The Babymaker Ch. 01

Teresa nodded and I went out into the hallway. I saw Laura come out of a door at the other end of the side wing hall, near the window that looked out over the backside 'Authorized Vehicles Only' parking lot. She stood there, not coming towards me. Not a good sign.

I made the walk to her, and looked briefly out the window at my Police SUV in the parking lot as Laura also turned to face the window. "He's dead." she said simply.

"Is he on life support?" I asked.

"No." Laura said. "He was DOA when he got here. Everyone saw the shot to the side of his head, but he was also shot in the back of the head, which destroyed the parts of the brain that serve the autonomous systems. I'm not sure how the paramedics got a pulse, to be honest... to be candid, that is."

"Okay, I'll go tell Wanda." I said, turning to go back down the hall.

"I can do that, or Dr. Morgan can." Laura said.

"Thanks, but it's my job." I said. "We'll talk later." I walked down the hall, and Teresa met me just outside the waiting room. I just shook my head, and Teresa's face showed her pain.

I went into the waiting room, and observed that Cindy had gotten the vibe as well as seeing my face, and I think Ariel saw my face also. Wanda, of course, was doing everything she could to avoid knowing. But I had to proceed to break her heart.

"I'm sorry, Wanda." I said. "There was nothing they could do------"

"He's... he's... nooooooo." Wanda wailed as Cindy took her in her arms and held onto her. Ariel also sat down, on Wanda's other side, and tried to comfort her friend. Cindy allowed Ariel to take Wanda in her arms, then walked into the hallway with me at my silent 'shoulder throw' request.

In the hallway I said "I know this is a bad time, but there will be no better one. So I'm going to have Julia Rodriguez and Teddy Parker come over and interview Wanda and Ariel when they get done with the crime scene------"

We were interrupted by the athletic blonde Alison McFarland coming up the hall. As she got to us, she said "I heard something happened to Wanda's husband------"

"WHAT IS THAT BITCH DOING HERE?" yelled Ariel, her face a mask of pure fury. "GET OUT OF HERE, YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

"I... I just came to see if I could do something to help..." Alison started, but Ariel launched herself past Teresa to attack Alison.

"I SAID GET OUT OF HERE, YOU BITCH!" Ariel yelled. I grabbed her just in time to stop her from grabbing Alison by the neck. As Ariel turned, I spun us around so that I was between them.

"Ariel!" I said loudly as Nurses and Hospital employees began popping into the hallway to see what was the matter. "Stop! Get ahold of yourself!"

"GET THAT PRESS BITCH OUT OF HERE!" Ariel yelled, her fury bordering on insanity. "I'LL KILL YOU, BITCH!" To me she yelled "LET GO OF ME!" and grabbed me to throw me off of her. She was very strong, but she didn't have leverage on me. So when that didn't work, she resumed her efforts to get to Alison by pushing me in the chest.

Oops. Wrong answer.

*WHAM!*

I executed an outstanding takedown, and Ariel found herself face down on the floor. I had one handcuff affixed to her left wrist, but she was too fast and got her other hand away, still struggling. I pressed down on her sciatic nerve, which caused pain, as Teresa got her other arm behind her and the handcuffs fastened. We got Ariel to her feet, but she was still filled with rage and struggling against us.

"Ariel!" yelled Cindy, who'd come out and gotten in front of Ariel. "Stop this!"

"Get that BITCH out of here!" Ariel screamed, still fighting violently despite being cuffed and restrained. Just then two Hospital Security Officers came up.

"Teresa," I said, handing her the keys to my Police SUV, "take Ariel to Headquarters. She's under arrest, for assaulting a Police Officer. Full booking, then put her in I-1, handcuffed to the ring." By that I meant the ring embedded in the table in the Interrogation Room. Teresa and the security people took the still-furious Ariel with them.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help." said Alison

"Your help is not wanted here." Cindy said coldly to Alison. "Ariel is right, you need to leave." Fortunately for me, Julia Rodriguez and Teddy Parker came down the hallway.

"Cindy, help the Detectives talk to Wanda." I said. "Alison, come with me." I 'guided' her down the hallway, whispering along the way "I know you just came to help, but as you can see, they don't want it."

"I get that," said Alison, "but why was Ariel so outraged? She looked like she literally wanted to kill me. And by the way, that was a nice takedown; Ariel is very strong, and good with martial arts, and you treated her like a rag doll."

