Gotta Pay the Piper Ch. 10

"Well, I want a second opinion. Somebody to go over the court record with a fine tooth comb." Joanne said. "As for money, I have some resources neither Bas nor Lenore know about." I was interested in hearing this part. Joanne had secret accounts? "I have some cash. Bas taught me how to gamble. Well play blackjack and a little poker. He's very good at both. But he'd win and then start drinking. Then he'd lose it all back plus what he started with. I didn't drink and knew when to quit. I squirrelled away over a grand." Robin told her it would take more than that. "I know. I also have some jewelry. It was my Mom's. It is supposed to be in the safe but I took it the night before Bas changed the combination. I didn't want that bitch Lenore to mess with it. You told me she was getting in there and looking at paperwork. Anyway, I gave one of the rings to my friend Miriam. She's my prof. I told her to see if she could get a good price for it. I told her how much it was worth and if she could get enough, to go ahead and sell it. She is gonna take it to one of those high end jewelry stores. I told her not to take it to a pawn shop where they offer a dime on a dollar. She gets fifteen percent so she will push for the best price she can get. Later, I'll give her another piece if it works out well."

I was pissed off to say the least hearing this. I had bought Christine several very nice pieces of jewelry. Rings with diamonds, emeralds and rubies. One was a tanzanite ring that I had appraised for eight thousand. I have a list of the pieces along with pictures of each piece. We did that for insurance purposes a few years ago. Eventually, Joanne would have got those pieces but I had no intention of giving them to her any time soon. And especially not while she is a slave.

Robin snickered. "I have some jewelry too that nobody knows about." she confessed. "Remember when I said I snarfed the pillows from Mom's room when I got her clothes? Well, I snarfed her jewelry too. All the good pieces anyway. I left the cheap stuff so the estate people would think that was all there was. They wouldn't know any different. When I went to Charlene's house I did the same thing. She had some VERY nice things. My uncle was a little older and he'd take her on cruises and buy her something every time. Mom and Charlene probably think the stuff got taken along with the rest of their belongings. The estate people don't even know it exists. I may have to give some to Marianne though. She knows I got Mom's jewels but not Charlene's. She saw me. I'll give it to her for safe keeping until I get free. I didn't have a chance to talk to her about it much. Just to tell her to not mention it to anyone. And tell her it is for our future. She can't sell the things anyway. She's too young." Joanne asked her where she hid it saying it could be found easily around the house. "I know. I need to find a good hiding place. Maybe find a container and bury it outside. Right now it is in a clutch purse in the trunk of my car. The clutch is worth a bunch, too. It is a Gucci. Marianne wants it. I told her later. She'd have a hard time explaining how she got it."

Sonya came in so they had to change the conversation. The three talked a bit then went to bed.

I needed to discuss this with Lenore. I decided to do that as soon as we ate breakfast. I told Sonya to make venison patties, sausage, pancakes and waffles in addition to our normal eggs. She grinned and leaned close. I guess she could tell I was a little excited about something. "Did you get a little something more than just get laid this morning, Boss?" Her use of the word boss reminded me of how Derek was addressed by his girls. "Next time, call me and I will come in. I can use a little of that intensity." I kissed her and told her I was just happy. "Yeah!" she muttered and grinned. "I made you fried apples. Just gonna warm it up in the microwave."

Lenore and I took a little walk. "Damn! This complicates things. First of all Joanne took the stuff out of the safe intending to steal it. But you know because you bugged their room. They are gonna realize what is going on if you just confront them. They will realize you overheard them and wonder how. I think I have a way to get around that. You don't want Joanne to keep the jewels do you? They were her mother's so she probably considers them hers." I shook my head. "I didn't think so. We also need to get the stuff out of Robin's car. It does not belong to us. Now like she said, nobody would ever know if you kept it. Beth and Charlene think it has been confiscated and the estate people don't realize it was there in the first place. Robin will suspect you got it but would never confront you for stealing what she stole. I have an idea." I had a couple of my own as well and we talked it over.

We went back inside where the others were finishing up cleaning. Sonya told them I had proclaimed this a stay at home day but we still needed to get some tasks done. Laundry was the main issue. And the students needed to study. I listened for a minute agreeing. Then I said, "Okay. Robin, Joanne give me your car keys." They both asked why. "I'm going to fill up all the cars with gasoline. That will be my job." Joanne was puzzled and asked why didn't she just do hers like she always did on her way out of town.

