Reunion Fever Ch. 04

Sergeant Stegall asked: "While you were outside on the phone, who else came out there?"

Niko said "I didn't really see anyone. I think some people came outside, but my back was turned, and I was concentrating on the phone conversation."

"Did you see anyone else anywhere else?" asked Stegall. "Maybe someone coming down the path to the door on the other side of the hotel?"

"No." said Niko. "My back was turned, I didn't see anybody. Check the videocamera tapes; there has to be something there that would show you where I was and what I was doing, and who else might've been out there."

Stegall then asked "Who were you talking to on your cellphone at the time?"

"Uh, what does that matter?" Niko said, his eyes narrowing.

"Just answer the question." Stegall said.

"No, I won't answer that." Niko said. "It's none of your business."

"So you're refusing to answer, and refusing to help us with our investigation?" Stegall said, his voice becoming harsher.

Niko replied "It's not relevant, and like I said, it's none of your business."

"I'll decide if it's relevant or not." snarled Stegall, his mood getting ugly. "Now answer the goddamn question, you fucking punk! Who were you talking to?"

Niko remained silent. Stegall took Niko's cellphone out of the evidence bag it had been placed in. "Open it." he ordered Niko.

"No." Niko said. "And you do not have my consent to access my cellphone without a Court-issued warrant based upon probable cause... which you do not have."

Stegall stood up. "Now you open that goddamn phone and let me see who you've been calling, or I'll come over there and break every one of your fucking little fingers as I find out which one will open it!"

"Police brutality!" Niko yelled. "I want a lawyer! Now!"

Stegall was about to advance upon Niko, but I stood up and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. He whirled to look at me. "What the fuck?" he all but yelled.

"He's right." I said, strongly but calmly. "You have to have a warrant, and you have to show relevance to obtain that information. And getting physical with him only makes---"

"Whose fucking side are you ON?!" Stegall yelled.

"THE CONSTITUTION'S SIDE!" I yelled back at him. Detective Watson was wide-eyed with shock at the confrontation as I said strongly: "And you better get on the right side of it, too!"

"Commander Troy is right." said Deputy Tyrone Biggs in an authoritative if not menacing voice. "Stand down, Sergeant."

"I'm going to go find the Chief." said Stegall breathed venomously. "She'll kick your ass right out of this county, if I don't do it first."

"Don't stop with her." I said, fully fronting Stegall. "Go get the Sheriff himself. And Stegall... just try to get physical with me. Just try." Unfortunately, Stegall didn't try. He stalked off to the door and exited the room.

I re-bagged Niko's cellphone, then said to him "You can go. If we need you again, we'll let you call an attorney. In the meantime, don't leave the county. In fact, I'd recommend you go up to your hotel room and stay there." Niko stalked off.

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

Captain Leanne Wisocky had come into the barroom and demanded to know what was going on with Sergeant Stegall. I showed her the video from the camera, and said "If Niko did do it, the case will likely be thrown out because of that."

"We'll see." Leanne said. "Don, let me speak to you privately." We went out into the lobby. Leanne turned on me and said "Don, the Sheriff deputized you so you can help with the case, and we all saw in your past cases here how good you are. But this is Apple 
Grove and Fillmore County, not your Town & County---"

"Did you not see what Stegall did on that videotape?" I asked in astonishment. "He was about to assault a suspect!"

"Don," Leanne said, her voice getting angry, "he wasn't going to hurt that punk. Don't tell me you've never intimidated a witness or a suspect. Steve was just rattling his cage---"

"Like hell, he was!" I said. "I'm really disappointed in him. I thought he was a lot better than that. But he's not. And if he'd touched Niko, and I sincerely believe he was going to, I would've arrested him, Stegall, on the spot."

Leanne glared at me, her face a cross between anger and pouting. She finally said "This is Apple Grove, Don, and we don't have an Iron Crowbar on our Police Force. Just cops trying to do our jobs in the face of relentless, withering hostility. We have to deal with a lot of White rednecks and Illegal Spics that give us no respect, so we lean on 'em, hard."

"That's not what I saw Stegall do." I said, putting aside her racial slur for the moment. "I saw a Police Officer assaulting a man who was correctly exercising his Constitutional rights."

Leanne looked exasperated as she said "I don't have time to debate this shit with you. But I did send Stegall to Headquarters to process the video evidence and start looking up information on people. He'll stay out of your way. Now can we finish up here, please?"

