Smoke on the Water Ch. 01

"Why dump her body and then try to steal it back?" asked Lt. Myron Milton.

"And with that question, I think we've segued to the next crime." I said. "What do we have on the four perps that tried to steal the body?"

"If I may, sir," said Mary, "I'd like to first bring up the capsule found in the woman's stomach during the autopsy. Or ask Myron to."

"Sure, go ahead." I said.

Myron had plugged his laptop into the dock, and images appeared on the wall monitors. "I was able to get the files out of the chip, but they're encrypted. I think the secret to the encryption is on the scroll, but it's all symbology. Looks like Klingon."

"That's because it is Klingon!" barked Sheriff Griswold happily as he practically leapt to his feet. "Seriously, those are Klingon symbols from the Star Trek series. Can I drive your laptop for a minute?"

Myron handed the Sheriff his laptop. As he typed on it, he said "I'm accessing my home computer, and importing a file that has the Klingon alphabet with the English alphabet."

"So going to those Cosplay conventions is a prerequisite for aspiring Detectives, Sheriff?" I asked with Rudistan-'ish' joviality.

"Whatever works, Crowbar. You might learn something if you attend a few of them." the Sheriff replied without blinking an eyelash, making us all laugh to varying degrees. A moment later he said "Here you go." and handed Myron the laptop back.

"Thank you sir." said Myron. "I'll feed this into our decryption software. This may take a minute, so Mary, you can tell them about the four perps."

"Sure." said Mary. She brought up four DEA records on four of the monitor screens. "You can see the names on the monitors. All four of these guys are members of an extremely dangerous drug gang called The Desert Scorpions."

"Never heard of 'em." barked the Sheriff.

"Not many people have, Sheriff, even in law enforcement circles." I replied. "And calling them a 'drug' gang is too limiting. Mary?"

"Yes sir, that's true." said Mary. "Ranger Halston and Penny Scott burned the wires to get what little I'm reporting to you now. They are believed to be based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Tucson, Arizona. They are relatively small, very secretive, and the DEA has never been able to find a way to penetrate them."

Mary: "They do bring drugs into America across our southern border, but they may also smuggle opium and its derivatives from Southeast Asia, including Afghanistan. But worse, they're involved in human trafficking around the world. From Eastern Europe, from Asia, from India, they transport both females and males to the wealthy Elites around the world who pay for their services."

Mary: "The DEA only knows of their existence because of four people that defected from the organization and told the Feds what they knew. But the DEA has never been able to penetrate the organization with undercover Agents, though several have died trying. And thats just about all we've been able to get."

"Have you contacted the DEA or FBI about this gang?" Tanya Muscone asked, and a bit sharply.

"No." I said, speaking up for Mary. "And that's because they don't have my permission to."

"Are you going to give that permission?" Tanya asked, persisting. "Or at least let me do it?"

"Hold on a second." interjected Julia Rodriguez. "Commander, how do you know of this gang when nobody else does?"

"You forget yourself, Detective." Teresa said in warning.

"No, it's good." I said. "And thank God someone in here picked up on that. Good work, Julia. I was about to lose hope."

As I was speaking, I typed a text into my personal iPhone, which said "Come on in." An instant later the door opened, and in walked Dr. Laura W. Fredricson and FBI Supervisory Special Agent Melina Allgood.

As Melina began handing out paperwork, I said "I have a very reliable source. And she's about to tell you what she's told me."

"Yes." Laura said. "I know most of you in here have clearances of some sort or another, but you all have to sign the NDAs (non-disclosure agreements)." We all did so as Laura attached a laptop to the dock.

Once we'd signed and Melina had taken up the paperwork, Laura opened her laptop and entered the seven-word passphrase. An image appeared on the screen. At the top and bottom of the image we would see were the words 'SECRET NOFORN', which meant this was classified Secret, and not to be distributed to foreigners.

In the middle of the screen was the phrase 'The Desert Scorpions'.

Laura said "The Desert Scorpions are much more well known to the CIA than the domestic Federal Agencies. They have several subgroups in different parts of the world, and they don't interact with each other all that much. Everything is compartmentalized, in a manner that is eerily similar to me of how the CIA and the NSA compartmentalize themselves." An org chart appeared on the screen. There were a lot of gaps and a lot of question marks on it.

