Blood Contest

by P. K. Abbot

  “The time has come for the New Jersey State Police to turn over this case to the United States Secret Service.”

  After the broadcast Mike tried to engage Ryan and Mueller in conversation, but they ate the rest of their lunch in near silence.

  Chapter 7

  After lunch Ryan and Mueller drove directly to Burton’s office at the CSU. As soon as they arrived, Burton directed them to come inside his office.

  Ryan and Mueller could never find a comfortable chair in Burton’s office. Burton was partial to the efficient, straight lines of modern styled furniture in the darkest mahogany wood. The look was functional and austere. No one ever needed to see the nameplate to know whose office this was.

  The few personal touches in Burton’s office sat on the credenza behind his desk. There was a large family photograph. In the photo, a beautiful, radiant woman was laughing at the exuberant, 5-year old boy in her lap, and a much younger Burton was beaming at both of them.

  There were two other photographs on the credenza – both photos of the five-year-old boy who was now grown. One showed him in his football uniform as a state champion. The other was the boy’s graduation photo. Burton’s son has been in the Army for two years now, but there were no recent photos of the boy, none of him in the Army.

  The only other personal touch was on the wall above the credenza, a framed, hand-sewn needlepoint, with the NJSP motto “Honor – Duty –Fidelity,” in the State Police colors: gold embroidery thread on a French blue background. It was made by the radiant woman in the first photo, Burton’s wife.

  “Have you seen the news yet today?” Burton asked.

  “We just watched Will Cooper during our lunch,” Ryan replied.

  “Did Mr. Cooper give you heartburn over your lunch, Sergeant Ryan? He did to me.”

  “He was very rough on the NJSP. I thought he was blatantly unfair in his coverage.”

  Burton chuckled slowly and softly to himself. “Well, get used to it, detectives. This is only day two, and it is going to get much rougher.”

  “Let’s get to work now, shall we?” Burton said. He picked up a file folder from his desktop and started to review the data with them.

  “Forensics has matched the cast of the tire imprint in the ice to a Michelin tire. This tire is most frequently used as original manufacturer’s equipment on the luxury S-class Mercedes sedan.”

  “That is consistent with the statement of Elizabeth Jamieson,” Mueller said. “According to Elizabeth, the car that drove past them during Trey’s murder was a large black Mercedes sedan.

  “The S-class Mercedes is a very large sedan and supports her statement, Mueller, but there are hundreds, if not thousands, of black S-class sedans in the Princeton area.”

  “We’re also assuming that no other cars had traveled down that street between the time of Trey’s murder and the time when the NJSP secured the crime scene, Lieutenant.”

  “True,” Burton replied. “We must bear that in mind, Mueller, but this Mercedes sedan is still in play for us, and it may still lead us to the killers.”

  “Now for the ballistics report,” Burton continued.“Ballistics confirmed that the slug, which was retrieved from the crime scene, does fit the casing which was found near the body. The bullet used in the murder was an FN 5.7x28mm, which is a high velocity round manufactured in Belgium by the FN Herstal Company. The ammunition was designed for their FN Five-seveN semi-automatic handgun. The semi automatic was designed according to NATO specifications. It is currently in use by NATO forces, by numerous police departments, and by the United States Secret Service.”

  “That is not the normal small caliber handgun used in most close range assassinations. That seems to be a lot of firepower for a simple hit,” Ryan said.

  Burton answered, “It seems certain that the shooter used a silencer to lessen the noise of the shot. But why did he use a powerful military grade weapon for this simple close range assassination? One plausible theory is that the shooter has a connection to either the military or to the police. And that connection, if it does exist, can be either a past connection or an ongoing, present connection.”

  “So we should be looking for current or past military as our prime suspect.”

