Return To Point Hollow Ch. 01

As I disconnected, I looked up and the Chief and said "Twelve people were found in a farm field dead west of Point Hollow, but across the State Line. All of them alive. They're being transported to University Hospital..."

Part 4 - By The Dozen

Thanks to the foresight of Hospital Administrator Leonard R. Cordell, Dr. Morgan, and Dr. Fredricson, the Hospital had a good mass casualty program. Looking on a map, the Hospital is an "I" with the front entrance facing west. The northeast part of the top of the "I" had the Emergency Room, with the operating rooms on the floor above On the left (northwest) wing of that hallway were two large rooms that could hold 24 persons each. On the second floor above them were the delivery rooms that could be converted to emergency O.R.s, and the nurseries and neonatal care units.

These rooms were set up as triage areas, and one of the rooms was set up with pairs of double doors to be 'clean rooms' in the event of bioweapon casualties. Yes, they'd be overwhelmed by a true mass casualty event involving hundreds, but they had a different plan for that, involving erecting Army M.A.S.H. tents on the front lawn for triage.

The twelve persons were brought in, and Dr. Cordell and Dr. Morgan wore chem masks and disposable Tyvex suits while examining them. Also present were two Town & County HAZMAT persons, who were doing air testing.

I came up to the Hospital and parked in the 'Authorized Vehicles Only' area, and entering the Hospital from the ambulance bay entrance at the east end of the Emergency Room wing. Lieutenant Jerome Davis was with me. Detectives Julia Rodriguez and Teddy Parker came in Julia's car behind us.

We were met by the loveliest doctor on the Hospital Staff, in my opinion, anyway: my wife Dr. Laura Fredricson. She said "They're all stabilized, and Dr. Cordell thinks they are going to ultimately be all right. We've taken blood tests to see what is in their systems."

"Can you have someone do one more thing?" I asked. "See if they've been injected anywhere, especially on the back of the neck like the dead people were?" Laura said she'd do it herself. She 'suited up' and went into the triage room...

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

2:00pm, Wednesday, October 2nd. Classroom 'E' was full. Both ADA Savannah Fineman and DA Miriam Walters were in attendance, as was the Mayor and Sheriff. All Detectives had been called in, and Lt. Myron Milton was in the House, as well.

"Where is Detective Warner?" I asked as I took my seat.

Captain Perlman said "Sir, she's at the Library, doing research on Point Hollow. I asked her to continue to do that rather than stop and come here."

"That's fine." I said. I looked over at the Chief, who was at the near end of the table.

"It's your meeting, Mr. Crowbarrrr." the Chief said.

"Thank you, Chief." I said. "Okay, guys, this thing just got big. First of all, where and how were those twelve people found?"

Lt. Myron Milton said "First, some background. Going upriver, the State Line River turns northwest just above the bridge at the Hammondsville Road, but the State Line runs straight north. So there's a strip of land a few miles wide between the State Line that is the western border of the Point Hollow property, and the State Line River."

Myron: "We were flying drones over Point Hollow in increasingly wide circles, just to see what we could see. We spotted some bright colors, like red clothing and blue jeans, so we flew a drone to investigate, even though it was over the State Line. When we got closer, we could see it was people lying on the ground."

Myron: "We contacted the Hammondsville Police. Their Police Chief, Pascal Floyd, allowed us to send medics over the State Line to get to them quickly. We sent a couple of HAZMAT people with them, and they found no contamination. Then Sheriff Gleason and a Deputy came out, and they weren't really happy we were there. Fortunately, Hammondsville Police Detective Josh Segers showed up, and told the Sheriff that the Police Chief had authorized us to come in, in order to get medical attention to the people if they were alive. Indeed, they were all alive, but either totally unconscious or incoherent. They were all evacuated to University Hospital here, who treated it as a mass casualty event."

"If I may interrupt for one second." growled the Sheriff, who then said "I've talked to Sheriff Gleason and Chief Floyd, and I told them about the deaths at Point Hollow, and the similarity of those crimes to the people we found alive in their county. They've agreed to let us take the lead on both investigations, but we'll need to keep them in the loop."

I noted out of the corner of my eye that Savannah Fineman rolled her eyes at that. She was becoming an irritant to my harmony, but I let it go and concentrated on the case. I asked "How did those twelve get there?"

