Jack Fuller was no fool. He had been round the bend an back again more than once, and when he heard panic in Maude’s voice, he moved quickly to the car, started it and drove away, taking a cross street to get away from the main road from the warehouse. He didn’t know what kind of book it was that Maude was holding, but he knew for sure she was sincere about leaving.
Finally Jack got to a place where he could stop, and pulled into a small park, next to a live oak tree.
“Okay. Let’s see it.” He said.
Maude handed it over, careful to keep the cover upright, and watched Jack open the book, observing his expression at seeing the opening made by the hollowed out pages. A rectangular 4” by 6” hole, about two inches deep, was cloth lined, and filled with plastic bags containing small yellow pills.
“Holy Crap!” Jack said. “What do we have here?”
“From all those little designs on them, I’s say that we have us a book full of MDMA, street named Ecstasy, E, X, or XTC, and if my guess is correct, there were crates of those boxes being unloaded into that warehouse. That was the reason for the guns.”
“Maude what are we into? You think Leroy had something to do with this?”
“No, I don’t think so. I’ve been kicking this around; hear me out and tell me what you think, Jack. This B&G Company transports what they profess to be old, used university books, but they are really hollowed out shells of books full of bags of MDMA. So where did they come from? I think a university science lab would be a likely choice. How am I doing?”
“Makes sense, go on.”
“Let’s say that we know of a university where a chemistry student was just raped and killed while on vacation.”
“What if that student was running instead?” Jack chimed in.
“Maybe she saw something, or was a part of something and got greedy. Remember, Jenny had changed her major from English to Chemistry. An unusual switch, but the professor said Jenny was brilliant. Maybe the girl needed money for school. Someone wanted to make an example of her, thus the rape, and then scalping her. Remember, Leroy said he photographed the girl after the murder. Whoever set this up wanted to send a message. What better way to control your coconspirators? Screw up-this is what we do to you.”
“The doctor could have been in on it, came up with the formula for a super-powered drug, them marketed it to the Mob.” Jack was definitely thinking.
“You would need someone to set all that up, someone on campus to oversee, to coordinate the sale; collect the money. You would need a protector at the university, someone with huge amounts of clout, an administrator.” Maude was thinking of some of the professors she had met.
“Jack, we have to call in the DEA. They can storm B&G before they have a chance to shut it down.”
“Maude, you and I have to go to the university, find the lab where they make this stuff. They’ll start house cleaning once those men from the dock put out the word that someone stole some of the merchandise.”
“My gosh, Jack, what if they’re all in on it: the chemistry professor, the laboratory professors. Some would have to be wouldn’t they?” She thought some more, watching the road as Jack drove. “Those guys on the dock, they might not remember if one of the boxes was unsealed when they offloaded, but when the count is done, they will know someone took part of the shipment. We may still have a little time, but it won’t take long before someone at the university is on the carpet for the theft.”
“Do you have any friends in the DEA?” Maude asked.
“As a matter of fact I do,” Jack said, picking up his phone from the car seat.
The university campus was busy; the dorms getting ready to close for the Christmas holidays were in a state of cleaning as students loaded personal items into cars and trucks.
“Jack, remember when you were that young?”
“No Maude, I don’t. Seems I’ve been old all my life.”
She looked at him to see if he was joking, but his jaw was set in a firm line. She wondered about the remark, but knew if he wanted to talk about it he would in his time. They had discussed a plan after Jack had called his DEA friend, told them what article they had in their possession. The friend was one who had worked with Jack years earlier on the Machito Gomez drug bust, and knew Jack to be a straight up lawman who wouldn’t steer him wrong. He told Jack they would get on it.
The plan was to enter the campus and go to the science lab directly, bypassing the administration building. It was after 4:00 P.M. and some of the professors had already gone home, but the science building and lab had cars in the slots around it. Maude could see people coming and going from the building, just as it had been the last trip she had made there. She wondered just how many people were involved in the preparation of the small pills.
