The Babymaker Ch. 03

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.

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Part 14 - Sex, Lies, and Videotape

Wanda's head fell to her arm on the table, and she began sobbing.

"I need a moment alone with my client." Gibson Stelling said.

"You were bitching about me not waiting until after the funeral," I fired back, "and now you're using your stalling tactics?" Stelling was about to explode, so I said "You'll have your moment alone with your client. But after I tell her this."

I pulled my chair around so that I was seated at the corner of the table, and leaned over so that I was close enough to almost whisper to Wanda: "Wanda, listen to me. I know you're worried about this getting out, about this harming Carl's reputation and his discretion. I'm doing everything I can to be discreet, as well."

Your Iron Crowbar: "But Wanda, I know that there are more women, and more recordings. We have your LLC's records, and the $500 and $1000 payments, and we found the $1000 in cash in Carl's wallet at the crime scene. The perp that shot your husband took his cellphone, and searched for this gym bag but did not find it. But he didn't take Carl's wallet with all that money in it."

Your Iron Crowbar: "I know what Carl was doing: he was a sperm donor, and he was impregnating those women by the 'natural insemination' method. He was recording the sessions for his own protection, in case any of the women turned on him and claimed rape or something."

Your Iron Crowbar: "And I know that you were fully aware of what your husband was doing, and that you approved. You've never once asked us about the Police's progress on your husband's murder. Indeed, you've worked hard to avoid answering questions about it. And of course, you're very aware of the passthrough LLC that you and Carl used to make the cash deposits legal."

I pressed on: "And Wanda, we've already found the woman in that tape I just showed you, and her husband. And I don't think they were the ones that had your husband murdered because if they had been, they would've taken back the $1000 she paid Carl to inseminate her."

I finished up: "That alone tells me that there are other women., and someone broke into your home and ransacked it looking for Carl's other recordings. I don't think they found what they were looking for, or they would not have attempted to break into Town Fitness Centers later that night. And they may not stop looking. They may realize what I already know... that you know where those recordings are... and they may come after you for that information. And I don't need to tell you what they will do to you if they get to you."

I heard Julia say in my earbud: "Carole says Wanda wants to talk about it."

Wanda finally sat back up, her tear-streaked face showing resignation, and misery. "What do you need from me?" she asked.

"Wanda, don't say anything else." her lawyer Stelling said. "I need to talk to you privately first. This policeman is bluffing you, and is close to violating your rights.."

"And what are you going to tell me?" Wanda said to him. "To not cooperate with Commander Troy? You know him and his reputation as well as I do. He's the Iron Crowbar!"

She turned to me and said "Okay, but I want one thing first: full immunity for myself and Ariel from prosecution for any crime involving this."

"I can't give you that." I said. "Not from any crime, like conspiracy or murder. But I can give you, right here and now, immunity from any charges of obstruction, lying to Police, and conspiracy to commit prostitution... which is technically what Carl was doing, however noble the reasons for it. I really am not looking to destroy you over this; you've suffered badly enough, as it is."

Wanda agreed to the deal. The legal beagle and I did the paperwork, then I brought my chair back to its normal place and said "Okay, Wanda, what are their names?"

"I don't know." Wanda said. "Carl made a point to not say any of their names."

I scratched at the imaginary itch in my ear, and heard in my earbud: "Carole says she's not lying, that she doesn't know."

"Where did you hide the videos?" I asked. Wanda told me. Carole relayed that Wanda was telling the truth...

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

10:00pm, Wednesday, September 30th. Police were swarming Town Fitness Centers, well, a few of us. Me, Teresa, Julia Rodriguez, and Teddy Parker were joined by Joan Laurer and Myron Milton, who were videotaping everything we were doing. I'd also invited Cindy Ross to join us, as the majority owner of the gym. Auxiliary Detective Carole Troy stayed with Teresa, and watched everything we were doing with great interest.

We went through the main entrance to the women-only side (to the left as one faces the front of the gym in the parking lot). The side exit on the second floor, which had been jimmied open a couple of nights before, was at the end of the row of offices on the second floor, which overlooked the main floor. The walkway to those offices and the side exit were supported by rails, and one could see the bottom side from underneath.