"That's why I train like hell in the martial arts myself." I replied. "And part of the reason for Ariel's anger may be that you're officially the Press now. At any rate, why don't you do me the favor of driving me back to Headquarters, and I'll promise you a scoop if I'm able to give one. On another story if not this one."

"Fair enough." Alison said. So after I made sure Julia had things well in hand at the Hospital, I left with Alison.

Part 5 - A Swift-Flowing River

1:45pm, Monday, September 28th. After going by the Courthouse, I got to Headquarters and went to the anteroom of Interrogation-1. Inside, Ariel was sitting in a chair against the wall (to the one-way glass's right), hands handcuffed behind her, and 'chained' with a second pair of handcuffs to the rail that lined the wall.

Teresa joined me in the anteroom and said "Sir, I know I'm good enough to take her down like you did, but she struggled against us the whole way here, and just would not calm down. So I just left her cuffed and chained her to the wall rather than try to cuff her to the table."

"Good." I said. "Now let's think about this. We've known Ariel for years, and we know she's normally a good person that would never act like she's acting now. And I know she hates Alison McFarland with a passion; that's leftovers from their days with the 'Miss Physical America' competitions. But that kind of rage requires an explanation. So let's go inside and have her give us one, shall we?"

I led the way into the room. Ariel looked up at us, her eyes still showing anger, but much less rage than before. I pulled a chair up next to her, leaving her restrained, and sat down.

"Your audition for the Red Lantern Corps went very well." I said. (Author's note: if you don't get that reference, google it... particularly Queen Mera, wife of Aquaman.) "Still, going through me to attack someone else is not a good idea. It leads to a thing called 'felony charges'. So why was an intelligent woman like you doing unintelligent things back there?"

Ariel said "I didn't mean to attack you. I don't know how much Cindy has told you, but there is no one I hate more on this planet than that bitch Alison McFarland. For Christ's sake, Wanda just lost her husband, and that fucking bitch shows up..." Ariel began shaking with rage again.

"Is it because of your past," I asked, "or is it because Alison is part of the Press now?"

"Some of both, maybe." Ariel said. "Either way, for that bitch to show up in the middle of what must be the worst moment of Wanda's life, that's just rude, disrespectful, and... reprehensible. And if she goes anywhere near Wanda again, the next time I see her------"

"Stop." said Teresa. "You're not helping yourself, here."

"She's right, you know." I said. "Assaulting a Police Officer is a felony, so you might not see Alison again for ten years if you keep up the threats. Now I really don't want to do that, but you gotta calm down. And you're not helping Wanda by doing any of this." I was observing Ariel carefully, and I noticed the merest flash in her eyes... ahhh, she must think she is doing Wanda good by doing this. But why?

"Okay," I said after a minute. "If you stay calm, I'll uncuff you, and we'll go over to that table and have an intelligent conversation." I began uncuffing Ariel, and she did not attempt to attack either of us.

Teresa guided Ariel to the table and had her sit down, then stood by the jail side door as if she were the Uniformed Presence. I sat down opposite Ariel. "Okay," I said, "so why don't you want me to have the list of Carl's clients?"

Ariel said "I never said I didn't want you to have the list. I said I think you have to have a warrant, and only for those persons you can connect to the murder. Big difference, there."

"Okay." I said. "So without naming names, is there anyone on the client list, or those client's spouses, that might have a reason to do Carl harm."

Ariel said "No. I'm not playing your fishing game."

"You're obstructing a Police investigation." Teresa said. I winced; I love Teresa more than life itself, but she'd just made a huge mistake.

"Then if you're charging me with a crime," Ariel fired back, exploiting Teresa's error, "I want a lawyer, and I will answer no more questions without a lawyer present."

"All right, no more questions, then." I replied. "But do consider that the husband of your business partner and friend was just murdered, so if you think of anything that can help me find and catch that killer, consider telling me." To Teresa I said "Escort her to the desk to get her things. We're dropping the charges... as long as she doesn't try to assault anyone again."

As Ariel got up, I said, "Oh... one more thing." I handed her a document. "That's a Restraining Order. You and Alison McFarland are ordered by Judge Watts to stay at least 500 feet away from each other. I've already given her her copy. Don't give me reason to think you're violating this."

"What about Wanda?" Ariel asked. "Why don't you have a Restraining Order to keep that bitch away from Wanda?"