Jack was huffing and puffing from the exertion of the walk across campus, but he never faltered, intent on doing his job. The university was a public place with no expectation of privacy for the criminals. They could lock the doors to keep the law officers out for a while, but Jack and Maude had planned for that. They were going to push beyond any stall tactics the criminals tried to use before the doors to the lab could be locked.
Maude couldn’t remember any time she had entered a university building armed, but it was happening today. There was no time to call in other people to help, for they had spotted one of the white B&G vans at the dock. The driver would be loading the boxes of product or delivering the empties for refills.
The receptionist at the desk was packing her bag to leave for the day when Maude and Jack burst through the door. She tried to say something, but Maude stared at her, and the girl closed her mouth and sat down, white faced with fear. She remembered Maude from the last trip and wanted nothing more than to stay out that lady’s way.
The large double doors leading from the main entry to the science building were constantly opening and closing, allowing people to leave, the melee of a departing crowd of students creating a traffic block. Maude had to step back momentarily to allow the students to pass and recognized one of the professors walking with break-neck speed down the corridor, in the opposite direction.
“Going somewhere, Professor Bledsoe?” Maude asked, catching the woman in mid-step.
The dumpy woman began running, as fast as she could toward the rear of the building.
“Oh, why do they always run?” Maude said, her knees rebelling at the pace she had set. She got near the woman and grabbed her arm, causing both of them to fall against a group of students leaving the classroom across the hall. Bledsoe disengaged and began running again, her high heels clicking against the tile floor.
“Oh hell,” Maude said, catching up with the woman. “Now look, Bledsoe, you’ve made me start cussing. She tackled the woman who was crying hysterically, still trying to get away. “Sit down, you’re caught.”
Professor Bledsoe was behaving badly and she knew it. He had warned her to be on her guard, but it didn’t matter when it came down to it. She was caught, and nothing good was ever going to happen to her again.
“Where is he, Paula?” Maude said, putting her cuffs on the woman.
“Who do you mean?” the crying woman asked.
“Your boss. It’s over, Paula. As they say in the movies, the gig is up.”
Bledsoe started wailing then, out of control. Maude took the woman’s face in her hands and looked directly into her eyes. “Paula, I know you didn’t have to do with killing those two, but in the eyes of the law, you’re guilty of it all the same. If you want to help yourself, start talking, before it’s too late.”
“I…I didn’t have anything to do with the girl or Aaron, I just needed the money, and he said we wouldn’t get caught. But she…wanted more, and threatened to tell, to get immunity. So he had her killed. Poor Aaron, he was never part of it.” With that, the woman broke down again, and Maude cuffed her to the desk in the chemistry classroom. It seemed fitting to Maude that the woman was tied to her work.
She started to leave, an
d turned back, “Where is Frank Carmody?”
“Who?” The woman searched Maude’s face, puzzlement in her eyes.
Suddenly the picture cleared, and her questions were answered. “Carmody is not part of this. We’re after Dean Stone, aren’t we?”
“I thought you knew. Who else could have arranged everything?”
“And Chavez?” She asked, knowing the answer.
“Dean Stone brought him in as an expert. He’s the one who knows the formulas.”
“Do you know where Stone is now?”
“He…He said someone had found out and he had to leave. He…left me and Chavez to the take the blame for everything. I never wanted anyone to get hurt. It was my husband, he has dementia, and I needed money. You understand don’t you, Detective?” she asked pleadingly.
“Yes, I understand,” Maude said disgustedly, “Just as I always do when criminals get caught. Everyone has a good reason. Tell it to the District Attorney.”
During Maude’s chase after Paula Bledsoe, Jack had been busy. The chemistry lab was running strong when he opened the door to the addition that was kept locked during school hours. The ingredients to make the small pills were scattered in buckets under work tables, workers in aprons were rolling the tubs of blue, green, and yellow pills away from the work tables to the packaging area across the room. Huge air handlers were roaring, cleaning the air of residual chemical substances then releasing it back into the environment. Great stacks of hollow books sat ready to be filled with the illegal substance for transport by B&G drivers.