"We're still working on that, sir." said Captain Perlman. "We had gone around the house at Point Hollow, and no footprints were found in the backyard or side yards. The front yard and gravel driveway to the house were trampled on by all our people and cars. We hadn't crossed the State Line, but after we found these twelve, the CSIs all went up there and started looking... but there were no footprints anywhere on the farmland to the west of the fence that is one foot within the State Line."

Tanya: "Nearer the scene of where the living people were found, we did find some tire tracks, and we took photos and impressions. The Hammondsville Police monitor the area for drug traffic crossing the State Lines there, and said they saw nothing unusual all night... which counts for nothing except that it should have taken more than one vehicle to get twelve people to any one place."

"That's a good observation." I said. "So did you expand the search for footprints between Point Hollow and the place they were found, which is about a mile and a half apart?"

"Yes sir." said Jerome Davis. "The ground is mostly farmland, with some fallow fields the closer one gets to Point Hollow itself. The ground is fairly soft, and anyone walking over that terrain should've left prints, or drag marks or something. But there was nothing."

"Sir," said Julia Rodriguez, "I know this is going out on a limb, but if these people were affected by some kind of drugs and couldn't coherently walk together, it's be a huge coincidence for them to end up at the same place and collapse together. And if they walked together, we should've found evidence of that, but there was none."

"That is good thinking outside the box." I said. "It also assumes these twelve were at Point Hollow and ended up to our west. Is it not possible that everyone was at the spot the twelve were found, and the six dead were brought to Point Hollow?"

"I would say 'no sir'." said Julia Rodriguez fearlessly. "The people in the farm field were found in a loose, haphazard group. The dead bodies at Point Hollow were found in a circle, as if they'd been alive at that spot and fell dead in place to the ground. Also, the other chemicals were found around Point Hollow, but there was nothing at all found in the farm field, other than the twelve people."

"I'll buy that for a dollar." I said. "And it's easier to move living people than dead bodies. Okay, who are the twelve people? And are there any connections to our six dead people?"

Teddy Parker spoke up: "I found one connection, sir. "One of the living girls is named Sarah Wood. She's a University student, and she is the roommate of Lisa Rowland, one of the six dead persons. Of the twelve survivors, there were four that were University students: Sarah Wood, Irene Ward, Aaron Bennett, and Thomas Hall. We're still getting data on them, but Sarah Wood has two arrests for marijuana possession in amounts for which she could've been charged with Distribution, and Aaron Bennett has two DUI convictions."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"No sir, it's still early." said Captain Perlman. "Sonali and Lainie are melting the wires as we speak."

"That's all?" called out Miriam Walters. "That's all you've got?"

I turned to face her. "Exactly what do you expect us to have, Ms. Walters?"

"There are six dead people that you've known about since this morning!" Miriam Walters said strongly. "And now we have twelve more, that fortunately are alive. Don't you have a lot more on at least the six dead? And you have no idea why this happened?" Yeah, it was very uncomfortable in the room at the moment.

"Again, Ms. Walters," I said, "what do you expect?" I held up my red crowbar. "Do you think this crowbar is a magic wand that just instantly brings us all the answers? These guys are doing a great job, but it takes time. And the autopsy and toxicology results take time, as well. Gas Chromatographs are not magic boxes."

"Let's wrap this up, Mr. Crowbarrrr." said the Chief. "And let these outstanding Detectives get back to the excellent work they are do-ing..."

"Yes sir." I said. "Chief, with your permission, there are two things I'd like to ask of everyone. First, please make no comments to the Press. If you would, route everything through Captain Damien Thompson; that way, the message out there is uniform and consistent, and won't give the Press legitimate reasons to speculate and put out fake news."

"What will that message be?" asked D.A. Miriam Walters, loudly and harshly. "What are you telling the People of the County? We could be facing a serial killer. Are the People in danger?"

"I'm telling them little as possible, at least with regard to the investigation." I replied. "Until we get some facts and can put out a message based on those facts, I'm asking everyone to exercise discretion, and to route all statements through Captain Thompson."

"I think that's a very good idea." said Mayor Daniel Allgood, looking right at Miriam Walters as he said it.

"What's the second thing, Mr. Crowbarrrr?" asked Chief Moynahan.

"The second thing," I said, "is that even though this crosses State Lines, please do not say anything to the Feds. At all. Mr. Mayor, say nothing to your wife, please. Captain Perlman, say nothing to your fiancé, please. Lieutenant Davis, say nothing to your father, and if he finds out, ask him to say nothing. And ask Senior Detective Warner to also not say anything to the Feds."

