The Porno Set Mystery Ch. 01

"Guys, we have to act fast, very fast." I said. "As ADA Patterson will tell you, we can only hold these guys for 72 hours before we have to arraign them, and if they're given bail they will skip and be out of the State before we can sneeze."

"True." Paulina. "And play it by the book, too."

"Perlman, who are you assigning to this case from MCD?" I asked.

"Myself." said Tanya. "And Theo. Everyone else either has days off or is busy."

"Good." I said. "Captain Charles, is there a holding cell here where we can put these guys and only these guys, and have Jay in a separate isolation cell?"

"Unfortunately," said Captain Charles, "our four group berths are full. Too many people partying the last couple of days, getting DUIs. But... I think there's a holding cell in the County Jail building. With the renovations, it has cameras and listening devices in there now. I'll call Precinct Captain Weston and have them make sure it's clear for these guys."

"That'll be great, thanks." I said as Captain Charles left, noting Tanya's face flash a bit of fire at the mention of Precinct Captain Susan Weston's name; they'd clashed before.

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

The holding cell at the County Jail was great: it had television, and a bathroom with a door that didn't lock, but gave privacy... well, there was a camera in there as well as cameras watching everyone in the cellblock. I had officers monitoring the conversations, hoping someone would slip and say something of value in solving the murder of Steve West. The young bearded man, Jay, was being held at Headquarters, in an isolation cell.

A search of everyone's clothing found no hidden compartments in anyone's belt, nor inside any purses nor purse straps (oh yes, we did not miss those; this is not a Police Department of dullards). I told my officers to examine their shoes, but nothing was found there, either. "That's an unfortunate setback." I said to Cindy. "I was really hoping to find something there."

"Not even the Iron Crowbar can hit a home run every at-bat." said Cindy as she watched me search the clothing.

Warrants had been procured to search the hotel rooms of the company's cast and crew, and several computers had been found. Myron was downloading them now, and said that the vast bulk of the information was video footage of porn scenes. Myron also said that one of the computers we'd confiscated was basically a server, designed to keep large amounts of digital data until it could be downloaded to bigger servers. I told Myron to keep it sealed off; I was running a Police Department, not a porn website.

"Okay," I said to Tanya in my office, "we're going to have to process all that. Tanya, it's going to be a long, hard night. I want you to go through the tapes from the videocameras, which weren't yet committed to digital servers. Cindy, you too. Check through what was shot at the University and here in Town that had been put into the servers. It's going to be needle and haystack, I'm afraid. "

"Surely you're not going to waste this opportunity to look at Callie Carrington videos, Commander." said Cindy. "She's one of the hottest porn babes on the planet."

"No, I'm not." I said, grinning. "But I'm not so much going to be watching tapes as researching the company itself. But first, we have to do interviews, and it's getting late, it's three o'clock already. Let's head up to the Third Precinct building, a.k.a. County Jail."

Just then, our smooth investigation hit a bump... more like a fallen tree trunk. The Duty Desk Sergeant knocked on my door. "Commander," he said as he stuck his head in the door, "there are six lawyers in the front lobby. They're from Chase, Lynch & Berry, and they say they are representing everyone from the arrests you made earlier today at the warehouse..."

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

"I'm here representing those poor actors and crew you arrested without warrants today, Commander." said H.J. Lynch, Esq., senior partner of the firm of Chase, Lynch & Berry. We're handling their case pro bono, to make sure you Police don't abuse them physically or legally."

Lynch was a tall, lanky man in his 50s or maybe early 60s, with a balding head and what would be a distinguished presence if it didn't come across as arrogant and disrespectful, and disrespectful of Police in particular. He hated the Police with a deep, abiding passion, and I knew he was going to represent the dog abuser Bryan Thatcher pro bono at Thatcher's trial early next year.

"So let me make sure I heard that right." I said. "You're representing them pro bono all the way through, correct?"

"Yes." said the lawyer, grimacing. I'd just trapped him: his firm would now be required to represent anyone charged with the murder without being able to bill either the defendant or the County Government for their work. It did not get better for him, either, as Paulina Patterson entered the room.

"We've got the warrants for their arrest, right here." said Paulina, a sheaf of documents in her elegant, shapely hands. "They're all material witnesses and flight risks. Their arraignments have been set up for Tuesday morning."

"That will never do." said Lynch. "I will be insisting on an immediate hearing and immediate recognizance bail for all of them. Now I insist that you allow my legal team to talk to everyone you have arrested, Commander."

"Sure." I said. "One of them is here, the others are in pre-detention at the Third Precinct. Would your boys like to drive there, or shall I provide them transportation in a paddywagon?" Lynch was not amused at my joke.

To be continued.

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, Case of the Murdered Bride series, The Credit Card Caper series, The Hot Wives Investment Club series, Seriously Inconvenienced, Ch. 1-5, Case of the Paper Trail, Ch. 1-4, Christmas Mystery Theater.

The Porno Set Mystery, Ch. 1.