"That's impressive." I said. "Really impressive." The underside was painted black, like the metal of the floor and the railing, but it was flush with the edges, while the walkway underside was not flush with the beam holding it up. Upon closer observation, one could make out that a wooden panel, painted black, was the reason for that flush underside.

As the cameras recorded us, Julia Rodriguez and I went up onto the inside landing of the door. Getting on our knees, we reached down and I inserted the flat end of my crowbar into the most barely visible of slats, and pried the well-fitting panel open. We both leaned our heads over the rail and looked inside, then I took one of the cameras from Myron and filmed the inside of the secret compartment inside.

"Okay, let's do this." I said. "Keep your cameras on this, guys." With that, I reached inside and pulled out a server, a full server. I handed it back to Teddy, then reached inside and grabbed one of those cloth Crown Royal bags. It was full of external hard drives, each of them at least two terabytes in storage capacity.

"Wow." said Julia. "The perp that broke in was literally standing over what they were looking for, but didn't get it."

"They didn't have time, thank goodness." I replied "Okay, the computer that runs off this server is in Wanda's office. It's on the co-ed side. So let's go over there."

As everyone left, Julia pressed the fire alarm bar on the side door to the outside. Since the door had been jimmied open, the fire alarm had been turned off and had not yet been reset, so it didn't go off. Julia stepped onto the outside landing and looked over The Fairgrounds to the south.

"Wow." Julia said. "You know, sir, this would be a perfect perch to shoot someone on The Fairgrounds."

"You're right. I said, looking out the door. "I'm glad you're one of the good guys. Come on, let's go."

I did not tell Julia that her idea had been thought of before... and that that landing had indeed been used to execute a very bad man who had disgraced the Cloth... with a rifle whose metal had eventually become the sword steel in the 'Crowbar Katana'. (Author's note: 'Case of the Executed Evangelist'; 'A Case of Revenge', Ch. 05.)

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

"Gold mine, sir." said Mary Milton, when I got back to Headquarters after taking a sleepy Carole home. We were in her office that had been carved out of Classroom 'F' when the Intel Room was built. She and Myron had set up the server and the laptop found in Wanda's office, and were now downloading the data into encrypted Evidence servers.

"Sir, this will be a while." Mary said. "Miltie and I will stay and finish the downloads. We're going to copy the external hard drives into the Crown Royal bag, as well. And I'll start doing facial rec on all the women to get their names."

"Good. Do that yourself, and keep those names encrypted under my seal." I said as I observed two large external hard drives on the corner of Mary's desk. "And I deduce you are making an extra copy for yourself and Myron, eh? Gonna give Louise a brother or sister?"

Mary grinned. "That's the plan, sir." she said. "Want me to make a copy for you? I bought those extra hard drives with my own money. They're $75 apiece.":

"Sure." I said as I took a $100 bill out of my wallet and handed it to her. "For my wife's research, of course."

"Of course.:" Mary replied with a grin...

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

"Thanks for watching Carole for me." I said to Julia as we sat in my office.

"That was my pleasure, sir." said Julia. "She behaved very well. And she was watching everything, missing nothing, and she was loving every minute of it."

I said "Yes, and she has that sixth sense, like Commander Ross does. She could tell when Ariel and Wander were lying and when they were telling the truth."

Julia said "For a minute there, I thought Carole was wrong about Ariel not knowing anything, since Ariel obviously does know. But then I realized that Ariel might not have known about the gym bag having a camera in it. So Carole read through that, and 'separated the wheat from the chaff', so to speak."

"That's is Iron Crowbar thinking on your part, there." I said. "Okay, go home and get some sleep. I'm having my own 'vibe' that tomorrow is going to be a really busy day..."

Part 15 - Media Hatred and Dishonesty

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Thursday, October 1st, from the anchor desk of the KXTC studios. "The Town & County Police continue to investigate customers of Town Fitness Centers in the death of Carl Ryder!"

