Paul said, “How many guys are we getting tomorrow?”
“I’m not sure, but I tried to make it sound bad. Supposed to get a call back.” Just then his phone rang. It was the Director. “Yes Sir?”…….. Thank you Sir. Exactly who is coming?….. Good. Do my best Sir.” Roger looked at Paul, “Didn’t hurt that Notre Dame is his alma mater. We will have five guys from Indy, three from St. Joseph, Michigan, and there are three more that can come from Chicago if we need them. They will report here at 8:00 a.m. sharp. I’m still lead.” Paul was relieved and said he would go update the Chief in person.
* * *
Ellen had Linda, Mary, and me meet her in Chicago in the space station type office of Agent Ray Davis, Roger’s Information Tech, to make sure the documents Roger needed in the morning would arrive at the right time. She had Teresa stay with Sandy and Sal. We all sort of floated around his desk and watched Ray’s fingers fly across the keyboards. There were eight monitors in total making a semicircle around his desk. He was amazing. He had a phone cradled between his shoulder and his ear, and he was pleading, “Please, I know HUD is a large organization. I’m FBI. I get it. It is urgent I speak to someone immediately who can get me the asset manager information I need. There are lives at stake here! Do not put me on hold again! Damn! Damn!“
Ellen said, “Watch this!” She jumped up behind Ray’s computer monitor and said, “Everyone give a warm welcome to Dotty, the Director of HUD Asset Management!” Ellen was taking a bow.
Just then Ray’s other line rang. “Yes,” he answered. Then he sat up real straight and repeated his request to the caller. “Oh thank you so much! Your direct line? Yes, I’m ready. Thank you!” and he hung up.
He was looking at his monitors and in two minutes they started streaming all kinds of data, line after line rolled down his screens. Ray started rocking in his chair laughing, “There is a God!”
Ellen said very deadpan, “Computers always bring out the religion in mortals. Let’s let Ray take a little nap.” She placed her hand on his head, and it looked like he passed out. He actually slid off the chair. Ellen said, “I guess he was tired.” She moved him to a small office sofa and made a chair for each of us.
Mary said, “I am not the world’s best computer guru.”
Ellen said, “You don’t have to be. I am going to color code the information that has come in with one thought, (she was bragging), and all you have to do is press select on every item that is that color.” She looked at us, “Well? What color?”
Linda and Mary were fighting over red or green. I have always liked the purples. Ellen had curled up next to Ray on the couch. “I don’t know how Betty did it so long,” she said, “When you guys decide, just type in the color, and hit enter. Nite, nite.” It looked like she was sleeping.
I looked at Linda and Mary, “You know, that brings up a good point. Do we sleep?”
Linda looked at me, “Have you pooped yet?” Huh? Oh. Wow, that seemed like years ago! Mary typed in blue and hit enter. Linda and I looked at her. “Blue? Nobody said ‘Blue.’”
Mary looked authoritative, “That’s why I picked it.”
Within minutes we were scrolling away, hitting ‘enter’ when we saw the color blue. This went on for hours. Wow. The government has its fingers in everything. Linda came to a screen that said County Tax Data. She scrolled down a little, looked at Mary, and said, “I think I’m in a different thing now. This is the County Tax Data. What do I do?”
From the couch Ellen rolled over and threw her arm over Ray’s chest, (he was snoring) “Just type another color and continue,” she said never opening her eyes. Linda typed red (her original choice) and the data started running again. At about 8:00 p.m. we were done. Mary tip-toed over to wake Ellen. Ellen popped up and said “Boo! I just loved that didn’t you?” Mary was still holding her chest from shock when Ellen said, “Let me encrypt this with a time pause and a “special” Ellen command. Regardless of when Ray sends this, it will not appear for Roger until the time is right. Okay, let’s wake up Ray, make sure he thinks he did all of this, and head back to the police center.”