"Why not?" asked Savannah Fineman harshly. "As you said, it crosses State lines. Why not bring in the FBI's expertise?


I turned in my chair to look right at Fineman, and said: "Because, Ms. Fineman, I don't want the Feds coming in here and totally fucking up our investigation. I want to find what there is to find first. Just imagine how bad the optics with the Voters would be if the Feds come in here, fuck it up, and then blame us locals. Why, it might even cost some people their upcoming elections!" Walters and Fineman both got the point... I think.

"I need to speak with D.A. Walters privately, pleeeeezzze." said the Chief.

"So do I." growled the Sheriff, whose mustaches were twitching... with anger.

"Make that three of us." said Mayor Allgood, the People's Choice.

Part 5 - Storm Clouds Gathering

4:00pm, Wednesday, October 2nd. Cindy Ross came into my office.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Better." said Cindy. "All good now, actually. I have a question: anyone running for one of the newly created positions has to register by Tuesday, October 8th?" she asked.

"Yes." I said. "Early voting begins October 15th, and they have to print the absentee ballots, as well."

"I just got a call from one of my secret sources." Cindy said. "Guess who is running against incumbent Horace S. Wellman for the Inspector General post?"

I said "I'm not feeling a good vibe out of you, so I'll guess Silas or Finneran."

"Finneran." Cindy replied. "And my source tells me he has strong backing from militant gays and anti-Police minority groups. He's already raised a good bit of money, which my father tells me was from George Schwartz, who we believe was also funding the Citizens For Police Accountability group."

"You know," I said, "I joked all the time about putting something in the Charter to specifically exclude Finneran from running for office. I should have... except it would probably be struck down as a Bill of Attainder, which is Constitutionally prohibited."

"You don't think Finneran can win, do you?" Cindy asked, a worried look suddenly appearing on her ruggedly pretty face.

"We'll see." I said solemnly. "And in a related story: our Board of Inquiry concerning the arrests of those NEA thugs that attacked Warren Davies and Tina Felton is on Friday. They wanted it tomorrow, but this mass murder case came up, so the Sheriff and Mayor exerted pressure to move it back a day."

"Speaking of the case," said Cindy, "did you hear the yelling going on in the Chief's Conference Room?"

"No." I said. "What happened?"

Cindy replied: "The Chief's assistant Cassie told my assistant Lauren that D.A. Walters and ADA Fineman were in there with the Sheriff, Chief, and Mayor. Apparently the Sheriff and Chief really tore Miriam a new one for what she said about the Detectives, and right in front of them, the Detectives. And then Miriam and Savannah started yelling back at the Sheriff and Chief. Cassie said that when they all came out twenty minutes later, the Sheriff's face was really red; she was worried about his health. And the Chief was pretty visibly angry, too."

After a pause, Cindy added: "It's probably a good thing that I wasn't in there."

I smiled. "No doubt. But just remember this, and I'm going to make sure the Detectives are equally well aware of it: the District Attorney is not the boss of us. She has no authority over us, not one bit. And if she or Savannah tries to lord it over us, I've got a... 'magic wand'... It's red, it's made of iron, and it has the power to change their suppositions in a hurry..."

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

*Whirrrrrrrrrrr*

Captain Tanya Perlman appeared at my door at 5:00pm. "Sir," she said, "the Detectives are ready to meet with us. They have new information, and you might as well be in there to hear it when I do."

"An invitation I cannot refuse." I said, getting up and undoing my laptop to take it to the meeting.

"Also, sir," Tanya said, "Joanne found some information in the Town & County Archives as well as the University Library, but the Archives were closing and they kicked her out. She wants to go back tomorrow to finish up before she gives you her report."

"Okay." I said. "Let's go to 'meetings'."

We went to Classroom 'E', where all the Detectives already were. Right behind me was Chief Moynahan, and right behind him was Commander Ross. We all took our places, and the Chief said "Go ahead, Captain." Tanya nodded at Jerome Davis.

"Go ahead, Teddy." said Jerome to Teddy Parker.

"Yes sir." said Parker. His laptop was hooked up to the big screen. Photos began appearing. "I'll go through the 12 that were found alive-------

The door flew open, and in walked ADA Savannah Fineman. "Another meeting without notifying me?" she snarled. "And don't you people ever go home?"