Bettina began: "Carl Ryder, an employee of Town Fitness Centers, was murdered around noon on Monday. Channel Two News has learned that Mr. Ryder was allegedly involved in a sexual affair with the wife of a prominent Republican politician. Channel Two News is working to confirm the names of the Republican politician and his wife, so that we can report those names to you that you have the right to know!"

Bettina began smiling as she said: "In a closely related story, the Town & County Police subpoenaed the client list of Town Fitness Centers as they clutched at straws in so-far vain hopes of finding a clue to the killers of Mr. Ryder. Town Fitness Centers gave the Police their clients's data without contesting the subpoena, and Channel Two News has confirmed from multiple sources that the Police are indeed investigating the persons whose names were turned over to them... again, without Town Fitness Centers contesting the subpoena in any way."

Bettina was openly brightly smiling as she said: "And now let's go to our reporter in the field Pat Stellum, with more on the Police investigation of Town Fitness Centers's employees. Pat!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said Pat Stelling, his almost-womanly, too-full lips smiling brightly as he said "Social Justice Groups and Citizens Groups are outraged that Police are investigating persons just because they are customers of the place where Carl Ryder worked. Dr. Adam S. Keller, senior Fellow at the City University Rodham Foundation for Political and Social Change said this. Roll tape."

Tape rolled, showing 'pencil neck' Keller saying in his level, even voice, "Just imagine, Pat, if an employee of Kroger was murdered, and Commander Donald Troy's Gestapo cops began investigating every person who shops at Kroger. That's exactly what is going on here. Innocent people are being investigated by the Police just for happening to work out at the place an employee was murdered!"

Back to Pat 'Capone' Stellum: "Bettina, I interviewed several customers of Town Fitness Centers yesterday, and here's what some of them had to say. Roll tape."

Tape rolled. First, a heavyset woman that did not look like she'd truly worked out in years, appeared to be going into the gym when Stellum approached her. She said "It's an invasion of our privacy rights, is what it is! How dare Commander Donald Troy investigate me!"

Another woman, who was slender to the point of wiry, and with a haircut so short she could be mistaken for an Army recruit, was walking out of the gym when Stellum stopped her, and she said "It really upsets me that Town Fitness Centers would just turn our names over to the Police without a fight, as if we're criminals. That's just not right."

Back to Stellum live. "Sources confirm that over fifty percent of Town Fitness Centers's customers have canceled their memberships, and Social Justice groups are demanding a boycott of their operation."

Stellum: "Meanwhile, the Town & County Police received ten 'cease and desist' orders from lawyers representing customers whose names had been given to the Police. Channel Two Two News has confirmed that Commander Donald Troy reacted in his usual barbaric manner by personally ordering those ten persons to be brought into Police Headquarters for extensive interrogations, totally ignoring the lawful 'cease and desist' orders! Back to you, Bettina!"

"Thank you for that important report, Pat!" Bettina said. "That was reporter Pat Stellum. And now lets go to political reporter Carl Lemay, with a report on the rapidly approaching elections. Carl!"

"That's right, Bettina." said Carl Lemay. "Bruce Finneran, candidate for the important Inspector General post, gave Channel Two News an exclusive interview yesterday afternoon. Roll tape."

Tape rolled, showing Bruce Finneran standing next to Lemay, saying "Carl, this is why it is so important to elect me as your Inspector General. I would not stand for the abuses of Police power that Commander Donald Troy is exercising against our County's citizens. Curly Goodwin would never stop Troy's abuse of power. I call upon Goodwin to make a statement condemning what Troy is doing, but I won't hold my breath waiting for one. Again, Carl, only I will have the integrity to stop these abuses of power by Donald Troy."

Back to Carl Lemay live: "And the Campaign Office of Republican Bill Redmond, who is challenging Town & County Councilwoman Kelly Carnes for her Council seat, issued a statement saying, quote, 'The abuse of his authority by Police Commander Donald Troy is appalling. I demand he cease and desist investigating innocent people in my district and resign from the Police Force. And the People of the County should boycott Town Fitness Centers until he does resign.', close quote. Back to you, Bettina." said Carl Lemay.