"First of all, your credit card is going to be cancelled. Your accounts need to be sealed." Lenore said. "I should have done it last week, but it was so crazy. You are going to be given a little cash for food and incidentals. Bring all bills back here next week. Do NOT write a check. There are a couple reasons for this." Lenore explained. "First of all your assets, except clothing and school supplies,which includes your computer are confiscated. That is your slave estate if it meets the criteria. Actually Bas taking over your bills now benefits you if you are close to the threshold to actually form an estate. It will all be put into escrow. The more money you have, the better your chances are." I could see the wheels turn as Joanne processed this information. "I'm not sure when your next payment from the trust will be. But if they don't ask for it back, you can keep it, which will get you even closer to the threshold. You know if you do not meet that threshold your assets ALL go to Bas."

The girls handed over their keys. Lenore drove Robin's car and I drove Joanne's. Once at the gas station we did indeed fill up the cars. I also popped Robin's trunk and looked for that clutch purse. It was stuck in a corner like she said. I took it and quickly checked its contents. There was a small cloth containing several rings and a necklace. The rest of the jewelry was separate. I wondered if it separated what came from which house. Either way it was in my hands now. We took the cars back home. I handed the girls their keys and Lenore and I took our own cars to the station to fill up. Back at the house I told Sonya I would be back later. Lenore and I were going to visit the hacienda.

I had called earlier to apprise Lou what I had discovered. She asked me to come meet her. "Okay, by bringing this to me, you have put me on the spot. As an officer of the court I am obligated to report a crime. Attorney/client privilege does not count since you are not telling me you committed the crime. BUT as your friend I need to ask you a few questions. I assume you do not want to just keep the stuff from Robin. Your story if anybody asked which would be unlikely would be you found and kept jewels your slave had in her possession. She might have already had them when she was enslaved." I frowned and said I had no intention of doing that.

"That's what I thought. You want to do the right thing." Lou said. I said I did. "Well, you have two choices. The first is you turn the stuff over to estate agents that are cataloging and selling all the Atwell's and Wilson's assets. The second is you turn Robin over to the police." I frowned at the second idea.

"I also assume you want to get the jewelry back from Joanne." Once again I said I did. "My main question is how much do you want to burn her in the process? She stole from you. That is a crime. If you confront her she might immediately give you back the stuff and beg you to forgive her. Easy and simple. But like you said, she might have sold some of it already. That implicates another party and means the piece or pieces are lost. If a store bought them, they will return the items if they are reported stolen. But that also requires police involvement. If you go that route, Joanne is likely to get charged. She could find her enslavement extended. Well, if convicted she WILL. Do you want to do that?"

I said, "I want to treat both girls the same. I could not bust one and let the other go. I think I will give Joanne the chance to return the stuff immediately. If she tries to deny it, we can go the other route." Lou said I should not wait as the estate people may have been working this weekend to inventory and collect all the Atwells' and Charlene's possessions. It would look bad if I waited to come forth and produce 'found' assets later.

Bugging my own house was not illegal. Particularly when I was surveilling slaves. However, the same rules applied to recording conversations if a crime was committed. The fruit from the forbidden tree idea. Information obtained might not be admissible in court. Joanne was a free woman when she committed the crime. Lenore said she had an idea where we could confront Joanne without revealing how we found out about her theft. She explained and Lou thought it a good idea.

Back at home, I was in the kitchen when Lenore walked in. The others were making a late lunch of sandwiches."Bas, we have a problem." she announced. I played my role and asked her what it was. "I was reviewing the trust paperwork to see how Joannes' stipend would be treated when she hit thirty. And well, I noticed something. Do you want me to tell you here or in private?" I told her here would be fine. "Okay. Well, I noticed the jewelry boxes in there were stacked differently than I remembered when I first looked at your documents a few weeks ago. I admit when I was in your safe at that time I examined the jewelry. Well, today they are ALL gone. I checked every box." I stood there for a few seconds thinking.

"There are only two people who had access to that safe during that time other than us." I said. I looked at Robin and Joanne. "Either one of you care to explain?" Both sat there dumbly for a few seconds. Then they began shaking their heads.

