Reunion Fever Ch. 04

Me: "And for all those years, you've barely been able to make ends meet. On top of that, you've had AGPD Officer Leanne Wisocky all over you like a wet blanket. I don't know why, but she's been trying her damndest to find something on you, to get you your third strike and put you away for life. You don't have the money to move away, and maybe Lisa wouldn't let you, but the bottom line is that you're stuck, and you're miserable."

I'd seen the merest glimmer in Roddy's eyes that showed I was at least close to the truth. I drove on: "So Friday night, you were having some drinks with your classmates at Molinari's. Craig and Jenny Reynolds were there, which reminded you of being beaten out for the quarterback position in school. Still, you played nice, and even took a look when Jenny Reynolds was showing photos of her children."

I took out prints of two photos from my notebook, the ones that I had taken from the photos at the Reunion dinner, and cropped to show the oldest girls in each. "And when you saw that photo of Jenny's children, you realized what these photos show... that your daughter, your oldest child, is not yours... Craig Reynolds is her biological father!"

Robert Reichard was now sitting up straight in his chair and in utter shock. Detective Ben Watson was also stunned as he looked at the photos and at Roddy. Roddy's face showed recognition that I had observed and deduced the truth, as he had.

"Frankly," I said, "I don't know how you held your sanity. Nearly eleven years of hell... and now you've found out that Lisa had lied to you, that Craig had knocked her up but she said you were the father, and you've been struggling your ass off all these years to raise another man's child."

I continued: "You've been abusive towards Lisa for years. You broke her wrist... that is why she had a prescription for oxycodone when Captain Wisocky pulled you over and tried to stick a drug charge on you. So on Friday night you got home and you confronted Lisa."

Me: "One of you threw a lamp at the other, and it smashed against the far wall and became shards of worthless pottery. And then you hit her in the eye. I mean you just hauled off and threw a haymaker into her face. She fell onto the table and slid off it onto the floor, making magazines fly everywhere. Somehow, by some miracle, she not only was not killed, she was not knocked unconscious, and she managed to get up and run out of the house."

Me: "You didn't run after her, or maybe you ran to the door but no farther. After a while, and after the shock and the adrenaline rush subsided, you realized you needed to get out of there, so you did. By the time the Police arrived, the house was empty."

Me: "And so, you planned to divorce Lisa. But you had invested in Craig Reynolds's company, and it was about to pay off, big time. You knew that Lisa might well get all that money in the divorce, and you needed that money to hire a good attorney to annihilate her in the divorce proceedings. Ergo, you went to Craig at the Reunion Dinner, and asked for your money back... before it paid off and the $3000 became $60,000 or so. Will it hold, Mr. Baker?"

Roddy was still looking at me with that same stunned impression. Reichard was staring at me in open shock, not a trace of smugness left in him. Detective Watson was paying rapt attention.

I went on: "And that's a problem for you, Mr. Baker. You have motive. If Mr. Reynolds's is wounded or killed, then your payoff doesn't happen, and Lisa will have no payoff to take from you. And Mr. Reynolds was attacked twice... unsuccessfully on Friday night, and more successfully last night. And unless you can show some alibis for both those attacks, I am sorry to say that men have been put away for life or even put to death on less circumstantial evidence. And with the sheer hatred and Police power of Captain Wisocky bearing down on you, you are about to be in a world of shit."

"You have no proof of any of that." Robert Reichard said, his voice connoting a clutching at straws.

"I need to talk to my lawyer." Roddy said.

"Yes. Yes you do." I said as I put the photos into my notebook. Detective Watson and I exited the room. In the hallway there was an explosion of noise, the noise of a lot of questions being hurled at me at once.

I held up my hand until I got quiet, then said to Leanne "What. The. Fuck. Why did you burst in there like that?"

Leanne snarled "I want to know where that slug got three thousand dollars. I think he got it from selling drugs---"

"For God's sake!" I spat. "You've got time to look into that. We have very little time to find the perp that stabbed Craig before that perp runs like the wind outta here. And Roddy was talking to me, but as soon as you came in, he invoked. Thanks for nothing, Leanne."

Sheriff Hall intervened. "That's spilt milk, Don. What do you want to do now?"

I said "Let's do this..."

Part 14 - Playing With Fire

After conferring with his attorney, Roddy Baker was taken to a holding cell. On the way, he passed by the other Interrogation Room and saw Steve Greene inside, with the Iron Crowbar interrogating him. And then from around the corner, Lisa Baker was brought down the hall, shocking both of them as they saw each other. It was vintage Iron Crowbar psychology at work.

