Four Square Ch. 02

"Why?" asked Melina.

"Psychology." said Laura. "Don and I have discussed this at length, and after a lot of study of the material available to us. Don, why don't you explain?"

"Sure." I said. "I believe Quint Starr was behind the Jimmy Tolson murder. The brutality of the torture for apparently no reason but the enjoyment of it suggests that Quint is a psychopath. Trent Ridge seems to be more 'professional', shall we say, in his employment of enhanced interrogations, and a lot 'cleaner' in the way he efficiently kills and moves on."

I continued: "I'll add that Trent is the more interested in sex, and by force if need be. He was the one that raped wives and daughters in Iraq, then left it to Quint to murder the families. And according to George Aurus, Trent stayed in the City to have sex with Keiko Shimono while Quint came here and tortured Tolson. And I'll bet Laura and I have done a better job analyzing those freaks than Bob Rovers's BAU team could possibly hope to."

I noticed that last remark made the FBI people very uncomfortable, which led to the deduction that I was right. "Anyhoo," I said, "my thesis here is that someone else showed up behind Trent: LCDR Waring. So Trent drugged Dr. Christian to incapacitate him, then either ambushed Waring or Waring attempted to capture Trent. They engaged in personal combat, leading to the holes in the wall and the papers all over the place, and there are some slight marks on the fireplace, as well. It appears that Trent won the battle, possibly with help."

"So," I finished up, "he had little time to waterboard Dr. Christian, so he just drowned him, then Waring was taken to the car dealership, murdered, and stuffed into the trunk of a Ford Taurus."

"Why there?" Cindy asked.

"I don't know." I said. "Distance from this house, maybe. So that we wouldn't connect the dots very quickly."

"So much for that." Cindy said.

"So they went after Tolson," said Jack Muscone, "and now the professor that lived in Westboro's old house. What's the connection?"

I just shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Your guesses are better than ours." retorted Muscone. "You pursued Westboro for years. What do you think this is about?"

"Okay, I'll say it more directly." I replied, getting ticked off and letting my voice show it. "I have no data. I have three dead bodies, Tolson, Waring, and Christian, and that's it. You Feds know far more than me about Waring and why he came here, and I've been treated like a mushroom regarding this case: kept in the dark and fed a lot of shit. It's hard enough solving murders with the mystery at one end, and now you're asking me to pull the answer for a mystery at the other end out of thin air. Geeez, dude!"

After a moment of awkward silence, Chief Moynahan said "If there is nothing furrrtherrr you have for us, why don't we local guys go back to Police Headquarters and solve some crrrriiimmmmmmes."

"Yes sir, Chief." said Deputy Chief Ross, all but physically moving me along to my SUV...

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

Back at Headquarters, I saw that none of the MCD Detectives were in the MCD room, which meant they were out interviewing people and otherwise working on the cases. I went into my office, followed by the Green Crowbar.

"I don't know about you," I said, "but I need some coffee. Want some?" I began making a pot.

"Yes, please." Cindy said. As the coffee happily percolated, I sat down in my Command Chair.

"So," I said, "what did you think of that little 'consultation' with our Fed friends?"

"I hate to say this," Cindy said, "but I'm starting to feel like Mary Milton, and becoming less and less trustful of them. Except for Callie and Laura, of course. And to that point, why were they there, especially Callie?"

"I dunno, you'll have to ask her." I said as I got up and poured two mugs of coffee, giving Cindy one of them.

"Mmmm, thanks." Cindy said, then continued: "And Jack pushed you to your breaking point on ideas of what was going on. I could sense that you were getting pissed off."

"Yes. Yes I was." I said. "And what is pissing me off is that they know more than what they're telling, but won't tell me; ergo, the 'mushroom' comment. I'll only say this, and then we'll get back to our jobs: First, Melina is in charge of this. She was the one bringing in Waring; she is the one that pulled us, including Joanne and Jerome, into the loop. Second, they are scared to death right now. Waring is the best of the best, and Trent Ridge has apparently beaten him and killed him. Maybe with help, but what if he destroyed Waring one-on-one, straight up? That's a scary thought."

"No wonder you've been worried about him and Quint since the 'EMPTY QUIVER' event." said Cindy. "So that was the reason for the 'all hands on deck' meeting, and including you in their discussions?"

