Scavenger Hunt Ch. 01

"This is Detective Grady Hartsfield." said Eugene. "The original Toyota Gang cases in Southport were assigned to him. I came up with him to keep two-man control of the evidence, and also to say hello to you guys."

"It's an honor to meet you, sir." said Grady Hartsfield as we shook hands, while Eugene said hello to Claire Michaels and all the 'old timers' of the TCPD he knew from the past. Hartsfield seemed to be quietly competent and efficient, and I noticed those dark eyes taking in everything.

"Do you work with Lieutenant Graham in Southport?" I asked.

"No sir." said Hartsfield. "I'm Robbery/Homicide, mostly Homicide. Lieutenant Graham is mostly Vice. We're not sure what this gang is about, so they had me investigate the robberies, and Lieutenant Graham worked with me to see if any drugs or smuggling came up. And after we executed the warrants, we just brought what we got up here under two-man control."

And then Lieutenant Seamus 'Shane' O'Brady came in. With him was the drop-dead-gorgeous SBI-OER Inspector Brittany M. Maxwell. What I noticed was Detective Joan Laurer's eyes when she saw them walk in together. She was either unable to or did not try to hide the jealousy she was feeling, as she had been dating O'Brady.

By way of contrast, Britt's blue eyes lit up when she saw the TCPD's 'Amazon warrior'. She went up to Joan and greeted her enthusiastically as I shook hands with Shane O'Brady and spoke with him. He said "I hope the data we recovered will help you guys shed some light on all of this. I'm getting the weird feeling that something big is going on with it."

Britt gave me an unexpected and surprisingly warm hug as I greeted her. "Shane and Ted Orosco are involved, helping with jurisdictional issues, so I came over to maintain two-man control of what they found." she said.

I was not fooled. "We'll talk later, but this is obviously much larger than just a few armed robberies, n'est pas?"

"Not much gets past you." said Britt, in the form of a quotation, her eyes twinkling a lot like Tanya's.

Chief Deputy Cindy Ross also came in, and greeted Britt Maxwell warmly. I spoke to Joan Laurer, saying "You seemed... 'surprised'... to see Shane with SBI Inspector Maxwell."

Joan gave me a bit of a 'look', then said "That's one word for it, sir. And you're right, I wasn't expecting that. And then she comes up and greets me like we're best buddies or something."

I couldn't hide a bit of a grin as I said "That's because she's less interested in Shane than she is in you. She plays on Cindy's team, not mine."

Joan had something of an 'eww' face as she said "Nor mine, then." She cut herself off, then after a pause said: "I guess I shouldn't say that out loud, or I'll get canceled."

"Not by me." I said. "While we don't discriminate, and people can date who they want, if you are hetero, you should be able to say that without being attacked. Having said that... yes, do be circumspect in what you say in public, and be aware that who you think might be your friend today might not be in the future..."

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

The Town & County Public Safety Department has a contract with the University's Food Services Department. There are kitchens at County Jail to prepare food for the inmates and guards, and there is a cafeteria there. There were smaller kitchens here at Headquarters and at the Old Mill, but for the most part food was brought from County Jail to feed the 'guests' in my jails.

The lunch that was brought into Classroom 'E' was brought by their catering division. I was in line behind Cindy, and I said "While you're writing the Budget, slip something in for cafeterias here and the Old Mill."

"That's a great idea." Cindy said. "The cafeteria at County Jail does a good business for breakfast before first shift begins and then after third shift ends. I'll touch base with the Sheriff and Chief about it. Anything else you want, while I'm at it?"

"A third Interrogation Room here at Headquarters would be nice." I said. "We could renovate the SWAT Team's storage room, which is on the other side of the wall from I-1."

"Let's talk more about it later today, or at the Cop Bar." Cindy said...

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

After eating, the Chief started the meeting. "I want to thank all of you in the other jurisdictions for helping us by executing those warrants for us and helping us gather data on this gang."

Chief Moynahan: "We do not belieeeeve that this case is solved nor that these arrests end the overall threat of these gangs. And we belieeeeve that your jurisdictions will continue to be targeted by other elements of this group of slugs. To that end, let's discuss what you guys found, and then we'll talk further about the data we've obtained on the susss-pects we've arrres-teddd, and other information that we hope will lead to more arrrrrests. Mister Crowbar?"

