What's Left is Right: Book two of The Detective Bill Ross Crime Series

by Irving Munro

  With all due respect to the governor and the governor-elect, we must try to stay out of the politics of the moment and focus on clear and concise communication with the media on the facts of the case. Before any statements are made by anyone in this room, or by the staff of anyone in this room, it must be first cleared and approved by the communications team I have assembled, led by Jane Brewster. Any questions?”

  There were many questions, but the meeting ended and everyone was clear on who was in control. The DA was going to ensure that no one was going to damage his opportunity for his moment in the sun.

  Bill and Tommy were both incredibly impressed by Gavin McMullen. The possibility existed for him to be destroyed by all of this, but he was resolute that justice should prevail and that his father should be held to account for his actions.

  ~

  “Julien Boudreaux is on TV!” It was one of the PR team yelling as she ran toward Bobby Brown, who was helping himself to his fourth black coffee of the morning.

  Everyone then huddled around the TV in the break room to listen to what Garrison McMullen’s attorney had to say.

  “This morning I met with my client, who is innocent of these scurrilous charges. Due to the impending holiday season, we will be requesting that an initial hearing with a judge be expedited, at which time I will be requesting a dismissal of all charges.”

  A barrage of questions followed as Julien Boudreaux made an attempt to leave. He deliberately stopped in mid-step and in a very planned maneuver turned again to the cameras.

  “This entire charade is politically motivated. There is not one shred of truth in any of this. Thank you.”

  He then disappeared into the sea of humanity as the on-scene news teams fired up the lights for their reporters, who were making last minute adjustments to their makeup and coiffures. The circus was in town and the clowns were first up!

  Chapter 31: Lake Travis secrets

  At Lake Travis, no one paid particular attention to the inflatable with three men aboard heading across the lake in the direction of Whispering Hollow. On any given day there are many boats of every shape and size on the lake, so nothing looked particularly out of the ordinary.

  The inflatable slowed and then stopped below the cliffs by Venture Point. They could see above them a very impressive home with a cantilever deck protruding out over the lake. The two divers slipped silently into the water, leaving the third man to control the location of the boat.

  ~

  Back at the Sheriff’s office the receptionist was being inundated with calls from the press wanting to speak with Detective Tommy Ross - the arresting officer. There were reporters camped outside the building trying to ambush him and get in his face for a comment or two. Tommy felt like a rock star, but not in a good way. “Now I understand what it must be like to be hounded by paparazzi,” he said.

  “There’s a call for you, Tommy.”

  “Well, tell them to go screw themselves!” said Tommy.

  “Doesn’t sound like a reporter.”

  “Okay, put it through”

  “Is this Detective Tommy Ross?”

  “Yes, who’s this? And if you’re with the press I have nothing to say.”

  “I am not with the press, Detective Ross, my name is Enrique Rodriguez. I am the owner of the Colinas Verde Ranch and I understand that you have my brother in custody.”

  Tommy motioned Bill and Marie to hook into Line 3.

  “Oh, yes, Mr. Rodriguez, how may I help you?”

  “I would like to fly up to Austin and meet with you, Detective. I believe that I may have information that could be helpful to you regarding your case against Garrison McMullen. Garrison is a good friend and a business partner, but it would be wrong of me not to come forward in the interest of justice being served. I have specific knowledge of events surrounding the death of Garrison’s wife and her lover.”

  “Very interesting, Mr. Rodriguez. When would you like to make the trip?”

  “I can fly up now, I have my Cessna Citation always fueled and ready to go. Perhaps I could buy you dinner tonight?”

  “No dinner, Mr. Rodriguez, but if you wish to make the trip, be my guest. I take it that you will be flying into the Austin Executive Airport in Pflugerville; I can meet you there. There are conference room facilities at the airport that we can use. Let me know your ETA and I will be there with my colleagues to meet with you.”

  “I’m on my way. I will call you in flight and give you my estimated arrival time. I look forward to meeting you, Detective Ross!”

  He hung up the call.

