Scavenger Hunt Ch. 01

"Stop!" I gasped out, followed by giving her a look that rivaled any 'Teresa Cunt' look ever bestowed upon anyone, denoting my total fury with her for saying that in front of the others. Everyone was looking at us strangely, wondering what was going on.

"What?" Tanya fired back angrily. "Are you saying we can't ask my husband to help us with this?" She just wasn't getting the hint, so I made it more clear:

"That is exactly what I am saying, Deputy Chief Muscone!" I said, letting my anger run through my voice. Chief Moynahan grabbed Tanya's arm to keep her from saying more. But the can of worms had been effectively opened.

Detective Grady Hartsfield said "Sir, why can't we get the FBI's help on this, even if it's not a Federal case? They can get us that cellphone data---" He stopped talking when I held up my hand in a 'stop' sign. At least he got the hint...

I took a deep breath to calm down and clear my mind, then began: "Okay, I am going to have to change the order I was going to tell you guys about this. I am going to ask you to not speak to anyone else about this... not even to your own Police Departments or your colleagues there, nor to your SBI colleagues, and especially not to any Federal Agents. Any, at all." I glared harshly at Tanya as I said those last words.

Me: "Just about every one of you in this room that have worked with me knows the problems I and we have had with rogue and dirty Federal Agents. Detective Hartsfield, treat Lieutenant Graham to lunch one day, and have him tell you about the time he and I worked together on the Riverboat Gambler case, and the problems he and I had with Federal Agents during that time." (Author's note: you guessed it: 'Riverboat Gambler', Ch. 01-02.)

Me: "Detectives Bell and Hannum can ask their Chief Soltis about what rogue, dirty Federal Agents tried to do to his colleague Wes Masters, now Director of the SBI. Inspector Maxwell remembers that too, I'm sure---"

Chief Moynahan said "Oh, you can ask me about that. Or Kevin Pitts." (Author's note: 'Who Watches The Watchers'.)

I nodded, then said "And I cannot bee-lieeeve that Commander Muscone has not remembered how a Federal Agent tried to force Commander Croyle's husband to pick up a gun so that that Federal Agent could shoot her husband in the back of the head in cold blooded murder." (Author's note: 'Vengeance Is Mine', Ch. 01.) Teresa now had the full-bore 'Teresa Cunt' look on her face, but Tanya's face still showed her pure fury... at me.

I continued: "So the bottom line is that while there are good Federal Agents like Ted Crenshaw and Tim Jenkins in Southport, even the best of them might say something to someone in good faith, who would then say something to someone, and before you know it... hey, presto!... the Swamp Frogs have it, and will use it against us."

Me: "And where that fits in with this case... and again I ask you not to say anything to anyone, anyone at all, so that our chances to nail more of this gang can come to fruition... where it fits in is how we got these four in the first place."

Me: "We'd been working on this case all summer, and my excellent Intel team was using analytics to try and predict where they'd hit next... in what city, and what area. Our first attempt in late August to use those analytics to set a trap failed." (Author's note: 'Private Practice', Ch. 03.)

Me: "Captain Michaels and her people analyzed that, and realized that ubiquitous vans with Federal car tags were rather obviously conducting surveillance on the areas our analytics suggested were likely targets. I also had developed other intel that showed Swamp Frogs might be operating in the Town & County. So we ran another operation... but that time we were watching to see what the Feds were doing. And sure enough, they were what we thought they were." (Author's note: 'God Save The Queen', Ch. 02.)

Me: "Soooo, we showed that we are a sneaky Police Force as well as a smart one. My 20th high school reunion was coming up, and it wasn't me who chose that weekend, but it fit in beautifully with our plans... we made it clear to the world that I wasn't in Town, and they bit on it."

Me: "We, the TCPD, observed where the Feds were setting up their surveillance, then deliberately set up our own in a few places to steer the perps into other places.. where we had much better surveillance and interdiction waiting on them. And voila!... we now have four perps in our jails." (Author's note: 'Reunion Fever', Ch. 01, 05.)

Everyone applauded, then I said "And what I was going to tell you is that we still might capture more of this organization's cells with similar planning and execution of plans... but if the Feds get wind that we know what they were doing, they'll change up or stop what they're doing."

I continued, looking right at Tanya as I said: "To that end, we will work to get cell phone metadata without involving any Federal Agent working for U.S. Attorney General Derrick B. Harland, and we will use non-Federal-Government resources to crack the cellphones we have."

