Mystery At Mystery Lake Ch. 02

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racism, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

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Special note: This story is submitted for the CRIME AND PUNISHMENT 2023 Story Event. It is a Police procedural, detailing Police actions from discovery of the crime to the apprehension of the perpetrator(s).

Because just about all of my stories are 'crime and punishment' in some way, I am using characters from my Iron Crowbar series. I will make references to past cases for those who may wish to review them and get a more complete context of this story within the overall series. Apologies in advance if that is distracting.

Part 8 - New Dangers (continued)

5:30pm, Monday, May 9th. With Teresa in tow, I drove up to the Psychology Building and parked in the slot with the sign that said 'Authorized Vehicles Only', knowing full well that no one was going to complain about a Police vehicle, much less try to tow it.

We went inside, up the stairs and down the hallway to Laura's office through the side door, bypassing the formal front entrance where Laura's receptionist Laurie stood guard like Cerberus guarding the entrance to Hades. Inside, we found Carl and Chris Bacon, Sherry Estrich, and Charlene Theranikos sitting on the two sofas that faced each other. Laura was at the end of the sofas in her desk chair, which she'd brought over from behind her desk.

I sat down at the end of the sofa, to Carl's left and Laura's right, and Teresa sat to Sherry's right and Laura's left. "So what happened?" I asked. All four of the Witnesses began talking at once, so I raised my hand for quiet, getting it, then said "Charlene, you first."

Charlene said "As you know, Sherry and I live in the Heritage Cloisters gated community. Since we got control of the HOA Board again, we hired a company to do our groundskeeping and landscaping for every HOA-dues-paying home." (Author's note: 'Schoolhouse Rock' for the HOA Board case.)

Charlene: "When we hired them, they put out an email with photos of every one of their workers. And when they hire someone new, they send a 'welcome' letter with that person's photo, saying 'if you see him or her, say hello'. But we all know it's a security feature, so that we recognize who should be on the grounds, and can spot anyone who is not legit."

Charlene: "The legit workers wear bright, fluorescent green shirts, and sometimes orange vests like construction workers wear. Well, earlier today I looked out my window and saw two men in dark blue pants, light blue shirts, and yellow vests---"

"More like telephone company workers?" I asked.

"Yes, just like them." Charlene said. "They were pretending to clip the bushes around my house, but they kept looking inside. That's when I called Security. I never saw their car, but those two guys left quickly just a moment after I called."

"Did you see any suspicious vehicles?" I asked.

"Yes, a white van, parked just past my driveway. It wasn't marked at all." Charlene said. "I didn't see it drive off, but it disappeared when I looked out again a few minutes later."

"Ubiquitous white van, and ready to pull right into your driveway." Laura said. "What did you do then?"

"I called you, Laura." Charlene said. Turning to me, she said "She told me to pack a bag of clothes and toiletries I'd need for one or two nights, and that she'd come pick me up. She did, and then we picked up Sherry, who'd called Laura, also."

I turned to Sherry, who said "Earlier this afternoon, I drove to the Post Office and then the grocery story, the Kroger nearest the subdivision. I had a weird feeling as I was driving to the grocery store, like I was being watched. But I didn't see any car blatantly following me."

Sherry: "However, when I got to the Kroger, I saw a drone flying around the corner of the building. When I came back out, I saw another drone, which looked bigger, flying over the parking lot. I drove home, and about 30 minutes later I looked out my front window and saw a blue Toyota Corolla that looked strangely familiar to me. I realized I'd seen it in the Kroger parking lot near where I had been parked. I also saw a drone flying by, and it flew up toward's Charlene's house. I immediately called Laura, and she said to pack a bag and she was coming to get me."

Laura said "Sherry called just before Charlene did. I believe that the van Charlene saw was ready to pull into her driveway when the men entered the house. And I believe whoever she called in the Security office tipped off the perps."

"I entirely agree." I said. "Did either of you ladies notice anything over the weekend?"

The women exchanged glances, then looked over at Carl and Chris. Carl said "All four of us were at Sherry's house over the weekend. We'd originally planned to camp at Mystery Lake Friday night, hike the trails Saturday and camp Saturday night, then come home Sunday. After that got cut short, we just camped out at Sherry's."