"Because," I said, "I'm expecting you to be helping Wanda through her time of grief, and that you'll be with her all the time for the next few days. So if Alison gets near her, she's violating the Order regarding you."

"Flawlessly logical." Teresa added helpfully... and cattily.

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

As I headed back to my office, Corporal Inga Gunddottar came up the hallway. "Sir!" she said almost breathlessly. "Commander Ross called, and asked you to contact her. She says it's urgent!"

"Roger that." I said, fishing out my Police iPhone. "Thank you, Corporal." Inga went back to the Intel Center while I speed-dialed the Green Crowbar.

"Don!" Cindy said when she answered. "I need you to come over to Wanda's house. Someone's broken in and ransacked the place!"

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

2:15pm. I came into Wanda and Carl's home, which was in a decent suburb to the northwest of Town. A lot of Police and firefighters lived a little further west, and the nicer gated neighborhoods were to the east. The house was a one-story 'ranch' style.

As Teresa and I walked up to the front door, more vehicles arrived. They were the TCPD's CSIs. "Wow, how did we get here ahead of them?" Teresa asked in some astonishment.

"I'll bet it's because a certain Green Crowbar called me before she called them." i replied. Indeed, Julia Rodriguez and Teddy Parker were pulling up behind the Technicians as they were getting their stuff out. I waited for Julia and Teddy to get to the door, then we all went inside.

The place was ransacked, but not totally destroyed. Sofa and chair cushions were thrown onto the floor, books were thrown out of the bookshelves on the floor, and drawers and cabinets in the kitchen were left open. But the television monitor on the wall was still there.

Seeing wires from both the monitor and the wall, Julia said "Looks like they had an Xbox or other device to stream movies from, and that was taken. Maybe their cable box, too."

"We didn't have cable." said a distraught Wanda, who was standing with Cindy to one side. "Just a Roku box and a Playstation. They're both gone."

One of the three bedrooms had been converted into a study/den, and drawers were emptied and papers strewn about. "Looks like a computer was taken from the desk." Julia said. "Internet router missing, too. But a television is mounted on the wall, and is sitting on the floor now. Ergo, it was not taken, and that's strange."

I looked into the bathroom between that bedroom and third second bedroom. The medicine cabinet with mirror door had been pulled out of the wall and placed but not thrown onto the floor.

We went to the main bedroom suite. Drawers in the bathroom vanity were pulled out and set on the counter. The medicine cabinet on one side was pulled out like the other bathroom's had been. The bedroom itself had been ransacked. The television monitor had been torn off the wall, but was left on the floor, leaning against the wall. The mattress was pulled off the bed, drawers opened and clothes thrown about. The bedside tables had also been treated to a search.

"Check out the third bedroom, sir." said Julia. I walked in and saw that the bed's mattress had been thrown off the bed, sheets removed, the box springs's flimsy covering torn open. But I saw what Julia was looking at. There was a circle of adjustable lights attached to a metal ring that was mounted on the ceiling, and there were white sheets set up like a photography studio, to reflect the bright lights pointing up at them. There were tripods in one corner, but no cameras nor video equipment.

"Looks like something you and Dr. Fredricson would put together, sir." Julia said. I chuckled, but Teresa was offended.

"Detective Sergeant!" she said sternly. "You forget yourself!"

"It's okay." I said. "I get the point... this room was created as a studio, and no, it does not take my wife to figure out what was being recorded here."

After our tour, as the technicians worked diligently, I went with Teresa and the Detectives to the main room. I said to Cindy and Wanda "I need to see the two of you outside." We went outside. I said "First, Wanda, I don't think you can stay here tonight. Is there anywhere you can stay?"

"She can stay with me." said a voice behind us. I whirled around to see Ariel coming up the path. She hugged Wanda, who looked like she needed that lifeline of support.

"Good enough." I said. "But there will be Officers watching over you. I fear that whoever ransacked Wanda's home may come after yours next, since I don't think they found what they were looking for here."

"How can you tell that?" Cindy asked.

"I can't tell you," I said, "because you are officially recused from this case. Why don't you help your business partners with whatever they need in Wanda's time of grief."

The Green Crowbar's ice-blue eyes flashed fire at me for that, but she astutely observed that I wasn't playing around and I wasn't in the mood. She nodded and relented.

"Okay," I said, "I have to ask this: Wanda, what's that third bedroom about?"

Wanda understood. "We made some fitness videos in there. And we also liked to film ourselves having sex." she said.