"Thank you, Chief." I said. "And I also thank all of you for helping us as well as taking the time to come here and discuss all this with us. Soooo, why don't we start in Southport and then go up the Interstate with your findings?"

Lieutenant Eugene Graham introduced himself and Detective Grady Hartsfield, then plugged his laptop into the hub on the table and brought up his data. He said "I'm an SBI Reserve member, so we executed the warrants on Carl Rojas in Jacksonville and Southport, as well as Michael Carlena in Southport."

Eugene brought up a map of Southport, with districts in different colors. He said "Let me first familiarize you with Southport. It was founded where the River and State Line River merge to form the Big River that flows on south. The southern State Line is a half mile south of the confluence, and south of that, in the State below, is Turpin Heights."

Eugene: "This Town, Midtown, and The City have so-called 'good areas', business districts and entertainment districts that are prosperous and kept relatively crime-free; and then there are the districts where adult things take place, like the Red River District in Midtown, the Tenderloin District in this Town, and the Red Light District near the Railyards in the City. Palmyra County is all upper-end. But Southport is almost all grimy, dirty, and unsafe."

Eugene: "The whole western side that borders the State Line River is docks and wharves, warehouses and shipping businesses. But the worst areas are to the north and northeast, where the railyards hold sway. The best area, the business district, such as it is, is just south and east of center, and as one goes east towards Jacksonville, the suburbs get better."

Eugene: "The southwest corner, where the rivers meet, was the entertainment district, but it began getting seedy, and it's now the red light district of Southport. It's kept pretty orderly by the Mob, but it's still not safe for ordinary folk to go. So the city's government, working hand-in-glove with their Mob masters, cleaned out and renovated the southside along the River, and created the Dagny Piers district project. And both the Police and the Mob keep it clean, using whatever means they need to."

Eugene showed photos as he talked: "Michael Carlena's place is an apartment on the third and top floor of a renovated building in the Dagny Piers area. An Italian restaurant is on the ground floor, right on the Pier, overlooking the River, and the apartment has that view and is therefore not cheap on the rent.

Eugene: "The apartment looked lived-in: there were sets of dishes, some in the sink awaiting cleaning. Not much food in the refrigerator, but a good bit of condiments like ketchup and hot sauce, cheese, stuff like that. Clothes in the closets and dressers, bathroom has all the basics in drawers, towels and washcloths and so on."

Eugene: "There were a lot of books about a range of subjects, a regulation-sized chess set with plastic pieces and a rollup board, a couple of chess books, and a notebook of several correspondence chess games he's playing in several parts of the world. He has the latest Xbox for gaming, and we seized it as well as his computer, which was a standalone and not a laptop. And the most important thing we found... was a cellphone. It's his... it rang when the number we have on record for him was dialed on Grady's phone."

Eugene: "But there was nothing on the surface to suggest a life of crime. No drugs anywhere; we had a dog run through. Nothing, be it drugs or anything else, was hidden behind any a.c. vents nor hidden in the freezer. There was a 20-gauge shotgun by the bed, loaded but no round in the chamber. Looked like a typical self-defense setup to me."

"Just one question." I asked. "You said the place looked (air quotes) 'lived-in', but did it look like he'd hosted any parties or groups of people? Lots of beer bottles, pizza boxes, snack foods and the like?"

Detective Hartsfield said "No sir. The place looked occupied and used, but not excessively so. The rooms were clean, the bed was made, dirty clothes and towels in the hamper. Also, we knocked on neighbors's doors, and all of them said he was quiet and they never heard any parties or noise from his place." I nodded and said thanks.

Eugene: "Next, we went to Carl Rojas's LKA (last known address) in Southport. It's a room in a pay-by-the-hour motel near the southwestern Red Light District. The guy running the place didn't know Rojas by name, but said he was a friend of the owner and stayed in that room once a week at irregular intervals. The guy didn't know the owner's name, either, and said he was paid to not ask questions. The room itself looked like it hadn't been used in several days, and there were no drugs or anything else in there."

Eugene: "We then went up to Carl Rojas's official address in Jacksonville. It's a small one-room apartment above a downtown bar on their Main Street. The bar takes in his mail and gives it to him upon his request, which happens irregularly but works out to being a couple of times a week. The bartender there said he'd occasionally sit at a table in the bar where he could see everyone, and would watch baseball and football games."