Ray woke up and noticed he was on the couch. “Shit! Why did I do that? I don’t have time for a nap! Shit!” He walked over to his monitors and was rubbing his chin. He remembered getting the top gal at HUD. He remembered the data stream. Wow, he had compiled the filters for HUD and the County? Damn, he was so tired he didn’t even remember. Well, might as well get it to Roger. He hit a couple of keystrokes, and his computer said, “Data Sent.” Ellen smiled; she knew it wouldn’t be received until the time was right. She set his computer to give him a message tomorrow morning that the data had been damaged, and his system restored and batched it for future transmission. When Ellen was ready, it would look to him like it just happened. She couldn’t take the chance her “manipulation” could appear as anything but mortal or machine error.
* * *
Teresa had been watching the evening news and a couple of sit coms with Sandy, Sal and John (the basement cop). Sandy started to sniffle a little. “I always wanted to do something important with my life. My mom always told me I could make a difference if I gave things enough thought. I look at what you guys do every day. How can I ever do something more important than that?”
Sal said, “You know Sandy, you are going to inherit enough money that if you can find someone you trust to help you manage it, I bet you will think of a lot of things you could do to make this a better world. Things John and I could never do!”
Sandy gave Sal a big hug, “You are right! Here I sit feeling sorry for myself, and I could be thinking about how I can make this a better world! For real!” They decided to play some more cards for a while and eat the last of the Ho Hos.
* * *
Roger asked Paul to get the white boards ready for tomorrow morning. Things had been happening so fast that the boards didn’t even resemble their case anymore. Paul agreed, “We don’t want our new visitors thinking we are slackers.”
Roger said, “Right.”
He went to his office and dialed Jack Simpson. He was surprised when Jack answered, “Howdy.”
Roger said, “This is Special Agent Dance. Is this Jack Simpson?”
Jack almost choked on his food, “Yeah, this is me.” He was giving a questioning look to Detective Ed Mars who was sitting in Jack’s truck with him, eating chicken Joy had brought to the job site. Jack was done working now, but Joy had to go back and cover for the dinner cook who had called in sick.
Roger said, “Jack, we have had some developments here that are unusual, and we are thinking you may be able to help us. Would you be willing to come to the police station and give me a listen? I promise I won’t take much of your time.” Roger waited for the answer.
“Absolutely Sir! I can be there in ten minutes!” and he hung up. Jack looked at Ed and asked, “Are you sure they know I’m innocent? They want me to come to the police station.”
Ed thought a minute and said, “Last I heard you were one of the good guys.” Jack beamed.
Roger sat the phone down with serious misgivings….. this may not work.
The black cat was on Roger’s credenza looking at him, “I hope this isn’t more bad news.” Then the cat leaped over and sat on his lap. Roger started petting it, and it fell asleep on him.
Paul came in and said, “Not more bad news?”
Roger looked up smiling, “No, just a cat.”
Paul shook his head and continued, “I just wanted to let you know I am going to be a while getting that board right. Do you know where the forensic reports are?” Roger said the last he saw them, someone had them in piles on the corner desk, organized by victim, type of evidence, and date received. Paul pulled his head back, “Wow, aren’t we good?” and left the room.
* * *
CHAPTER 20
* * *
Jack entered the building through the main entrance and told the desk officer he was there to see Special Agent Roger Dance. Roger quickly ar
rived and walked him to his office. Along the way he popped his head into the ‘room’ to notify Paul. When the three of them were seated, Jack said, “You guys still think I’m one of the good guys, right?”
Roger didn’t answer that, but he said, “Jack, I have a very important decision to make tonight, maybe the most important decision of my career. I am, maybe, going to ask you to make the most important decision you will ever make.” He waited a minute to see Jack’s reaction. None. “I know in the past you have had a problem with drinking. I am not saying this to make you feel bad, but we have lives at stake here. I have to be able to trust everyone involved.”
Jack looked at Roger, “I don’t know what you want from me, but I guess it’s fair to ask me about my drinking. I have had trouble with drinking. Lately, but I’m not sure why, I haven’t wanted to drink that much. I think I have only had two beers in three days.” He looked at Roger, “The old me could do three beers in two minutes.” He continued, “I think it happened when Joy got so worried about me after you talked to her. I saw the look on her face when she looked at me, and, you know, there was no respect there. I didn’t like that. I am trying to win her trust back. Does it make sense that before I didn’t see a reason not to drink, and now I do?”