Jack pulled his weapon and yelled, “This is the police. You’re all under arrest for the manufacture of a controlled substance. Put your hands up.” He saw a man at the far side of the room, reaching into his pocket. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“You got this Jack?” She had entered the room quietly, not wanting to disturb Jack’s authority. She waited until he nodded his head then asked, “Got those flex cuffs?”
“They’re in my pocket.” He said, keeping his eyes on the five workers at the tables.
Maude ran the cuffs together, making a chain to keep all the men together until Drug Enforcement officers could arrive and take over. When the last one was secured, she asked about Chavez, the Cook. The men in cuffs looked toward a closed door within the room. “Want to take him Jack?”
“Much obliged Maude. I do at that.”
The rest was easy, because Chavez was a professional and knew that his best bet was silence and his Mob connections would hire a powerful lawyer to get him the best deal. Chavez went quietly, without a struggle. He didn’t have a weapon of any kind, or if he had one, he made sure that it was well hidden.
“I have to go, Jack, Dean Stone is waiting for me. He has too much against him, so he may not go without a fight, but I promise, I’ll be back then we can get a cup and have a smoke.”
“I’ll be waiting for you right here.” Jack said, his face set as always in a frown of concentration. “Don’t take too long, they might run out of coffee.”
The administration office was closed, the business of academia over for another day. Maude met Mrs. Clark in the corridor. The woman was frazzled, her hair askew, sweat glistening on her forehead. When she saw Maude with the Glock in her hand, she stepped to the side.
“He’s in there,” she whispered. “I know nothing of all this, Detective, except it’s disgraceful and very inconvenient. I suppose you’ll arrest him?”
“Yes, if he allows it.”
“He has a gun; I saw it on his desk.”
“I’m sure he does, Mrs. Clark, now you’d best go on and get out. There’s going to be a lot of lawmen around soon. They’ll be taking your statement, so don’t go too far.”
“I wouldn’t consider leaving. I’m a law abiding citizen.” She said in a huff, leaving Maude alone in the corridor.
The quiet was overwhelming after the noise of the laboratory and the wailing of Professor Bledsoe. Maude wondered why Dean Stone had stayed instead of trying to escape. Big man that Stone was, he still could have made it as far as his car, maybe hidden out for a while. Human behavior never ceased to amaze her.
“Dean Stone, I’m coming in. Put that gun on the desk where I can see it. I am in no mood to kill you today.” She spoke from outside the wooden door, her voice carrying into the quietness of the large room.
“The gun is on the desk, Detective. Come right in.” Stone said, coughing a little.
She opened the door to see the butt of a silenced .45 automatic pistol, not unlike the one that was used by Leroy Thomas on his victims. Dean Stone was sitting at the desk, his chair turned toward the window, a trail of blood running down his left arm. The blinds were open, allowing the late afternoon sunlight to filter in, highlighting the dust mites in the room.
“Do you see that building across the parking lot, the one under construction?” Stone asked, coughing again. “We paid for that building with the money from the operation, and the rotunda on the chapel, that too. But don’t tell the Bishop.” He said, giving a short laugh. The coughing was getting worse. Maude saw the blood trailing onto the floor, a few drops at a time at first, then more.
“Why did you have the girl killed? She asked him, keeping the weapon trained on his body.
“She wanted money. That little red Mercedes you thought belonged to Aaron Dennis-that was hers. But it wasn’t enough. She wanted a big cut of the pie, but I told her we had so much to do here, it wasn’t possible to give her more. She was going to the police and chance getting immunity. Aaron didn’t have anything to do with all this. He didn’t know.” Stone’s voice was getting shakier, now, his breath coming in short gasps. “It was unfortunate, but he picked the wrong girl.”