The Chief replied with some acerbity "Earlier today your boss insulted my Detectives by saying they weren't doing enough. Now you bitch about them doing their jobs long after you ADAs quit for the day and go hommmmme." Yep, the mood of our Chief was a bit testy.

I said "And I know for a fact that you were notified of this meeting." I held up my cellphone and said "Because I'm the one that sent you that text notifying you of it." The mood of the Detective Corps got even angrier than it already was, and it was visible on Captain Tanya Perlman's face.

"Chief, Commander, may I speak to you privately for a moment?" Savannah said angrily.

"Not with me." I said. "I'm in a meeting with my Detectives about this mass homicide case." Detectives worked hard not to smirk too much.

"You don't want to meet privately with me right now, Mizzz Fineman." barked the Chief. "So either sit down and listen, or leeeeeeave." Savannah sat down, a look of fury on her face.

"I believe you were giving us some information, Detective Parker." I said.

"Yes sir." said Parker. "I'll talk about the University students first, and the first of those is Sarah Wood. She is the roommate of Lisa Rowland, one of the six that died. Sarah is 21 years old, a Junior, Education major. Her GPA is 2.00, and she's been on academic probation twice. She was busted for marijuana possession in a quantity that was enough to charge with distribution, but it was pled down in Harry Nance's court."

"Next is Aaron Bennett." said Parker. "He's 24 years old, but still enrolled in the University. He's a sixth-year Senior now. He was a pre-Med in Biochemistry, but his two DUIs pretty much destroyed his chances of getting into Medical School, not to mention getting a Medical license later in life. He changed his major to Business, then to Chemistry again, regular Chemistry. The fines for his DUIs sapped everything he had, so he's worked odd jobs and piled up a ton of student debt."

Parker: "Irene Ward is 21 and a Senior in Fine Arts, 2.2 GPA. She was busted in a sting for escorting, but had a really good lawyer who shredded the prosecution's case, so she officially has no record at all. That was in the City a year ago."

Parker: Last of the students is Thomas Hall, 20 years old, a Junior majoring in Computer Science with a 3.1 GPA. As you can see from his photo, he doesn't look like a geek, but like a normal guy. But he must have confidence issues, because he's hired a lot of prostitutes over the last couple of years, and he was seeing a psychologist that we know to be a sex surrogate."

Parker: "I'll quickly go through the rest. Amanda Adams, age 26, once part of the Punk scene but has spiraled down the last couple of years, maybe due to drug use. Lori Campbell, age 32, fired from her job with the University for lying on her résumé and application."

Parker: "Lawrence Evans is black, age 24. He was a devotee of the 'World Outreach Church', but recently left it. Melissa Coleman, age 28, married three times already. Gary King, age 25, has had a lot of low-wage jobs. He seems to be a real nobody. Kevin Moore, age 26, an electrician and active with the IBEW Union. David Watson, 27, has a contract with Town & County Parks & Recreation for outdoor work. And Arthur Young, age 30, an accountant with a lot of credit card debt and not much income. I'm sending what we have to your emails."

Lt. Jerome Davis said "Thanks, Teddy. Ladies, gentlemen, we've gotten some information about the University students, alive and dead. We got their schedules, then the names of other people who were in their classes, then tracked them down. Kudos to Theo Washington; he covered a lot of ground today, as did Teddy Parker. Go ahead, Theo."

"Thank you, sir." said Senior Detective Washington. "Unfortunately, I got very little. First, Guru Bob Stevens. He lived in the apartment building at 620 Church Street, the same place where Rusty Dawson was found dead." (Author's note: 'Pink Panther', Ch. 01.)

Theo: "His room had a lot of... Eastern decor, a lot of patchouli odor, a lot of burned incense and sage. The K-9 guys ran Sergeant Tango through, and while he alerted a couple of times, no drugs at all were found. There were several books on demonology, one on 'Abbadon', which I understands translates to 'place of destruction', and he had a journal full of notes, scribbled haphazardly. I bagged that as evidence and brought it in."

"Good." I said. "I want to look at that when the pages are photographed and put into the servers."

"Already done, sir." said Captain Perlman. "Keep going, Theo."

"Yes ma'am." said Theo. "Sarah Wood was Lisa Rowland's roommate. None of the other girls on that floor said they knew either girl very well. I exercised the warrant to search their dorm room, and it was pretty clean. But there was some Satanist material in the room. A pentagram necklace, black leather dresses with red trim-------"