"Was your camera and video equipment stolen?" I asked.

"If it wasn't in the room, yes." Wanda said. "We would download the digital files to our computer in the den room. It was missing, also."

I nodded. "Okay, then. Cindy, why don't you take Ariel and Wanda to Ariel's place for the time being? And ladies... I may have to call you back to Headquarters for more questions, so don't leave the County without telling the TCPD... and that means me personally... where you're going..."

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

4:15pm, Monday, September 28th. The meeting in Classroom 'E' was attended by Sheriff Griswold, Chief Moynahan, Me, Lt. Commander Croyle, Captain Muscone, Lt. Davis, Lt. Mary Milton, Lt. Myron Milton, Lt. Micah Rudistan, Detectives Teddy Parker and Julia Rodriguez, and Penny Scott and Inga Gunddottar from Intel.

"Welcome to the party, Corporal Gunddottar." I said. "How are you liking Intel?"

"I am learning a lot, sir." said Inga. I did not take time to analyze that comment, but put it away in its compartment of the mind for the moment.

"She's doing a really good job helping us out in there." said Mary Milton, ever the good leader.

"Good." I said. "With your permission, Chief?"

"By alllll meeeeens, Mister Crowbarrrr." drawled the Chief.

"First, I want to say that this one is hitting close to home for some of us." I said. "The victim was the husband of Commander Ross's business partner, and some of us knew him to varying degrees. Commander Ross is recused from this case, and you, plural, should not discuss the case with her, except for formal interviews and the like. I don't think I need to recuse myself at this point, but I would like to be in the background as much as possible."

After letting that sink in, I said "Okay, Captain Muscone."

"Okay, Lieutenant Davis." said Captain Muscone.

"Okay, Detective Rodriguez." said Lieutenant Davis.

"The 'okays' and the bucks stop here." quipped Detective Sergeant Julia Rodriguez, generating some chuckles. "First, the crime scene. All Police Officers at the scene have filed their Police reports... even Justin Hendricks. So have the EMTs that responded to the scene. The Fire Department is not getting their reports in as quickly as we'd like, though."

"I'll take care of that." muttered Our Sheriff. He took out his Sheriff iPhone and began sending texts.

"From all the reports, as well as Teddy's and my observations at the scene," Julia said, "it appears that Carl's car, a silver Toyota Corolla, was struck by a black vehicle that was described as a 'muscle car' by Hendricks and some of the civilians that stopped to help. It was a hit-and-run, and no one got the car tags on the offending car."

Julia: "There are no cameras in the immediate vicinity of the accident scene.... I guess I should say 'crime scene'... but we did get a camera shot at the intersection of the Bypass and North Street, which becomes the Hammondsville Highway going west out of State. The car tags looked like they were smudged with mud or something, and we can't get a clear reading on them. The car went east and disappeared in a low-coverage area; it may have gone behind the buildings of a strip mall of stores. We then picked it up going west, and crossing the bridge at the State Line."

Julia: "Carl's car was run off the road, and it appeared to a passerby in the other lanes, going north-to-south, that a man in the shotgun seat got out of the black car and went to help Carl. The passerby said the man was wearing a black sweater with a hoodie that was on his head, so he didn't see anything in the way of facial features. Another passerby who was coming up from south-to-north said he saw the man just as he was getting back in the black car, and the man was wearing a hoodie and possibly a mask over his eyes. That passenger stopped, but a Police vehicle pulled up right behind him, and the Officer told him to wait in his car, which he did."

Julia: "That Officer was Hendricks. He worked his way down to the car, said he checked for a pulse and got a faint one, and yelled that to the next Police cruiser that came up, which were Officers Wagner and Buchannan. An ambulance appeared just then, having been notified by 9-1-1, who apparently was called by passersby right when the accident happened."

Julia: "Wagner and Buchannan began the proper procedures to divert traffic to the left lane, which was later joined by other Officers. In the meantime, Hendricks told the paramedics coming up that he'd felt a pulse, so he and they and Johnson got the driver side door open and got Carl out, and they rushed him to the ambulance and to the Hospital."

Julia: "Other Officers and CSI techs that came up began searching the car. His keys were missing from the car's ignition, and the trunk had been popped open, so maybe the perp took the keys to open the trunk. In any case, they found no fingerprints at all, but they did find blood spatter on the driver's seat top, that the shot to the side of the head wouldn't cause."