Mystery At Mystery Lake Ch. 01

Cindy: "Damien told her he did not consider that to be sufficient to mitigate the damage that was done. Bettina said that was all she could do, and she terminated the phone call. Soooo, I called the owner of KXTC, State Senator Katherine Woodburn, myself. I went through the treatment of Damien, followed by what Bettina had said."

Cindy: "Then I told Katherine that the TCPD and Public Safety Department did not consider this incident closed, and that formal complaints to the FCC, public statements by the Public Safety Department, and possibly a criminal investigation of Amber Harris for public endangerment were in consideration. Katherine asked me to give her time to look into the matter and take corrective action. That's not an unfair request, so I said okay."

Cindy paused, then said "Now for the fun part. An hour later, Bettina called me. She asked me to set up a meeting with you, Don. I asked her what it was about, and she said she didn't want to talk about it over the phone... even though we were both on cellphones, which should be secure."

"Except when the Federal Government wants to listen in." I replied acerbically.

"Touché." the Green Crowbar replied. "Anyhoo, I told her that I seriously doubted you would talk to her, no matter what it was about. So she asked to meet with me. I know you'll be pissed about it, Don, but I agreed to the meeting."

I said "Don't anticipate my reaction. Just tell us what happened."

Cindy said "Bettina came to City Hall and to my office. I had Damien Thompson in there with me, and Bettina didn't object. Bettina said that everything was formally off the record, and asked us not to spread the news that she'd come to visit us. I snarkily asked her where that sense of desire for privacy was when Amber was putting our witnesses's lives on the line by putting their names and faces up on her newscast... and Bettina said that that was why she came to talk to me."

Our food came, and we ate as Cindy continued her tale:

"Bettina said that she did not authorize Amber to give out that information, and she did not know Amber was going to give that information out. After the broadcast, when she asked Amber why Amber had done that, Amber got huffy and said the information was legitimately obtained, and that the Public had the right to know. Bettina was puzzled, but didn't say any more about it... until Katherine Woodburn called and tore Bettina a new asshole."

Cindy: "So now Bettina feels like she is caught in the middle of something, between two walls moving in on her, and she wants you, Don, to know that whatever it is, she's not a part of it."

"Noted." I said simply.

Cindy said "Don, this could be an opportunity to break Bettina to your fist, to use a little falconry lingo, there. And maybe heal some of the rifts between the two of you."

Cindy had always been trying to diffuse my war with the Press, and it had led to some rifts between me and Cindy in the past. And this was her latest attempt. I wanted no part of it, so I shut Cindy down.

"No." I said. "I want no part of Bettina nor KXTC, except as the defendants of my lawsuit against them. My goal remains the same, to bankrupt them, to destroy them. I will have nothing to do with Bettina, despite her (air quotes) 'random act of honesty."

Cindy peered hard at me, and my gray eyes just looked squarely into her ice-blue peepers. She finally looked down at her plate with looks that connoted both anger and resignation.

*CHIME!*

It was my Police iPhone chiming. "It's Mary Milton." I said. "She has identified the latest victim..."

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

12:50pm, Monday, May 9th. Upon arriving back at Police Headquarters, I asked Teresa to convene everyone in Classroom 'E' at 1:00pm. At the appointed time, I followed the Chief into the room. Everyone there stood up when he entered, and he told them to take their seats as he and I sat down. Team Teddy, Officer Jason Folby, Captain Claire Michaels and Lt. Joanne Warner were in attendance, as well.

"I feel not unlike a fool." Mary Milton said when she was (immediately) called upon. "I didn't check the IDs of the students of Town Technical Institute." TTI was a vocational junior college in Town. "Props to Mister Roark for thinking of it and asking me about it." Roark Coleman tried to look humble, but was not very successful.

"Don't feel bad." I said. "I didn't think of it, either. Good job, Mr. Roark. So what did you find, Mary?"

Mary Milton put a TTI student ID up on the monitor screen. She was an attractive natural redhead, relatively short and slender. Mary said "I got a hit from our facial rec. This is Sage Garrett, 19 years old. She does not have a drivers license, and I have no idea why not. She is enrolled in TTI's Nursing program, and had a 3.5 GPA."

Two DMV photos were put on the monitor matrix. One was of a man in what looked like his early 50s, with dark hair with flecks of gray and a lot of graying around the temples. He looked like a company CEO, and my instincts told me he was a 'Big Boyz' wannabee. His ID listed him at 5'8", 'average' height at best. The woman was in her late 40s or upper 50s and very attractive, with auburn-to-brown hair with blonde highlights. She was listed as 5'4" tall.

