Gotta Pay the Piper Ch. 24

Thirty minutes later, Beth was stopped as she left the bakery parking lot. The police officer said he noticed her collar and wanted to make sure she had permission to drive. Imagine his surprise when he looked into the bag sitting on the back seat next to the box containing the recently purchased king cake. Beth and Marianne were promptly arrested. Separated immediately, they did not have time to collaborate their stories. They had no idea they might be pulled over and were not prepared to make a statement.

I was called to come down to the police station. Instead of impounding the vehicle after finding a bag of drugs in clear view, Kathy had it released to my custody. I told Kathy over the phone she could search the vehicle with my blessing but would bet the search would come up empty apart from the bag they already found. She said she did not want to waste time nor resources. A canine search cleared the car and I could get the keys from the officer still on the scene if I hurried. I ordered Sonya to take it home while I proceeded to the investigation section at the police station to check on my two slaves. Beth and Marianne had been detained for questioning.

Marianne was obviously flustered but knew to ask for help. She did not know if she should ask for me or a lawyer. She opted for me. Of course I had already called Lou who cursed at me good-naturedly saying she was looking forward to the venison roast smothered in mushrooms that was being served at the Hacienda that evening. I promised her a steak dinner. "HA! You obviously had not tried our venison roast prepared with onion and mushrooms. It puts any steak in town to shame." she laughed. "I'll just call and have them save me some."

Marianne was in a quandary. Her first statement to the police was she had no idea what was in the bag her mother retrieved and handed her. Then she changed that to watching Beth putting it in the back seat. She was reminded if she touched the bag, her fingerprints would be on it. Then she admitted to holding the bag in her lap until they got to the bakery. It was at that point she asked for me.

She broke down further upon seeing me with Lou. "What do I say?" Marianne asked Lou. Lou told her she was there to help her and the first thing was to tell us the truth. Marianne began bawling and, looking at me she said. "Do I have to say it front of him?" Lou explained that with a slave certain civil rights are not allowed and unless Marianne wanted to claim I was involved then I could sit and listen."What has the biggest penalty, drug possession or attempt to enslave?" Lou answered honestly it was intent to enslave, but asked how that was relevant to being caught with a bag of suspected drugs. Obviously the three girls had done some talking during the day. "I'm so fucked!" Marianne said, and began to bawl.

I stepped out of the room at Lou's suggestion when Kathy Bishop's partner went into the interview room. Kathy asked me what was going on. I had made the original call and she wanted to know if it was all going to go south on her. "I hope you are not involved, Bas." Kathy said. I assured her I was not actively involved but did not want to explain too much without Lou. "Bastard! Keep me in the dark!" Kathy said, then grinned as she winked. She knew she'd get the whole story soon.

Lou did not have the opportunity to tell me what Marianne said in her initial statement before we were ushered in to see Beth. Beth asked if we had talked to Marianne and what she said. Lou told her she could not discuss that. "Okay." Beth had already made some decisions. "I hate to say this, Bas, but Lenore sent me to pick up those drugs. She wanted me to do her dirty work and told me she'd let me grow my hair back if I did what I was told. I'm just a patsy." I was ready for this and although I wanted to strangle the bitch, I kept my mouth shut and my face passive. She had not even paused to test the water but jumped immediately to shift the blame to Lenore. "Lou, I'm not even sure I can trust you as my lawyer. I think you might not be impartial and would want to take Lenore's side because of your shared history."

Lou gave her a tight smile, stood up and said, "Fine, good luck with the public defender. Just tell the detective your decision, or take your chances with talking to him without a lawyer." She walked out the door.

I glared at Beth and told her I was not going to pay for a different attorney. She shrugged and said she did not need one. She decided to talk without an attorney and was adamant about Lenore's involvement and repeated her statement to the detective.

"Alright, Bas." Kathy said when we emerged. "I know what the girl said and what her mother said were way different. Want to enlighten me, now?" Lou spoke up and said I did not want to make a statement but wanted the truth to come out and would explain everything in the near future.The two women would be held for further questioning. Kathy suggested we go eat and return later that evening if there were more developments. We talked a few minutes and Lou said we would be back later.