Eugene: "The room itself had a few changes of clothes, and shaving equipment and a toothbrush in the bathroom. There's a wi-fi setup and dock for a laptop, but no laptop. There were no books nor magazines nor television sets. It looks like barely more than a hotel room, which is consistent with him being constantly on the move."

Eugene turned it over to Grady Hartsfield, who said "We have a little bit of information on Carl Rojas that we got from Confidential Informants and other resources. He supposedly is trying to work his way into the traditional Mob in Southport, and virtually all the money he's making with his prostitution operations in Southport is turned over to the Mob, so they leave him alone. But they don't want anything to do with him, as they think his loyalty is to the cartels in El Salvador, and Orrin B. Taggart is no fan nor friend of them."

"Interesting." I said. After making sure our Southport colleagues were done, I called upon Nell Bell. She introduced herself, Hannum, and Orosco, and then got started, bringing up video.

Nell Bell: "I'll touch on Rojas first. He has become what is known as a 'wholesaler' of women for prostitution. He imports them, mostly from Central and South America, and supplies women to escort agencies for parties with State Legislators and things like that. And I'd never mention the name of State Senator Richard Langdon in connection with any of this. Why, that would be outright slander!"

Everyone chuckled at that, and I pointed at her and nodded vigorously in agreement, knowing that she was performing an excellent imitation of me, Your Iron Crowbar. Nell went on: "He provides white and Asian women for his upscale clients, as Asian women are sought after in the suburbs, particularly Palmyra County. He supplies Latina women to the lower-class whorehouses and drug dens in Inner Midtown and the Red River District."

Nell Bell: "We raided the location that we believed was Rojas's safehouse, which is a two-bedroom apartment in a duplex in a middle-class neighborhood in Midtown... not all that far from the property you own in Midtown, Commander Troy. And this place looked to be lived in. We got an Xbox, wifi setup, television with cable. The other half of the duplex is empty, and Rojas neither rents it nor owns the building; we'll need a fresh warrant if we want to go into it."

The video changed up as Nell Bell narrated: "We actually went to Maribel Isadora's place first. It's in an area on the fringe of the Red River District. Most of the working girls live somewhere within the Red River District, where they have what can loosely be called protection from the mob running the district, but Maribel lives in an area that's ruled by mostly black drug gangs, where penny bags are being sold on the street corners, and you better be known to the gangs in order to not get shot dead on sight, especially at night."

Nell Bell: "Her apartment is in a building over a bodega shop that apparently has some gang's protection. The guy who runs it is black, in his sixties, and has had no arrests for thirty years. Her apartment is a very small one-bedroom, with a tiny living room in front, kitchen and bathroom in the middle, bedroom in back."

Nell Bell: "We did not find drugs nor paraphernalia, but the rooms were messy, which suggests to me that she does not bring male clients there. I also observed that all of her clothes were either jeans and sweats, normal casual stuff, -orrrr- it was leather and what I'd expect Punks and Hard Rockers to wear at clubs. What is interesting to me about that is that most escorts are going to have a few very nice dresses, gowns even, and dressy high heels, which is what the politicians and lobbyists that hire these women in Midtown expect to see."

Grady Hartsfield stepped in: "So she either has another place somewhere, or she's too low-end to be a high-end escort."

Roark Coleman said "Maybe Carl Rojas has her set up somewhere else---"

"Guys," I said as I held up my hand, palm outwards, "let's hold off speculating until we get through the data. Go ahead Nell."

Nell: "Thank you sir, and they may be right. Anyway, no cell phone nor electronics in her place, but I understand you got her cellphone when you arrested her."

Tanya Muscone said "That was a burner---"

"We'll talk about that later!" I said sharply, glaring hard at her. Then I turned and said "Let's please finish with your reports, and then I'll get into what we've found out. Go ahead, Nell."

"Uh, yes sir." Nell said. "As I said, no electronics, no wifi stations nor hookups for computers, no Xbox or any Xbox games to show there had been one, and I was going to say that also might suggest she has another place somewhere."