Lisa was brought into the main Interrogation Room, where Robert Reichard still was, and had stated he was her counsel as well as Roddy's. That's not kosher in many places, but no one said anything about it.

As she spoke with Reichard, I asked Detective Watson to perform a mission, then I interrogated Steve Greene. Audio and video of it was being recorded. I started off: "I'm Donald Troy, deputized into the Fillmore County Sheriff's Department. l need to ask you some questions---"

"Am I under arrest?" Steve asked.

"You are being detained under a warrant, as a witness, a material witness." I said. "How close that comes to actually being under arrest, you can decide with your actions. Work with me, and you'll be free to go. Don't cooperate, and things will get bad for you. I'm going to read you your rights." I did so from the card. "Do you understand the rights?"

"I understand." Steve replied. "Do I need a lawyer?"

"It's your right to have one, if you so desire." I said. "Look, I'm not trying to jack you up. I'm just trying to get to the truth, the real, fair, and impartial truth."

"What do you want to know?" asked Greene.

"Last night... meaning Friday night," I said, "you gave Roddy Baker a ride home after y'all met with classmates at Molinari's, is that correct?"

"Yeah, I did." said Steve. "What of it?"

"How was Roddy during the ride?" I queried.

"He was quiet." Steve said. "He'd been drinking a good bit, so I thought he was going to fall asleep. But he never did. He just stared out the window."

I said "When you got to his house, did you go in with him?"

"No." Steve said. "I watched him go inside, then I drove home."

"Straight home?" I asked.

"Pretty much." Steve said.

"And stayed there, at home?" I asked, my eyes peering hard at him. He finally figured out that I had some kind of trump card on him.

"Okay, I need a lawyer." Steve said. "I'll answer your questions with a lawyer present, but only after I've gotten immunity."

"O-kayyy." I said.

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

"Congratulations." said Leanne Wisocky as I came out of the room. She and Sheriff Hall had been watching through the one-way glass. "Now you've made someone invoke."

"He didn't invoke." I said, a bit coldly. "He asked for a lawyer to negotiate an immunity agreement. Huge difference, there. So let's get him his lawyer in here. And Captain, Sheriff... I need that sketch artist, ASAP."

"It's five o'clock in the morning." Leanne said. "Sunday morning at that---"

"SO WHAT?" I exploded, worn to exasperation and anger. "We are trying to solve an attempted murder of a man who is now in the hospital! And time is of the essence! Do you not want this case solved, Captain Wisocky?"

"Fuck you, asshole!" Leanne yelled back. "This is my case, not yours, and you'll get your god damned sketch artist when *I* say you will!"

"Captain!" fired back Sheriff Hall. "That's enough! Biggs, assist Mr. Greene in getting an attorney up here, and as quickly as possible. Commander, I'll call the sketch artist. In the meantime, let's go into the Conference Room and see where we are and what we're going to do."

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

"If it nails Roddy Baker to the wall, I say we give Greene immunity." Leanne Wisocky said as we sat around the conference room table, drinking coffee. At least the coffee was freshly made.

I said "What if Roddy didn't attack Craig Reynolds? What if Steve Greene did it?"

Leanne rolled her eyes again. "Oh, come on! Are you just trolling me now, Don? We know Steve gave Roddy a ride home Friday night. We know Roddy left his home Friday night, and he has no alibi for wherever he was. He was seen at the Hilton talking to Craig Reynolds on Saturday, asking for money back... money that I would really like to know where it came from. I'm not dropping that, either. And ask yourself how Roddy could afford a Ford F-150 King Ranch, all tricked out, while his wife drives an old piece of shit."

"That is not salient to our investigation of this case." I replied.

"So what does he have in his favor?" Leanne said witheringly.

"Just a (air quotes) 'goddamn piece of paper'." I replied. "You know, that pesky Constitution? He's not required to prove his innocence; you have to show his guilt, and beyond a reasonable doubt. And you have no proof he committed either attack, no witnesses that saw him and can identify him at either location. And... oh yeah! The GPS data from his truck... which I uploaded to your servers hours ago... doesn't help you much."

"What?!" Leanne exploded. "You have his GPS data? Why didn't you tell us?"

"He did." said Deputy Biggs, his deep voice cutting through the room like a katana.