Outside, Lou told me Marianne changed her story once again to say her mother wanted money to hide somehow for when she retired. She did not know how her mother was going to do any of that but she was innocent of any wrongdoing herself. She did not even realize the bag contained drugs until the cops told her. "Of course that is a contradiction in her story right there. She also used the term meth once without realizing it. The detective immediately picked up on the slip. Just so you know, while I have a certain attorney client obligation, that is slippery when dealing with slaves. You are my real client. And Lenore of course. Even though your slaves might face legal ramifications, they are not as protected under the law as they would be if starting out as a free person. I am obligated to report the crimes." I asked if I could be implicated because I knew about it ahead of time. "Nope. As I explained before, you are under no obligation to prevent a crime and you reported it when you realized it was being committed. That you called it in was why Kathy asked about it going south on her. She wants to make sure to eliminate any counter argument your intentions were to prolong your slaves' terms of enslavement. Your coming to me beforehand stops all that."

"That is a concern?" I asked.

"Oh yes." Lou answered. "Think about it. Marianne has a five year conviction. If she got set up for a drug possession, her enslavement gets lengthened another ten years or so. A cute girl like that is a valuable commodity. Maybe worth framing the girl. Setting her up for a fall would be a crime, but letting her proceed on her own volition to commit a crime is not. You are completely in the clear. I take it you want to let these two stew a bit while you see what the other slaves have to say?" I nodded.

Of course the house was in an uproar when I got home followed by Lou. Everybody wanted to know what had happened. I asked for some supper, hoping they had set enough back for both of us. Sonya grinned and quickly laid out a full platter of food at each place. "Lenore, you and Sonya sit down." Lou directed. "I have some questions for each of you and then I'll explain what happened."

I turned to the rest of the slaves and Richard who stood clustered at the end of the table. "Everybody else, OUT! You can listen from the living room. Nothing in this house stays secret for long. I just do not want comments while I eat and explain." Then I seemed to reconsider. "Or you can sit on the floor over there but keep quiet." Lou and I had discussed how we wanted this to go.

Lou grinned at her first bite of food. "This is not the roast venison smothered in onions and mushrooms I'd planned for super, but it is damn good! Thanks Sonya!"

Lou asked Sonya whose idea it was to send Beth and Marianne for a king cake. I knew the answer already but Sonya confirmed it was Beth's. And when Beth was told she had to take a partner, she asked for Marianne to go along. "Well, from what I gather, Beth made a detour and picked up a bag containing a kilogram of crystal meth. Their stories are conflicting, but Beth has stated that Lenore sent her to get the drugs and is the person responsible." Sonya's expression was classic rage. She called Beth a 'lying cunt' and announced she'd like to kick the bitch's ass. I could not help but chuckle under my breath while I kept a straight expression.

"Lenore, you and I have to go to the police station when Bas and I finish eating. They want to talk with you and ask you to make a statement. They will likely read you your Miranda rights but I will be right there with you." Lou said. Lenore asked if she might be in trouble. She was playing the part of having absolutely no prior knowledge of anything. "Nope. Beth is the one claiming you masterminded the whole deal. Marianne already gave a different explanation. Well, for now. But I am sure the cops are going to point out differing testimony. If either one of the two talk without me being there, whatever they say is on them. Oh, Beth refused me as her attorney saying I would be on your side. She did not even wait for the public defender before she started talking." I heard a few gasps and whispering from the side.

"For now they are being held at the station, not the jail. The cops did a strip search and when they saw the chastity belts, they asked who ordered them. Both women said you did it along with shaving their heads. One of the cops laughed and said that was motive for the slaves to try to throw you under the bus. That works in our favor." She paused to take a bite. "Which reminds me, Bas. We need to take keys for the belts when we go back. Slaves are not allowed clothing at the regular jail and that includes chastity belts." she added.

Lou and I talked a bit while Lenore went to change her clothes. "So you don't think we will be able to bring them home tomorrow? Or maybe even tonight?" I asked.