I was not really wanting to let it go, and I considered walking away from this whole case. But that would not have been right, so I said "If you're interviewing Lori Lovlin, you really need a female Officer in the room, for psychology as well as legal niceties. And you and my mother are the only two females here, at least that I know of."

"I'll bring your mother in." Leanne said. "And I'll be in there, too, for all the remaining interviews. And Don, you need to just observe Lori's interview from a distance after what y'all did last night..."

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

Lori Lovlin had been found. She had gone to the hotel room with her Class VP and a few others, and they were drinking and (her words) "shootin' the shit". She was brought down to the first floor, and now was in the 'hot chair' in the barroom.

Captain Wisocky read Lori her considerable rights, then asked "Where were you at the time Craig Reynolds was attacked?"

Lori: "Either in the restroom, or going back to the dining hall afterwards. I was looking for Niko, and I didn't see him nor Commander Troy or Laura, so I thought they might've gone up to my room. I went up there, but no one was there, so I went back downstairs. Some of my classmates told me what happened, and that the banquet hall was closed. So we went to a room to drink, since all the bars were shut down."

No one said that the video footage of the hotel's halls confirmed what Lori had said. That's also how Lori was ultimately found. But Lori was not on videocamera the entire time, especially at the time Craig was attacked.

Leanne said "What I really want to ask you, Ms. Lovlin, is that several people saw you give Craig Reynolds a note, and he then walked outside and was attacked. Who gave you that note?"

Lori said "Uhh... one of the people at the Dinner. I don't know who he was."

Trying to move on, Leanne said "What did---"

"May I ask her something about that?" I asked Leanne. She gave me a venomous look, but then tilted her head to indicate I could. To Lori, I said "You spoke to Lisa Baker?" Lori nodded, and I said "She was hanging out with two couples that looked like they were her age, classmates. Who were they? And did one of them give you the note?"

Lori said "Yes, I spoke to Lisa at her table, just saying hello. I did not know who any of the others were. They were not in my Class; I would've remembered them if they were. And Lisa didn't introduce them, so I figured they weren't with her. And yes, one of the men gave me the note and asked me to give it to Craig."

I nodded and looked back at Leanne, who asked: "What did the note say?"

"I don't know." Lori replied. "It was folded up when he gave it to me, and I didn't see what was written on it."

Leanne said "Your friend Niko. What is his relationship with you?"

Lori: "He's my business manager. He's also my friend with benefits. Very... delicious... benefits."

"I'm sure." Leanne said witheringly. "How did you meet him, and hire him as your manager?"

Lori said "We had a sexual encounter, then another one, and then we got to talking, and things fit perfectly... in more ways than one... and he's been my manager ever since."

Leanne: "He was on his phone a lot, yesterday and today. He was on the phone and outside near the pool when Craig was attacked. Who was he talking to?"

Lori: "You'll have to ask him that."

Leanne caught on fast: "But do you know who it was?"

Lori's eyes flickered with anger as she said "It wasn't me, so I don't know exactly who he might have been talking to at any given moment. He makes and takes a lot of business calls. As I said, ask him. And I'm not answering any more questions along those lines."

Leanne said "Is there a reason you're refusing to cooperate with us and answer our questions? And before you answer, let me paint the picture for you. You may have an alibi for Friday night's attack..." She glanced over at me as she said that, then continued: "... but you don't have one for last night. We can't find you on video anywhere at the time of the attack---"

"I said I was in the bathroom." Lori said angrily.

"I don't know that." Leanne fired back. "And I don't have any witnesses that can account for you at that time. And your (air quotes) 'friend with benefits' was outside, near the pool... the closest person to Craig at the time he was attacked... and neither you nor he are cooperating with us."

"Furthermore," Leanne went on, her voice level but authoritative, "your animosity towards Craig and Jenny Reynolds is very well known. You have motive, and with your boyfriend right there near the victim at the time of the attack, opportunity abounds. So it would behoove you to cooperate with us and answer my questions."

"I want a lawyer." Lori immediately replied. "I will answer no more questions without legal representation present."

"So be it." Leanne said. "You can go, for now. But stay in town. And when I am ready to question you again, be ready to call in your attorney."