Mary said "Sage is... was... the daughter of Wade Garrett and Silvia Sage Garrett. He is a graduate of State Tech, and he is the CEO of a company called 'CNC Wafers, Inc.' It has two facilities. One of them is listed as the Headquarters of the company, and it's a production plant near Pottsville, along the railroad that parallels the University-City Highway. It makes printed circuit boards of various sizes, and their largest client by far is Matthew Willis's BigCommunicationsCorp, a.k.a. 'BigCommo'."

I said "One of the 'Big Boy' Corporate Elites, both the company and the man. And you say they are Mr. Garrett's biggest client?"

"By far, sir." Mary replied, not liking my interjection, but tolerating it since I was her direct chain-of-command boss. She continued: "The other, smaller facility is listed as the Research Facility, and it's in an office space very near where Dr. Peter Frost had his offices and the Swamp Frog Federal Agents had their secret offices." (Author's note: 'Private Practice'; 'God Save The Queen', Ch. 01)

Mary put up another photo of the Garretts, at a formal function. I immediately noticed Mrs. Garrett's shapely body and especially her lovely legs. When it comes to women, Your Iron Crowbar is a 'leg man', fer damn sure.

Mary said "The Garretts have been married almost 20 years, and Sage was born five months after the wedding, so we can figure out what happened there. His main home is on Reservoir Drive, which is the road in Nextdoor County that runs along Reservoir Lake, just as Reservoir Road does on our side of the Lake. Their subdivision contains homes much larger and more expensive than the Sheriff's neighborhood."

Mary: "About a year ago, which would correspond to the time Sage Garrett graduated Nextdoor County High School... another failure on my part to look at them, though they don't issue photo IDs, either... Mrs. Garrett moved out of their house, and Mr. Garrett... him, not her... initiated divorce proceedings. He is trying to cut her completely out and leave her with nothing, citing adultery on her part, while she is filing for half of the company and the money."

Mary: "The case has been very bitterly contested and has dragged on, but City Attorney Tina Felton, who once was a divorce attorney, told me that Mr. Garrett was likely going to win the case and leave Mrs. Garrett with nothing at all."

"What about custody of Sage?" asked Jason Folby.

Mary: "She was eighteen when the divorce was filed, so there is no custody involved; she was legally an adult. Anyhoo, Mrs. Garrett is living in the River Valley subdivision, which is just west of the more affluent Heritage Cloisters. It has its own County Club, but the River Valley Tennis League merged in with the Heritage Cloisters Tennis League, so they don't compete with each other in the State League."

"Hold it." I said, catching a 'vibe'. I looked over at Officer Jason Folby, who had been looking increasingly sheepish. "Mr. Folby, is there something that you'd like to share with the class?"

Folby about jumped out of his skin, then looked pained. He said "I don't know for absolute sure, sir... but I think Silvia Garrett is in the Hot Wives Tennis League, and she's one of the women Carl and Chris Bacon... er..."

"Spitroasted!" Roark Coleman called out happily.

"I've already told you that's offensive, Detective Coleman." Joanne said, her voice as ugly as her look at him. He just glared back at her.

"Get over it, Warner!" I said sternly, also glaring at her." Turning to Folby, I said "Thank you for sharing that, Folby. It might be important. Mary, do you have anything else?"

"Just some financial information, sir." Mary replied. "Mrs. Garrett has money in a trust from when her parents died, and Mr. Garrett could never touch it. So she's not destitute. She never dipped into it until the last year, probably to pay legal fees as well as living expenses. Mr. Garrett does what most of the Big Boy Corporate Elites do... run their expenses through their businesses."

Mary: "But Mr. Garrett has had to pay his lawyers through his personal accounts. And there's one payment of $100,000 just this last Friday. It was not to any law firm, but was to a shell account that subsequently routed the payment to the Cayman Islands. I haven't yet pierced that veil, and may need Federal help to go down that rabbit hole."

"Keep working on it." I said. "In the meantime, we have some investigating to do. Captain Michaels, I'm going to egregiously go over your head and make some assignments." Captain Michaels wisely nodded in acquiescence.

I said "I want you, Jason, you, Roark, and you, Lieutenant Parker, to come with me to Mr. Garrett's home in Nextdoor County. Lieutenant Warner, you and Sergeant Rodriguez go see Mrs. Garrett. Chief Evans, Commander Croyle, if you'd like to go with them, I'd appreciate it."

