Custos: Enemies Domestic

by Jake Aaron

  _______________

  Zach gave Barb a quick status report: “Lem Pfister, the plumber, has a criminal record. Level 3 sex offender. Convicted of attempted sodomy as a Boy Scout leader. Early release on legal technicalities… What did you hear from the rest of the team?”

  Barb was crisp: “Our people found incriminating evidence in garbage bins in the back of Pfister’s business. One plastic bag contained potassium chloride vials, two hypodermic needles, and a picture of Congressman Zimmer’s house. They found a second bag with three crumpled up Paige flyers, a picture of Paige’s house, two newspaper clippings, and a three-quarters-full emu oil bottle. One newspaper article was about Zimmer’s death. The other article concerned Paige’s death. In another garbage bin in the same alley, they discovered nicotine patch boxes, one hypodermic needle, and an empty bottle of insulin in a plastic disposal bag. There were also burned latex gloves and a demagnetized, mangled room key card for the Capitol Escape hotel in the second bin in a separate disposal bag. The clincher was a burner cell phone in the second bag in the second bin. It had Lem’s fingerprints on it. The phone had one text to the Washington Log in memory. Time sent coincided with when Ralph Betzold received the initial Custos threat. There was no trackable location history, owing likely to having the battery in only for the call. In addition, investigators found a copy of the Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism by Bill Ayers et al.” Barb remembered the book advocating violent overthrow of the government. “Seemingly unconnected, there were rolls of magnetic vinyl and castor beans.”

  _______________

  Later in the day, Barb and Zach interrogated Lem Pfister at headquarters. The circumstantial evidence was overwhelming. “Lem, you see where we might think you were responsible for Congressman McClain’s death, given all this evidence? To begin with, you had access to the bathroom, the site of the poisoning.”

  “I had no reason to kill the Congressman. I did not do it… Answer me this: How would I plan a plugged toilet? I’m just an easy fall guy for you feds because of that trumped up charge on my record… I want an attorney now!”

  After she and Zach exited the interview room, Barb concluded, “He has a point. Maybe he had help. Did Inez or McClain’s wife sabotage the toilet as an accomplice? With him lawyered up, we can’t ask him about Zimmer and Paige.”

  _______________

  Zach continued their dialogue on the case: “Circumstantial evidence is evidence. However, finding all those clues together in the nearby bins is just a little too neat for me. It approaches the probability of a coincidence. And you know I don’t believe in coincidences.”

  Barb smiled, “So would you find the evidence more compelling if there were less of it, or if it were scattered over more sites? Keep in mind, if it were distributed over more sites, we most likely would not have found all of it. Seems like a conundrum to me. What do you think?”

  Zach’s eyes glazed over, “Frankly, that puzzles me.” He took a moment to relish in his wit as Barb made a gagging gesture with her index finger pointing into her open mouth. “I think I’ll take ‘all of the above’ if that’s a multiple choice question. I just have to tell you what my gut says.”

  “Zach, humor me, let’s get the lab to double check for ricin in Congressman Kelly’s body. The castor beans have got me wondering. You know the castor bean is the source of ricin.”

  “I know, Barb. The castor bean itself can be toxic itself. We had a curmudgeon neighbor back in Missoula who would not put up with yelping dogs. He couldn’t sleep with the continuously barking mongrel next door to him. When the city police wouldn’t help, he pitched the offending dog a biscuit with a castor bean inside. No more barking through the night.”

  “The biscuit guy told you that?”

  “No, the neighbor had said that’s what should happen before it did. He denied doing it, of course. Sometimes you just know when you put everything together.”

  _______________

  “Barb, the lab found no contamination of the Sumoat lotion on the shelves of the supermarket. Needless to say, the store was relieved; more so, the manufacturer of the lotion. Sumoat has been holding its corporate breath on a potential multimillion dollar product recall.”

  “Not to mention the bogus lawsuits that accompany any product recall.”