  “Absolutely,” Burton replied. “Also, from laser analysis of the bullet’s angle of entry into the tree on the other side of the street, forensics was able to determine the approximate height of the shooter. The trajectory of the bullet was relatively flat, indicating that the shooter’s height was similar to the height of Trey Jamieson. If the medical examiner confirms the bullet’s flat trajectory through the victim’s skull, which I believe that she will, then we can say with certainty that the shooter was within an inch or two of six feet tall.”

  Burton continued, “Trey Jamieson’s daughters have stated that it was a woman who passed them immediately before their father’s murder. It would be logical to think that this woman was the shooter, even though neither of the girls actually witnessed the shooting as it occurred. But we have major difficulties which stem from the statements that you had taken from the girls, Mueller.

  Burton went on. “First, there is the problem of the suspected shooter’s physical description. The girls stated that a fur hat covered the suspect’s hair and forehead, and dark glasses obscured the suspect’s eyes and brow line. From the sketch which the artist produced from their descriptions, our suspect appears to be Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The sketch is, for all practical purposes, useless to us.”

  Ryan interrupted Burton here.

  “So far we have established that the shooter is approximately six feet tall,” he said, “experienced in the military or law enforcement, and a woman.”

  “Yes. Yes. And No,” Burton replied. “Our suspect, I believe, is likely a man disguised as a woman. But we have a larger problem with consistency than that, Sergeant Ryan. The evidence conflicts with the statement which Mueller took from the older girl about the shooter’s height. “How do you explain that, Sergeant Mueller?”

  Ryan started to answer, “Lieutenant, Sergeant Mueller was still doing his interview when…”

  “I was not speaking to you, Sergeant Ryan,” Burton interrupted. “I was addressing my question to Mueller. Well, Mueller, answer my question.”

  Then Mueller answered.

  “During the interview, Elizabeth Jamieson, the older girl, had just stated that the shooter, the woman, was considerably shorter than her father. Since this conflicted with her younger sister’s statement, I was about to clarify the inconsistency when her grandfather, Governor Jamieson, entered the room and interrupted the interview.”

  “I am afraid that that is not good enough, Mueller.”

  “I had intended to clarify her statement after speaking with the Governor.”

  “But you did not, did you, Mueller?”

  “I did not have the opportunity to pursue it, Lieutenant.”

  “You did not have the opportunity?” Burton challenged. “It is your job to take the complete statement correctly. You failed in your job, Mueller. I spoke to you yesterday about how this case could make or break your career. Your failure to do your job correctly yesterday is your first strike, Mueller. Strike one,” Burton said, holding up his index finger in front of Mueller’s face.

  Mueller stared angrily at Burton.

  “Strike one,” Burton repeated, still holding up his index finger.

  Then Burton went on.

  “Fortunately for the investigation and particularly for you, Mueller, forensics has matched the fingerprint taken from the bullet casing to a person in the DOD database. That person has been identified as an Iranian national named Roshan Roshni. Roshni has had paramilitary training. During the occupation following the Second Gulf War, Roshni worked as an armed guard for an American consulting company. He is paramilitary. And you may be interested to know, Mueller, that Mr. Roshni stands at 6 feet tall and he is a man. He is our shooter.”

  “Which contractor does he w
ork for?” Ryan asked.

  “HAD worked for,” replied Burton. “He no longer works for the contractor.”

  “Okay, but who was the contractor?” Ryan persisted.

  “Black Logistics in Iraq,” replied Burton.

  “Black Logistics is still owned and operated by Lucien Black,” Mueller stated. “Black already knew this morning that we had this guy’s print.”

  Burton looked surprised. “How did he know that?” he said.

  “We thought you could tell us, Lieutenant,” Mueller replied. “You had ordered Ryan and me not to share the evidence with anyone. With his connection to Black Logistics, Lucien Black has not yet been cleared from our list of possible suspects. Why would you tell Black, of all people, about this, Lieutenant?” Mueller fumed.

  “I did not tell anyone about this,” shouted Burton. “I should take your stripes, Mueller, for what you are implying.”

  Mueller stared at Ryan with a look of contempt for Burton.