I said "Deputy Biggs, will you escort Ms. Lovlin to the hotel desk, so that she can reserve her room for one more night?" Lori exited the room, followed by Biggs.

"Well, Mister Constitution," Leanne said witheringly to me, "did that meet your standards of interrogations?"

"Be careful, Captain Wisocky." my mother said, her voice level but venomous. "Goading the Iron Crowbar has proved for many to be a very terrible mistake." If looks could kill, Leanne's glare at my mother would've been fatal. I intervened.

I said "Didn't we see video of Ms. Lovlin going into and out of the restroom?"

"Yes." Leanne said. "But I understand that on the far side of the restrooms are entrances to the employee changing rooms. The doors are locked, or are supposed to be, and require an employee ID card on either side to open the door. But yes, I was just rattling her cage. And she invoked. Telling, isn't it?"

"Maybe." I said. "And yes, your method was much more acceptable than what Stegall did. By the way, y'all are going about getting Niko and Lori to talk about who he's been talking to the wrong way. I have his cell phone number, and we can get a warrant to get its metadata, or have the FBI do it."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Leanne gasped angrily.

"I was too busy trying to stop your Police Officer from physically assaulting a witness." I replied. I could sense my mother's desire to grin, though she held her face expressionless.

Leanne rolled her eyes, then said: "Okay, Watson, bring Lisa Baker in."

I said "I thought you took her to Headquarters."

Leanne said "No, we're all up here, so I had them hold her in a side room..."

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

Lisa Lewis Baker was brought in, looking frightened. But I noticed that when she saw Captain Wisocky, her eyes flashed anger, and hatred.

Detective Watson read Lisa her rights, then introduced all of us, including saying "Deputy Phyllis Troy and Deputy Don Troy". Lisa said she understood her rights, then looked right at Leanne and said "And I'll ask for an attorney whenever I think I need one."

"That's your right." I said. And per an arrangement with Leanne before Lisa was brought in, I asked the first questions: "Mrs. Baker, I observed that you were in the company of two couples pretty much the entire time you were here at the Reunion dinner. What are their names?"

Lisa looked surprised at the question, probably expecting to be asked for her whereabouts at the time of the attack. She stammered "Uh... one of them is Dulci Tamayo, and the other is Gabby Williams. Dulci's husband is named Tom, and Gabby's is Jerry... I think. I don't know them all that well, though."

I said "Interesting name, 'Dulci'."

Lisa said "She said at dinner that her father loved the dulcimer, the musical instrument, so he named her that."

I said "And they're your classmates? I saw their nametags from a distance, and they had class photos on them, at least the women did."

"You're very observant." Lisa said. "No wonder you're the Iron Crowbar. But I don't know for sure if they were in my Class or not. I didn't know them before tonight."

I said "Did they tell you what their occupations are?"

Lisa said "Dulci said she was a housewife. Gabby was a schoolteacher, but had quit after having her first child. I don't know what their husbands's occupations are."

"Interesting." I said, more to myself than anyone else. "Captain?"

Leanne was a little surprised that I was not asking more questions, but she took over as previously arranged. She said "Lisa, where were you at the time of the attack on Craig Reynolds?"

Lisa said "I went to the restroom."

Leanne: "Can anyone verify that?"

Lisa: "You should have me on videocameras going there. And I saw Lori Lovlin in there. I don't know if she saw me, though."

Leanne said "How did you get that shiner around your eye. Did your husband hit you?"

Lisa got angry. "No, and stop trying to blame him! I ran into a door!" she practically shouted.

Leanne: "Yeah, right. Where were you last night... Friday night, Lisa? All of the night?"

Lisa said "Roddy went to Molinari's to drink with his football buddies, and I don't like being around him when he's drunk. So I went to a friend's house and stayed the night."

"Who's house?" Leanne.

Lisa got her hackles up. "I'm not telling you, Wisocky. I'm sick and tired of you persecuting my husband and me, and harassing all of our friends."

"What friends?" Leanne said sardonically. "I'll ask one more time, and if you don't answer, you're under arrest. Where were you? And with who?"

"I want a lawyer." Lisa said.

"Detective Watson, place Mrs. Baker under arrest." Leanne said. Lisa was put in cuffs and escorted out.

I said "I really need that sketch artist, Leanne."

"First thing in the morning, Don." Leanne replied.