Detective Watson said "And Commander Troy asked me to look at it, ma'am, and I just did. And it may show why we should not give Steve Greene immunity. On Friday night, Roddy Baker's truck did not go anywhere near Pennington's Farm, but Steve Greene's car did."

"Maybe he carried Roddy up there, and Roddy made the attack." Leanne said.

"Detective Watson," I said, "why don't you start at the beginning, and put it all in a chronological time frame?"

"Yes sir." said Watson. "On Friday night, Roddy Baker's truck left Molinari's at the time the witnesses there says he and Steve left. The truck drove to Roddy's home, where it stayed for some minutes, then it left and went to Steve's house. It then turned around and came back to Roddy's house, and stayed there all night long."

Watson: "On Saturday, the truck drove to the Hilton Hotel around 7:00pm, then left just as the Dinner was getting started, and drove to Kitzi Taylor's home, where we found it parked inside her garage after Commander Troy served his warrant."

Watson: "Steve Greene's car left his home around 10:30pm Friday night, and drove around the west side of Lake Troy for half an hour before parking just behind the field at Pennington's Farm where the couples had parked. About forty minutes later it left, then drove via the northern route, around the back end of the lake, to Steve's house, where it stayed the rest of the night."

Watson: "Saturday, he apparently ran errands around town in the morning, then stayed at home until he drove to the Hilton Hotel around 10:30pm. He left just moments after the attack on Craig Reynolds and drove to Kitzi Reynolds's house, where the vehicle was found during the execution of search and arrest warrants."

Leanne Wisocky said "So he drove Roddy to the Hotel, Roddy attacked Craig, then Steve took Roddy to Kitzi's. And Roddy doesn't have an alibi for Friday night. Like I said before, maybe Steve drove him to Pennington's Farm, or he drove Steve's car himself."

"While drunk?" I asked.

"Wouldn't be the first time he's driven drunk." Leanne fired back. "And he still has no alibi."

"I suspect one for him will be forthcoming very sooooon." I said. "From Kitzi Taylor."

Leanne said "Our Officers went by her house Friday night, and she was there but Roddy wasn't... well, she said he wasn't."

"Exactly." I said. "Kitzi is not the most truthful of individuals. Police went by this past evening, and she said Roddy wasn't there. Yet Deputy Biggs and I found him at her house, nuts-deep in her while Steve was watching and jacking off."

"Why didn't you get the GPS from her car while you were there?" Leanne asked.

"It's an old model." I said. "It doesn't have GPS installed. We can try getting a warrant for her cellphone metadata---"

Just then the AGPD Desk Officer came in. "Ma'am," he said to Captain Wisocky, "a Jeffrey Sekou is here, says he's Steve Greene's attorney..."

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

Jeffrey Sekou looked like what I thought a much younger Carl Lemay of KXTC looked like in the past, but Sekou's skin color was lighter than Lemay's: darker than white but lighter than black or Hispanic. I wondered if maybe he was an American Samoan or something, especially with that last name.

As he talked to his client, Lori Lovlin and Niko Nimzovich were brought in, looking tousled, as if routed out of their beds... or bed, as the case may have been. Lori was wearing the skin-tight latex pants again, and all male eyes were on her magnificent bubble-butt. I had to be careful not to get an erection at the very pleasant memory of that ass pressed into my groin as I fucked her.

Lori looked in on Lisa Baker, who was still talking with the attorney Reichard. "Yes," Lori said, "she's the one I saw in the restroom."

"And you saw Jenny Reynolds in the restroom?" I asked.

"Yes." Lori said. "She came in right as I was leaving." She was taken to look into the other Interrogation Room. "No, I never saw either of them at the Hotel."

"Let's find a place to sit down." I said. Leanne took us to the breakroom, and we set up a videocamera. I said "Lori, we need to ask you a few more questions." Leanne began videoing on her iPhone, and I re-read Lori her rights.

I said "Lori, you can invoke at any time, and you can ask for an attorney at any time, but I'd appreciate it if you would answer these questions. First, have you ever heard of a Dulci Tamayo, Gabby Williams, Tom Tamayo or Jerry Williams?"

"No." Lori said.

"Did you know any girl in your class, at all, that went by the names or nicknames 'Dulci' or 'Gabby'?' I asked.

"No." Lori said. "And I think I would have remembered those. I never knew anyone in any class by either of those names."

I asked "Lori, we know that when you were Seniors in high school, you and Craig Reynolds would have other girls over to your house, and he'd have sex with them while you watched, is that not right?"

