6.2 A drunken man at gunpoint
EMILY WANDA LUONG WAS a watching an episode of sex and the city while eating a bag of potato chips. Growing up in Claymore, and living all of her life there, she did not have much in common with James Locker's ex-girlfriend Emily Dawn Luong. Well except for the name and that they were both of Asian ethnicity. While Emily Dawn Luong had been petite and very feminine Emily Wanda Luong was a horror for the eyes with her features since long ruined by excessive junk food eating, smoking, and childbearing. Emily Luong was dreaming herself away while watching the show. All their issues and discussions seemed so unreal to her so she could not relate to any of it but in there was the charm of the show. It provided her with an escape from reality by showing her an alternative reality that seemed so far away. She was both happy and sad that her children were with their father this night. Comfortable as it gave her time for herself but sad as she felt very lonely and was convinced that their father was abusive to them. The court, however, was of a different opinion and thus they had received shared custody after their separation a few years back. Emily Luong sometimes considered the option of moving out of Claymore so her children would get a chance for a better upbringing and environment. She had a job, and with some extra support from the government, she would be able to afford it. But where would she go? All of her friends and family was living there, and somehow it seemed safe and pleasant to be close to her family even though she dreamed of a better future for her children someplace else.
Emily Luong was awoken from her reflections when someone knocked on the door. She was hesitant to open it, but since she lived in a security building, she decided to do so. That was one of the advantages of getting a paycheck instead of welfare, at least she and her children could live well and safe. Emily got terrified when she opened the door. On the other side was a drunken delusional man who introduced himself as Michael Fuller from the Central Sydney Murder Investigation Department. He spoke some incomprehensible nonsense about a conspiracy within the police and worst of all this man was holding a gun in his hand waving it in broad gestures. After a few moments of terror, the man realised that he had come to the wrong house and apologised wryly before leaving. Emily Luong did what anyone would and called the police.
6.3 A failed attempt
THE KILLER SAW MICHAEL Fuller go from the building where Emily Luong lived. He was holding a gun in his hand. There could, in theory, be a problem as Michael Fuller who was visible on the nearby traffic camera held another model of a weapon in his hand than the Killer had used for the killings. Then again this proved nothing as nothing was saying that Michael Fuller could not be in possession of several firearms. On the contrary, it showed that he was delusional and aggressive why would he otherwise be waving his gun like that? The Killer decided that it was time to strike. As it was a security building, visitors were forced to scan their driver's license to enter as a way to keep criminals out of the building. The Killer, however, used an electronic lockpick on the backdoor instead to get in undetected and proceeded towards Emily Luong's apartment.
He had mixed feelings towards killing her, as she, in his opinion, had done nothing to deserve to die and it was a shame to bereave two children of their struggling mum. Then again he was not a man that was mainly driven by his morals but by what he felt he needed to do. The Killer knocked on the door and said that his name was Jordan Palmer from the local police. Emily Luong opened the door, and the first thing he did was to shoot her in the head. When the Killer tried discharging his second shot, he noticed that his gun had jammed. The gun jamming was terrible news as it was not sure that one shot from such a weak revolver would be enough to kill her. He wanted to make sure she died partly to ensure no loose ends existed but mostly out of pity with the unconscious woman lying on the floor. If she survived that shot, she would most likely get severe brain damage, and that was a fate far worse than death. The Killer could hear police sirens in the distance. There was no time to lose! He ran into her apartment and locked the door behind him. He then jumped down from her balcony and disappeared to his car before the police arrived. He was far too close to getting caught, the killer reflected, and he had to get rid of the gun. He drove to the nearby Eagle Vale pond and dumped it in there, after all, there was no way he could plant it in Michael Fuller's house as the police were probably headed there at any moment as he had planted Antonio DiMaestro's phone switched on in there.
When driving home, the killer felt very relieved and pleased with his victory. The news of the death of Emily Luong would surely drive James Locker to insanity. Insanity he would try curing from taking his precious pills. Precious pills that the Killer had replaced with other medicines that would make James Locker's mind worse!
Chapter 7: The Case gets solved
7.1 A trace on Antonio DiMaestro
James Locker woke up in the middle of the night from his phone calling. The caller ID told him that the call was from the Technical Surveillance Department of the Sydney Police. James Locker certainly hoped that they were bringing a significant breakthrough as it would be unnecessary to wake him just to notify him of minor detail.
James Locker:
- Hello, James speaking.
Andrew McLane:
- Hi this is Andrew from Technical surveillance
- We have pinpointed a signal from Antonio DiMaestro’s mobile phone. How do you wish to proceed?
James Locker:
- Well, we believe Antonio to be armed and extremely dangerous.
- So I would suggest that you seal of the block and surround the house. Then send in a tactical squad to apprehend him.
Andrew McLane:
- Great a squad will be going shortly.
James Locker:
- Oh, and where is this place? My team will need to come by the secure any evidence that might be in the building.
