segued into me being treated like a mushroom. Clark swore up and down he thought I knew and had also been told to not say anything."

"Who told him not to say anything?" I asked.

Muscone replied: "He said that DepDirector Lawrence Lance told him to not share information with the NCPD nor the TCPD, and that he, Lance, was getting those orders from (air quotes) 'on high', meaning the US DOJ, or even the Intelligence Community top brass themselves."

"Hmmph. Strange." I said.

"What do you mean?" asked Cindy.

I said "I understand why they tried to stop me from bringing Cardinal O'Leery to Justice: he very likely was going to be elected Pope, and they really wanted the prestige of having an American pope. But we did bust O'Leery, he's dead now, the story about him is out there now. So there's no real reason for them to act so... aggressively."

Tim Jenkins said "But Don, they probably had no clue who she was when they found her. Heck, they still may not have identified her yet. Looks to me like they wanted to have a full grip on everything before they said anything to anyone else."

"Point taken. Point well taken." I said agreeably. Tim and Cindy fist-bumped, then I said: "But you all know what that means, don't you?"

When I received nothing but blank stares with expectations of being told, I said "It means that there may be other bodies out there, and one or more of them is someone they -really- don't want us to know about..."

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

Dinner at the Belvedere home was not formal, and it was served on the back porch. There were a number of shrimp dishes, including two varieties of Shrimp Étouffée (spicy and 'less spicy'), shrimp and grits, shrimp sautéed in butter, and fried popcorn shrimp. There were also several vegetable dishes, as Colin and Wendy were vegans.

"That must be my bowl of shrimp and grits. Where's y'all's?" Teresa said. And she darned near made that true by the end of the meal; though everyone that wanted some had some, Teresa's three huge helpings pretty much emptied the bowl.

Carole asked for small bowls so she could sample both Étouffée varieties, and she sampled some of everything. Marie liked the less-spicy Étouffée, and had some sautéed shrimp and popcorn shrimp. Though Clarissa had asked for the popcorn shrimp for the four kids, it was Robert and Clara that ate most of it. They likely did so to annoy Colin and Wendy, who were advocates against fried foods, and said so.

Dessert was another story. Carole found that she liked the crème brûlée very much, and had three of them in the small bowls. And everyone else, even Clarissa, Colin and Wendy, had at least one helping, along with some ice cream.

"Thank you for dinner, ma'am." Carole politely told Clarissa after dinner. "It was very delicious."

"Yeah, it was." chimed in Marie. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Why, you're quite welcome, ladies." said an impressed Clarissa. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. And I appreciate your Southern good manners."

After dinner, Beatrice told Teresa and Phyllis that she was starting at Tulane in the Autumn. Genia was going to begin her Junior year of high school. After they were called away to play a game of Uno with Carole and Marie, possibly having been asked beforehand by Clarissa to help entertain the younger girls, Phyllis said to Teresa: "Beatrice is very excited to be leaving for college. And Genia is very worried about being left behind."

"Why is that?" Teresa asked.

Phyllis said "I'm not sure, but I can tell those girls really do not like Bobby Edwards. And please help me keep an eye on Carole and Marie. If Bobby goes anywhere near them, much less try to be alone in the same room with them, then do Iron Wolf things if you need to." Teresa nodded vigorously in agreement.

And as the adults talked and sipped after-dinner drinks, the girls played Uno. At one point, Carole noticed that Robert Edwards kept looking over at them at their table.

"Your Uncle Bobby keeps looking over here at us." Carole whispered.

"Yeah, he's a creep." Beatrice said. "Don't let him be alone with either of you."

Carole added "And Marie, if he tries to touch you anywhere on your body, scream as loud as you can and run away, like we did when that fake cop tried to kidnap us." (Author's note: 'A Death In The Family', Ch. 01-02.)

Marie looked disquieted. "Are we really in danger? Should we tell Aunt Teresa?"

Beatrice said "It wouldn't hurt. But just stay together at all times, or stay with us, and we should all be okay. And that's why we have two beds in each of our bedrooms. If Uncle Bobby is not here, we can sleep alone in our own rooms, but if he's here, we sleep in the same room to protect each other..."

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

"Are you going to be okay, sleeping all alone in here tonight, Little Love?" I asked my daughter Tasha as I tucked her into her bed in the third bedroom at The Cabin. The other two beds in the room were empty, as Carole and Marie were in Louisiana.