"How is that relevant to anything?" Lori asked.

I said "It's important background and corroborating testimony, or I would not be asking."

Lori said "Yes, it's true. Craig and I did that several times. Most of the girls we brought in were virgins, and Craig deflowered them. And it was good for them and for us, and a lot of fun... until Jenny stole Craig from me."

I said "Who else did you play that game with?"

Lori said "Oh gosh... Charlene Cross who is now Charlene Johnson, Jeremy's wife. Kitzi Taylor, though she was definitely not a virgin. She played with us several times. And Lisa Lewis, right before Jenny. And then there was Gina Chubb, and Suzy Wagner..."

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

Moments later, District Attorney Tittle came in. He was a tall, stout black man, and it is politically incorrect but truthful to say that his face looked like the portrait on 'Uncle Ben's Rice' boxes. He'd run for and won the D.A.'s Office as a Republican.

"I am honored to meet you, Commander Troy." he said, his voice a bit scratchy, as he vigorously shook my hand. He also shook Deputy Biggs's hand then Sheriff Hall's, but made no offer to shake Leanne Wisocky's hand; nor her, his.

"What are we looking at?" D.A. Tittle said as we looked through the one-way glass at Steve Greene and Jeffery Sekou conversing. I filled him in on what we knew, and said we'd called him to be present for giving Steve Greene an immunity agreement, and then we'd found out where his car had been.

"Oh yeah, he's gotta explain this." D.A. Tittle said as he looked through my folder of data I'd gathered. "I can't give him immunity for anything with this over his head."

"What crimes has he really committed?" Leanne Wisocky said. "And if his information puts Roddy Baker away for attempted murder, won't it be worth it?"

I saw D.A. Tittle's eyes move sideways towards Leanne, then his eyes went to me with a 'look' that denoted sarcasm and skepticism. He said "There's so much reasonable doubt right now, there's no way I could get a conviction for Baker or for Greene."

I said "I need to ask Lisa a couple of questions. She's lawyered up, but she has a lawyer now. She might well invoke, but if she won't answer these questions, she's not going to say anything, anyway."

I went into the interrogation with Leanne and we sat down. "Okay, Lisa, you were interviewed at the hotel, and I have a couple of clarifying questions. You said the two couples tagging along with you were Dulci and Tom Tamayo, and Gabby and Jerry Williams, is that not right?"

"That's the names they gave me." Lisa said, and I noticed how carefully she was forming her sentences as she answered.

"Do you know the women's maiden names?" I asked.

"No." Lisa said, looking uncomfortable.

I said "And you said Gabby Williams said she was a schoolteacher. Did she say where? And for that matter, did any of them say where they were living now?"

Lisa said "They were kind of vague on all that. I got the idea they were from Capitol City."

I said "Lisa, I need you to think really hard and try to be sure. Is there anything you can tell me about those four people? Anything at all?"

I saw in Lisa's eyes that she was beginning to 'harden her heart', as the Old Testament said about Pharaoh. She said "No, I have nothing more for you."

"Okay, then." I said. "I should let you know, Lisa, that I tried to check up on them. There have been boys named 'Jerry Williams' in the Apple Grove and Fillmore County School systems, but their ages are nowhere near the two men about your age that I observed the other night. And there has never been anyone named 'Tamayo' enrolled in school here."

"Furthermore," I continued, "there is no record of a 'Gabby Williams' teaching school anywhere. Not in this State, not in my State, not in any State in our Federal Union. No teaching certificate, no record of employment. Do you have anything to say about that?"

Lisa began getting sullen as she said "That's what she told me, and that's all I know. If she's lying, how would you expect me to know it?"

That's an easy button question and answer, I thought to myself, but I only said "I just need you to understand that the four people you were seen with a good bit of the time at the Reunion Dinner... may be suspects in the attempted murder of Craig Reynolds. So if you know anything else about them, it would behoove you to let me know, so that I can find them, arrest them, and if they are a threat to anyone, end the danger they pose."

Lisa said nothing, though she looked very disquieted. I said "Chief Wisocky, is there anything you want to ask?"

Leanne said "Yes. I want to go back to that black eye. I know, I know, you said you ran into the door. But while we were at the hospital, I looked at your medical records... and yes, I had a warrant for them. That time I pulled Roddy over and found that oxycodone, you had a broken wrist. Exactly how did you get that broken wrist?"