"Are you going to accuse US, Daddy?" Joanne asked. "How do you know SHE didn't do something with them?" I asked why would Lenore do that and then come tell me they are missing? "Because it is easy to blame the slaves." I looked at Robin and asked her if she knew anything. She shook her head and said the last time she saw that stuff it was all in the safe. She had looked the pieces over herself. Her expression did give her away. I knew she was fully aware.

"Okay, I am going to say it like this." I said. I glanced at the others in the room. They stood spellbound. "If either one of you want to confess I will not hold it against you. But if I find out later you stole from me, I WILL bust your asses. You have three minutes to think about it. Sit right here. I want to make sure for myself the stuff was not taken out of the boxes and put somewhere else in the safe. Not that they should have." I left the room with Lenore. We went into the office and closed the door. "I think that worked well. Let's see if Joanne owns up to her crime. If she does, I'll forgive her. But she has only the one chance." Lenore asked if I would really prosecute her and possibly prolong her slavery. "I'd hate to fuck her over. As it is she will be almost thirty seven before she is freed. She might have a chance to get married and have a kid. If she gets convicted of a felony, she might be a slave until past menopause. And like I said before, if I go that route with her, I'll turn Robin in to the cops as well. Robin just lied to me when she denied knowing anything about these jewels."

I walked back into the kitchen. "Well?" I asked. Both girls said they knew nothing about the missing jewelry. "Okay. That is one Hell of a lot of money to go missing. The value I mean. I guess I am going to have to have this investigated." I pulled out phone and left the room to talk. I called Lou. "They are both denying it. Joanne even began to accuse Lenore. She asked how I knew Lenore didn't take it. Should I call the police now? I mean it is Sunday." Lou told me she already talked with Kathy Bishop. Kathy is on duty today.

"We anticipated the girls would play dumb so we were already planning to head over. We met up already. Are you ready for another shit storm?" Lou asked, laughing.

"I talked to Lou and she is calling one of the detectives she knows." I said when I got back inside."You might remember Kathy Bishop. She is the investigator that looked into the case that got Beth and Charlene enslaved." I thought both Joanne and Robin were going to cry. I sat and watched them. They would not meet my eyes and barely glanced at each other. "Nothing to confess, huh? You do understand what this might do to you personally. What an extended enslavement would mean if you even thought you might want to have a baby in the future. You would be far too old."

When Kathy and Lou arrived I invited them in. I gave Kathy a quick summary. Jewels that were supposed to be in the safe no longer were. Lenore had looked at them a few weeks ago when she studied my financial documents. The only people who had access other than us were Robin and Joanne. I knew I did not take the jewelry and Lenore had brought it to my attention.

Kathy asked, "Do you have descriptions of the missing pieces? Any information that will help?" I smiled and said I have pictures of each piece and a technical description made by a jeweler. I had that done for insurance purposes. I thought I saw Joanne stiffen, but that might have been my imagination. I told her the appraised value of the missing jewelry amounted to close to thirty thousand dollars. "Damn! That is worth pursuing." She addressed the girls. "The easy thing is for either of you girls to fess up." Kathy said. "Bas will probably beat your ass but you might escape getting your enslavement extended." Both girls began to fidget. I wondered if they were going to break. Kathy said. "I want you to know that if we open an investigation, we have no choice but to run what we find up the chain, which means prosecution if we find anything." I nodded and said I understood. "If the girl or girls just hid the stuff then there's not much we can do, but if they try to sell any of it we will know". Kathy said "I'll contact known fences and jewelers around here. I'll also contact my counterpart in Baton Rouge and they will do the same thing as Joanne lives there during the week." I saw Joanne now looking really worried. "Plus the case will be open and in the data base so any attempt to sell any of it in the future will be stupid". I got her the files she needed, making digital copies she could transmit to whoever she needed to contact in Baton Rouge. She turned toward the girls and said, "Okay, once I walk out of here and enter my report, it will be too late to stop the investigation." When neither girl spoke up, she left.