Lou shook her head, "Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and the DA's office will want to close as early as they can. They are not going to want to work overtime. Everything will be backlogged. The jail is gonna be packed too. So is the induction center. I talked to Rachael Dubois this week and she told me since last Saturday was Christmas, there was no auction. They had a special sale on Tuesday and hardly anybody local showed up. Almost all the slaves went to the big buyers from Houston to be sold there. There will be no court until Tuesday and the DA's office will not have time to get their case ready and filed. I doubt you will see either of those slaves until the end of next week. Unless of course something happens like both slaves confess and take a plea."

"You don't think they will want to keep Lenore in jail also pending the investigation do you?" I asked. Lou shook her head.

"Not based solely on the testimony of a single slave with a grudge. Lenore's fingerprints were not on the bag." Lou stated. "A case against her is a non-starter legally but it could be a real pain in the ass given the timing."

From the entrance to living room I heard, "Daddy, can we come in and talk?" Joanne asked. I told her to come in. Lou and I were finishing our meal by this time. Robin followed Joanne and both sat down. "Uhh, we can explain what happened. It was an idea, well rather a little fantasy that went very wrong." Joanne began. I let her talk.

"Yeah, we were all upset with what Lenore did to us. Shaving our heads I mean. The other stuff well..." Joanne explained. "Okay, Beth had ideas to really screw Lenore over and frame her for a crime and get her actually enslaved as a way to get revenge." She went on to confirm everything I already knew from the video recording about Beth's intention to frame Lenore with drug possession. "We told Beth it was a fun fantasy but not to try it. Apparently she decided to go ahead."

Robin chimed in to say, "As soon as we heard Mom and Marianne had left the house, we called and texted them." She showed me their phones. Joanne and Robin had made repeated attempts to call but all were ignored and went to voicemail. Both Robin and Joanne then texted Beth with several messages that said, 'don't do it', 'it is not worth the risk' and 'don't be stupid'. From the times on the text messages, I knew they had been sent well before Beth was arrested. "The last messages was repeated by both phones to each of the women and read. "If you bring that stuff home, we will tell Bas. Throw it away!" Beth and Marianne had obviously ignored the messages. I thanked the two girls for their honesty.

They did not realize it until much later, but their confessions and attempts to stop the two saved their own asses from an additional sentence for conspiracy to enslave. Their actions would also allow for possible manumission or early release to freedom which would have not been possible with the extra conviction. Lou had both girls give a video statement instead of taking them to the police station. We took their phones and returned to the police station with Lenore.

Kathy had not requested for Lenore to come to the station. That was just our ploy to see if Joanne and Robin would own up to the plan. At the station we were told that upon hearing she was facing an additional ten to fifteen years enslavement for possession with intent to sell, Marianne had changed her story once again to say she knew nothing about the drugs. Her mother had been sent to pick up a bag and that was all she knew.

I sat in Kathy Bishop's office to observe Marianne escorted naked through the office and told to get dressed at a desk. She saw Lenore across the room writing something and then taken towards the interrogation rooms. Thinking her interview was over, she began to talk to the nice policeman who escorted her. She had no idea the office area was wired. I watched a live feed from Kathy's office as the detective said. "You said your mother wanted money to hide away for her future retirement. That takes a lot of planning and work. So I'm guessing you were going to sell the stuff to kids at your school and turn the money over to your mother." Marianne immediately protested she would never do something like that. Her job was to stash the drugs in the shrubs when they got home and then take it inside the next morning to hide until they could put it in Lenore's..... she stopped realizing what she said. The officer appeared to not have caught the slip.

Helen Leblanc arrived shortly after being notified Lenore and I were there to give our statements. Lou talked a bit, explaining the events in a concise, cohesive manner. Kathy Bishop was present and listening. "I thought as much once I heard it was a couple of Bas' slaves involved and what they were saying." Helen offered.