  “Your quick uptake on the potential hazard of the lotion made everyone look good. The FBI Director said he seldom gets so many kudos for trying to prevent harm. Both the chairman of the supermarket chain and president of Sumoat called him right after the lab gave them a clean bill of health… Good call, Barb!”

  “Just doing my job, Zach.”

  “Enough about you,” he smiled wryly. “Lem Pfister’s cell phone records and those of his business phone showed no contact with either Susan or Inez prior to the call to unplug the toilet Monday. Examination of his business and bank records showed he did a lot of cash-only work, like many small businesses.

  “The plumber had an opportunity to taint the oatmeal-based body lotion. If he cloned Inez’s cell phone, he might have known about the lotion’s being on the Congressman’s wish list. Inez said the request to her for the lotion by Congressman McClain came Monday morning. She put it in the bathroom after Pfister arrived. So, he physically had no access to it himself yesterday. The plumber does not hurt for money. No big transfers or stashes of cash found so far,” Zach said.

  Barb: “The items in the garbage bins behind Pfister’s business could be the break we’ve been looking for. That evidence sure looks bad for him. The house picture, newspaper article, and cell phone tie to Zimmer. The hypodermics, insulin, and potassium chloride may tie to Zimmer. The jihad flyers, the other newspaper house picture, and other newspaper article tie to Paige’s death. The plastic hotel key card could tie to Kelly. The nicotine boxes and emu oil link to McClain… Have we caught Custos?”

  Chapter 39

  December 13

  FBI Headquarters

  “Zach, the lab ruled out ricin in Congressman Kelly’s death. And to be thorough, I asked the lab to reexamine Zimmer’s death for a ricin connection. The lab ruled out ricin there, too.

  Otherwise, I hate to bring this up… The plumber fits the Custos profile uncannily. He’s thirty-nine years old. Unmarried. Orphan, grew up in foster care. Neighbors find him aloof and distant. Has a masters in political science — night school. His garbage shows an overindulgence in hard liquor. He was in the military police in the Army. He was separated from the Army with an other-than-honorable discharge. Military records showed he’d been arrested several times for anarchist protests that turned violent.”

  “Maybe I’ll have to reconsider my take on the behavioral science types… I’m glad I thought to consult them,” he looked sideways at her, mocking his low opinion of the BSU.

  “You have such good ideas!” she satirized. “Thinking out loud, his sex offender status would leave him open to blackmail… You’re about to call the Director, aren’t you?”

  “It’s time, given the new evidence — before he hears it from someone else… How’d you know I was about to call?” Zach replied quizzically.

  “You’re more animated, fidgety, a little on edge perhaps — and you’re not heckling me,” she smiled.

  “Yeah, I’m kind of running in place. I’d like to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s before talking with him. Pretty much an impossibility with a work-in-progress investigation. You might say a conundrum… You say conundrum; I say townhouse.”

  “Now that’s a good one!” Barb grinned. “And I thought you were just another pretty face… I know: red light. Sexual harassment!”

  “Back to our getting fired over this investigation, let me practice my summary with you before I call the Big Guy… Here goes: Inez recalled buying the oatmeal-based lotion for the Congressman. She remembered getting everything on the list. When she replenished the lotion in the bathroom, she saw no other bottles of Sumoat on the counter. Search of the garbage revealed her grocery l
ist and receipt. Yes, Sumoat lotion was on both. She also remembered throwing an empty old lotion bottle out and putting the new one in place.

  “The lab found fingerprints of the Congressman, Inez, and an FBI agent on the lotion bottle. No fingerprints of Pfister. Shows our FBI guy was at least somewhat doing his job checking out the goods coming into the house from the grocery store… Barb, I bet for the president there’s a protocol to test the lotion. Hard to believe the agent will be found negligent in letting the lotion through. On the other hand, scapegoating goes back thousands of years, at least.

  “So, Barb, my advice to you on the vagaries of getting blamed for the improbable happening: If you get a choice of good luck or bad luck, pick good luck,” Zach delivered the painfully obvious with a straight face.