I told everybody to go back to whatever they were doing before. There was a lot of talking amongst themselves. At least among the innocent parties. An hour later I checked my computer for anything Joanne might have said or texted. I almost laughed at what she texted. "Be careful how you answer. This text is being monitored and it was admissible in court when I got enslaved. That thing I gave you. Hide it where it cannot be found. Without it, there is no proof of any crime. Sorry Daddy, beat my ass but I won't chance being enslaved longer and I'll be damned if Lenore gets MY mom's things." I cracked up laughing. It was an admission but like she said not one that could get her enslavement prolonged. Not without the jewels as proof. She could just claim she was being a bitch and made up the text because I accused her. If I held off the investigation the missing jewelry might show up on the dining room table or something. But I could not wait that long. I needed to do something with the jewelry Robin took.

I called Lou to tell her. Lou laughed and said Kathy could easily trace the phone number. I told her not to bother as I had already identified the other person as Miriam Fontenot, Joanne's adviser and primary professor. Of course I confronted Joanne after. "So you stole the stuff and planned on selling it?" I asked. Joanne was not a seasoned criminal. She cried but did not confess. I knew her only hope was that her adviser would not break when the cops came knocking. I felt a little bad about dropping Miriam Fontenot into the shit. She had gone to school with Christine. I have known her and her husband Richard for years. She had mentored Joanne when she wanted to pursue her advanced degree. I could not fathom why she would help Joanne sell stolen jewelry. Unless she did not know it was stolen. I decided to confiscate Joanne's phone. "You won't be going back to Baton Rouge." I said. "Not until we get all this behind us. Why didn't you just confess in the first place?"

Kathy's counterpart in Baton Rouge made the rounds of the high end jewelers and found one who admitted he bought one of the missing rings the previous week. He pulled out the purchase agreement. He was an honest man. He bought jewelry for sixty percent of its appraised value saying the difference was his profit when he resold a piece. He had done his due diligence with identifying who sold him the item. He had no reason to be suspicious and there was no report of an item like that being stolen. He had already reset the stone and sold it to a customer for a better than expected profit. He offered to try to get the jewel back or pay fair value. Kathy called and said they had found the ring but they needed my permission to search Joanna's apartment or wait for a warrant. As a slave she had no expectation of privacy. They found the remainder of the jewelry. Kathy's friend went after Miriam Fontenot who immediately confessed to selling the ring for Joanne. She produced the money she got from the jeweler. Her deal with Joanne was fifteen percent of the selling price. When Kathy called me to tell me what she found I told her I had another case for her.

I had waited until the next day before confronting Robin about her own theft. She had gone to class like normal. She was upset when she returned home. Beth and Charlene were making lunch. "You look upset. " I asked," Is something worrying you, Robin? Lose something?" I asked. She looked at me like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. She did not even begin to protest. She just bawled. Her facial expression changed. "How?" she sobbed. I noticed the older women turn to listen. They knew about Joanne's theft. Now Robin was in trouble. "We packed meat into your trunk Saturday to bring it home." I said. I lied when I added, "I saw a Gucci purse. I wondered why an expensive purse would be in a car trunk. Later I looked inside. Imagine my surprise." She asked what I was going to do. I shrugged. Robin began to bawl again and ran to her bedroom.

Kathy Bishop arrived at the house along with a slave collection unit. Before getting Joanna I told her about what I found in the back of Robin's car. "Damn, Bas. You know I have other crimes to investigate. But you keep offering me these slam dunk cases." she said, grinning. She and I went back and confronted a bawling Joanna. She then questioned Robin. As a slave Robin did not have the right to an attorney. That was one of the civil rights she forfeited. All it took was my permission. Of course if she refused to talk, she could not be coerced since this might prolong her enslavement. Robin knew she was caught red-handed and admitted the theft but tried to say she had stolen the jewels on her own. I mentioned both Robin and her sister had been in the house at the time. Kathy got statements from Beth and Charlene who tearfully admitted they recognized the jewelry as theirs. There was no doubt where it came from. So what happened to Joanna now happens to her. Kathy then went to talk with Marianne. When questioned, Marianne broke down and bawled as she confessed she knew her sister was "snarfing their mother's jewelry." She was also arrested. I asked Kathy about Marianne's right to counsel and self -incrimination. "I explained it to her VERY carefully. I even went a little overboard. I did everything but suggest she say she tried to stop Robin. She waved her rights and admitted it all saying she supported her sister's actions. I have it all recorded and on my body cam. Nothing else I can do but arrest her."