Scavenger Hunt Ch. 02

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racism, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

There may or may not be discussion of political issues in my stories. If you are a Snowflake that feels you need to be protected from any mention of politics, then click the Back button now, and never attempt to read any of my stories ever again. You've been warned.

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Part 5 - Can You Hear Me Now? (cell data)

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Wednesday, October 6th, from the Anchor Desk of the KXTC studios. "Tensions are building in the Town & County Council!"

After the hard-charging intro music, Bettina began: "It's Budget season for the Town & County Assembly, and the vitriol between the political Parties spilled over into the Council meeting last night. You have the right to know about these important issues, and we will be bringing you full coverage of them. Let's go to respected political reporter Carl Lemay for more on the Council meeting. Carl!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said the black reporter in his expensive, well-fitting suit, reporting from the roof of the building at Riverside and College, with City Hall in his background. "The Council Chamber was filled to capacity by Citizens demanding that the Council support their twin positions of defunding the Police and forcing the TCPD to accept and adhere to the Police reform regulations set by U.S. Attorney General Derrick B. Harland and the U.S. Department of Justice."

Lemay: "They are also demanding the Council pass new laws to eliminate cash bail and force District Attorney Miriam Walters to reduce charges against anyone accused of stealing less than $1000 or that amount in goods, even if a gun or knife was used in the crime."

Lemay: "Dozens of Citizens spoke at the Council meeting, outrageously being given just one minute each by the racist, illegitimate Mayor Daniel Allgood in clear violation of their First Amendment rights of Free Speech and the Redress of Grievances. After two hours, Council Republicans cut off further input from Citizens by forcing through a motion to go into Executive Session. That passed on a purely Party-line vote, with Mayor Allgood egregiously abusing his power to break the tie by voting to cut off the voices of the Citizens."

Lemay: "Sources tell Channel Two News that Democrats on both the Council and Assembly intend to use legislative maneuvers to hold the Budget hostage until the TCPD agrees in writing to submit to the US DOJ's regulations. Commander Donald Troy has not responded to repeated requests by KXTC Channel Two News for comment. Back to you, Bettina."

"Thank you, Carl!" said Bettina as the feed came back to her. "That was respected political reporter Carl Lemay with that important story. And now let's go to trusted reporter Amber Harris for more on the Executive Session. Amber!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said the short athletic blonde reporterette, from the same roof as Lemay but with Police Headquarters in her distant background. "Channel Two News has learned that the Executive Session focused on Commander Donald Troy's utter disregard for repeated demands by the Council to hire an Internal Affairs leader for the TCPD. The debate was bitter and rancorous, with Council Republicans disregarding any notion of manners and decorum with ugly personal attacks against the Council Democrats, and blocking all attempts to pass resolutions to force Commander Troy to do his job and appoint an Internal Affairs Commander!"

Amber: "A spokesperson for the Police Union, speaking on condition of anonymity, says that a General Strike by the Rank and File of the Police Force is possible if Police Commander Donald Troy doesn't name an Internal Affairs leader by Election Day. As usual, Commander Troy did not respond to repeated requests by KXTC Channel Two News for comment. Back to you, Bettina."

"Thank you, Amber!" said Bettina as she returned to the feed. "That was trusted reporter Amber Harris with that important story. And let's go to reporter Pat Stellum for an update on the University's suspended Biology professors. Pat!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said the corpulent reporter, with the University Clock Tower in his background. "The two Biology professors were suspended without pay by University President Jerry Moore pending action to terminate their employment for cause for insubordination. Their lawsuit was assigned to rookie Judge Franklin Washington, whose brother is a TCPD Officer working for Commander Donald Troy. Judge Washington issued a stay enjoining the University from enforcing the suspension, and requiring the professors be paid while the case was waiting to be heard."

Stellum: "In an enlightened ruling, Appellate Court Judge Leahy overturned Judge Washington's stay, and said that the University not only could suspend the professors and withhold paying them, it could move forward to terminate their employment without regard to the lawsuit's status."

