Shipping and Handling Ch. 03

"And you do?" snarled Blankenship.

"No, but I keep abreast of the tactical situation at all times." I replied. "You were saying about Granger?"

"I wasn't." said Blankenship. "I have nothing to say."

"He's your employee." said Muscone strongly. "In fact, he's your Senior Vice President. And you don't know where he is?"

Blankenship sighed. "As if I keep abreast of where every one of my employees is at all times." After a silent pause filled with tension, and growing anger, he said "Look, Granger is a Senior VP here, but he was Mr. Blassingame's man. I've been expecting Granger to leave for BigAgraFoods with Mr. Blassingame at any time, like several others of his top people did."

"But he's still with SPS, as of now." I said. "So stop playing around. Where is he?"

"I don't know." said Blankenship. "Granger has been on field trips for Mr. Blassingame for the last several months, and I'm not keeping track of him at all."

"How do I find Granger?" asked Muscone.

"Don't answer that." said Masterson. "Why do you want to find Mr. Granger, Muscone?"

"I'd suggest you show the FBI Special Agent in Charge some respect, Jew-hater." I snarled at Masterson.

"And if I don't?" replied Masterson, his own voice a snarl. I just stared him down and began tapping my crowbar into the palm of my hand.

"It's your blood." I said. "How much do you value it staying inside your body?"

"Is that a threat, Mr. Police Brutality?" Masterson asked sardonically.

"What do you think... Jew hater?" I asked back, my eyes boring into his. Despite his bravado, he could not hide his fear.

Meanwhile, Jack Muscone was ignoring the side drama. "Let me spell it out for you, Blankenship." he said. "Your Senior Vice President is wanted for a host of Federal charges. If you do know where he is or anything that leads me to him, you'd better tell me... or I'll have Federal Agents ripping through your entire business here like a disturbed bed of fire ants."

"Do your damnedest." fired back Blassingame. "Neither I nor SPS have anything to hide."

"Don't say another word about Mr. Granger." said Masterson. "And that's legal advice from your lawyer. Don't let this Federal thug and this asshole kike intimidate you."

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

As my Detectives downloaded every last bit of SPS's employee records onto computers that would later transfer the data to our evidence servers, Jack Muscone and I talked privately. The bug-killer was 'on'.

"Well," said Jack Muscone, obviously frustrated, "that was one big nothing-burger. He either really doesn't know, or he's just not going to tell us. By the way, we've alerted our offices in Seattle, Boise, and other places in the northwest USA, based upon what you got for us yesterday. No sign of Granger out there, either. And in a related story, I texted your mother in Apple Grove with his photo, and asked her to be on the alert for him."

I nodded, then said "Call it a hunch, but I think he's here somewhere... in the City, in the State or region. He could easily be wherever the Shimono Seven are."

"Shimono Seven?" asked Muscone. "Is that your new cool name for them?"

"We've got Keiko, Barsbane, Trent, Quint, Tolson, Aurus, and The Geek." I said. "Granger would make the eighth... if they're all together. So maybe they're the Shimono Seven, or the Evil Eight or something."

"Don," asked Jack, "just between you and me, why break out Tolson and Aurus? You've put a bunch of sick bastards in prison... why break out those two, at such risk in doing so?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I have no idea. And the answer will present itself soon enough. Right now, I choose to be much more interested in Rupert Saidy's murder..."

Part 12 - Insurance

Cindy and I were driving home in my Police SUV. "So, what's next?" she asked.

"I thought we might stop in at Conway Property & Casualty." I said. "The pretense is to warn them that their former disgruntled employee Jimmy Tolson escaped prison." (Author's note: 'Disappearing Act', Ch. 02.) "But I want to get some background info on insurance for things like moving vans and property thefts."

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

"Ah yes, I remember you, Commander Ross." said Mr. Conway as we were ushered into his office and bidden to be seated. "You were a Captain then. Congratulations on your promotion."

"Thank you, sir." said Cindy politely.

"And you, Commander Troy," said Mr. Conway, "the list of your successes continues to grow. So what is this about? Jimmy Tolson's escape from prison?"

"How did you know about that?" Cindy asked, peering at Mr. Conway.

"Oh, we were alerted immediately after it happened." said Mr. Conway. "Tolson is a very dangerous young man, having murdered his own brother. And because we fired him, we fear he may come back here and try to do us harm."