  “As I said, there’s blood in the water and the sharks are now circling. One of them with a veracious appetite is now headed in our direction,” laughed Bill Ross as he slapped his son on the back.

  ~

  They met at the airport as planned. Enrique Rodriguez, flanked by two Antonio Banderas lookalikes, walked into the conference room. He didn’t look anything like Tommy had imagined. He looked like an older version of the guy from the Dos Equis beer commercial, the difference being that this guy probably was The Most Interesting Man in the World. At least in his own mind, that is.

  “Thank you for agreeing to see me, Detective.”

  Tommy, Marie and Bill shook hands with the man who was probably responsible for the trafficking of the majority of cocaine coming into the U.S.

  “So what is so important that you would make the trip up here to meet with us?” asked Tommy.

  “What I have knowledge of, Detective, needed to be shared at the earliest opportunity,” replied the drug lord.

  “But before I share what I know, I must first have assurances that my brother’s fate will not result in him being put to death. He has told me that he was involved in the unfortunate death out by the lake, but that it was Garrison McMullen who had coerced him into the crime by threatening to tell me about my brother’s proclivity for male bed companions, something that has been known to me for many years now.”

  “So you’re telling me that you flew all the way up here to tell me that Garrison McMullen ordered the killing and had Jimmy do it? If that’s the case you’ve had a wasted trip; we already knew that,” said Tommy.

  “No, Detective Ross, I have much more information than that, and I’m willing to share provided that there is a bargain to be made regarding my brother’s fate. You can be assured that the information I possess will guarantee that you get a solid conviction of Garrison McMullen for the killing of his wife and her lover.”

  “Oh, I see. Well, in that case you’re going to have to give me more detail so I can convince the DA that it’s worth trading for your brother’s reduced sentence.”

  “Don’t try to play me, Detective, I am not a person you want to make an enemy of.”

  The two thugs shifted a little in their seat to reinforce the drama of the moment.

  “Don’t try to threaten or intimidate me either, Mr. Rodriguez. My selling abilities with the DA might be adversely affected, and that wouldn’t be in the best interests of your brother’s fate.”

  “Okay, let’s not get too agitated, Detective. I can share this—and this is not all that I know, it’s just a part of what I know. Garrison McMullen’s wife did not die in a road traffic accident. The body that lies in the family plot is not that of his wife. I know this because I facilitated the provision of a body for him at his request. The dead woman was someone who had died of natural causes and was about to be buried by her family in Mexico. I simply gave them some monetary compensation in return for the body.”

  “And you would testify to that effect, Mr. Rodriguez?”

  “I would, Detective. In addition, my brother and I have further evidence of the actual killing of his wife and lover, a crime that was perpetrated by Garrison McMullen at his ranch in Leander.”

  “Very interesting, Mr. Rodriguez, and thank you for flying up here. Sorry for the little bit of confusion earlier. I will take your offer forward to the DA and I will be in touch regarding his decision.”


  They shook hands and The Most Interesting Man in the World and his henchmen flew back to the Colinas Verde Ranch.

  ~

  Meanwhile at Lake Travis progress was being made. It was the second day of searching for the Chevy truck with its two occupants, and they had located what looked like a vehicle semi-submerged in the silt at the bottom of the lake. The lead diver, with his powerful underwater searchlight, cleared the silt away from the passenger side door and window. As he did so the outline of a human skull began to appear. The skull of Alyana Reyes lay sideways across the dashboard of the truck.

  The divers sent up the marker to the surface indicating that they had found what they were looking for. The other diver in the inflatable threw out the buoy as the other two divers broke the surface and climbed into the boat. They got on their cell phone and reported that the search had been successful. They were instructed to retrieve a piece of bone from each skeleton and bring both back to HQ for forensic examination.

  They did as instructed and returned to the Sheriff’s office with the bone samples, each one in its own separate plastic evidence bag. The medical examiner took that samples and headed off to the lab that had been put on standby ready to run DNA tests.