Laura: "We, meaning the CIA, first became aware of them when listening devices at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, intercepted unknown blurb radio communications across the Mexico border about 30 years ago... well, over 30 years ago now. They were thought to be a new group of Coyotes smuggling humans and/or drugs into the United States. But while our Agencies were interdicting other groups of Coyotes, they never seemed to be able to catch the ones associated with those transmissions."

"How good were they at catching the other groups, relatively speaking?" asked Mary Milton.

"Very good." I said. "And we don't need to know how good. Keep going, Dear."

Laura said "Our next break came when some of our Green Berets on a mission in Honduras... and we don't need to know any more about that... intercepted low-level transmissions in the jungle and captured four men. Two of them were white American men. The four were provided a ride to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba... and this was before the War on Terror began... and interrogated."

Laura: "They broke under the interrogation, and two of them, the white Americans, said they were members of a group called 'The Desert Scorpions'. At first, they said their mission was to meet with Cartel representatives from South America to arrange drug shipments. But after they were broken, they admitted that they were hired as mercenaries to assassinate members of a certain drug gang in Honduras and make it look like American Green Berets or CIA Agents did it."

Laura: "That was all they knew, and the means of contacting their handlers, for lack of a better term, went dead, so we didn't get any further. But two years later the New York City FBI interdicted a gang of Eastern Europeans that were smuggling in Eastern European women into NYC and Chicago to sexually service wealthy business clientele. Two of those that were arrested stood out; they were not like the others." Photos of two men were shown on the monitor, and it was bit chilling to see the word 'DECEASED' stamped over them.

Laura: "After intense but legal and normal interrogation, they admitted that they were negotiating for a shipment of women for themselves and interests they were representing, and they just happened to have been caught with the gangsters during the arrest raid, but they were not part of the gang. They were savvy and knew the law, and that the FBI had nothing on them."

"Wellll," Laura continued, showing her sense of humor that she rarely showed, even to her loving husband, "the next morning those two woke up at Guantanamo, and they broke under our enhanced interrogation techniques. They said they were members of..." She held out her hands for us to answer.

"The Desert Scorpions." we all chimed together.

"Yes." Laura said. "There was a large construction project up in an isolated place in Canada, and these men were trying to get a shipment of Eastern European women to sexually service the men on that project before they tore the place apart because they weren't getting laid. And they'd arranged for such shipments of women several times in the past."

Laura: "What I'm about to tell you is covered by the NDAs, so don't speak of it to anyone. Our railroad system is monitored and protected by surveillance systems, and among those systems is one of electrical currents are sent through the rails of a track. If a rail is taken out the circuit is broken, and trains are stopped while the breach is investigated."

Laura: "A number of years ago there were two major derailments, within two months of each other. The public record is that they were caused by faulty rail. But the true reason was classified. Someone made a circuit bypass and then took out a rail. The fault was not detected until a train drove over it and derailed. The cargo of the two freight trains was also classified: one had a shipment of cash, old bills that were scheduled to be destroyed; and the other was a shipment of pistols and rifles for the military."

Photos of the derailments were shown as Laura continued: "What was also kept out of the papers was that there had been an attempt at a third derailment operation, but some of our Agents caught the bastards. And yes, they won a free Cuban vacation for their efforts. And they admitted that they were members of..."

"The Desert Scorpions." we all said together.

Laura said "Yes. Anyhoo, there are a few more examples of things like that, but the gist of it is that over time we figured out that the Desert Scorpions are something of a mercenary-for-hire group. Someone needs something done, they're the middlemen that do it or arrange it, and they are well paid for their services."

"How are they contacted?" asked Captain Claire Michaels.

"It's one of those things the Elites, be they politicians or businessmen, know how to do." said Laura. "Kind of like contacting the Mob for a job. Usually a high-level player like Edward Blassingame, as an example, has an assistant that will have phone number. He calls in, leaves a callback number, and contacts are made and they go from there."

Tanya said "And these guys that tried to steal that girl's body in the sloppiest of fashions are part of that group?"