"Did you guys have any problems today?" I asked, sensing that they had.

"Yes sir." said Carl. "I almost never walk anywhere alone, and I was walking a couple of girls to class when one of them noticed a drone that seemed to be following us. We stopped and looked at it, and it flew on ahead of us, and then we saw another drone further in the distance that always seemed to be around us."

Chris said "I was at baseball practice today, and there were several drones in the air. We all remarked on them, and asked the coaches if they were filming us for some sort of promotional or recruiting video. They said no, then began wondering if they were spy drones for State Tech or (Wildcat School)."

Chris: "We rarely have anyone watch us practice. Maybe a reporter from The Silver Sentinel will be there, maybe a scout for a pro team or league." The Silver Sentinel was the University's student newspaper. Chris went on: "But today I saw two men in the bleachers, wearing sportscoats and slacks, and wearing hats like the comics show the Press wearing. They were gone before practice was over, and I didn't see them again, but I had an odd feeling about them."

I took out my Police iPhone and brought up a photo. I said "Are either of these men the one's you saw at your window, Charlene?" I toggled between the photos.

"Yes! He was one of them!" exclaimed Charlene. I showed Teresa and Laura the photo. It was Gary Fenton. I then showed Carl and Chris the photos.

"Whoa!" Carl exclaimed. "Those are the two guys that were burying the body Friday night!"

"Yes. Yes they are." I said, putting my phone back in my pocket. "Have you seen either of them since? Following you around? Were these the two guys at the baseball field?"

"No sir." said Chris. "They were about the same age, but the guys I saw were taller. One of them may have been blonde, but it was hard to tell from the distance I was from them." I felt something, and shifted my head enough to see that Laura was peering straight at me.

"David Carter and Jeff Bayport?" I asked quietly. Laura nodded. (Author's note: 'Long Cool Woman' for more on David Carter.)

I said out loud: "Okay, guys, we're going to put you up for the night, under guard." To Laura I said "The safehouse at Tower Condos?"

"That's twice you've read my mind, darling." Laura said, then added a bit acerbically. "Now I know where Carole gets it from." My return look at her did not convey amusement...

Part 9 - Crowbars In The Night

7:30pm, Monday, May 9th. University Avenue is one of the main roads running through the Town & County. It separates the University campus on its east side from the Town on the west side. It was five lanes of traffic, with the middle lane being left turn lanes where needed.

At the southern border of the University campus, there were two identical 8-floor buildings standing side-by-side. Bordering University Avenue was the University Hotel, running lengthwise west-to-east, its hotel room windows looking north and south. To it's east was the Tower Condos, which had been built as luxury hotel suites for rich University Boosters, but was later sold and the units within renovated, upgraded and updated, and sold as condominium homes.

A procession of people entered University Hotel by the front entrance: Lt. Cmdr. Teresa Croyle, Dr. Laura Fredricson, Carl Bacon, Chris Bacon, Sherry Estrich, Charlene Theranikos, Officer Jason Folby, and Your Iron Crowbar (me) bringing up the rear. The witnesses had their small suitcases with them.

We crowded onto the elevator, which was on the south side of the building, opposite the lobby to the north side. I inserted a key into a keyhole on the elevator panel and turned it, then pressed the "L" (lobby, the floor we were on) three times. The elevator descended to the basement level. We got off the elevator and walked to our right (east as the crow flies) to the door at the end of the hall. Teresa opened the door to reveal the stairwell, freshly painted bright gray. The stairs went back up to the first floor.

Everyone not in the know were looking around, confused. And then I came up to the gray metal door on what appeared to be the side wall of the building. The sign on it said "Danger! High Voltage Inside!" I inserted a key, which was on the same ring with the smaller key I'd used in the elevator, and opened the door, which swung out towards us.

Looking inside, everyone saw a second stairwell, seemingly identical to the inner one that we were in. But this stairwell continued downwards!