  When the news of the find in Lake Travis been reported earlier in the day, the medical examiner had dispatched one of his assistants to the office of Gavin McMullen to retrieve samples of blood, saliva and hair to be used for DNA matching. As he had been all along, Gavin McMullen was fully compliant with the request and he provided that lab technician with what she needed.

  ~

  The following morning the phone rang on Tommy’s desk; it was the medical examiner.

  “I suggest that you get everyone together. I have the preliminary DNA results,” said Sven Stevenson, the Travis County medical examiner.

  Tommy had worked with Sven on many cases, including the Luther Fisher case, and he was known for his almost stoic personality. On this call Sven Stevenson sounded like a kid on Christmas morning having just opened a present from Santa.

  Twenty minutes later they were all in the conference room awaiting the arrival of Sven: Tommy, Bill, Marie, Bill Dunwoody and Bobby Brown. A breathless Sven Stevenson burst into the room after his drive up from central Austin.

  “A glass of water, Sven, or would you like something stronger?” joked Tommy as the medical examiner began assembling his props on the conference room table.

  “Water will be fine, thank you, Tommy,” said the ME, now getting his breath back.

  Sven had a couple of mouthfuls of water and then began his report.

  “First, I have to say that these are preliminary findings, but I would speculate with a fair degree of certainty that these findings will finally prove out to be indeed correct.

  “The specimens used for the matching were:

  1. Blood and hair samples retrieved from Gavin McMullen.

  2. Bone sample #1 retrieved from the submersed truck in Lake Travis.

  3. Bone Sample #2 retrieved from the same submersed truck.

  4. Blood, tissue, hair and bone samples taken from the deceased found at Whispering Hollow, assumed at this time to be Mike Muguara.

  “We ran only nuclear DNA tests at this time. Mitochondrial tests typically take longer and may not even be necessary given the results of the nuclear DNA.”

  Test One Results - Gavin McMullen samples were a match for Bone Sample #1

  Test Two Results - Mike Muguara samples were a match for Bone Sample #1.

  “We can therefore reach the preliminary conclusion that Bone Sample #1 is Alyana Reyes, the mother of Mike Muguara and Gavin McMullen.”

  “Yes!” The call was almost on unison as it echoed around the room.

  “May I continue?” said Sven Stevenson, back in his normal stoic character.

  Test Three Results - Mike Muguara samples were a match for Sample #2.

  Test Four Results - Gavin McMullen samples were a match for Sample #2.”

  There was now a collective gasp around the room and the medical examiner verbalized the reason for the gasp.

  “We can therefore reach the preliminary conclusion that Bone Sample #2 is Achak Muguara, the father of Mike Muguara and Gavin McMullen.”

  “Holy crap!” said Bobby Brown. “This means that Gavin McMullen is not the son of a megalomaniacal killer. He’s going to be happy about that!”

  “Yes, that’s correct, Bobby,” said Marie, “but it also means that the new governor-elect of Texas is a full blown Comanche! He’s a direct descendent of Quanah Parker, the last great Comanche chief. It will be celebrated in the Comanche Nation as the rebirth of Comancheria!”

  Chapter 32: And they all fall down

  “What a day!” announced Bill as he arrived home and kissed Elaine on the cheek. “I need a wee dram. Can I get you a glass of sherry? I’d like to tell you about my day. We’ve got him, Elaine! We’ve got what we need to put Garrison McMullen away, and there’s more.”

  Elaine finished putting the pork chops for their supper in the oven, washed her hands, and joined her husband in the family room and took a sip of sherry.

  Bill told her the whole story; it took a while, of course, and storytelling is thirsty work, so the contents of the bottle of Glenmorangie had been significantly reduced by the time they both sat down for supper.

  “You’re enjoying your work then, honey?” said Elaine.

  “Aye, well, someone has to do it,” said Bill, raising his Edinburgh crystal whisky glass into the air.

  “I’m talking about the detective work, not the whisky consumption you old fool!” said Elaine.

  “They both go hand in hand, my love, it’s like the ying and the yan.”