"O-kayyyyyy." drawled Chief Moynahan. "I have talked tooooo Midtown PD Chief Frank Soltis, Pottsville PD Chief Lloyd Rogers, and SBI Director 'Coldiron' Masters. I will let yooooo, Lieutenant Graham, decide who you need to in-forrrrrm, as I do not know who to trust in the Southport Police beyond yourself."

Chief Moynahan: "We are forming a State-level Task Force, comprised of you guys in here now. You will have access to our Intel Branch's services, and I hope you will reciprocate by giving them as much information as you possibly can. We will also form plans and execute them to take down the rest of this Toyota Gang, and be rid of it once and for allllll. Anything else, Mister Crowbarrrr?"

"One thing, sir." I said. "These guys have been using Toyota vehicles, which we now know were tricked out. But we so far have not found any other vehicles these guys may be using to conduct the rest of their lives. I'd like everyone to go back and get what video data you can, and see if you can identify what, if any, vehicles these guys use. We may can then use that data to find out where they're meeting, and where they're keeping the Toyotas, et cetera."

"Good ideeeeea." drawled the Chief. "O-kayyyy... Lootenant Washington, would you please give our friends a tour of our Intel Center? And those of you named 'Commander' and Captain Michaels, please come with meeeee..."

Part 4 - Federal Inquiries

2:00pm, Monday, October 4th. Commander Tanya P. Muscone escorted DEA Supervisory Special Agents Dwight Stevens and Lorena Rose, FBI Supervisory Special 
Agent Ted Crenshaw and Special Agent Tim Jenkins to the Main Conference Room. Following them was FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone and Supervisory Special Agent Julius Jefferson, and to my surprise, Dr. Laura Fredricson.

Chief Sean Moynahan joined us, and sat in his usual place at the near end of the table. I sat to his left and Tanya in her wheelchair to his right. Laura sat to my left, Claire Michaels to her left, and Teresa to Claire's left with an empty seat between them. Jack was to Tanya's right, Dwight to Jack's right, and Lorena to Dwight's right, Tim Jenkins to Lorena's right, and Ted Crenshaw at the far end of the table.

Lorena said "Congratulations on solving that case in your hometown, Commander Troy."

Jack Muscone said with a gleam in his beady black eyes: "And having your high school football jersey retired. I didn't realize you were such a great football player." Julius Jefferson chuckled; he knew what that inside joke was about. I noted with my peripheral vision that Teresa's eyes had widened upon hearing that. It is possible that I had not mentioned that to her.

"Thank you." I said, flat deadpan. "It was a surprise, fer sure. Laura, how's Craig Reynolds?"

"Doing very well." Laura said. "We're going to get Craig moved to University Hospital later this week, and we'll begin his rehab. I'm also going to help his wife Jenny find a new home here for them and their now four daughters."

Claire asked "He was the victim of the stabbing up there? Is he still in danger?"

Laura said "The Fillmore County Sheriff's Department up there is guarding him, and Todd Burke, but the danger to him should be over now. He and Todd had a Press conference in Craig's hospital room earlier this morning, announcing BOW Enterprises's buyout of the Reynolds company and all of its technology."

"Is that big?" asked Dwight Stevens.

"Very big." Laura replied. "My sources tell me that it sent shockwaves through the technology world, from MegaTech Industries all the way to the CIA's Science and Technology Directorate."

Everyone in the room knew that my wife had once been in charge of that particular CIA Directorate. What I was silently wondering was why Laura was so openly talking about it in front of the Federal Agents.

Laura then said "But that's not why I came here today. Don, I understand that one of the people you arrested over the weekend is connected to the Carlena Cartel?"

"Where did you hear that from?" I asked, a bit sharply. "Because it wasn't from me. I just heard about it this morning when they were briefing me on the arrests."

Laura whirled her head around and looked at me in surprise, more like shock. Then she realized why I'd said that: the way she said it, it had sounded like I had talked to her about it, and in a way that my fellow Police Officers (and my boss sitting next to me) would hold against me. It also made clear that someone knew about our suspects, and someone had told her.

"No, it wasn't from you." Laura said. "And I'll explain why it has come to my attention." She turned to the others and said "When University Hospital was bombed and I was injured, some people at the national level developed the theory that one of the big cartels in South America was behind the attack because of an earlier interdiction in the cartel's human trafficking operations."