Stellum: "In a statement exclusively to Channel Two News, Professor Lionel Carmela, Head of the Department of Political Science, praised Dr. Moore's swift and strong actions against the insubordinate professors as well as Appellate Judge Leahy's speedy and enlightened ruling."

Stellum: "Dr. Carmela also said, and I quote, 'Judge Franklin Washington is black, but his ruling is more aligned with racist White Nationalists and Insurrectionists. Washington is a traitor to his race, and is using his position on the Bench to enforce White Nationalism and deny Climate Justice.', close quote. Back to you, Bettina..."

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

"Gooooood grief." remarked Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle as she, Chief Deputy Cindy Ross, Deputy Chief Tanya P. Muscone, Chief Sean Moynahan, Commander Donald Troy (me)... and Sheriff Antonio Griswold drank coffee in the Chief's Conference Room.

"Where to start?" said Tanya. "The blatant attack on the Judiciary with those racist comments about Judge Washington? Or Carl Lemay's attempts to create racial hatred by encouraging the Assembly to defund the Police?"

I said "It's going to be hard to have Police reform if there is no Police to reform."

Cindy Ross said "Who died and made Don the H.R. Department? Their reporting is a blatant insult to you, Chief Moynahan."

"Trooooo, Miss Ross." replied the Chief.

I said "And when the Chief and/or Sheriff hire a new I.A. leader, these same assholes of the Media will say they had to do the job for me because I either failed to do it or refused to do it."

Teresa said "And if and when we hire anyone who does not come out saying he or she is out for Don's blood, the Media will be crying that they picked his 'yes-man'... or '-woman'."

"I was more interested in Amber's comments about the Council." said Tanya.

"Me, tooooo." drawled the Chief. "Any libel in any of that, Mis-ter Crowbarrrr?"

"Technically, no sir." I said "I spoke to Edward Steele last night. To make a short story long, his wife, Professor Stephanie Steele, has been getting overnight 'telescope time' on Tuesdays while he's at Council meetings, and their daughter Marie stays overnight with my daughter Carole, to their dog Bowser's utter delight."

Me: "So Edward calls, even if he's not going to come over and pick up Marie. Last night he called at 1:30am, to Bowser's utter displeasure. Edward told me that the Executive Session broke down into both sides going at it, hurling insults and verbal invective. It didn't get physical, thanks to the Sergeant-At-Arms being in the room, but Mayor Allgood just let them verbally fight it out. Sooooo... what Amber reported is not a lie; she just failed to mention that the other side was going at it just as hard."

Chief Moynahan said "Sheriff, we were not expecting yoooo back until Friday or next week."

Sheriff Griswold replied "Me neither. That conference I was attending was about US Attorney General Derrick B. Harland's concept of Police reform. It quickly became a steaming pile of 'woke' nonsense. Their main speaker was this woman from the US DOJ Civil Rights Division, Lorraine Powell is her name, and her utter hatred of the Police was so obvious that I did not need to be Carole Troy to see it."

"Just the right person to send to a conference full of LEOs." Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle said witheringly.

"And seriously, that was probably on purpose." I said. "It was meant to be a slap in our faces by Derrick B. Harland and his weaponized US DOJ. So what did she say, Sheriff?"

Sheriff Griswold said: "She was spouting off about no cash bail, holding the Police Officer accountable but not the perp that Officer was trying to arrest... you know, the usual claptrap you see on the Leftwing National Networks---"

"Sorry, Sheriff, I don't know." I said. "Except for Bettina in the morning, I don't watch the Mainstream Media. And I only watch her to get the free coffee in here."

"Har!" barked the Sheriff as everyone else chuckled. He went on: "Well, a bunch of us began pushing back against those 'woke' dumbasses, and it got contentious very quickly. I came back from lunch yesterday, but literally a third of the attendees didn't. At the next break two hours later, I just left and didn't go back. I went to Midtown Police Headquarters and talked to Nell Bell, Eric Hannum, Kimberly Wesson and Steve Ruger, then checked out of my hotel and drove on back home."

I said "By the way, no Angels Meeting today. FBI Special Agent In Charge Ashton Cardigan sent the Toyota Gang cellphone data we got a Federal warrant for. He sent it straight to Mary Milton's email, and she forwarded it to Intel, Captain Michaels, and me."