  Then Ryan broke into the argument. “Sir, we are not impugning anyone. We are simply worried that there was and may still be a connection between Black and Roshni.”

  “Believe me, Sergeants,” Burton replied, “there is no connection between Doctor Black and Roshni. Black hates Roshni. During the occupation following the second war, Roshni was responsible for a major theft of weapons from Black’s company and from the United States Army. Roshni stole a large cache of sophisticated automatic and semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic handguns, and other ordnance from Black. The theft was valued in excess of $500,000. Roshni used forged documents to drive the weapons off the base. Roshni disappeared after this, and he has not surfaced again until just yesterday.”

  “I knew Roshni,” Mueller interrupted. “I met him while I was serving with the Army in Iraq. Roshni was about 6 feet tall, unusually tall for an Iranian, and skinny. Physically he fits what forensics believes to be the height of our shooter, but that’s about it, Lieutenant.”

  “The Army still considers him to be the prime suspect in the weapons theft,” said Burton. “Roshni stole those weapons from the United States, and he has an Iranian connection. He is the most probable suspect for Trey Jamieson’s assassination.”

  “Roshni was not a great marksman as I recall,” Mueller said, “and he was basically a screw-up. Almost everyone in Iraq called him ‘the roach’ or just plain ‘roach’ to his face. In my mind, there’s no way that Roshan Roshni was the mastermind behind either the Iraqi weapons theft or Trey Jamieson’s murder.”

  “Regardless of your personal feelings, Mueller, the actual evidence says differently.”

  “I also remember the weapons heist in Iraq,” Mueller went on. “The theft was a very sophisticated operation. It required forging documents to move the weapons off the base and into the hands of the thieves. Black Logistics and the Army blamed Roshni for the theft, because he physically drove the weapons off the base; but there’s no way that he was the mastermind of this plot. Having met him, I can tell you that the guy was stupid… and gullible too. As far as forgery is concerned, Roshni could barely write his own name. He is not our man.”

  “The Army thought otherwise.” Burton was losing patience with Mueller.

  “One last thing about the weapons theft, Lieutenant,” Mueller said. “Although Black Logistics was in control of the weapons at the time of the theft, the Army did not hold Black Logistics responsible for the loss, because they attributed the theft to deception and forgery rather than to negligence. The Army reimbursed Black Logistics for the theft. Lucien Black did not lose a single dollar from the theft.”

  “And what about the two girls, Lieutenant?” Mueller went on. “Trey Jamieson’s daughters said that it was a woman who had passed them. They did not say that it was a man in disguise, and I am sure that the older one definitely would not have missed that. I am confident that Roshan Roshni is not our shooter.”

  “I don’t care about your gut, your hunches, or your feelings, Mueller,” Burton exploded. “I am ordering you and Ryan to concentrate on the physical evidence. Forget about your feelings, Mueller. Forget about the contradictory statements of two little girls, who are very likely unreliable witnesses. The physical evidence indicates that Roshan Roshni is our shooter. I am ordering you two detectives to build your case against Roshni. Now get out of my office, find Roshni, and solve this case.”

  *****

  Ryan and Mueller left Burton and went directly to meet with Dr. Ritter in the medical examiner’s suite. Doctor Susie Ritter was the state’s medical examiner assigned to the CSU. When they arrived, Doctor Ritter’s assistant asked them to wait for her in her office.

  While they were waiting, Ryan picked up the framed photo from Dr. Ritter’s desk. In the photo, Dr. Ritter was sitting in a park somewhere with her arm around a strikingly beautiful, brunette woman. They were smiling at each other and holding two little boys on their laps. The boys were twins, toddlers, of Korean or Chinese extraction, and they seemed very rambunctious.

  “Those two are a handful,” they heard someone say over their shoulders.