"Thank you for that excellent report, Carl." said Bettina. "And excellent work, getting that exclusive interview with Mr. Finneran. And now let's go to Jeff Hull for Sports. Jeff!..."

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

As Sheriff Griswold, Chief Moynahan, Myself, Lt. Commander Croyle, and Captain Muscone drank coffee in the Chief's Conference Room, I said "So Bettina thinks we're wrong to investigate the customers because of their privacy, but then she turns around and says her viewers have the right... the God-given right... to know the name of the (air quotes) 'Republican' legislator and his wife, totally disregarding their privacy. How's that for sheer hypocrisy?"

"They expect you to not see that, sir." said Tanya.

"No, they don't care if we see it or not." replied Teresa. "They have become that arrogant."

"I want to know where those goddamn leaks are coming from." growled the Sheriff.

"Teresa, you been leaking to the Press?" I asked with a grin.

"You know me, Boss." Teresa replied cooly. "I run to Bettina and throw you under the bus every chance I get." Tanya burst out laughing at that. I gave her a 'look' and waved a red crowbar in Teresa's general direction, then also broke down laughing, as did the Chief.

The Sheriff was not nearly as amused, and he let us know it in no uncertain terms: "Do not even joke about something like that!" he said angrily, jabbing his finger in Teresa's specific direction. "There is nothing funny about leaks to the God damn Media!"

"Sorry, sir, I was just kidding." Teresa said apologetically.

"Leaks to the Media can destroy the morale of a Police Force!" Sheriff Griswold continued, his face beet red and his mustaches quivering with unabated anger. "And they can destroy our legal cases! And get people killed!"

"She said she was sorry, Sheriff." I said, taking up for my errant Angel. The Sheriff did not look mollified, but he stopped talking and turned to face the monitor.

"There was something else about that report, something strange." Tanya said. "But I can't figure out what it was..." She went into a near-reverie.

"And that big-lipped turd Stellum is still doing everything he can to destroy Cindy's gym." lamented Chief Moynahan.

"You're right, Chief, including staging those interviews." I said. "Teresa, we need to keep a close eye on Stellum. We might can catch him staging something, and then put him in prison, or sue KXTC to death... literally, their financial death... for it."

"How do you deduce that he was doing that, Mr. Crow-barrrr?" asked the Chief.

"Those two women he interviewed." I said. "That first woman was made to look like she was walking into the gym... and what was likely the first time she ever walked into a gym. I'd be willing to bet that after he was done with her and the camera turned away, she walked back to her car in the lot."

I continued; "And the second woman, who looks very stereotypical of women the Press get when they want a Leftist narrative discussed, came out of the gym, but we don't know if she walked in there an hour before or five seconds before then turned around and came back out. And they way they both spoke... as if given talking points lines. The first woman used my full name, not just 'Commander Troy'. And the second woman said the full name 'Town Fitness Centers', which I would've expected her to use just the word 'they'. And so on and so forth."

"Crowbar," the Sheriff said, "what about that witch reporting on that politician and his wife? How did she get ahold of that?"

"That's actually not surprising, Sheriff." I replied. "There were Press people at the Lakeside Inn & Suites that could have and probably did see us there. They may have seen Lamar Linder trying to sneak out, and may have seen us with him and his wife outside or in the hallway. And you better better believe that KXTC has told people working there that they can put a C-note in their pocket if they tip KXTC off to something going on there."

"Or maybe Linder's fellow Establishment Elitist Republicans went to the Media and threw him under the bus." Teresa said.

"But Bettina didn't say any names." Tanya said. "So they don't have confirmation of who it is, at least not yet. Maybe Bettina got onto that some other way."

"Good point, Lady Ironside.' I said. "If the Republicans had leaked it, they'd have named names."

"And we're still talking about leaks." growled Griswold. He got up and said "Chief Moynahan, I need a word with you in your office." The Chief got up and exited the room with the Sheriff.