Roger took a deep breath, he decided to trust Jack. He almost didn’t have a choice. “We know who the guy is that is doing all of these murders. He has hostages now that he is holding, and one of them is a federal judge. He will kill them if we don’t find them soon.” He let Jack soak that in for a minute. Jack’s eyes were wide open, but he wasn’t saying anything. Roger continued, “Our only hope to save those women is for him to think his plan is working. We think we know what his plan is. We need to buy enough time for ourselves to locate where he has these women hidden, and we are close.”
Jack still wasn’t saying anything but he was shaking his head. Roger said, “This monster’s plan is to frame you for these murders. He has been planting evidence that points directly at you.” Roger leaned back in his chair, and Jack jumped up from his.
“ME? Why the hell ME? Out of this whole world, he picks ME?”
Paul put his hand on Jack’s shoulder and pressed him back into the chair, “Jack can I ask you a question?” Jack slowly nodded. Paul continued, “When you went to your lawyer’s office two days ago, did he get you a beer?”
Jack looked surprised at the question, “Yeah, not my brand but…”
Paul interrupted, “Did he ask you many questions about how you spent your time. The places you go, work, stuff like that?”
Jack was sitting up straighter. He leaned forward toward Paul and whispered, “Are you telling me my LAWYER is the Monster?” Paul looked at Roger.
Roger said, “That is exactly what we are saying. That beer bottle with your prints and a Visa receipt from Menards with your signature and account number were found this afternoon with the body of a dead woman.” Jack went pale, his jaw dropped, and his eyes were wide open. “Detective Mars saw a man take papers out of the cab of your truck at the worksite earlier and throw a rope and a partial roll of duct tape into the back of your truck.”
Jack was on his feet stomping. “No way! Are you shittin’ me? No way!”
Roger continued, “The man that put that stuff in your truck was driving the car of our missing judge.”
Jack was back to sitting but shaking his head and moaning. Then he looked at Roger, “Now what?”
Roger smiled at Paul and spoke to Jack, “We need him to think his plan worked. He knows we found that body today if he watches the news, and I’m sure he does. He is going to expect that eventually you will be arrested. That is the only way he will feel safe and not kill these women. He knows forensics take a little while, but…”
Jack swallowed hard, stood up, and put his wrists straight out in front of him. “We don’t have a choice man. Arrest me!” He turned his head, but Roger could see the tears on his cheeks.
Paul said, “Sit down Jack. You need to tell us if Joy can be trusted to be made aware of our plan. If one person says the wrong thing, those women are dead.” Paul got very close to Jacks face and said, “We are naming him the Monster for a reason. One word will kill these women.”
Jack was waving his arms in front of him, “I get it, I get it, Geesh!” Jack continued, “I know in the big picture this is just a teeny tiny problem, but… if, when I get arrested for this, won’t I lose my job? The whole world will hate me! I know it sounds selfish.”
Roger spoke up, “That is precisely why we almost didn’t ask for your help, Jack. Those things could happen if your name gets out, and I’m telling you it is easy for that to happen. You also have Joy to think about. She may not be willing to have her life turned upside down. This thing has dominated the national news every night for over a month.”
Paul quickly added, “The good news is we think we are within days of getting him. When it’s over we can get your job back, if that happened, and you will probably be a hero.”
Jack wasn’t talking, and Roger thought he might have to arrest him for something just to keep him from talking to anyone for a couple of days. When Jack said, “I think you are right that Joy should know what is going on and have a vote. She doesn’t get home from work tonight for another hour. Can I call you and tell you what she said?”
Roger and Paul both said, “Certainly.”
Jack was in the doorway, “He is going to have to think I am in custody, right?”
Roger answered, “Right”
“Do I have to stay in a prison cell this whole time?”