I herded everyone into the secret stairwell, and Teresa led the line down the half-flight of stairs. This door had no keyhole; a keycode had to be entered to unlock it. Teresa punched in the code and opened the door. Lights turned on inside, revealing a tunnel. Teresa led us through.

"What is this place?" Jason Folby asked as we walked through the tunnel.

I replied "This tunnel connects University Hotel and the Tower Condos. When they built the two buildings, now-Sheriff Griswold recommended putting a tunnel between the buildings, in case of a hostage situation or if an evacuation was needed."

At the end of the tunnel, Teresa led everyone through another metal door. The stairwell was identical but mirror-image to the one we'd left. We went up the stairs and through to the basement level, which was darker than the Hotel's; it was not used nearly as much, and was poorly lit. I put my key into the keyhole on the wall by the elevator and turned it, and a moment later the elevator car descended to pick us up. I only needed to press the "6" button, and seconds later we were exiting the elevator onto the sixth floor.

Laura led us to our left (westward) to an apartment and opened it with her key. The condo was not large. It had a nice living room, and the back wall was glass windows and a door to the balcony. The view was to the north, overlooking the University campus. There were two bedrooms, one to either side, also with windows giving the same view of the Campus. A kitchen was to the right, and a study/game room/computer room was to the left.

"Okay, guys." I said. "There is a ton of Chinese takeout in the refrigerator, compliments of the Town & County Police Force. You'll have to heat it up, but there are dishes and the microwave available for your use. Officer Folby and Dr. Fredricson will be staying with you tonight. Theoretically, the women have one bedroom and the guys the other, but I'm not an Agency of the Weak-Minded, so I suspect you won't be adhering to that."

Everyone except Teresa laughed, then I continued: "You cannot leave for any reason. If you need something, ask Laura or Jason, and they will communicate with me. We have your cellphones at Police Headquarters; if they are called, we will answer on your behalves. You can't have them here because the people following you have the means to ping your cellphones, which would give your location away."

"What about our husbands?" Sherry asked. "What if they call?"

I smiled as I replied: "We have that under control. We'll tell them you lost your cellphone and it was turned in to the Police, and we were planning on returning it to you tomorrow during normal business hours. If they ask how we know it's yours, we'll say we called 9-1-1 on it, and they told us the number that was calling them, and the rest was easy to find out."

"That's smart." said Jason Folby.

I said "But I don't anticipate any real problems, there. Sherry, your husband is in Washington, lobbying on behalf of BigPharmaCorp. Charlene's husband is Rio, and Chris and Carl's parents are at home in Palmyra County. So you can relax on that. Okay, we'll leave you alone, and we'll be back tomorrow morning."

Teresa and I left them, and we returned to University Hotel via the tunnel. Instead of going to the lobby, however, I pushed the button to go to the 5th floor. Once there, we went down the hallway to a room. Two TCPD Officers were sitting by the door, and rose to their feet as we came up.

"All good?" I asked.

"Yes sir." said Officer Ben Jones. "No problems, so far. Wade Garrett and his attorney Edward Parker got room service half an hour ago."

'Parker is still here?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes sir." said Jones. "He may stay all night, too. He says he doesn't trust you, sir, and he won't leave his client alone with you."

"It ain't me he's worried about." I replied. "Have you guys eaten?"

Officer Jim Madison said "Lieutenant Kalsu and Sergeant Hawley went to dinner, and will relieve us to go eat when they get back."

"Okay, good." I said. I went to the next room down, Teresa following with curiosity on her attractive face. The door opened to reveal Patrolman Ragnar Magnussen. Also in the room was Patrolman Daunte Wagner. "How's it going, guys?" I asked as Teresa and I went inside the room.

"Just fine, sir." said Wagner. "We've got their cellphones right there on the table, but no one has tried to call nor even send a text message."

"Good." I said. I had fibbed when I said the phones were at Headquarters. I was expecting Gil Cox and Gary Fenton and their Swamp Frog cronies to ping the phones, and I wanted them to see those pings as coming from here.

Satisfied with my arrangements, I invited Teresa to supper at the University Hotel's restaurant on the first floor. While eating, Teresa said "We have a safehouse? I didn't know that."