Me: "Here is the key to all this, folks. Do NOT tell them that Sage is dead. If and when they ask, tell them that she's missing and that we're checking up on her. If they ask who notified us, don't answer. Remember that you are asking the questions, not them."

Me: "Warner, Rodriguez, after initial questions or if she asks, bring Mrs. Garrett to Mr. Garrett's home. I don't think you'll have any problems getting her to come with you. Also, be very sure to note her first, initial reaction after she's told Sage is missing; in fact, it'd be great if someone had a bodycam on over your armor to record it..."

Part 7 - Sage Interviews

2:15pm, Monday, May 7th. Detective Roark Coleman and Officer Jason Folby were riding with me in my Police SUV, Roark in the shotgun seat. Lieutenant Teddy Parker was following in his vehicle... with TCPD Chief Sean Moynahan. Why the Chief wanted to ride along, I didn't know. But he's the Chief, he had his armor on, and so he was with us.

"Sir," asked Jason Folby, "are you sure Mr. Garrett is at home right now? Did you try to call him?"

I said "I didn't call; I didn't want to scare him nor tip him off until I had eyes on him, to observe what he does. And yes, I think it's highly likely he is at home,"

We drove out of our County on the University-City Highway. Not very far down the road was the Lakeside Inn & Suites. We went a little further down and turned onto Reservoir Drive. The Garrett home was one of the most expensive of the houses along the Lake, and was near the end of the subdivision road. A smaller road curved on around to meet Reservoir Road at the County Line. Since there was a gate on the road preventing thru traffic, that road was not used much.

The driveway was gated. I did not ring the bell, but punched in an eight-digit passcode, and the gate opened. As I drove inside, Folby asked in a stunned voice "How did you do that, sir? Did you call ahead for the code?"

I grinned as I said "I started a business before I became a Police Officer, and I still have it though I don't do a lot with it. It was selling security systems of all kinds, and most people don't know that their systems almost always have a manufacturer's code... and I have memorized every one of them."

"And we're not trespassing, sir?" Roark asked. "We don't need a warrant?"

"Exigent circumstances." I replied. "Missing daughter... well, dead daughter, but Mr. Garrett doesn't know that yet."

"At least he shouldn't." said Roark Coleman. I nodded vigorously in agreement.

Stopping in front of the house, we got out of our vehicles and walked up to the large doors with lead-glass inlays in an intricate pattern. I had Folby ring the bell and be the one to speak, since he was an NCPD Officer.

It took four rings, the last being a bit 'persistent', to get a response. We finally heard a male voice inside saying "All right, all right! Hold your horses, I'm coming!" An instant later the door was thrown open and Wade Garrett said "Yeah?--- oh, Police Officers. What's this about?"

"Can we come in for a moment, sir?" Jason Folby said politely.

"What's it about?" Garrett asked warily.

"Sir, we need to speak to you about your daughter." Folby said, having been coached by me as we drove over.

"What about her?" Garrett said, making no move to allow us inside.

I stepped up between Roark and Jason and said "Mr. Garrett, I am Commander Donald Troy of the Town & County Police, working in partnership with the Nextdoor County Police. We need to speak with you about your daughter. Can we come inside, or would you prefer we take you to the Police Station, and talk there?"

It is possible that the red crowbar I was holding made Wade Garrett back down. He scowled, then said "All right, come in." We followed him inside and to a large, paneled room to the left, which was a den, a study, and a television room rolled into one.

"Okay, what is this about my daughter?" Garrett asked once we were in the room.

Jason Folby said "Sir, when was the last time you heard from your daughter?"

"It's been... days." Garrett said. "Maybe a few weeks. Why?"

I said harshly "Sir, we are investigating a report that your daughter is missing. Do you have any idea where she may be right now?"

"I... I don't know." Garrett said, standing still, not moving his hands at all. "If she's not at school or at her apartment, she may be with her mother. Have you checked with her?"

I replied "Yes, we are checking with her mother---"

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

Wade Garrett looked totally shocked as a cellphone in his right-leg pants pocket rang. He fished it out, looked at it, then pressed a button to make it stop ringing. "Sorry." he said as he returned the cellphone to the same pocket, "that was a client. I can call him back later. So you were saying something about my daughter being missing? I'm sure she just went somewhere with a boyfriend for the weekend, and she'll turn back up. Who reported her missing?"