Laura: "That turned out to not be the case, but it put that cartel in the light of scrutiny, and eventually that cartel was taken out with extreme prejudice, and by that I mean it was destroyed, utterly obliterated." (Author's note: 'The Yellow Rose of Texas', Ch. 03 for the rescue; 'Only Time', Ch. 01 for the cartel threat; 'Only Time' Ch. 03 for the wipeout of the cartel. )

Laura: "That created a vacuum in the Organized Crime structure in South America, and several cartels moved in to fill that vacuum. One of them was the Carlena Cartel. It's relatively small, but it has a growing influence in Colombia and Venezuela. Michael Carlena is the grandson of Miguel 'Machete' Carlena of that cartel, but we are not sure if he has any real role in the Carlena Cartel at all."

"That kills one of our theories, then." Lorena Rose said.

"Don't give up on it too quickly." said Dwight Stevens. "We still need to look a lot deeper into it. He's a big name that is attracting eyeballs." I pointed at him and nodded vigorously in agreement.

Ted Crenshaw said "And then there's Carlos Rojas. He may have connections to Organized Crime as well as human trafficking."

I said "Sounds like you guys are looking for reasons to come in and take the Toyota Gang case away from us."

"Nooooo, quite the opposite." said Jack Muscone.

"Well..." said Dwight Stevens, who followed up with: "If there are any Federal aspects to it, like drugs or human trafficking across State lines, then, sure, of course we want to bust that up. And the name Carlos Rojas is familiar to us as a sex trafficker and a fringe member of the Southport Mob."

"What can you tell us about him?" I asked shrewdly.

Tim Jenkins said "He's... he just... well, it's hard to describe. He's just sort of there.."

Ted Crenshaw said "Let me give a little more background. As you all know, in the days of Cerone and Molinari, this State was essentially split in half between the Southport Mob and the City Mob. There were two (air quotes) 'open cities': Midtown, and this Town & County. When the Consultant of Crime was alive and active, they feared him tremendously. Now they fear you tremendously, Commander Troy."

Crenshaw: "Midtown was neutral territory. No hits by either side on the other, no taking over of territories from the other side. The black gangs of Inner Midtown were left alone as long as they kept to themselves. And that worked fairly well for a long time. Tim?"

Tim Jenkins took it back up: "In the past few years, especially since the anything-but-peaceful protests in the City that spread to Midtown, we've been noticing attempts to organize so-called 'Families' in the Midtown area. Asian gangs began taking control of the Palmyra County area north and northeast of Midtown, and Hispanic gangs like NS-14 took control of areas to the southwest. Inner Midtown is still controlled by black gangs. And higher ups have been moving in to control all of these areas, with mixed success."

Jenkins: "Carl Rojas has been supplying women to both the Hispanic and Asian Mobs for prostitution purposes. He's essentially playing his own game, and playing both sides. And they're letting him. But it appears to us is that both sides are just using him, that he's practically a front for their real operatives, and would be the fall guy if we drop the hammer on their pipelines."

Lorena Rose asked "So why is he part of the Toyota Gang, and their armed robberies?"

Tim Jenkins replied. "That's the $64,000 question. I've got a couple of ideas, but they're pure speculation. First, Rojas is making no inroads into either Organization, so maybe he's doing it for extra cash. Second, maybe he's doing it to create new connections."

"Or for name recognition?" Dwight Stevens asked.

I said "You may be on the right track, there. I was thinking that that was a bad way to go about that, since the Toyota Gang players work hard to not be found out. We didn't even have skin colors on anyone before my guys busted these four on Saturday night. But then I realized that they apparently were videoing themselves, so maybe whoever is watching those videos know who they are."

Claire Michaels said "But not a word about that anywhere in the Underworld, sir. And 'Ice Cube' and 'Grubby Paul' have worked their C.I.s like never before to determine that. If what we're finding out so far turns out to be correct, though it's (air quotes) 'proving a negative', then these guys's identities are not general knowledge in the Underworld."

I nodded, then said "Well, I have similar questions about why Peter Segui and Michael Carlena would be part of something like this, too. And the answers will go a long way in explaining this whole case, if we can get those answers. Anyhoo, we've found no drugs at all, and just one gang member involved in anything crossing State lines. It feels... weird. Just weird."

Laura said "So are we all in agreement that this Toyota Gang is not a national nor international operation or organization, and therefore is of interest to Federal Law Enforcement?"