"Yes, that is one of the reasons we stopped by." I said. "The other reason is to ask you some general questions about how certain insurance matters work, if you don't mind."

"Certainly. How can I help?" asked Conway.

"First, did you ever insure State Moving Services?" I asked.

"No, and I've heard of the thefts they've been having." said Conway. "We insure business properties and work-related casualties more than anything else. We once provided homeowner's or renter's insurance, but have moved away from that as our company became more profit--- er, able to handle business customers."

"Good." I said. "So let me ask... in general, how much would an insurance company expect to pay for a household of furniture and other goods that were stolen, or perhaps wiped out in a fire?"

"On the high end of such incidents, and excluding automobiles that are covered by auto insurance," said Conway, "a total loss could exceed $100,000, if the owners bought that much coverage. For just appliances and personal goods stolen during a total move, it would more likely be $25,000 to $50,000, especially if itemized."

"Do people make false claims when they file?" Cindy asked, on cue.

"Oh, absolutely." said Mr. Conway. "And that's a red flag we look for. If we see claims for the newest model plasma screens, the most expensive computers, brand new refrigerators, and children's toys listed as 'collectibles', we will do a thorough investigation."

"That has to be costly in its own right for you." Cindy said. "And if it gets antagonistic and you have to go to Court, it's even worse."

"True," Conway said, "which is one reason we moved away from that area of insurance. And speaking generally, the best result for us as a company is just a lump-sum settlement rather than haggling though itemized claims."

"Speaking hypothetically," I said, "what happens if you, meaning any insurance company, paid a claim, and then the stolen items are recovered?"

"The insurer would take possession of the items." said Conway.

"And how does a company dispose of those good?" I asked.

"Different ways." said Conway. "We might hold an auction, or these days hold a silent auction online. We may commission someone to sell the goods on consignment, as well."

"As Police Officers," I said, "we sometimes have to put ourselves into the minds of the criminals we are pursuing. If you would do that for us here, hypothetically, how would criminals dispose of stolen goods like that, especially big-ticket items like large appliances?"

"Professional criminals, such as the man I'm sure you know of, who calls himself 'The Teacher'," said Conway, "would have their own pipelines to distribute their stolen goods. Amateurs, like some University students that ran a moving scam a few years ago, are much more crude, and would do amateur things like put items up for sale online, or try to sell to furniture shops, appliance stores, and pawn shops. Reputable firms would likely alert the Police, but less reputable ones would pay pennies on the dollar for the goods, then re-sell at marked up prices."

We wrapped up the interview, thanking Mr. Conway for his time, then left. Once back in my SUV, Cindy said "He sure knew a lot of stuff."

"Yes." I said. "I should pick his brain more often."

Cindy replied "I was thinking more along the lines that he knew of Jimmy Tolson's escape from prison, knew about the SMS thefts, and the former scams of the University students."

"I see what you're saying." I said agreeably. "But I'm sure those guys talk to each other and keep their eyes and ears open... just as we do with other friendly neighborhood Police Forces, at least those not named 'SBI'."

"And the Tolson escape?" Cindy asked. "That has not been made public."

"Insurance companies give politicians large donations." I said. "And I'm sure that Conway made sure to keep tabs on Jimmy Tolson. In fact... he does seem afraid of Tolson, doesn't he?"

"Is he right to be?" Cindy asked.

"I know I'm sleeping lightly knowing he and George Aurus are out there." I said. "And I'm outright losing sleep knowing Trent Ridge and Quint Starr are at large. Those two... scare me."

"Wow... that from the man that isn't scared of anything..." Cindy said.

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

Nell Bell was working on her computer in Classroom 'E". Lt. Mary Milton was working with her, on her own computer. Mary didn't voice it as much as Captain Tanya Perlman had, but like Tanya, Mary found her Lieutenant office to be a bit small for working in a group.

"Can I ask you a question, ma'am?" Nell said.

"Sure." said Mary, not looking up from her laptop monitor.

"You used to work in Midtown?" Nell asked.

"Yes, but it's been a while." Mary said.

"What's it like, working for the Iron Crowbar?" Nell asked.

"For the most part, it's the nearest thing to heaven you'll find in a job." Mary said. "But it's not perfect. He demands a lot out of us, and we have to rise to the challenge or risk letting him down. He takes us out of our comfort zones, which makes us grow but also adds to the pressure during the crisis times."

