Alcohol Was Not Involved : A Shallow End Gals Trilogy

by Duncan, Teresa

  “Yeah, I remember. What can I do for you?”

  Roger said, “Actually, I am doing something for you. I am calling to give you a heads up. We have picked up Jack Simpson for the recent murders, and we are holding a press conference in about fifteen minutes.” Roger laid his pen down, he was annoying himself.

  Devon took his time answering, “Have you been questioning Jack?”

  Roger smiled to himself, “Not yet. We are aware you are his attorney and need to be present for the questioning. Would about 1:00 at police center be okay for you?”

  Devon answered, “Police center? You don’t have him at county?”

  “Not yet. We do not plan to name him until he is actually arrested. Right now he is a Person of Interest. As I said, this is a courtesy call to you.” Roger was clicking his pen again.

  Devon replied, “Yeah, one o’clock is fine. Boy you federal boys do things differently.” and he hung up.

  Paul pushed his chin forward in a quick motion, “Sooooooooo?”

  “He picked up on the first ring. On the office line. We know from Kim he had Sandy less than fifteen minutes ago. I bet anything they are at his house!”

  Paul stood and shifted his weight back and forth, “I can have the search warrant in ten minutes. Do him while he’s here.”

  “I would rather not go in with a warrant. Let me call the DA.”

  Agent Nelson from St. Joseph popped his head into the doorway, “Just thought you might want to know that Agent Thor is on body number six.” Nelson made the announcement while waving a fistful of papers.

  Roger tried to look surprised. “Oh Man,” he said and looked at Paul.

  The young agent said, “I am so glad we pulled this side of things. This is crazy!” He was shaking his head as he left the office.

  Roger looked at Paul, “Our patrolman at the mall is going to call any minute with the plate number on that Volkswagen. Take it to the kid there (he was pointing at the new agent Nelson), and get him to run that against the missing persons info coming in. Let him think it was his idea.”

  Paul smiled, “Going to give the kid a boot up the ladder if you can?”

  Roger smiled, “Yup, and Paul, could you call Joy and let her know about the press conference? I don’t want her to hear this on TV. With what they are doing for us I want her to have a heads up. I’m going out there right now.” Roger stood, put his jacket on, and Ellen appeared on his credenza. “I hope you are just here for moral support!” Ellen winked at him, stretched out, and circled for a nap. Roger stroked her fur and said, “I’m trying to do you proud girl.” And he left.

  The Chief, Paul, and one of the senior agents from St. Joseph were waiting at the main door for Roger. There was a media mob outside. Patrolmen were moving reporters back and placing a podium with a microphone in the middle. The local and national news trucks were blocking the entire parking lot. Reporters were trying to get statements from the patrol officers. Roger looked at Paul, “How’s Jack?” Paul shrugged. Chief Doyle whispered to Roger that the agents checking houses were up to eight bodies. Roger thanked him and said, “Shall we meet the press?” He walked through the door. Immediately the crowd tried to push forward to surround him, but the patrolmen did a good job of showing that force would be used if necessary. When the crowd calmed somewhat, Roger approached the microphone.

  “Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I am going to make a brief statement, and then I will answer what questions I can. I request you allow me to finish my statement before asking questions. I will try to return the courtesy by answering as many questions of yours as I can. Do we have a deal?” The crowd chuckled. Paul thought this is why he is the big boss; he can control almost any situation. Roger resumed talking, no notes, just looking at the audience in front of him. “I am probably going to shock you first, and just get it over with. The man who has murdered six women in South Bend since October, probably started much sooner than that. Our agents are retrieving bodies from vacant homes that can be linked to our killer that go back months. These woman had been kidnapped, raped (we presume), and left to starve to death.” The crowd was silent. “I have just been informed that counting the body of a young woman we found yesterday, at this moment our victim count is at fifteen.” There was a gasp in the crowd.

  Roger continued, “We are detaining, at this time, a Person of Interest that can be tied by direct evidence to the murders of some of our victims. As this is an ongoing investigation, and we are awaiting forensic results, we are not making an arrest at this moment. I can assure you the man being detained has been removed from the streets of South Bend.” There was a cheer in the crowd, and one young reporter was wiping tears from her eyes.

  Roger took her question first. She asked, “Can you release the name of the man you are holding?”

  Roger answered, “No.”

  The young man behind her raised his hand, “Can you release the names of the new victims?” Roger said those names would be released as soon as families had been notified. Paul was noticing that news reporters were raising their hands and being polite. Another miracle.

  Roger pointed to a woman in the back row that had her hand up, “Yes Ma’am?”

  She identified herself and said, “Are you confident that there is only one person responsible for all of this?”