"That, and the fact that we had the murder in our jurisdiction... now two murders." I said. "They know they have to work with me, but they still try to pick my brain without having to give up any information on their side. So you're not trustful of them, eh?"

"I dunno." said Cindy as she studied her mug of coffee. "Jack has been acting weird lately, and you've seen the tension in Tanya about some things. I get the idea that the Washington brass is really pressuring him on some things. As to Melina... you know her better than I do; after all, you were married to her for years."

"And for all those years, I don't think I know her any better than the day I met her in college." I said, studying my own mug of coffee...

Part 9 - Digging Deeper

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Tuesday, April 9th, with the State Office Building on Courthouse Square behind her... or so it seemed. It was actually a 'blue screen' image Bettina was standing in front of, from within the studios of KXTC-TV.

Bettina began: "Channel Two News has learned that a new scandal is rocking the deeply unpopular Val Jared Administration! Our colleagues at KSB in the City reported last night that a whistleblower has come forward with allegations that Governor Jared made an illegal phone call to an official with the Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, known as 'ICE'. The whistleblower, reported to be a senior staff member in the Governor's Mansion, made a report of the illegal phone call to the State Law Enforcement Community's Inspector General's Office."

"The illegal phone call purports that Governor Jared called the Federal ICE office in the City to coordinate raids in the State to round up undocumented workers for deportation." Bettina continued. "The Governor has been accused in the past of spending State dollars before their allocation goes into effect on July 1st, and this appears to be the case again, as the whistleblower claims Governor Jared offered the use of SBI-IDE agents to help ICE arrest and deport undocumented workers at work, tearing them apart from their children that would be at home or in day care. But the SBI-IDE does not become a law enforcement entity until July 1st of this year."

"State House Democrats say that is illegal, and they also say that working with Federal officials on the strictly Federal pervue of Immigration is illegal, as well, making the Governor's alleged phone call a crime." Bettina went on. "And now let's go to Amber Harris for local news. Amber!"

"Thank you, Bettina!" said Amber from the KXTC anchor desk. "The Town & County Police are investigating two murders that occurred on Sunday, and sources tell Channel Two News that Commander Donald Troy has been unable to solve either case thus far."

Amber: "The first case is the murder of Professor Charles Christian of the Law & Criminal Justice School at the University. Professor Christian was found in his home Sunday, and Police investigating the scene found evidence of foul play. Police have not found any leads to the identity of the killer or killers in the case. The autopsy report determined that Professor Christian was drugged and then drowned in his bathtub."

More Amber: "The second case concerns a body found in the trunk of a car in a car dealership along the Coltrane County Highway south of Town. The victim was identified as U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Thomas Waring, a Naval Intelligence Officer assigned to the office of the Director of National Intelligence. The Town & County Police have no leads on the case, and have contacted the U.S. Navy about the victim of the murder. Hopefully the Navy can solve the case that Commander Donald Troy is apparently unable to..."

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

"Won't be easy for the Navy to solve the case," I said, "considering that we haven't talked to them at all. That was totally fake news."

"Want me to have Captain Thompson pound KXTC over it?" Cindy asked.

"No!" "Yes!"

Those were said at the same time. Chief Moynahan said 'no'; Sheriff Griswold said 'yes'. We all looked back and forth at them for a second, then I broke the stalemate:

"Tell you what, Commander Ross." I said. "Have Captain Thompson tell the truth... to a point. The FBI informed us who the victim was after a fingerprint check. Then yes, he can accuse Amber Harris of lying, and say we've had no direct contact with the Navy over it... in fact, why don't I do that with KFXU myself?"

"Because we shouldn't be talking about it at all, Commanderrrr." admonished the Chief.

"Chief, the cat is out of the bag now." I said. I stood up and said "If you'll excuse me, I'll go call Fox Eight News and arrange the interview...

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

The Angels meeting started at 8:15am, after my very successful appearance with Catrina and Meredith.

"That was great, Commander." said Tanya Perlman. I had outright called Amber Harris and KXTC liars as I refuted their assertion that the TCPD had had any contact with the U.S. Navy over the murder, saying that any contact with the Navy would've been by the FBI. The women of KFXU had thoroughly enjoyed helping me attack their competitor.