  Doctor Susie Ritter was smiling at them as she hobbled into the room. She had a 3-inch wooden block glued to the bottom of her right shoe. As a child, she had contracted polio. She was an energetic, petite woman with ash blonde hair and lively, bluish gray eyes. She smiled at Ryan and Mueller as she came into the office. She smiled readily and often, which was an unexpected but welcome occurrence in any morgue.

  “My patient wife is the one who bears the brunt of their attacks during the day,” she said. “She is the one who plays Mom during the week. I just bring home the pay check, but I do get to have fun with them all in the evening and on weekends. As I said, those two boys can be a handful, but there is nothing better.”

  “I am happy that the adoption is working so well for you two,” said Ryan. “And I am impressed that you can manage everything so well with your busy schedule.”

  “Thank you, Billy. Those two little guys at home are very demanding of my free time, but fortunately my patients here are not the type to complain.”

  She smiled at them again, and Ryan and Mueller laughed at her comment.

  “I completed the autopsy on your victim this morning, and I have my notes here so that we can discuss my findings.”

  Ryan and Mueller simply nodded in response to her. Then she went on.

  “We found that the bullet passed on a very flat trajectory through Mr. Jamieson’s skull. That would tend to support the theory of forensics that Mr. Jamieson’s killer was of a similar height, approximately six feet tall.”

  “In her statement,” Mueller said, “the older daughter contradicted forensics’ data. She maintained that the shooter was a woman about the same height as her mother. Burton has ordered us to follow the data supplied by forensics and to ignore Elizabeth Jamieson’s statement. He is adamant that we need to look for a taller shooter.”

  “Statistically, when compared to similar data,” she replied, “the shooter turned out to be the same height as the victim in an overwhelming majority of cases. But any one case could deviate from the statistical norm. You must remember that every case is unique. Your case is unique. You should not forget that.”

  “But how can we reconcile the older girl’s statement with the forensic data?”

  “There are scenarios where the shooter could achieve the same result without being the same height as Mr. Jamieson.”

  “Such as?” asked Ryan.

  “Well, the shooter could have simply held the weapon in a flat plane, above or below his line of sight. Or, the shooter could have adjusted his height in some way. All that I am saying is that there are possible variations which could explain the trajectory.”

  “I see.”

  Doctor Ritter continued. “Gunshot residue also indicates that the shot was fired at close range, between four and six feet away,” she said.

  “We suspected that,” Ryan said. “We also noticed in the field that Mr. Jamieson seemed
to be looking away from his attacker.”

  “The bullet entered his skull at a 47° angle from the front center of his skull,” she said. “Assuming that he would have been looking directly forward, we have to conclude that indeed he was not looking at his attacker at the moment of the shooting. Apparently he was not concerned about the shooter. Either he did not recognize the shooter, or possibly he did not even notice the shooter. Failing to notice the shooter would have been very unusual because the attack took place at such close range.”

  “Cause of death is the obvious, the gunshot wound to the head,” she continued, “but there is one interesting finding about which you should be aware. While his stomach contents indicate that he ate a substantial breakfast and a late lunch — what you might expect for a family man on Christmas Day — Trey Jamieson’s blood alcohol content was extremely high.”

  “High?”

  “Yes, indeed, Sergeant Ryan. His blood alcohol level was very high. Since examination of his liver indicated that he was not a chronic alcoholic, you may want to find out why Trey Jamieson was getting wasted at home with his kids on Christmas Day. Was he the contented family man that we’ve been told that he was? Or, was there something else going on?”

  Dr. Ritter’s eyes started to tear as she spoke again.

  “Parents need to put the needs of their children ahead of their own. When a parent has a problem, the children always suffer. Parents need to be parents first.”

  “We will look into Trey’s drinking,” Ryan said.

  “You should.”

  “We will.”

  “Have you been able to speak to the Governor yet?” she asked.

  “We met him briefly last night,” Mueller answered. “We had an extensive interview with him this morning at his estate, and we met Doctor Black there as well.”

  “What did you think of Black?”