*CHIME*

It was my Police iPhone, the only one I was carrying at the moment. I read the text, then said to everyone: "It's from Todd Burke. He's at the hospital with Jenny Reynolds, and he says Craig Reynolds just came out of surgery. I'm heading over there... after I speak with the Hotel Manager about his keycard systems."

"I'll come with you, son." my mother said. As we went down the hallway towards the front desk and office areas, she said "Son, I'm sure you've realized that the perp was wearing that costume when he attacked Craig Reynolds."

"Yes, and it fits the description of the attacker at Pennington's Farm." I replied.

"Yes." said my mother. "But what I wanted to point out to you is that if the perp is one of the people attending the Dinner or is an employee, he will have to had gotten out of the black suit, and would have to hide it somewhere. I am going to ask Sheriff Greenwood to help me look for it."

"Good idea." I said. "And maybe ask Sheriff Hall to help, also. In the meantime, I'd like you to be a formal witness to my questions of the Manager..."

Part 12 - Hospital Visit

3:00am, Sunday, October 3rd. Captain Wisocky and Detective Watson took Lisa Baker to AGPD Headquarters to be booked and processed. Deputy Biggs drove me straight to the Apple Grove Hospital. It was a brand-spanking-new facility, and well-equipped.

We went inside and to the waiting room nearest the two operating rooms. Todd Burke and my classmate Renée from The Troy House were sitting there with Jenny Reynolds. Todd got up and man-hugged me. I introduced Deputy Biggs to him (they knew each other already, though), then I said to Jenny "I'm very sorry about this. Any news?"

Todd answered: "A nurse came in and said they took Craig to post-op. Aunt Laura went into surgery with their doctor, and should be coming out soon. We're waiting for them now." Then he said "Uncle Don, can I talk to you a moment? Privately?"

"Sure." I said. We went outside, and into the parking lot. I turned on my anti-bugging device (oh yes, I had it with me).

Todd said "There's something I need to tell you, Uncle Don, and I'll let you decide what to tell the local Police. I came up here to negotiate a contract with Craig and Jenny Reynolds. Their company, and pretty much Craig himself, invented some new processes related to nanotechnology. As you know, BOW Enterprises, Ichimoku Industries, and Zion Dynamics are the world leaders in nanotechnology development---"

"Yeah yeah yeah." I said with a grin. "I'm not a stockholder, so spare me the boilerplate. And I haven't forgotten that the Town & County was almost nuked to get that technology." (Author's note: 'The Nuclear Option'.)

"And worse, I almost lost my balls." Todd replied with sardonic humor. (Author's note: 'A Death In The Family'.) I nodded vigorously in agreement.

Todd: "Well, BOW Enterprises is buying out Craig and Jenny's company. I came up to negotiate with them over the weekend, as Craig and Jenny were using the Reunion as cover for being here. Craig is paranoid as hell about it all; he thinks BigAgraFoods and others are trying to steal the technology. He didn't even apply for patents, because he fears they'd just bribe someone to read the application, and get it that way."

"Yes, they probably would." I said. "So let me guess... you think the attack on Craig was to stop or delay him from making the deal with you?"

Todd replied "If that's the case, it didn't work. We signed the deal yesterday. They thought we'd be haggling over the buyout price, which originally was discussed as 20 million dollars. To their surprise, I offered $30 million, and to hire them into BOW Enterprises, move them to our Town & County, the whole nine yards. They accepted and we signed the agreement. We were going to announce it Monday morning."

I said, "First of all, and out of curiosity, is it worth that $30 million to you?"

"Every penny, and then some." Todd said. "I'd have gone up to $40 million if I'd had to. The Reynolds processes are revolutionary and evolutionary in what they'll do for us."

I mused more to myself than Todd "And if it's worth that much, it might well be worth the Big Boys's time and effort to stop it by killing Craig. And it fits in with some things I've observed, so far."

After a moment in a reverie, I said "Todd, don't say anything to anyone just yet. And ask Jenny to not tell the Police nor anyone that it's a done deal. Don't lie to them if they ask directly, but don't volunteer anything." Todd agreed to do so.

We went back inside. Not five minutes later, Laura came out with a youngish man that was almost as tall as her. I heard him say "I'm glad you were here, Dr. Fredricson. I'm an E.R. doctor and a general surgeon, but I don't have your expertise in trauma nor in the sexual organs, and that might make the difference in his future recovery."