Chief Moynahan said "I got those emails, tooooo. What was that kerfuffle between you and Captain Michaels about?"

Me: "Claire sent a reply email asking Mary to look at the data at home, so I had to send a reply to the reply, nixing that. I told Mary to take care of baby Marty, and we'd handle the Police work. I then called Captain Michaels into my office and 'explained' to her that Mary was on maternity leave, and that meant Mary was completely unavailable to us, as if she were on vacation or in the hospital."

Me: "I told Claire that there were two reasons for that. First, Mary has a newborn baby, and that is more important than anything she could do with the data. And second, if the Union got wind that Mary had been asked to do work while on maternity leave, they'd cry us a whole new River running through Town."

Teresa said "Speaking of the Union, are they really that upset about not having an I.A. Commander? I sure haven't heard a peep from our rank-and-file nor their leadership about it."

Sheriff Griswold said "The Union will always gripe about something if they can find something to gripe about."

Chief Moynahan replied: "But they dooooo have a point, Commanderzzzzz. We need to get hot on that..."

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

8:00am, Wednesday, October 6th. The Chief, Teresa, and I went into Classroom 'E'. Captain Claire Michaels, Lieutenants Theo Washington and Christopher Purvis, Detectives Lisa Monroe and Roark Coleman, and Corporal Penny Scott of Intel were waiting for us.

"All right, whaddya got?" I asked.

Penny Scott gave the briefing. She was projecting maps with dots onto the 5x4 matrix of monitors, with different colored dots showing phone locations. She said: "Sir, the three cellphones we recovered called each other and a fourth number dozens of times over the last six months. Most of the calls are on Thursdays and Fridays, and some on Saturdays."

Penny: "Most are from what we're calling Peter Segui's burner phone, the one with his fingerprints all over it, to the other three numbers, but they all do contact each other from time to time. And there is one other number, which is also a burner phone. It called out to Peter Segui's number and only to his number, and only rarely. It never received an incoming call from any number at all, much less these."

Roark Coleman asked "Rojas's burner?"

I replied "That fourth number making a lot of calls is probably his. This fifth number is a new wrinkle. Keep going with your report, Corporal."

"Yes sir." said Penny Scott. "Special Agent In Charge Cardigan and his team did us a solid on getting more of the metadata than we expected. We got a lot of data of the towers the phones were pinging off of, giving us approximate locations of the phones. Now most of the time they're turned off and shielded so that there is no data, but they all turn on right about the same time, suggesting coordinated instructions."

Penny: "Their locations converge at times, suggesting they're getting together, then they start pouring out data streams. I suspect this is when they're videoing themselves in the Toyota vehicle. That data is also transmitted out via the wifi devices we found in the car, which are hotspots."

Penny: "Lieutenant Myron Milton was able to crack the passwords to the computers we recovered, and we're going through them. So far, we've found no emails that match up as being between any of them. We did spot-check Peter Segui's computer to see if he was emailing your Apple Grove perps, sir. But if he is, we couldn't spot it. And all of the emails of all of them appear to be normal, nothing suspicious in any of them. We'll keep looking, though."

Penny finished up: "And that's basically the gist of it. A lot of data, but not all that much useful information going forward."

"No, this is great stuff. It really helps connect some dots." I said. I leaned back in my chair and said "Soooo... thoughts, everyone?"

Roark Coleman said "If their burners are turned off, how are they contacting each other, to coordinate meeting or even to turn on the burners? Another set of burners?"

"That's a good question." I said. "They all have Xboxes, except Maribel... and she's apparently been spending time in Peter Segui's bed. So I'd say they're playing some game on their Xboxes, and they have a codeword they use with numbers behind them, indicating a set time to turn on the phones. I might also suggest they have email addresses on their burners, but we'll have to get into the phones to find that out. And that's my next mission in all this."

Lisa Monroe said "I guess I'm a little surprised that we didn't find a lot of other phone numbers. We found that fifth number, that was only incoming, but nothing else. So if there are other gang members, how are our perps here contacting them? Also through Xboxes?"

