The Phyllis Files Ch. 04

The chronological order of my stories is as follows:

Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, The Murdered Football Player Series, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, The Case of the Black Badge series, A Case of Revenge series, Teresa's Summer Race, The Trilogy series, Dark Side Of The Force series, Caught In The Act series, The Phyllis Files 1-2, Case of the Murdered Bride series, The Credit Card Caper series, The Phyllis Files 3, The Hot Wives Investment Club series, Seriously Inconvenienced series, Case of the Paper Trail series, Christmas Mystery Theater, The Porno Set Mystery series, The Medical Murder Mystery series, The Eightfold Fence series.

The Phyllis Files 4

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, 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 0 - The Solution to The Case of the Home Invasion

The next morning, Phyllis entered the conference room at Forbes & Sehgal Engineering, where Lisa Goldberg and Kevin Granger were waiting.

"I do appreciate the two of you meeting me here today." Phyllis said. "It's certainly more discreet than the Police Station, don't you agree? Oh yes..." she continued, noticing their looks at her companion, who was dressed in a form fitting black sweater and black pants, "this is my daughter-in-law Melina. Please ignore her presence; she's here as my bodyguard and is not paying attention to a word of our private conversation."

Phyllis did not mention what the other two people in the room could not know: that her bodyguard, Melina Allgood, was one of the Central Intelligence Agency's deadliest assassins.

"What is this about?" Kevin Granger asked.

"It is about a little stage-play that took place in Mrs. Allgood's home the other night." said Phyllis. "I really am in a dilemma, as I don't believe either of you meant to do harm. But there are some serious difficulties in this case."

"What are you talking about?" said Granger. Lisa Goldberg simply stared at the attractive older woman.

"Oh yes, I know, Mrs. Goldberg has invoked," said Phyllis, "and I certainly don't wish to violate her rights. So I'll just tell the both of you what happened, and you'll please correct me if I stray from the path."

"I know that you, Kevin Granger, and you, Lisa Goldberg, have been having a sexual affair." said Phyllis. "I understand how these things happen... Mrs. Goldberg's husband was off to war, and Mr. Granger's wife was very ill. Your need of talking with each other turns to needs of a more sexual kind, and even though you love your spouses, you end up having a relationship between the two of you."

"Unfortunately," Phyllis continued, "two things happened. First, Mr. Goldberg was seriously wounded, and is unable to sire children. Second, you, Mrs. Goldberg became pregnant by Mr. Granger here within the last few weeks. Oh yes, Mrs. Goldberg, it really is that obvious to me." She had seen the look of shock on Lisa Goldberg's face.

"Of course there is simply no way to explain this to your husband without the father becoming known, and I'm sure neither of you wanted that, especially you, Mr. Granger, as you do love your wife and children."

"Yes, I do." said Granger. "By the way, just how discreet can we expect you to be, here?"

"That is my dilemma." said Phyllis. "I am a Police Auxiliary Detective, but if I keep my mouth shut, how are they ever going to know what I know? Of course, my daughter-in-law here knows, and she'd be most very upset if something happened to me, but she is not the police and has no obligation to say anything. And again... I'm searching for a solution that will cause the least amount of pain. So, allow me to continue:

"Mrs. Goldberg, you disconnected the alarm and left the door unlocked." Phyllis continued. "Perhaps Mr. Granger was brought into the garage in your car, and only had to wait until a late enough hour, where the extra sedative you put into your husband's evening drink knocked him out. When he woke up, he saw you, Mr. Granger, wearing a mask and having sex with his wife. I won't call it 'rape', as it certainly was consensual sex. You put on this little act to explain Mrs. Goldberg's pregnancy when it cannot be hidden away any longer. She could abort the baby, or have the baby claiming religious grounds, but either way, the baby is explained."

"So what's the problem?" Granger asked.

"Unfortunately for both of you," Phyllis said, "Mr. Goldberg did not accede to his wife's wishes to keep everything silent... he insisted on going to the police, to the point that he dragged you into the Station, Mrs. Goldberg, and insisted upon filing a police report. And there is nothing that can 'undo' the Police being introduced to the situation. The proverbial cat is out of the bag."

"I don't see that we've committed any crime at all." said Granger. "Like you said, no rape has occurred."