Andrew McLane.
- It’s in Palm Beach, at Ocean Road.
James Locker:
- Thank you for the call, Andrew. I'll assemble my team and be there as quickly as possible.
After hanging up the phone, James Locker started thinking. Michael Fuller lived at Ocean Road in Palm Beach. So there were two likely scenarios: either Michael Fuller was the killer and was posing as Antonio DiMaestro as a distraction or Antonio DiMaestro had decided to come after and kill Michael Fuller. James Locker concluded that the most likely scenario was that Antonio DiMaestro was coming after Michael Fuller, as it seemed strange that the latter would turn on the mobile phone of Antonio DiMaestro in his house if he wanted to divert attention from himself. Thinking that the life of his former colleague might be at risk James Locker decided to call Michael Fuller:
James Locker:
- Hi, Michael. We got a trace from Antonio DiMaestro's mobile phone. It seems he is in the vicinity of your house. I just called to warn you.
Michael Fuller:
- Oh, shit is he coming after me? Yeah, I reckon he might be; I guess I have been looking too much for him lately. Oh, and it makes sense that he would want to kill me after failing to get me convicted in the cocaine set up.
James Locker:
- Cocaine set up?! What the fuck are you talking about? Where are you at the moment, by the way, it sounds like you are in a car?
Michael Fuller:
- Yeah, I went out for a midnight ride; following up on a clue in the shadier parts of town.
James Locker:
- Michael let me make this clear for you. You are not a police officer anymore. You do not have the authority to conduct any investigations on behalf of the police or claim to be a police officer with whatever delusional games you are playing. Just get to your house and meet up with the patrol cars waiting outside. I will be there in an hour.
7.2 Outside Michael Fuller’s home
JAMES LOCKER ARRIVED outside Michael Fuller's house one hour and 15 minutes later. As he had instructed police surrounded the house and a tactical squad was on standby ready to move in and apprehend Antonio Di
Maestro. He went to Michael Fuller who was obviously drunk. James Locker decided that it was time to take actions against Michael Fuller and his alcoholism once and for all as the situation had gone out of hand. He called two nearby police officers from the local police to come over.
James Locker:
- Officers, how did this man arrive here?
Police officer:
- He drove here sir. He claims to be Michael Fuller, the owner of the house.
James Locker:
- Did he drive you to say? So what are you waiting for? The man is obviously drunk; test his blood alcohol levels for drunk driving.
A short while later the officers came back.
- Sir, you were right he had a staggering 1.5 in blood alcohol level.
James Locker:
- Perfect. You know the drill for severe drunken driving. Lock him up in the prisoner transport car.
Michael Fuller was going to protest, but he could not come up with anything to say. He knew what he had done was a felony and that he would probably have to serve a couple of months of months in jail for it. Michael realised that this was perhaps a punishment long overdue and that he had got away from testing several times by knowing the officers conducting the tests. Feeling a bit shameful all he hoped for was that this would not prevent him from his planned British Islands holiday, departing at the end of the week.
From James Locker's point of view arresting Michael Fuller for drunk driving served two purposes. Firstly it was essential to send Michael Fuller a message that he did not stand over the law and should not be meddling in police business. Secondly, it gave him an excellent opportunity to question him about his part in this mess once they had apprehended Antonio DiMaestro. With all loose ends sorted out, James Locker sent in the tactical squad to capture Antonio DiMaestro. A few minutes later he got a response from their team leader over the radio.
Squad Leader:
- Sir, we have found Antonio DiMaestro.
James Locker:
- Excellent bring him out then.
Squad Leader:
- No, I wouldn't do that. We found his severed head on an altar.
James Locker:
- Oh my god! Well just secure the scene, and my team and I will come in shortly.
Knowing that Antonio DiMaestro was found dead in Michael Fuller's house, he decided to make a quick decision. Officially it was a decision to be made by the district attorney, but James Locker was so sure of the outcome, so he did not feel compelled to call the DA at 4 AM in the morning for clearance. He walked towards the prisoner transport car opened the door and said:
James Locker
- Michael Fuller! You are under arrest for the murders of Miranda DiMaestro, Jessica Hall, and Antonio DiMaestro!
7.3 Inside Michael Fuller’s house
JAMES LOCKER AND HIS team entered Michael Fuller's home. From some empty whiskey bottles and beer bottles, it looked like the place had been hosting a huge party the night before. James Locker reflected over how dirty and untidy the house was and if that was an indication of Michael Fuller's general decay as a person. He remembered one year before when he and Emily Luong had been to Michael Fuller's 55 years party. The place had looked so different back then. It had been spotless, and Michael Fuller had been in his best moods as a host. Evidently, he had been drunk at the time but not the lousy and foul-smelling drunk he had been his last months at CSMI. James Locker wondered if this decay had a connection to an individual event in Michael Fuller's life or if it was a natural development once someone started taking up the bottle to fill the holes in one's soul. James Locker was interrupted in his thoughts by Adam Smith who began talking to him.