"Yes." said Melina, speaking for the first time. "And that's the thing: those four men were on the DEA's radar, but the CIA information on them said they were pretty damn good operatives. They're all ex-military, though not necessarily any kind of Special Forces or specially trained, and their arrest records were from before the time we think they were brought into the Desert Scorpions."

I said "If the DEA knows about them, it's likely the Scorpions knew that, and therefore those men were expendable. Hence, the suicide mission we all saw this morning."

Julia Rodriguez said "Sir, they didn't just fly these guys in from somewhere. They were already here, in our Town & County, and they were ready to go literally in minutes, to try to steal that body, even at the cost of their lives."

"That's a good point." I said. Before I could say more, the Chief interjected.

"Doc-trrrrrr," drawled Chief Moynahan, "we've been having a lot of rogue agents and mercenary groups, who your husband calls 'Swamp Frogs', appear around here from time to time. Some of them murdered our Lieutenant Irwin, and tried to kidnap and murder your young daughterrrrr. Are they part of this 'Desert Scorpion' group?"

"That's a very good question, Chief." Laura said.

"If I might venture to make an 'edumacated' guess," I said, "I'd say there may be associations between the groups. Trent and Quint and the guys that more recently tried to attack The Cabin were part of LT Jeff Bayport's dirty ex-SEAL Team. Two of those former SEALs, Gil Cox and Gary Fenton, were trainers for Tactical Role Players, or TRPs. I would guess that they'd be asked to train teams that did things like sabotage the railroad tracks."

"And that's an excellent thought." said Laura. "I'll be quietly looking into possible connections along those lines."

Teddy Parker spoke up: "I think the question Lieutenant Milton, Myron Milton, asked was a good one: why did they dump the body at the Farmer's Market, then try to get it back?"

I said "That's an 'Easy Button' answer... is it not?" I began looking around, and Detectives became uncomfortable. They knew they were being tested, and were being found wanting.

"Uhh," said Lieutenant Jerome Davis, "maybe two separate groups at work here?"

"Yes!" I said. "Very good! That's how I'm reading it. It may be the same group or two different ones, but someone killed the girl, had her body dumped, then someone realized she had something on her, which turned out to be the capsule Martha found in her tummy, and they were desperate to get it back."

"Uh, sir," Myron said quietly, "the Klingon code worked, but it's still encrypted." He showed me his laptop screen.

"Looks like a simple transposition from there." I said. "Probably three or four letters off. A=D, or something like that."

Not that Myron needed me to tell him that. He applied his codebreaking program. "Eureka! It's cracked!" He was about to put it on the monitors for all of us to see, causing me to reach forward and unplug his laptop from the dock!

"No disrespect to anyone," I said out loud, "but there might be sensitive data like Agents's names on this. I want to look at it myself before we disseminate it."

"Good idea, Crowbar." growled Sheriff Griswold. "And you will not disseminate that to anyone without my permission."

"Yes sir." I said. That was called 'having my back', and I was grateful for it. "And that will have to include the Federal Agents in the room not named 'Laura'. No offense, Melina."

"None taken." said Melina, which of course meant she was miffed anyway. "But satisfy my cat-like curiosity. It wasn't Laura that told you about The Desert Scorpions, was it? You already knew." All eyes latched on to me, some people even leaning forward. I love my team. I love my team. I love my team...

"Bus-ted." I admitted. "Yes, I've heard the name before, though I did not know until now its relevance and importance. You see... the man who created The Desert Scorpions... was Pastor Raymond Kyle Westboro, the Consultant of Crime..."

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

Everyone else cleared the room, and it was only me, Laura, Myron Milton and Mary Milton still in the room. Laura asked Mary about Louise Milton, and Mary showed baby (toddler, really) pictures.

"Here's the decoded cipher paper." said Myron. As he put it on the monitor, Laura was examining the paper itself.

"It's very well done." Laura said. "Professional grade... even by my standards." Mind you, that was from the retired Deputy Director of the CIA's Science and Technology Directorate.

Laura continued: "I didn't say much in front of the others, but The Desert Scorpions are really highly professional, which is one reason they are so dangerous. They don't make mistakes that ordinary criminals... and ordinary Agents... do. Everything is well thought out, meticulously planned, rehearsed, and executed. When you said Westboro created the group, that made sense. But he's been dead for years now, so someone else is holding the group together and doing his job for him."