"Ah, but there indeed lies the problem..."said Phyllis, "though there was hardly any way out of it. Mr. Goldberg had to actually see his wife being 'raped', and how could he see it without being tied up. Unfortunately, by tying him up, you've unlawfully imprisoned him, and the technical charge in this State is kidnapping. So he could file those charges against the both of you."

"However," Phyllis went on, "that is not your worst problem... which is that Mr. Granger does not want his wife to learn of his infidelity with Mrs. Goldberg. Certainly her impregnation by him would not sit well with Mrs. Granger. And I do think, until the past couple of days, Mrs. Goldberg loved her husband and had no desire to leave him."

"Okay, you're right-" started Granger.

"Kevin, would you shut up?" Lisa scolded. "Just don't say anything!"

"Lisa, it's my marriage that's on the line, here." Kevin said, staring at his lover. "Okay, Ms. Sherlock Holmes, or whoever you really are, you're essentially right. Lisa and I did begin an affair while my wife was sick. Her husband had been away, and was being re-deployed. Well, it was an off-and-on thing, and spotty. About three weeks ago, we were talking in my office. My wife hadn't been feeling well as she recovered, so no sex; and Lisa's husband was flagging, as well. He's had worse erectile problems than anyone let on."

Kevin continued: "So one thing led to another, and Lisa and I had intercourse on my desk. We did not use protection, and I came inside her during her most fertile time. When she found out she was pregnant, I suggested she could get an abortion, but she wanted to keep the baby... she knew she could never have one with her husband, and having my baby was better than an anonymous father at a fertility clinic in the future. I could understand that."

"So we came up with this idea." Kevin said, wrapping up the story. "And you're right... it would've worked beautifully, except that Lisa's husband went to the cops. I even said some words that night to humiliate him, but nothing deterred him. So what's next for us?"

"I don't know." Phyllis said, getting up. "I'm seeking advice now on what to do. If it were up to me, I'd not say another word. But I'm very concerned that Mr. Goldberg won't give it up. Let me see what I can come up with in the next couple of days..."

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

"So, that's the story." Phyllis said as we ate supper at the Mountain Nest. Laura and I listened with fascination, as did our other guest, Jeanine Olivet Burke. It was her legal advice that we were seeking.

"Yes," I said, "the sticking point is that they legally kidnapped the husband, unlawfully detained and imprisoned him."

"If he finds out." Jeanine said. "Legal proof of those charges would not be easy to make stick, though. No physical evidence."

"No, that's not true." I said. "We have photos of the abrasions on his wrists, and the ones on hers. We have the rope used to tie her up; the Crime Lab got that out of the trash can where Lisa had thrown it away. And his statement would be allowed for consideration by the Grand Jury, if not a trial Jury."

"And there's more: the birth of the baby." Laura reminded us. "Then a DNA test will prove who the father is, and then they're right back in a world of shit."

"And worse," Phyllis said, "and the problem for me is Mrs. Granger. Poor woman had an operation, she's still not completely out of the woods yet. This news would not only destroy their marriage... I believe the stress might kill her."

"Yes," said Laura, "the mental anguish would do great harm to her physically, and she might just lose the will to fight to live."

"Where's Cindy?" I asked.

"She's in the other room, looking after your kids and mine." said Jeanine. "And I told her that as a police officer, she shouldn't hear this conversation. Don, your hearing it is bad enough."

"Bring her in." I said. Within moments, Cindy was in the room. I definitely wanted her to hear this one. I asked Phyllis to tell Cindy everything, which she did.

"Geez, no wonder you didn't want to tell me." Cindy said. "Now what?"

"Mom," I said, "why do you think Paul Goldberg wanted to file a police report? Why was he so obsessed, so hell-bent on bringing his wife's rape irreversibly into the public sphere?"

"I haven't thought of that." said Phyllis, who then became introspective.

"I have no idea." said Laura. "It really is uncommon for a man so humiliated to want his wife's rape to be exposed like that, especially when she doesn't want it exposed."

"I agree." said Cindy. "I heard the woman begging and pleading for her husband to not say anything, then she was accusing him of wanting it to be made public."