"They may not be contacting the others at alllll." Chief Moynahan said. "They are really compartmentalized, and very care-fulllll. Really good spycraft, from what I've seeeeen."

"Maybe they are spies!" Roark said, his voice whimsical like Rudistan's could sometimes be. Seeing my look at him, he said "Uh, just kidding, sir. I don't know why spies would rob convenience stores, anyway."

I said "True. But your comment reminded me of something... my Apple Grove perps. Now they have been acting like spies, or secret agents. And Chief, this is not asskissing, but I think you're spot-on about the compartmentalization. I don't think our four perps here are the lone actors in all of this. They just may be one of several cells working independently of each other..."

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

10:30am, Wednesday, October 6th. Teresa had borrowed Cindy's Sheriff's Department SUV, and she (Teresa) and I rode in it to the building that housed Town Fitness Centers on the left (far) side. Teresa drove through the parking lot and around the building on that side, then down the back alley to an unmarked metal door. It was the door to my small space in the 'elbow' of the building.

I unlocked the door and we went inside, and Teresa monitored the videocamera covering the back alley as I checked for bugs, finding none. A moment later, Teresa said "They're here." I went to the back door and opened it as a ubiquitous black van pulled up, facing the TCSD SUV.

The driver was wearing all black, but the spandex top and yoga pants were form-fitting and showed off the woman's magnificent body. Despite her Tilley hat and shades, I could see from close up that she was Melina Allgood. Out of the shotgun seat, wearing a button-down shirt and black slacks, a khaki trenchcoat, a baseball cap, and shades over his eyes, was Todd Burke.

He opened the back door of the van and Melina pulled out a large black suitcase and went inside. An instant later another man got out of the back, also wearing all black, including a black raincoat that looked like what I wore as an Army Officer over my uniform back in the day. He was wearing a full-brim hat and shades, as well. Teresa and I seeming innocuously put ourselves right next to him, shielding him from prying eyes and any possible assassination attempt.

Going inside, they all took off their headgear and shades, the third man revealing that he was Donovan Wakefield. Teresa knew who he was, having seen him at University Hospital during the ransomware crisis. (Author's note: 'Beethoven Virus', Ch. 02.)

Melina set the suitcase down on the table near the back counter and opened it. It contained what looked like a large laptop computer with several connecting cords. She plugged the A.C. cord into the outlet on the wall, then opened the laptop and powered it up. Rows of data appeared on the monitor that reminded me of the movie The Matrix.

Meanwhile, I handed out latex gloves and everyone put them on over their hands. Then I opened the evidence bag that Teresa and I had under two man control, and took out the three cellphones of the Toyota Gang perps, as well as Michael Carlena and Peter Segui's regular phones found in their residences. Donovan Wakefield connected each of the cellphones to his super-computer, and numbers and code flew up the monitor screen. He wrote some notes on the notepad I'd provided, which were the passkeys, phone numbers, and ID data of each of the cellphones.

"I have got to get me one of these!" I said as I watched.

"You could be arrested and charged with treason if you do, and get caught in possession of it." Donovan said. "As will I... if I get caught with it. But this thing is overkill on these phones, like a triphammer crushing a nut."

"But the nut is very effectively crushed." I replied.

Donovan continued: "I'll give you a jump drive with an app on it, so you can put the watered down version of this program on a laptop." As he worked, Todd handed me a file folder with some papers in it.

"Teresa's hunch was right, Uncle Don." Todd said. "When she showed me those photos of those four suspects that were in Apple Grove last weekend, I vaguely remembered a couple of them, and Barry Oliver definitely remembered one of the men. They applied to work at BOW Enterprises, and their résumés appeared to have experience in general nanotechnology."

Todd: "Our H.R. Department routinely copies drivers licenses of applicants, then looks them up online and prints their DMV photos. That woman that Muscone said was named 'Della Deems' was going by the name 'Irene Rearden' when she interviewed with us." Then my nephew grinned wickedly at me as he said "Beautiful woman, black hair... just your type, Uncle Don."