“How did you know about the resort; that they would be there?”
“I paid that girl in the dorm to keep an eye on her, to tell me if Jenny was planning a vacation. She needed the money. I guess everyone needed money.” He laughed again, his life fading.
“And Leroy, what rock did you turn over to find him?” Maude asked wearily, bone tired from the waste of life in front of her.
“Leroy was a special case. His reputation came before him. He was easy to find, and I must say a loyal employee; much more so than some of my others.”
“Is that it, Stone? The good you’ve done in your life erased because of a desire to do what? Put up buildings? You’d kill two people for an addition to the university?”
“Oh yes,” the man said, his head drooping. “Oh yes. Isn’t it a beautiful sight?”
Maude finally turned to go, long after the man in the chair stopped talking. The evil within men and women always surprised her; their good intentions no more than asphalt patches on the road to Perdition. Dean Stone was just one more person who was overcome with his own importance-so overcome that he lost his humanity along the way.
What epitaph would be written for the man who tore down people to put up buildings? She couldn’t wrap her mind around it, but it was sometimes that way. Criminals were often well-meaning people who took a wrong turn and couldn’t find the way back.
Maude left the office and returned to give Jack a hand, but the work was all done. The building was rife with drug enforcement people taking over the manufacturing part of the lab, the criminals already removed and incarcerated by various law enforcement officers. Maude knew she would be required to return for her testimony when the case went to court, but that would be a while.
Jack offered, and drove them to a coffee shop close by, where and they had a cup. and a smoke, each wondering what next terrible event would occur in their cities. But they were ready for it; ready for whatever diabolical plot might be conjured in the streets, or behind locked doors. For the moment though, the two friends sat together peacefully. Tomorrow was another day; it would take care of itself.
“Jack, what do you think-any fish in that Bay of yours? As my young friend Susan Bright would say, “I might, like, you know, drop a hook in the water, so how ab
out you and Sarah going fishing with me tomorrow?”
“I believe we could do that, yes ma’am, I believe we could.” Jack said.
“Jack,” Maude said, rising from the table, “If you call me ma’am again I may have to shoot you.”
The short bellowing sound lasted for just a moment, but long enough for Maude to smile, realizing she had made him laugh. It was its own reward.
Epilogue
Sheriff Jack Fuller was a hero in his county; the Edwards Bay murders had been solved, and people in the area could rest easily knowing the killers were from out of town and none of their own. Jack, being the modest man that his constituents knew and appreciated, made it a point to give credit for solving the crime to a couple of out of town detectives, but that was just his way. There would be none to come close at the reelection polls.
Maude had made a friend, and a fine one at that. Sarah was so pleased to see her husband come home after the ordeal at the university that she sent Maude a thank you card and a whole pecan pie by mail.
Philadelphia Homicide Detective Bill Page was making plans to retire, and take a security job somewhere in Texas. Maude was looking ahead to the day.
Joe visited Lilly Ann and later, she made the trip to Maude’s for Christmas, bringing her mother along with her. They all shared a love for pecan pie for breakfast and an admiration for Joe Allen.
Lieutenant James Patterson received a pat on the back from his chain of command. His part in solving the organized crime case at the Ellison University Medical School near Harris County was seen a brilliant move in his career. He was up for the next Captain slot. Some suggested he should run for mayor since the current one was in jail.
One member of the press mentioned Maude Roger’s involvement in solving the case, but the article was small and on page six of the local rag.
Leroy Thomas called a Mob-related connection to warn him of the cop’s interest in B&G Transport, hoping to make some points, but DEA sources had already shut that connection down. A DEA officer sent a note to the Prosecutor, informing her of Leroy’s duplicity. She pressed for lethal injection as punishment for the three murders and one rape. The last information had Leroy waiting on death row for his appointment with the needle.
Murder on Edwards Bay (The Maude Rogers Crime Novels Book 2) Page 25