"This kind of thing happens far more rarely than you would think. Not that slaves being convicted criminals would not try to commit further crimes, but because few have the opportunity." Helen offered. "Most accusations by a slave their owner is committing a crime are unfounded. And when the dust settles, the slave is soundly chastised and, or sold. Slaves think they can get away with saying whatever and it will be accepted as normal testimony. There are, of course, cases to the contrary. The owner is a criminal using his slaves as cover for his illicit activities. Which is one reason slaves on their own in public are watched. Bas, you and Derek are nice guys. You let your slaves go out in public, work and basically give them freedoms many others do not, except for older established slaves." Helen continued.

"From what I see here, you have four of your slaves discussing a plan to frame a free woman for a crime to get her enslaved. Two wanted no part in the conspiracy. They tried to dissuade the one, Beth, from continuing but were ignored. The fourth went along and has no idea which way to turn now she is caught, but she certainly has not decided to admit her participation either. Her statement to the detective fully incriminates her on both charges." I agreed with what she was saying as did Lenore and Lou.

"How hard do you really want me come down on the younger woman? I have her dead to rights on the possession charges. The conspiracy to enslave would take a little more work, but I have a great case there as well. My question to you is this. The girl is eighteen. Only yesterday she had a future with only a five year conviction. Now for the drugs alone she is facing another ten years easy making her thirty three when free. And I could get fifteen years if I push. The conspiracy will likely add fifteen to that, making her forty eight to fifty three. Far too old to have kids etc. Now, because of the nature of the individual charges, the three time rule will not apply. You could always appeal for early manumission if you want later. How do you want to approach it? Now normally, I go for the full sentence allowed on blatantly guilty parties like these slaves, but you know your slave and if you feel I should give her a break, then I will "

"I hate to see her burned to the ground." I said."But I had already considered this with my own stepdaughter and this girl's older sister. I had decided if they stuck to their guns to frame Lenore, I would let the chips fall where they may. They did a turn around, confessed what they had talked about and are ready to testify. They gave us video statements. I want to give Marianne the same opportunity. If she recounts, then drop the conspiracy charge, and if not, go for the max." I turned to Lenore. "Is that okay with you? I do not want this to be my decision alone. You were their target."

"I agree with you totally." Lenore said. "Let's see how Marianne responds to the opportunity on her own."

Lenore and I watched through the one-way mirror as Lou, Kathy and Helen all sat in front of Marianne in the interview room. Kathy said simply, "Marianne, we have done several interviews. I want you to tell us once again about Lenore Angelle's involvement with obtaining the drugs you had in your possession when you were arrested."

"Uhhh, I don't know for sure, because I never talked to Lenore about it or heard from her, but my Mom said Lenore sent us to get those drugs and bring them back." Kathy asked if Marianne knew the bag contained drugs. "Yeah, it was crystal meth. I was just riding along, but I think Mom was supposed to turn the drugs over to Lenore when we got home."

"So you are saying Lenore Angelle directed you and your mother to retrieve the narcotics you had in your possession knowing it was crystal meth." Helen concluded. Marianne barely hesitated before she agreed that was the case. She either forgot she had told a different story earlier or thought the cop had not reported it.

I shook my head sadly. Lenore patted me on the back. "The girl could not go against her mother, no matter what it cost her." Lenore said. "Stupid, but I understand her sense of family loyalty. Family above everything." Apart from Lenore, I alone understood what she was saying. Helen and Kathy looked at her quizzically.

Helen said she would take it from there. Both she and Kathy proclaimed Beth a cancer in my household that I needed to excise. I agreed. I already had some thoughts in that direction.

Helen would not be able to get her case against Marianne presented before a judge until the following Tuesday at the earliest and that would be if she rushed it through. Beth, being a lifer, got a summary decision the very next day. Since it was Friday before the three day holiday the magistrate rubber stamped the conviction without more than a cursory look at the evidence. That Beth was already facing life enslavement meant her freedom was not impacted. But her record indicated she now had life plus another twenty five for drug possession with intent to sell and conspiracy to enslave. Not that it mattered, she could only be enslaved until sixty five. The only thing that might change was her living arrangements in the distant future, complete freedom versus imposed halfway house. She was remanded to my custody.