  “It’s the yin and the yang! I think you’ve had enough for one evening!” said Elaine and grabbed his glass.

  ~

  As Bill was dozing off on the sofa after supper, his cell phone rang.

  “Hello?” he said tentatively.

  “How goes the fight?” said Joe Nichol.

  “Ah, it’s yourself, a little late there for you, is it not, Joe?”

  “I’m just getting ready to go out clubbing,” joked Joe. “I’ve been watching developments on the TV, you’ve got your man I see?”

  “Ah, long way to go yet, Joe. In our opinion there is no doubt that McMullen ordered the killing and Jimmy Rodriguez and Pepe Vivar carried it out. Shit, I can’t be telling you this,” said Bill, realizing that his Glenmorangie-induced relaxed state had resulted in him telling Joe more than he should.

  “Your secret’s safe with me, just you and Tommy do your job and make sure that these assholes get the needle. Just thought I’d call to touch base; keep up the good work, Bill!” and Joe was off to go clubbing.

  ~

  It was the following morning and Garrison McMullen was due to be arraigned by Judge Bonnie Lewis in the main courthouse in downtown Austin. The press and the public were both out in force and the police were doing their best to keep the entrance to the courthouse clear. Tommy, Marie and Bill wanted to be there to see McMullen arraigned and to see if Julien Boudreaux’s no-doubt Oscar performance would have any effect on the outcome. They stood together off to the side of main entrance awaiting the grand arrival.

  A Travis County transit van pulled around the corner followed by a Cadillac SUV. They both stopped in front of the courthouse and Julien Boudreaux was first to emerge from the rear of the SUV. He walked across to the transit van to witness firsthand his client emerging from the back cuffed to a Travis County deputy.

  Garrison McMullen had dressed for the part. He wore a black Stetson, white cowboy shirt, blue jeans with a snakeskin belt and a huge buckle, and a pair of what looked like $4,000 black full-quill ostrich-leather boots. He obviously wanted everyone watching to know that a powerbroker Texan was in town.

  Crack!

  A single shot pierced the Stetson, and half the side of Garrison McMullen’s head was vaporized. The deputy was unharmed but it looked like s
omeone had just dumped a gallon of red paint all over him. The Stetson spun in the air and, as if in slow motion, gently settled on the ground. Julien Boudreaux had also been the beneficiary of some of the red paint, and he was trying to wipe it off his face with his white silk handkerchief that was now completely soaked in blood and brain matter.

  Complete panic ensued. Law enforcement personnel tried to regroup, organize and get a location of the shooter. Sirens blared. Orders were being yelled.

  “What just happened?” said Tommy.

  “I guess someone didn’t want to wait for the trial,” said Bill.

  “We need to protect Jimmy and Pepe. We need to get them out of the holding cells to a secure location!” yelled Chief Dunwoody. “I’ll make the call! Now, you guys get back to the office; this is a mess, a fucking mess!”

  ~

  Back at the holding cells they had received the orders to get Pepe and Jimmy transferred.

  “What’s going on?” yelled Jimmy as two deputies manhandled him out of the cell and down the corridor to the transit van parked at the rear of the building. Pepe, led by two other deputies, was a couple of paces behind. They exited the rear of the building to walk the ten yards to the waiting van.

  Crack! Jimmy Rodriguez’ head disappeared in a cloud of red mist. Pepe Vivar, walking a few steps behind, let out a scream. Crack! The scream was instantly silenced as Pepe’s head was also vaporized.

  Two shots, red mist, and two bodies with no heads lay on the ground.

  At the two locations they found the sniper rifles and took them off to forensics, but they doubted that they would reveal anything. It was a logistical impossibility for one person to have committed both assassinations, so a team had to have been involved. They had operated with precision, predicting that after the killing of Garrison McMullen the police would try to protect Pepe and Jimmy.

  ~

  The mood was somber when they all met in the conference room later that evening.

  “What a mess!” said the DA, “Any ideas or opinions on what might have happened here?”

  Chief Dunwoody was first to speak. “We did everything by the book, Tom.”