Nell Bell: "We then hooked up with Lieutenant O'Brady and Inspector Maxwell to investigate Peter Segui's office in Palmyra County. He's a junior partner in Stubbs & Wheaton Venture Capital, LLC. It's a tiny office, no nameplate on the door. There's a receptionist's desk in the front room, then when one goes through the door there are two offices on the left, the far walls being windows to the outside. On the right side was the restroom, a small closet for filing papers and holding servers, then a kitchenette and breakroom open space, then two desks in an open space behind them. And the office was totally empty."

"How 'empty' are we talking?" I asked.

"Take a look." Nell Bell said as the video came up.

"Literally everything gone." said SBI-OER Lieutenant Ted Orosco of the SBI-OER's Central Division, confirming what the video was showing. (Author's note: 'Climate Injustice', Ch. 01 for his resignation from the TCPD. ) "Empty rooms. No desks, no chairs, no trash cans, no toilet paper in the bathroom. And not a single fingerprint anywhere, either. The place was wiped down completely."

SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell said "Because yesterday was Sunday, we couldn't get in touch with anyone in that building's management nor ownership to determine how long they'd been gone. But the scent of the 'lemon-fresh' cleaning agents were still in the air, so the 'cleaners' may have come immediately after your guys arrested Segui and Company."

I said "So did you go to Peter Segui's residence before going to his alleged place of work?"

"Yes." said Lieutenant Shane O'Brady, bringing up a video. "It's nearer Pottsville than Palmyra County, but I still logged in as an SBI Reserve Agent, and Inspector Maxwell went with me. We had a team of technicians with us, and a drug dog. As you can see, the apartment complex is very old, and made of brick instead of the flimsy crap today's apartments are made of. There once was a mill and a railroad yard near there, but the mill shut down and the railroad consolidated several yard operations in the area into the City Railyards, and shut the outliers down. Wilson Hammonds owns the building now. Like a lot of his properties, he bought the lien, paid the taxes, and was awarded the deed."

O'Brady: "It's two bedrooms, and it's lived-in. The second bedroom appears to be a guest room, and may be in fairly frequent use, as there were several changes of sheets and towels, and the closet was empty and not being used for storage. We recovered a laptop computer, an Xbox and television, a number of papers filed in a drawer of his desk, including tax returns, and a cell phone, which we think is his."

Britt Maxwell said "We ran the dogs through, but no drugs or contraband showed up, and nothing hidden in the vents nor under the floor. However, the bed is a brass bed, and I noticed smudges on the headboard rails. The techs ran the prints, and a match came up... to the woman you guys arrested Saturday night, Maribel Isadora."

"Ahh, that's something." I said. When Britt said that was all she had, I said "Okay, Captain Michaels, why don't you tell everyone what we've obtained.

"Thank you, sir." said Claire. She went over what she'd told me earlier about the gang members, then wrapped it up with: "We recovered a cell phone on Maribel Isadora, and have determined it to be a burner phone. Lieutenant Washington's team found two other phones that had been thrown out of the Toyota as it was being pursued, and found Peter Segui's and Michael Carlena's fingerprints on them. They're also burners, but no one's fingerprints open any of the phones."

I said "I suspect the phone you found in Peter Segui's rooms won't be opened by fingerprints, either. These guys are are a very careful bunch."

Claire Michaels said "We also found that the Toyota was rigged with cellphone holders as well as wifi transmission devices, which suggests they're videoing themselves committing their crimes. Commander Troy, would you like to take it from here?"

"Yes. Thank you." I said, acting upon our pre-arranged plan. "First, I believe that our little gang of four is part of a larger organization. I base this on the way they've operated in several parts of the State, and sometimes in different Toyota vehicles. And Detective Coleman's observations that led to finding the riggings in the Toyota add to that. We've wondered why the gang changes the car tags but keep the same cars... well, because the cars are tricked out for what they want to do."

Me: "And what they've wanted to do... is record themselves committing their crimes. And why do that? I can safely surmise that they're doing that not for themselves, but so that other people can see them. And that implies other Toyota Gang members, and possibly in groups themselves."

"But why, sir?" Nell Bell asked.

"That... I have no theory for." I replied. "At least not yet. We'll be applying for warrants for all the cellphone metadata we have, as well as trying to open them up---"

Tanya Muscone said "We can ask Jack and the Federal Agents to help us with that during our meeting with them this afternoon---"