"Think it'll do any good?" Teresa asked.

"If it further ruins Amber and KXTC's useless reputations, it will." I said.

Cindy spoke up: "I'm more worried about that new attack on the Governor. Sheriff Griswold looked pretty disturbed about it; I felt the vibe from him. What's up with that?"

"I don't know." I said. "That was the first I was hearing about it. It's not illegal for the Governor to talk to ICE to coordinate the arrests of lawbreakers, so it sounds like some kind of bullshit setup and lockstep-coordinated Media fake news. Okay, what's going on in our Police Department?"

Tanya said "Parker and Geiger spent hours in the Evidence Rooms yesterday, going over the papers from Dr. Christian's office and home. Davis helped for part of the day, since the Christian case overlaps the Waring case. And rather than try to give you Cliff's Notes now, I'll let the Detectives report at the 9:00am meeting."

"Cool beans." I said. "Captain Croyle?"

"We're ramping up personal combat training for everyone." Teresa said. "Partly on account of the Police Boxing Matches coming up, which doesn't matter because I'm going to win; and partly on account of Trent Ridge and Quint Starr possibly being in the County."

"If Trent and Quint enter the Police Boxing Matches," said Tanya, "you'll get smoked like a cheap cigar." That earned her a 'Teresa Cunt' look.

"All kidding aside," I said, "these guys are fucking dangerous. Waring was a well-trained and experienced Navy SEAL and field operative, and one of those guys busted his ass, with terminal results. Teresa, make damn sure our guys know that these guys are extremely dangerous, and we, present company included, should not try to take them down alone. These guys ain't the Police Boxing Matches; they are the real deal, and they play for keeps. Lethal force to stop them is absolutely authorized. I legally can't say it's recommended as well, of course."

"Yes sir." said Teresa, making a note in her notebook. Then she looked up, and said "What, no response to me declaring myself the winner of the Boxing Matches?"

"I don't respond to will-o-the-wisp fantasies that have no hope of coming true." I replied levelly.

"Nor do I respond to psychotic delusions of grandeur." Cindy said cooly.

"I can feeeeeeeel your fear." Teresa replied just as cooly.

"Tanya," I said quietly. "Please set up those brackets just right..."

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

9:00am, Tuesday, April 9th. The meeting in Classroom 'E' began. Cindy was not in the room, but the lovely ADA Paulina Patterson was.

"Before we begin," said the Chief, "I want to say that you've all been working very hard on these cases, and I am very impressed with your ability and efficiency in tackling the difficulties we are facing. I also appreciate you rolling with the punches as we get new information and have to make changes and re-assignments. Okay, Commander, it's your meeting."

"Thanks, Chief," I said, "and I want to add my compliments to the Chief's. You've all done a great job with all this. Okay, let's start with the Christian case. Davis, Parker, and McGhillie... did you find anything?"

"Yes sir." said Parker. "First, we talked to his fellow professors and his students. He was relatively new, but was liked and respected by his colleagues. His students said he was a good teacher when it came to understanding the minds and motives of criminals."

Jerome Davis picked it up: "We spent a lot of yesterday going through all of Dr. Christian's papers and his computer. He was writing a book on the Consultant of Crime, but had only begun getting an outline of it and organizing his supporting data. Per Captain Perlman's request yesterday afternoon, we began looking specifically at what he had on the Consultant's financial organization."

Davis continued: "Dr. Christian did a good job organizing what the TCPD and the FBI had discovered about the Consultant's financial webs, which the Consultant had deliberately tangled up very badly. Dr. Christian noted that the Consultant's income came from a lot of smaller operations as opposed to very large operations. The Consultant preferred seemingly small schemes, but over time and scope, the numbers started adding up."

McGhillie took it up: "The Consultant never got directly involved in large drug rings, but he supported or extorted from a lot of the drug rings that were active at the time he was alive. Dr. Christian had begun looking into these to see where, if anywhere, the Consultant was squirreling away cash. To date, no one has found any evidence that Westboro bought bonds, gold, diamonds, silver, art, or collectibles. If he had stashes of cash, they haven't been found, not even by the Federal Government's best people."

"Nor our best people." I said. "And I've never stopped looking, either. But the rumors of a Consultant treasure trove of unfound wealth appear to be just that: rumors and innuendo."