Mary wasn't finished: "And sometimes he does things we don't understand." she said. "For example, what did you think of Detective Geiger?"

"He..." started Nell, then said carefully, "he reminds me a lot of Midtown's older Detectives. They've survived the corruption of the past, and they look like they've seen the wars and are ready for retirement."

"Yeah." said Mary. "That's probably as kind of a description that you could give. I ask because we're still not sure if he's dirty or not. We think the Iron Crowbar uses him to put out disinformation, and I get that. But I would hate for my life to depend upon Geiger getting his job done, and I want him out of Vice."

"Oh." said Nell. "Changing the subject, then... did you work with Captain Croyle when she was in Midtown I.A.?" She chose not to notice Mary's eyes flicker her way then back to the screen.

"Not really." said Mary. "She was only down there for a short time, six months. Then the Iron Crowbar brought her back up here."

"What was she like back then?" Nell asked.

"I guess you're hearing the stories, huh?" Mary replied. Nell nodded, and Mary said "What I heard, and subsequently saw, was that Croyle was a damn good cop, but a miserable human being. She hated life and hated everyone. Then Detective Ross... now Commander Ross... saw through her, and became her 'frenemy'. They argued like hell, but at least Croyle was engaging someone in actual conversation. And then the Iron Crowbar found out Croyle was miserable because she'd lost her sister and her father had wished, out loud, that it'd been her, Teresa, that had died."

"Oh." Nell said, stunned. "Wow. I can't imagine how tough that must've been."

"Croyle repaid the favor, though, and in spades." said Mary. "When a reporter and a local politician kidnapped the Commander's daughter and put her in the middle of pallets of explosives, Captain Croyle went in and rescued her. A lot of us believe she was trying to commit suicide while saving Carole, because it was on Christmas Eve, the day Croyle's sister died... but Croyle survived. And then she found religion... literally, she became Roman Catholic... so she's a lot happier now on two fronts."

"Wow." said Nell. "She overcame all that."

"Yes," said Mary, "and more: she showed how well she could lead other Officers and take care of them. She stopped our former Deputy Chief from putting our people in harm's way, and still took out the perps. And because she's done that as well as showing her courage as well as her leadership abilities, the respect for her in this Police Force is just about as high as it is for the Iron Crowbar himself. "

"No wonder you guys are all so tight." said Nell. "It'd be great if we had something like that in Midtown. The esprit de corps, that is."

"You will, in time." said Mary. "Chief Soltis is cleaning out the corruption, so it's getting better down there. He, and Chief Moynahan, and Chief Evans of Midtown, and Captain Masters in City I.A., they were a tight group of Detectives. You just need to become a group like that, and people will be talking about you like they talk about the Iron Crowbar today..."

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

*Whirrrrrrrr*

Captain Perlman drove into Classroom 'E' at a high rate of speed, then stopped still on a dime. I walked in at a more leisurely pace. "Captain Perlman has some information for us." I explained.

"A couple of things, in fact." Tanya said as we settled in at the table.

"Don't keep us in suspense, Lady Ironside." I replied. "Whassup?"

"First," said Tanya, "I just heard from the City Police. They went to Bert Cowell's home. He was about to leave on what he said was a long-weekend fishing trip."

"He'll get Sheriff Griswold's support, then." I said. "Is that where he was really going?"

"He had a lot of fishing gear in the back of his Jeep." said Tanya as I plugged her computer into the connections on the table. "But he also had clothes and other things packed, so the City Police brought him back to that Precinct's Headquarters. They sent us a video of the interview."

Tape rolled. To make a long story short (too late), Bert Cowell said that he had been given yesterday and today off as a reward for hard work, and he had not asked any questions about it. Yes, he knew Andy Lessing, the driver of Truck 164, and had no problems with him. Yes, his route was the same every weekday. Yes, he knew Rupert Saidy; he loaded trucks. No, no problem with him. No, no problems between him and Andy Lessing that he (Cowell) knew of.

Tanya said "The City Police began leaning on him pretty hard, so he started asking what they expected him to say, then he demanded to know what was going on. They finally told him that Saidy had been found dead and Lessing was missing, and Cowell immediately asked for a lawyer and for his phone call. That's where we stand now; they're letting him sit there for a while."