Paul said, “I think we can work out something more comfortable than that.”
Jack looked scared, “Are you guys going to call me a suspect on the news?”
Paul answered, “We will probably release a statement that we are detaining a person of interest. A POI.”
Jack looked at Paul, “You called me that before.” Jack smiled. “Can I have a beer when I tell Joy?”
Paul laughed, “You better have two.”
They watched Jack walk slowly to his truck. His head was down, and the snow was piling on his shoulders. Paul said, “This is no little thing we are asking of him. I hope he’s tougher than he looks.”
Roger said, “That’s what I’m counting on. Let’s get that board looking something like this crazy case.” The black cat was lying in a chair watching Roger and Paul piece the case back together on the white boards. The night shift guys were coming in and applauding at the sign that said, “New Troops Arriving in A.M.!” They congratulated Paul and Roger on finding Sandy.
One detective walked up and said, “You know, if I were him, this Devon, when I saw on the news we had a POI, and I knew it was Jack, I would be moving the wife REAL fast! He knows Jack has a connection to that house.” Paul and Roger looked at each other. They hadn’t even had time to think about that.
Roger said, “Very good point.” The detective walked out of the room smiling.
It took Roger and Paul three hours to reconstruct the boards. They had just finished and decided they needed to get a bite to eat when Jack stood in the doorway of the ‘room’ with a duffle bag on his shoulder, and a huge tray of something covered in foil. “Can I sit this down? It’s hot!” Roger pointed to a long table next to the wall, and Jack took the foil off. It was a huge platter of fried chicken. “I got mashed potatoes and gravy in the truck if somebody will give me a hand.”
Paul said he would help. Then he looked at Roger, “This is one crazy case!”
It didn’t take very long for the room to fill with everyone that worked in the building. The smell of that chicken swept down the halls and brought them running. Jack declared with a big grin, “That’s my girlfriend Joy’s special recipe! We’re gonna own a restaurant someday!” People were picking the little pieces off the bottom of the tray. When it looked like everyone had eaten, Roger asked the room to be cleared of everyone except the task force. Jack walked over to Paul and asked, “Am I on the task force?”
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Paul realized he was serious and answered, “No Jack, you are a civilian. We have a conference room around the corner if you want to wait in there. Remember not to talk to people about why you are here, even if they look official. You are top secret.”
Jack got a very serious look on his face, nodded, and walked down the hall looking for the other conference room. Paul walked over to Roger who had just finished talking to Chief Doyle. “Got a minute?” he asked. They walked over to the corner to talk away from everyone. Paul relayed the conversation he had with Jack and ended with, “One wrong word to Devon and this whole thing ends up in our face. I’m still not sure he gets that.”
Roger said he had the same concern. “Maybe we need a little fear injected before we put him with Devon in the morning. Go tell him we want him in here for some of the meeting. We’ll get this out of the way before the new guys get here tomorrow.”
While Paul went to get Jack, Roger went back to Chief Doyle to explain the concern about Jack. Chief Doyle was nodding as Roger spoke, and then the Chief said, “Well, the way I see it, there are downsides both ways. You are going to take heat for letting him see and hear official information during an investigation and prior to an arrest, particularly knowing he will be in contact with the actual subject. On the other hand, if he isn’t fully prepared before he talks to this guy, those women are dead. Devon will smell a trap a mile away.”
Roger made a quick call to Detective Sal telling her they were thinking that after Devon saw the news tomorrow he would be moving Sandy. He told her to send him a text as soon as he showed up there and to instruct Sandy on things she might be able to do to stall him as long as she could.
After Sal talked to Sandy about her call from Roger, Ellen called Teresa to let her know what might happen tomorrow. Ellen told Teresa to follow Devon and Sandy after they left tomorrow in case the police lost them. Teresa said okay and went back to watching John cheat at cards. Even cheating he couldn’t beat the girls. Sandy was smiling. John made her feel smart. Of course he was trying to.
Alcohol Was Not Involved : A Shallow End Gals Trilogy Page 17