I replied "I only knew about it because I'm married to a former Deputy Director of the CIA's Science and Technology Directorate. What actually happened is that when Laura came to the University here, long before I ever set foot in this Town, the CIA bought that condo as a safehouse or just where Laura's visitors could stay. When she formally retired from the CIA, they sold the condo to her for $1. So she's the one who said we could use it for our Witnesses tonight."

Teresa said "Is it just me thinking this, or is Laura more interested in this case than normal?"

I replied "That's Iron Crowbar thinking there. Sure you don't want a crowbar of your own?" We'd had that repartée often; this time, Teresa did not dignify it with a response. So I continued: "Yes, this one has her attention. As you know, as a Professor of Sexual Psychology, Laura loves studying open marriages, Stag and Vixen, and cuckold relationships, and that's what the Hot Wives Tennis League is all about."

I continued: "Second, Laura is a member of the Hot Wives Tennis League, and she knows these people very well... and she knows Carl and Chris Bacon intimately. She's one of the women those young studs have 'spitroasted'... and probably will again tonight."

I went on: "And third, and possibly most importantly, Laura knows how dangerous the Jeff Bayport Rogue SEAL Team was, and how dangerous their remnants are to this day. You know what Quint Starr did to Todd, and how that cost us Lieutenant Irwin's life. Trent Ridge tried to kidnap Carole, then tried to murder her. I definitely hold grudges, especially about my family. Well, so does Laura. She wants to destroy those slugs as much as I do."

"And as much as I do." said Teresa. After all, Todd was her husband, and Lieutenant Irwin had been very loyal to her, and that respect and loyalty had been a two-way street. (Author's note: 'A Death In The Family' for both Ridge and Starr.)

Teresa then said "I guess Edward N. Parker is logging a ton of billable hours if he's staying overnight with Wade Garrett. Is he really that afraid of you? yet he lets the TCPD guard his client in the hotel room?"

"I think he just said that about me so they wouldn't kick him out." I replied. "And I seriously doubt it's Wade Garrett that's paying what he's billing, if he's billing anything."

Teresa said "Who is he protecting? Matthew Willis? What's to protect? Is Willis behind the killing of Sage Garrett? Or maybe one or more of the others we found?"

I said "I don't know. Willis may just be protecting his business relationship with Garrett. I don't profess to understand all of it, at least not yet. But what worries me a lot more... a lahhhht more... is that even if we capture Gil Cox and Gary Fenton, and even if they, or Wade Garrett, or Matthew Willis is behind Sage's murder, we have to prove it in Court. And so far, we don't have a shred of evidence..."

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"Oh yeah, that looks sooooo good." Charlene Theranikos moaned as she watched the hot, raw action on the bed in the bedroom behind the kitchen. "Fuck her, Carl! Fuck her with that huge, hard cock of yours."

"Yeah, bro. Give it to her." said Chris Bacon, who was sitting on the bedroom chair. Charlene was sitting on top of him, her back pressed into his muscular chest, and his 8 1/2 inch cock buried to the hilt in Charlene's warm, wet cunt.

They were watching the two couples on the king-size bed. On the side nearest the window, Sherry Estrich was lying on her side in a fetal position, facing the middle of the bed and the other couple, her knees drawn up almost to her small breasts. Spooning her and thrusting his eight inches into Sherry's sopping wet cunt was Jason Folby.

They were all watching the hot rutting couple lustily humping on the bed. Carl Bacon was on top of Laura Fredricson in the missionary position, plowing her deep, fur-fringed furrow with his thick nine-plus inches of hard male meat. The beautiful raven-haired woman moaned deeply as she received the young stud's cock with practiced excellence, showing why she was the premier college sex professor in the Nation. She practiced what she preached.

Her long, luscious legs were pulled way back, her shapely feet high in the air and pointing to the ceiling, caught under Carl's arms as he was mounted on top of her in a pushup position. He was pistoning his prick in and out of Laura's deep cunt with hard, steady thrusts, plunging into her again and again, withdrawing until just the helmeted head was inside her labes, only to shove his hips and ass forward, burying his full length to the hilt in her stretched, stuffed snatch.