  “Zach, I appreciate the sage advice… No warnings about urinating into the wind or drawing on the Lone Ranger?… You might want to mention the circumstantial evidence linking Pfister to Zimmer, Paige, and Kelly. That’s critical.”

  _______________

  Zach put in a call to the Director. “Sir, we have a development in the Custos case. I don’t want to jump the gun here, but there is significant circumstantial evidence that could tie Congressman McClain’s plumber, Lem Pfister, to the deaths of Zimmer, Paige, Kelly, and McClain. The evidence stems from items found behind his place of business in trash bins. He does fit the broad brush of the Behavioral Science Unit’s profile. He also lawyered up when he heard about the evidence.

  “We do know he was in the house of Congressman McClain after the new lotion bottle was placed in the bathroom and before the Congressman died. Motive for Pfister? The book, Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism by Bill Ayers et al, in the garbage bin might explain that. Pfister had a history of being an anarchist…Specifically, in the trash bins we found hypodermic needles, as well as empty potassium chloride, and insulin bottles, that might connect him with Zimmer’s death, including the cell phone used to take credit for that death. His fingerprints are on that cell. Also a picture of Zimmer’s house and a newspaper article. Flyers, newspaper article, and a picture of Paige’s house that might tie to the Congresswoman’s death. A hotel key to the Capitol Escape hotel that could link to Kelly’s death. Empty nicotine patch boxes and partially empty emu oil container that might connect with McClain’s death.

  “And one more thing, we did not get a text message from Custos after Congressman McClain’s death. We’ve had the spotlight on Pfister pretty extensively today, so he may not have had a lot of time to send a message claiming credit. I assume that the perpetrator would take great pains to be very evasive, requiring a lot of time. He would likely travel away from home base and into a large crowd somewhere. So one more reason to suspect Pfister.

  “Clearly, not a slam dunk case, but better than many successful prosecutions. While Pfister could have adulterated the lotion during his house call, our next step is to find how that tainted lotion got into Inez’s hands if the plumber did not do the direct poison lotion placement in the bathroom…”

  “Zach, excuse me,” the Director sounded rushed, “I will call you back if I need more. White House on the other line.”

  _______________

  “Zach, your update was very timely. The White House wanted a status report on the McClain case. Here’s what’s going on…” The Director’s speech had returned to its normally slower cadence.

  The Director closed, “I know it’s hard to come to me without complete information. You’ll seldom have that. I think your briefings are timely. Keep it up. Don’t fail to challenge Barbara whenever you can. I shouldn’t tell you this, so don’t share it with anyone. The Director of the CIA told me that she showed up on his organization’s radar when she was in high school — high test scores, athletic prowess, diverse skills. She had other interests and turned them down for a full-ride scholarship to the Ivy League school of her choice. Of course, there would have been a follow-on commitment to the Agency, one she apparently did not want then. She is a force of nature. You’re a strong team. Gotta go.”

  _______________

  When Zach returned, he looked at Barb with even more respect. He gritted his teeth: Can’t let it show; must step up the the razzing. He paused, then updated Barb:

  “The Director said that the White House wanted to schedule an address to the nation tonight. The President and staff wanted to take credit for catching Custos. The variation in the perpetrator’s methods has discouraged any comment from the President up to this point. The Director had his hands full talking the President out of the address. He convinced him that he will bring undue influence that could prejudice a trial. In turn, that would likely help Pfister in court. The Director reminded the President we are still investigating.

  “Unfortunately, the White House apparently wanted to set the stage for the now-canceled address by leaking the name Custos as the assassin we’re after. Kinda goes to show you that Washington secret is an oxymoron. Cat’s out of the bag.”

  Then the two sat down to review the surveillance “footage” from the supermarket the day Inez shopped. Most reviews of security “tape” are a long slog; not so this time. Zach demanded writing down objectives of their search in advance. He had seen good agents squander time when they droned through footage without a plan. He also insisted on relevant time brackets. Going over logs from the security detail showed Inez leaving the house for the supermarket at 9:27 A.M. She arrived back at the house at 11:14 A.M. So the agents started searching the grocery store digital video recorders from 9:45 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.