"I'm surprised Mycroft didn't figure it out." I said to Cindy. "It's pretty obvious: Paul knew his wife was having the affair with Kevin Granger!. My idea is this: Paul and Kevin were friends. Paul's friend Saul comes back to the States on leave, finds out about Kevin and Lisa, goes back to Afghanistan and tells Paul in every lurid detail about Paul's wife and another, well-hung man having an affair. Paul is just burning up after that, trying to find a way to get back home, then actually explodes a grenade to injure himself in order to get back home. He thought he was alone; he didn't realize Saul was also in the Tent City."

I added: "By the way, Saul and Lisa have been having a hot affair as well. I thought that he might be the father, but then she'd be several months pregnant, not just a few weeks. So Kevin being the father was much more likely.

"Anyhoo, Paul makes it back to the States, and he's watching and waiting to catch his wife having her affair. Little does he know that she had been impregnated by her boss and that they've planned a rape scenario to witness. But when they act it out, Paul already knows who the masked man is! So, he drags his wife to the Police Station and demands an investigation of the case, despite her desperate attempts to shut it all down... even taking the Fifth."

"Yes, but he allowed his wife to destroy the evidence." Cindy said.

"True." I said. "And that's what has me thinking he's not operating on all cylinders. He should've called the Police immediately after his wife released him, but I suspect she cleaned herself up and changed the sheets before waking him up, then washed both sets of sheets, not just the potentially soiled ones, and did so as they argued. He didn't quite realize what she was actually doing; he just saw her doing laundry. At any rate, she won't budge, she's washed the sheets, and he finally in desperation drags her into our Headquarters."

I went on: "He was hoping we'd find out somehow that Kevin was the 'rapist'... then his wife would have to come clean to save Kevin. If she does, then Paul would tell Kevin's wife, and Kevin's marriage would be over, and Paul would not care if the news caused Mrs. Granger anguish enough to get sick again and die.

"If Lisa doesn't tell," I went on, "Kevin could possibly go to prison, and his wife finds out anyway. Once the baby is born, Paul can demand a paternity test, and the baby would be proved to be Kevin's. It would all come out, no matter what."

"Wow," said Cindy, "I think Sherlock got one over on Mycroft, for a rare change."

"I have a brilliant son." Phyllis said, not at all perturbed, and proud of me, of course. For me, I wanted Cindy to see me one-up my mom, since it so rarely happened. "But what do we do now?"

"Leave it to me." I said. "It pisses me off greatly when someone tries to use my Police Force to implement his revenge on other persons, and possibly falsely imprison them."

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

The Fire Department had the road blocked off as I drove up in my Police SUV at 2:00am that next morning. The man was at the very top of the University Stadium bleachers, and was on the ledge facing outward with nothing but a long space down to the pavement beneath him. He was just sitting there.

"I've got this." I said. I hurried into the stadium and climbed the stairs and ramps to get to the upper deck. Then I walked up the final set of steps to where he was.

"Don't come any closer. I've got a gun." the man said. It was Paul Goldberg. I came on up anyway, still on the 'safe' side of the bleachers. He was looking outward and did not notice me attach a bungee cord to the seats.

"Your gun is empty." I said. "They took the bullets out the other day when they searched your townhouse."

"What?" Paul said drunkenly. He popped the magazine out. "Shit." I had actually asked Saul Gable to find and empty all of Paul's guns, and he had, and I could tell a loaded semiautomatic vs. an empty one.

"Not only that," I said, "you're not jumping either." I had the bungee cord wrapped around him before he realized what was happening. If he had jumped, it likely would not have held, maybe would've sliced him in two... but I was counting on him not having time enough to think about it, and be surprised by my swift action. He froze in place and I was able to pull him back over the edge to the seats. He was crying as I sat down beside him.

"Why won't you let me die?" he gasped. "My wife has been fucking two other men, guys who I thought were my friends... one of them knocked her up... what've I got left to live for? Why did you stop me?"

"Because I don't want to clean up the mess." I said, rather harshly. On the one hand, I felt sorry for the man. On the other, he'd attempted to use my Police Force to imprison another man out of jealousy. And I also had an obligation to get this mentally ill man the help he truly needed.