"And they've apparently grown sloppier than they were when he controlled it." I said. "But it fits him like a glove. He had his amped-up, drugged-up army of thugs, moles in LEO units at every level, and it would make sense that he had units of 'cleaners', for lack of a better term, and people that could perform missions like recruiting women to be used for prostitution at remote work sites."

Laura said "This is the first hint we've had that Westboro had been truly international. We knew he was one of Wargrave's backers, but that appeared to just be purely financial and a consulting role on Westboro's part." I nodded.

Myron said "The paper cipher does contain the passphrases for the files on the chip. A lot of what's on the chip are financial transactions and corresponding drug transactions. But no names of any people, just nicknames or codenames... oh wait, here's a file... wow, it's got names... and they're the names of some of the nation's political and corporate Elites... Edward Blassingame... Matthew Willis, son of the late Mittens Willis..."

Part 6 - Office Conversations

As Intel Branch worked with our Police Psychiatrist on the decoded information from the capsule, Captain Claire Michaels and ADA Paulina Patterson came to my office.

"Mmm," Claire said as she sipped the coffee she poured for herself, "your coffee is much milder than Jerome Davis's. I know they l like his, but it's too strong for me."

"Good asskissing skills, as the Sheriff would say." I said with a grin. Paulina chuckled as I continued: "And yes, Jerome's Navy coffee can be good after a long night, but at times like now I need something more... civilized." Claire chuckled, and I said "So whassup?"

Claire said "I came in to give my report on my lunch with Paulina, Miriam Walters and Savannah Fineman. And I brought Paulina so that she knows I'm not going behind her back, and also to confirm the accuracy of my story." With that, she recounted the lunch conversation.

"Wow." I said when she finished. "And when you told her I'd credited Paulina with training our Officers very well, she literally asked if you believed what I said? Did you think that was a shot at me, or at Paulina?"

"Both, sir." Claire said. "And not only did I get it very clearly that Miriam Walters is hostile to you, it was easy to see she was trying to pit me against you. And I did not appreciate that one bit."

Paulina said "Claire walked out on Miriam after reading her the Riot Act. I stayed behind, and I told Miriam that her comments about you were both dishonest and unfair. Miriam didn't say anything, but Savannah told me I needed to (air quotes) 'get my priorities in order'. I told her my priorities were in order, and that I questioned hers. At that point Miriam got up to leave, and that ended the meeting, as Savannah was riding with her."

I said "I appreciate your support, both of you. And Miriam is up for re-election in two years, so she can either dig an insurmountable hole for herself, or she can stop digging and get her head out of her fourth point of contact."

Claire said "Paulina, you can run against her, can't you?" Paulina shook her head vigorously in disagreement.

"I mean, I could run again." Paulina said. "I did run against that piece of filth Gil Krasney... and now he's going to be State A.G., for crying out loud. And when I did run, The Powers That Be, of the Establishment Elites of both Parties, torpedoed my campaign using my daughter to attack me. This great man here refused to deny his daughter, stood right up in front of them and claimed her. But my campaign was destroyed." (Author's note: 'Media Matters', Ch. 01.)

I had not failed to notice the tears come to Paulina's eyes as she said that, and I nodded to her in full support.

Claire said "Well, all of that is out there, now. So you can try again... can't you?" Paulina looked at me, then back at my Captain of Detectives.

"I doubt it, Claire." Paulina said. "I successfully prosecuted Breonna Bryant, gave her the whole nine yards. The Black Community is holding that against Miriam, but if I run against Miriam, that blame and that hatred will shift over onto me. I'd actually be helping her win. And besides... if I ever run for anything, it'll be a Judicial seat, like Franklin did."

'That reminds me." I said. "I thought we were getting a fourth Judicial seat here again. What happened to that?"

Paulina said: "The Legislature did not pass a single bill last year, including the Budget, which meant the approval of the seat didn't happen. And with all the talk about restructuring counties, we'll have to wait and see what happens there, and then see about the Judicial Districts..."