Adam Smith:
- Hey, James. One can say a lot about Michael's arrogance and "know better than everyone else" attitude, but the man sure knows how to party.
James Locker:
- Well, I don't know if I would call it a party, there is no indication of anyone else visiting this place.
Adam Smith:
- Oh well, I guess there is a fine line between being an awesome party dude and a pathetic lonely alcoholic. But as long as I stay on the right side of the line, I am happy.
Thomas Anderson:
- Hey James what are we looking for in here?
James Locker:
- Well, you are checking his computer. Try figuring out how he hacked the security systems of the crime scenes. Also, check if any files give us any indication on his motives. As it is right now, I can't see any other reason than booze-induced paranoia. Finally, it would be good if we find anything connecting Michael Fuller to John Dean. I am sure that weasel was sabotaging our investigation, but it would be good if we could prove it so that we can get rid of him for good
- For the rest of you guys. Look extensive anything that could explain his motives would be good. Best of all would be if we could find the murder weapon, but there are no guarantees that he has not got rid of that already.
Samantha Robinson:
- James. I have got an idea on how to expose John Dean.
- Send him a text from the Michael Fuller's phone that he has to meet up as soon as possible and that John should bring all the files he got.
- John is the case, so he does not know that we have captured Michael. By doing things this way, we might catch him off guard.
James Locker:
- Sounds like a plan Samantha. In case he swallows the bait bring Johnson and Baker to the meeting point you decide and confront him!
After saying this James Locker had a walk around the Fuller Estate trying to get a general overview of the house. He got captivated by a set of pictures depicting what was most likely Michael Fuller's daughter. The photos were depicting her from her baby years up to roughly 15. She was a beautiful girl, and strangely enough, she looked very familiar although James Locker could not recall ever meeting her. James Locker moved on to the meditation room, where the severed head of Antonio DiMaestro was sitting on the altar, this seemed very strange to him, but he recalled from the Father Walker case that Michael Fuller had a very vivid interest in the occult. The head was in an advanced state of decomposition, and James Locker reckoned that Antonio DiMaestro must have been dead for weeks. In general James Locker was a bit shocked that the Killer turned out to be his former boss but at the same time relieved as the evidence securing phase of a case would now commence. Although it was painstaking and sometimes very frustrating, it was a lot less stressful than the previous stage where they supposed to find the killer. Especially in cases with serial killers the job was very stressful as they all knew that lives were at stake!
For now, they would just have to gather as much information as possible before conducting the first interrogation of Michael Fuller in the morning. James Locker was considering the option to interrogate him now, but there was no point in talking to a drunken person unless it was an urgent matter.
7.4 John Dean avoids the trap
JOHN DEAN WOKE UP BY the text message tone on his mobile phone. He felt about confused as no-one ever texted him in the middle of the night. John was a married man in his mid-forties, and he did not have any friends who texted him drunken text messages in the midst of the evening. He reached for his phone and saw that it was a text message from Michael Fuller. The message read the following. "I am in trouble and need your help immediately. I would greatly appreciate if you could bring some of the investigation material so that I can run my case. I would like to meet at the University café in Macquarie Park before you start work. Would 7 AM suit you? PS I am close to catching Antonio DS/ Michael Fuller."
After reading this text message, John Dean immediately realised that Michael Fuller had been arrested and that James Locker was trying to use an entrapment strategy on him. Although it made him uncomfortable that the police arrested Michael Fuller, he felt a bit relieved at the same time as Michael Fuller had apparently not agreed to testify against him as the other team members apparently felt obliged to send him this pathetic text me
ssage instead. John Dean decided to reply to the text message to show James Locker that John was on top of his games and insult him at the same time. He wrote "Hey James. I suppose you have somehow arrested Michael Fuller on insufficient evidence and now you are trying to forge some against me as well. Well, it won't work as I would never leave out classified material to unauthorised persons. PS Michael Fuller never communicates through text messages, and he never goes to places that do not sell alcohol. DS /John Dean."
Satisfied with his answer John Dean decided to sleep for a few more hours, after all since they had taken him off the case he was not in any rush at the moment.
7.5 A heavy reaction
IT WAS 10 AM TUESDAY the 3rd of September 2013 and James Locker was preparing himself for the initial questioning of Michael Fuller. They had been unable to find any more evidence out of interest at the Fuller estate, but at least they had received the location data for Michael Fuller's phone for the last month and now knew that he had been in the vicinity of both crime scenes at the time of the murders. They were also matching Michael Fuller's DNA against the unidentified male DNA found at both the crime scenes, but the result of this matching was yet to come as they were doing the full scan which was reliable enough for the court. James Locker was distracted from his thought when he received an unexpected call from Campbelltown.
James Locker- The Duality of Fate Page 19