"I have a question." said Detective Julia Rodriguez. "Just how much is the Consultant rumored to have illegally made? And how much of that is missing?"

"At the time of his death," I said, "we, meaning me and the FBI Agents looking into it all, believed that the cash flow of his operations were as much as half a billion dollars a year. That number might be misleading, as things like bank operations were figured in, and he wasn't fully into those things, but taking a cut and directing the flow of those operations. As to how much he is rumored to have put away that wasn't found, we never got a handle on it, but it could've been as much as $100 million over time."

"Worth looking for," said Tanya Perlman, "and worth killing over."

"Yes, but only if it's real." I said. "Anyhoo, to get to the crux of the matter vis-a-vis our current cases, we're beginning to get data that suggests Dr. Christian was murdered by the same persons that murdered the victim found at the car dealership. And right now the only motive I can see for targeting Dr. Christian would be his research into the Consultant of Crime. So going through all those papers was important, guys, even if it may have been very tedious. Having said that, we're going to start peeling back on that case, and roll it into the car dealership case that the Feds are now involved with." Everyone nodded.

"Okay," I said, "let's hear about the Fitch case."

Theo Washington said "I did follow-up interviews with the hospice facility staff, and also went to see Mrs. Fitch. The general consensus is that Mr. Fitch did not remember things, but was in good physical health until two weeks before his death. Then he started breaking down quickly."

Geiger took it up: "The autopsy confirms that he'd been given opiods and possibly mind-altering drugs similar to LSD, but Martha thinks he was subjected to infrequent amounts of the opiods, not small steady amounts that a daily prescription would give. Also, Mr. Fitch had not be prescribed opiods by his doctor nor the Hospice's doctor. And what killed him was a strong dose of a barbiturate that shut down his heart."

Theo took it up again: "The staff said that Mrs. Fitch did not seem crazy to them, but she did beg the staff not to let her daughter or son-in-law ever be alone with her husband. She also spent all day, every day, with her husband. Rhonda Gray came a couple of times a week and always on Sunday, and Alice Fitch was not only always there, she would insist that someone on the staff stay in the room while Rhonda was there, outright telling the staff that she feared Rhonda might harm Mr. Fitch. Rhonda would tell the staff that Mrs. Fitch was delusional with conspiracy theories, and that she, Mrs. Fitch, should also be committed to the Hospice or a mental hospital."

"How often did Jeff Gray visit the facility?" I asked.

Theo said "He would visit with his wife on Sunday's, but at irregular intervals. Enough that the staff knew who he was."

"And the staff honored Mrs. Fitch's requests that her husband never be alone with the Grays?" I asked.

"I did ask that, sir." said Theo. "But no one I talked to would commit to saying that they did or didn't. I think they were getting concerned about legal liabilities when I asked."

"Did you ask Mrs. Fitch about the relations between her and her daughter?" I asked.

"Oh yes sir." said Theo. "Rhonda was the Fitches's only blood daughter, that we know of, but they did foster a number of children over several years. Mrs. Fitch said that she and her husband disowned Rhonda and changed their wills to cut her out when she married Jefferson Gray, Jr. She knew that Jefferson Gray, Sr. and his brother were involved in white supremacy activities, though they thought it was the Ku Klux Klan they were a part of."

"The second will is dated just before Mr. Fitch began showing Alzheimer's symptoms." said Paulina. "So they were careful to do that. What isn't explained is any reconciliation between Mr. Fitch and his daughter that would've prompted him to change his will, and so completely that it did not provide for his wife at all."

"I'll be sure to ask about that." I said, half to myself. "Okay, changing tack: is there any way at all for someone to sneak in? Dressed as a nurse, maybe? Or some other capacity, such as a delivery person?"

Theo said "I talked to the facility's manager about that. He said that the staff is fairly small, and they all know each other pretty well, and they know what family members come to visit. The family members usually introduce a new family member or friend, as well. However, a few of the patients that are deteriorating will have specialized care nurses come in, and those may not be as well known to all the staff."

Just then, Geiger and Theo's Police iPhones chimed, as did Captain Perlman's and mine. No, I do not demand our work cellphones be put on silent ringer; we are a Police Force responsive to the needs of our Citizens. Geiger was looking at the text, and spoke up.