  The surveillance recorder showed Inez entering the supermarket at 10:03 A.M. At 10:08 A.M. following after her was a person whose face was eclipsed from view as if by a bright halo. “I think we’ve got something!” Barb exclaimed. “Must be an accomplice. Definitely thinner than Pfister. No one had noticed the person apparently trying to elude the detection of the camera until this review. Grocery stores operate on margins as slim as 1% of sales revenue and therefore have small administrative staffs, so tapes are frequently not reviewed by their staffs unless there are exceptional circumstances.”

  “Zach, what’s with the eclipsing of the face?”

  “Barb, that is done by someone wanting to interfere with surveillance cameras. Usually the person wears some kind of hat with infrared LEDs… It’s not an accident… Go back to his entering the store.”

  “There, Zach, he’s got a bottle in the cart coming into the store. He gets a clerk to mark it—probably as already paid for. He heads left to the coffee kiosk and snacks.” Thereafter the haloed figure traced a methodical path through each aisle of the store, then did some criss-crossing. Occasionally he passed Inez’s cart.

  “Let’s see whether the techies can clean up the tape and provide a clear image of the man. This footage is a nightmare to review — very grainy resolution. Reminds me of my dad’s old Pong Game — one of the first video games. He drags it out every Christmas with an old lionel train. An old-timer like you probably had a Pong Game. Let’s break for some coffee!” Barb exulted. “We’re making real progress… That infrared LED hat gives new meaning to the halo effect.”

  “Earth Angel seems pretty descriptive,” Zach named the standout shopper. “As an old-timer, do I need to explain to the youngster that Earth Angel was also a doo-wop song from 1954?… I think I learned that in a board game. And I’ll thank you not to nickname our investigation Travail Pursuit, Air Force.”

  “Wow, the briefing to the Director must have gone really well. You’re on a roll,” Barb shook her head.

  _______________

  Hours later after reviewing the enhanced tape with the techies, Zach exclaimed, “Son of a bitch! The techies could not do anything to reveal Earth Angel’s face. The enhanced images show Earth Angel was in an old military-style olive drab jacket and worn blue jeans. Facial recognition software had nothing to work with… We’ll have to show the best picture of him to supermarket employees to see whether anyone reme
mbers Earth Angel’s torso. That’s one thread to follow up on.”

  “Zach, I’m with you. I’m thinking someone in that store the day Inez shopped is at least an accomplice to Pfister.”

  “I appreciate your good will, but that was your idea. Keeping our minds open to there being an accomplice is important. And I know when to hitch my wagon to a star.”

  _______________

  Barb and Zach showed enlarged photos of Earth Angel from the surveillance cameras to every supermarket employee. After the first Where’s his face?, the agents prefaced the photo viewing with a disclaimer for the infrared LED effect. One after the other, heads shook “no” to recognition of Earth Angel. Finally, one cashier recalled checking him out. She remembered that he paid cash. The cashier apologized for profiling people, but she was surprised he could pay nearly $300 for groceries. She thought she’d seen him asking for handouts in the parking lot for several days prior, including when she arrived at work two days ago. She had not seen him since his almost $300 purchase. She thought Earth Angel had a heavy red-brown beard and long brown hair. As an afterthought she added, “Oh yeah, at the end he asked me for ongoing totals and kept adding in candy bars. He wanted to be just shy of $300.”

  Zach thanked the cashier and let her get back to her register. He assessed, “Earth Angel wasn’t in the parking lot when we came in.”

  “You’re sure? You’re that observant?”

  “Actually, I am. While your brain is constantly building models of reality and testing them, I’m hardwired to take in everything around me. I started to capitalize on that ability in football. I took my team to the state high school football championship. Good quarterbacks have to have S-A — situational awareness. Everything I’ve done in the Marines and with the Bureau has enhanced that ability. When I enter a room, my peripheral vision is immediately switched on, looking for someone hiding to my left or right. I check out all the exits. If I ever have to turn my back to anyone, I make a note where they are and listen for movement…”