I was looking around the room, and I was seeing no pictures of Mr. Garrett's family, not even his daughter. Not one. I said "No Mr. Garrett, she is missing. But to your point of a boyfriend, who might she have gone somewhere with? Does she have any friends we can contact, that might can ascertain her whereabouts?"

"Uh, her mother probably knows who to call better than I would." said Garrett. "You really need to talk to her---"

*CHIME!*

That was my Police iPhone. I looked at the message that said "We're here." I typed in a reply: "Come on in."

A minute later, the doorbell rang, and as Chief Moynahan went to answer it, Wade Garrett finally caught on, and said "How are you people getting through the outer gate? No one has rung the bell to ask to get in."

No one answered, and a second later Chief Evans, Commander Croyle, Lieutenant Warner, and Detective Sergeant Rodriguez came in... with Silvia Garrett. "Where is my daughter? she angrily asked Wade.

"I don't know." said Wade. "I figured she was with you!"

I said "Mrs. Garrett, I am Commander Donald Troy of the TCPD---"

"Yes, I've heard of you." Silvia said, her eyes glowing as they devoured me. "The Iron Crowbar. I've always wanted to meet you."

"Unfortunately, the circumstances are not good." I said. "Have you been informed that your daughter Sage is missing?"

"Yes." said Silvia. Then her eyes turned reptilian as she looked over at Wade. "Where is she, Wade?"

"Again, how the hell should -I- know?" Garrett fired back. "You're the one they should be asking, not me!"

I said "I'm afraid that's not quite true, Mr. Garrett. Detective Rodriguez, what was the first thing Mrs. Garrett did when you told her that her daughter was missing?"

Julia Rodriguez replied "She tried to call Sage, sir. The phone rang a couple of times, then went to voicemail."

I said "Thank you. And Mr. Garrett, that is the reaction most people make when told a relative or friend is missing. They try to contact the missing person. But you, sir, did not. You didn't even go for your phone." And then it hit me: "Until it rang and you answered it."

Before Wade Garrett could answer, I said "Mrs. Garrett, would you be kind enough to call your daughter for us? And put it on speaker." Silvia fished out her cellphone, opened it and pressed a speed-dial button.

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

We all looked at Wade Garrett, whose face showed total shock. I said "Mr. Garrett, your phone is ringing again." Garrett hurriedly fished out the cellphone. As he looked at it, I swiped it out of his hand with a level of speed that he could not possibly defend against.

"Hey! Give that back to me!" Garrett yelled as I held it up for the rest of them to see. The photo on the ringing phone was Silvia's, and the name of the caller was 'Mom'.

"How is that possible?" asked Jason Folby.

"Oh my God!" yelled Silvia Garrett as it hit her. "What is going on here? That's Sage's phone; I recognize the cover! Why do you have Sage's phone in your pocket, Wade?"

I hit the answer button on the phone and said hello. We all heard my voice echo on Silvia's phone. I disconnected, then said "I think it's time you come correct, Mr. Garrett. I think you know what's going on. What's happened to your daughter?"

Wade Garrett wilted. He all but stumbled over to the sofa, then sat down heavily. "She's been kidnapped." he finally said.

"WHAT?!" Silvia roared. "You knew that? And you didn't say anything to me?"

"Nor did you call the Police. Nor the FBIiiiii." drawled Chief Moynahan.

"They said they'd kill her if I went to the Police!" Wade Garrett said, his voice miserable.

"Detective Rodriguez, start filming." I said, then turned to Wade Garrett and said "I also have to do this to protect your rights, as well as ourselves." With that, I read Wade Garrett his legal rights from the card as Julia videoed with her Police iPhone. When I finished, I said "Tell us what happened. All the way through. Be sure to not omit any details, anything at all."

Garrett said "On Saturday morning, the front doorbell rang. When I answered it, there was a cellphone on the doorstep. As soon as I picked it up, it rang and I answered it. A voice said for me to go back inside, and I did. Then the voice said 'We have your daughter'. They demanded a hundred thousand dollars, and said the instructions for wiring it was in a text file on the phone. They also said that if I said even one word to the Police, they'd send my daughter back one body part at a time. I knew they were watching me, and I was terrified."

Garrett: "Some years ago, I was invited to a seminar. It was taught to company CEOs and high-level Government officials. They said that ransoms are sometimes asked for, but the loved one isn't really kidnapped. So I asked for proof-of-life. Two hours later, I got a call on the burner phone. The same voice as before. He said check my doorstep. I did, and found that phone... it was Sage's. The voice also said to wire the money by nightfall, so I did."