"No no no no no." I said. "They're fucking up." I got my Police iPhone out and called Sapper Warren. "Hey Sapper," I said, "we appreciate your help with Cowell, but if he's asked for a lawyer, let him have one immediately, and don't disappear him or make him sit alone for hours. He's very likely innocent, from what I'm seeing." After a moment of further conversation, we disconnected.

"Remember always, Detective Bell," I said, "to err on the side of the Constitution and people's Constitutional rights. Making an innocent guy sweat only makes him sweaty. Okay, Captain, what else did you have for us."

"Paulina Patterson is working on getting a warrant for BigBenefitInsurance." Tanya said. "She's going to show the patterns we've developed so far, as well as the inconsistencies of the Farris's words and manifest to the other stolen manifests."

"Which judge is she going to?" I asked.

"Judge Watts, since we're officially tying this in to motive for the murder, and using the murder for habeas corpus justification." Tanya said. "If there's any intervention by Nance or Folsom to quash the warrant, she may push it up to getting a State Attorney to help her out."

"That deck is stacked against us, also," I said, "since Karl Handel has been putting his own people into those positions in preparation for his run for Governor. But moving forward... once we get that warrant, what is your plan of action?"

"To go to the BigBenefitInsurance office in Town," said Tanya, "and serve it to obtain the data."

"When you do," I said, "I want to go with you. And we'll bring Detective Bell along. I want her to see how we handle 'resistance' to our warrant being served."

"You expect trouble, sir?" asked Mary.

"I most certainly do..."

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

11:30am, Friday, March 29th. As we waited for the warrants, with Officers making preparations at my direction, Detectives Julia Rodriguez and Teddy Parker arrived back at TCPD Headquarters. They didn't make it past the Duty Desk Officer at the side entrance, who told them to go straight to the Police Commander's office, do not pass 'Go', do not collect $200 (my exact words).

Coming to my office, I had them sit down. "So," I said, "what did you think of that?"

Julia replied: "They sent the real Bert Cowell on vacation, and put someone in his place. We still don't know who that person is."

"And that's why I asked you to come in." I said. "Your next date is with our sketch artists, to get a good facial portrait of our unknown Distribution Director. Go do that now." The Detectives moved out smartly.

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

I always feel grateful that the Town & County Police have resources many LEOs don't have. One example is the top-of-the-line computer programs for today's sketch artists. Our sketch artist worked with Julia and then Teddy separately. Their descriptions were similar, but not exactly alike.

Then I joined them and watched as the sketch artist merged the two portraits, and the algorithm worked out the features to a face that both Detectives agreed was the man.

"Excellent work." I said to the sketch artist. "Before we put out an APB, send a copy of that to Team Lazarus of the FBI and let them run facial recognition on it." The sketch artist quickly did so.

"Do you recognize him, Commander?" Julia Rodriguez asked.

"No." I said as I stared at a printed-out copy of the portrait. I'd hoped he'd be Trent Ridge or Quint Starr, but it was 'no joy' on that.

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

1:30pm. Paulina called. "We have the warrants." she said. "We can acquire all information on any reported thefts from any moving trucks, and we can obtain the entire employee list... but only the names, addresses, and photos. No employee evaluations or things like sexual harassment complaints."

"Great, thanks." I said. "Want to meet us at the local BigBenefitInsurance office?"

"You betcha." Paulina said.

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

Detectives Rodriguez and Parker, dressed in civilian attire, approached the reception desk at BigBenefitInsurance's luxurious building on the north side of Town, followed by ADA Paulina Patterson and Midtown Detective Nell Bell. The glass walls let in a lot of light, and the women's high heels clicked loudly on the mirror-polished tile surface of the floor.

"May I speak to your legal counsel or HR leader, please?" asked Julia Rodriguez. "You can tell them that Detective Rodriguez of the Town & County Police wants to talk to them." The receptionist reached for her phone and made a call.

A full five minutes later, a man in a very expensive, well-fitting suit appeared. He was tall, broad-shouldered, had a full head of curly black hair, and a smile that was just a little too bright, toothy, and forced. He reminded me of the jock Steve Coltrane of Coltrane Sports (Author's note, 'Another Day In The Life', Ch. 01.), but perhaps not as dumb as Steve had been.