Dwight Stevens said "I'm not necessarily in agreement with that, ma'am. But I don't have anything to show that as a whole they are something we would have a Federal interest in."

Teresa said "And besides, this whole thing just feels... local. And by that I mean that these guys know where the convenience stores are, know the roads, know our patterns, and such. And that comes from extensive preparation. Ditto that for the hits in Midtown and Southport. National gangs don't just come in and set up to do that in a few days time."

"That's a good point." I said, halfway in a reverie. "Okay, shall we move on to what SAC Muscone wants to tell us?"

"Sure." Jack Muscone said. "Laura, you can stay or go as you wish."

"If it's all the same to you," Laura said, "I want to hear about these bastards whose work I had to repair in an operating room."

"Glad to have you." Jack said. He took out a piece of photography paper, upon which was printed four DMV photos, and passed it to me. "Look familiar?" he asked.

"You betcha." I said. "That's them." The photos were of the four people in Apple Grove that may or may not have assisted Lisa Baker in stabbing Craig Reynolds. (Author's note: 'Reunion Fever', Ch. 03-05.) "Dulci Tamayo, Tom Tamayo, Gabby Williams, and Jerry Williams."

As everyone took turns looking at the four photos, Jack Muscone said "As you all know, thanks to the close working relationship between companies like MegaTech Industries and the Intelligence Community, especially the FBI, facial recognition tools are becoming so powerful and prevalent that we can identify almost anyone in the world if they have a photo in any database in the world."

"You're just trolling me, arentcha?" I said semi-humorously and semi-witheringly.

"Yeah, I am." Jack admitted. "Anyway, the names they gave Lisa Baker in Apple Grove are not their real names, nor are they married couples. Dulci Tamayo is Della Deems, age 28. Tom Tamayo is Tom Allison, age 30. Gabby Williams is Kathi Wescott, and that's Kathi with an 'i', age 32, though she doesn't look it. And Jerry Williams is Winston Reskind, age 28. And here's the shocker: they all live here, in this area."

"Here? In my County?" I practically gasped, dumbfounded.

"Almost." said Jack. "You may or may not know that the western edge of Nextdoor County and the northern edge of Coltrane County, along State Highway 142 and Coltrane County Road 98, are being developed very rapidly with housing projects. Mostly full homes, but a few duplex and quadplex subdivisions, as well." (Author's note: astute Detectives will remember those roads mentioned in 'Reichenbach', Ch. 05. Yes, I'm trolling you about remembering :o) )

I said "Yes, and the developers of those projects include Mrs. Myrtle L. James and Council Member Edward R. Steele. All legal, of course, but interesting to take note of." Laura looked strangely at me when I said that.

Muscone: "Not much gets past you, Mr. Crowbar. It turns out that these four live side-by-side in two duplexes that are side-by-side in Coltrane County. They moved in at the same time, about fifteen months ago, when the duplexes were finished and inspected."

Muscone: "Before that, they lived in different areas of this County. The two men were hired right out of college by BigAgraFoods, and worked for them until the company got pissed at you and moved most of their operations out of here just over four years ago." (Author's note: 'Whistleblower', Ch. 02.)

I said "Do you know where they went to School? And what they majored in?"

Deputy Chief Tanya Muscone said to her husband: "In other words, Jack, tell the story chronologically, and from as far back as you can."

"I guess that's fair." said Muscone, though looking irritated. "Okay, Winston Reskind graduated from State Tech seven years ago, with a combined Bachelors/Masters in Computer Engineering. Tom Allison graduated from State Tech seven years ago with a Masters in Chemical Engineering, and he got that when he dropped out of the Ph.D. program."


Muscone: "Lisa Baker was told that 'Gabby Williams' was a schoolteacher, and whaddya know... Kathi Wescott was indeed a school teacher in the County High system, graduating from the University with a degree in Education six years ago. Della Deems also graduated from the University with a degree in Education six years ago, and was employed at Lexington High School down in Hamilton County."

Muscone: "Della Deems was fired and her teaching certificate revoked three years ago, after she was found to be having sexual relations with members of the varsity football and basketball teams there. According to all accounts, all of the boys were 18, but still students in her custody. Kathi Wescott also had her teaching certificate revoked when it was found she was 'bumping uglies' with teen boys. Again, she claimed they were of legal age, but they were not her students nor enrolled in her school, County High, so I'll let you decide the real reasons she got fired."