I noticed several men coming up the stairs. "Go with these men, Paul." I said. "They're going to get you the help you need. Forget about your past. You can have a future, if you're willing to work for it." Paul Goldberg went with the two men, his eyes dazed, which I knew was because he'd been pulled back from an attempt to freely meet Death.

"Good job, Commander." one of the EMTs complimented me. I just waved them away as they took Goldberg down the stairs. I sat in contemplation. Nathan Allen had had a man committed to the Asylum; I was now doing the same thing, committing a man to mental care. But Allen had done it to a sane man for evil reasons; I was doing it to a man who truly needed the help in an effort to save him. And now Lisa Goldberg and the Grangers would not have to endure the pain his plan was meant to cause to them.

Still, why did I feel so bad about it?...

Part 1 - The Almost-Kidnapped Blonde

(Author's note: You may wish to review the story A Case of Revenge, Ch. 6 to refresh your memories on Tammi Edmonds.)

"STOP! POLICE!" yelled Patrolman Roy McGhillie on the night of Thursday, January 22d. Two masked men were trying to drag a small blonde woman into the back of a van. As McGhillie was catching up to them, they did not drop the blonde, but continued to try to get her to the van.

With McGhillie was Patrolman Johnson, who was catching up fast. As one of the masked men pulled a gun from inside his jacket, Johnson fired his own drawn weapon. The shot missed, and slammed into the back window on the van's right side, shattering it. At that, the two perps did drop the girl and leaped into the van as it took off.

"We'll never get back to the car in time to go after them." lamented Johnson.

"I got the plate." said McGhillie. He quickly called it in on his police radio before he forgot the numbers as Johnson attended the half-conscious woman.

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

"Tammi Edmonds." said Teresa Croyle as she, Cindy Ross and Tanya Perlman met in Cindy's office on the morning of Friday, January 23d. "Now where have I heard that name before?"

"She was one of the three women broken out of the Asylum by Don's nephew Ned." Cindy replied. "She and Gloria simply appeared together in the Tenderloin District. The rapper 'T-Square' had Tammi brought to University Hospital. I don't think Don ever worked on figuring out who broke Tammi out or why, since he was dealing with Eleanor Burke and Ned at the time."

"Ah yes, I remember." Tanya said. "By the way, where is Don?" Tanya asked.

"He's consulting with the FBI for a couple of days." Cindy replied. "And I'm pretending to be in charge while I'm restricted to desk duty so my lung can heal up." It was just two days before that Cindy had learned of the inflammation of her old wound that would cause her to miss defending the Independence Day County Triathlon next summer. "So what were the details of this?"

Tanya replied: "Last night, Officers McGhillie and Johnson saw two masked men trying to drag a woman into a white van. They gave chase on foot and prevented the woman from being kidnapped. One man pulled a gun and Johnson shot at him, so there's a Board of Inquiry happening on that, but I expect it to be ruled a 'good shoot'."

Tanya continued: "The license plate came up as stolen in Southport, and no one has seen a white van with a window shot out as of shift change this morning. In the meantime, Johnson and McGillie took the woman to the hospital instead of calling for the EMTs. She'd been hit over the head and possibly drugged with a sedative, but she's otherwise okay, just a mild concussion. Her fingerprints quickly came back as being Tammi Edmonds. When Johnson called in the report to Martin Nash, Nash had them put Tammi in the secure wing of the hospital, to protect her but also keep her in custody until we can talk to her. We need to do that soon, though; if she wants out of the Hospital, we can't really hold her."

"Okay." Cindy said. "Tanya, take Nash to the hospital and interview Ms. Edmonds if you can. Teresa, get the data people to gather everything they can about Tammi Edmonds, including all the old information about her being put into the Asylum in the first place."

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

At 1:30pm a very bored Cindy Ross admitted Tanya Perlman and Martin Nash into her office. "What did you guys find out?"

"She has no memory of the attack." said Martin Nash. "When we asked her what she was doing that day up until the time of the attack, she was pretty hazy there, too. Lt. Perlman was asking the questions, and I observed that Tammi's reticence might be much more than just the effects of the concussion."

Tanya picked it up: "The attack happened just west of University Avenue and just south of First Baptist Church. There are bars and restaurants along University Avenue, since the School is just across the street. Tammi said she didn't remember last night, but she often went to bars in that area."