  Roger thought for a moment, “We always keep the door open to thinking of multiple perpetrators, but our evidence so far does not indicate such.” Roger held his hand up to speak, “I am hoping that within the next day or so, I can give you more detailed information. I am feeling good that this nightmare your community has endured is almost over.”

  A man in the back yelled, “How much help did you get from the Heavens?”

  The crowd laughed, and Roger answered, “I suspect quite a bit more than we realize.” With that he ended the conference.

  When everyone got back in the building, Paul said he was going to talk to Jack, let him know he had called Joy, and tell him of his 1:00 with Devon. Paul finally found Jack in the Chief’s office patching dry wall. Paul said, “Jack, what are you doing?”

  Jack looked around and said, “Well, I got bored. I had one of the guys go get me some mud and a trowel. I thought I would patch some stuff around here. Is it okay?”

  Paul laughed, “Your acting debut is at one o’clock. I think you better clean up, get a bite of lunch, and wait in your room back there ‘til I come to get you.”

  Jack said, “Okay.” Paul asked him how he was feeling. Jack answered, “I think I will do okay. Is my name still secret?”

  Paul nodded and said, “So far. We are really trying hard to keep that secret for your sake.”

  Jack said, “I saw all of those news trucks. Some of them trucks had national news channels. Joy and I talked about that being the worse part, but we get that it might happen.”

  When Roger got back into the office, he asked Ellen if he could get the list of tax properties Devon owned. She winked, and his computer told him an e-mail from Ray was waiting. Roger printed it off and decided he would give it to Thor right away. They are already in the field. Just get it over with. He called Thor. “Dan,” Roger started, “I just finished the press conference, and we have Devon coming here at 1:00 to talk to Jack. Ray in IT just sent me the nineteen properties Devon owns. Do you want me to send someone with the list?”

  Thor was silent for a moment, “Man, I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t matter. Do you know that I have had EMT’s from two States following my guys everywhere we go? Got one wagon with four bodies in it! It’s a friggin’ Death Parade! I’m up to nine!”

  Roger didn’t want to tell him that was all he was going to find on that list. “Well, it’s up to you Dan. I am dying here too.”

  Thor answered, “Yeah, I heard about the fire. Send someone with the list, might as well get this nightmare over with.” And he hung up.

  Roger called for a patrolman to take the list to Agent Thor. He didn’t want to risk sending an agent. Thor would keep him.


  Paul knocked on the door, came in, and sat in the chair across from Roger. “I’ve been trying to decide if I should prep Jack for questions. I’m thinking, no. What’s your gut?”

  Roger took a minute, “I agree with you.” Then he said, “I just sent the list of tax properties to Thor by way of a patrolman. I asked him if he wanted it. They are up to nine bodies. I really think he figures Devon wouldn’t be so stupid as to keep them in properties he owns.”

  Paul said, “I would think that too. He was planning to take that money and run out of the country! Isn’t that the list of nineteen properties and thirteen, you knows?”

  Roger answered, “Yup.” Roger noticed an e-mail from Stan at CSI. He opened it and hit print. It was phone records for Devon’s cell for the last three months. He looked at Paul, “Do you want this, or should we give it to our newbie?”

  Paul chuckled, “Newbies are good. I want to be sure I am available in half an hour.” Roger looked at his watch. It was already 12:30. Shit.

  Jack was pacing in the little room. He couldn’t believe he was actually meeting with Devon. He couldn’t eat any lunch…12:30…. Oh Lord.

  Agent Thor was just locking the front door of the last house on their list. Thank God it had been empty. He saw a patrol car pull up and a young officer ran up to him with the list of properties Devon owned, “Agent Thor?”

  Dan looked at him, “Yeah.”

  The officer was clearly nervous, “I am supposed to give you this list.” He reached out his hand with the list in it.

  Dan grabbed it, caused a paper cut on the young man’s hand, and said, “What the hell do I want with this?” loud enough that another agent walked over. The young patrolman had retrieved a handkerchief from his pocket and was wiping blood from the cut. Thor continued, “You make a practice of bleeding all over a crime scene?” The young patrolman was stunned at Thor’s outburst.

  Agent Cross came to his rescue, “Thank you officer, we’ll take it from here.” Cross frowned at Thor who was smiling.

  Thor asked, “They make any with balls anymore?” He walked away. He hated this job. It was only 12:30. Shit.

  Joy was in the middle of the lunch hour at the nursing home. She could swear that people were looking at her funny. She knew it was impossible, nobody knew yet. She was scared for Jack. She looked at her watch. 12:30. Damn.

  The decision had been made not to get a search warrant for Devon’s house but to send in a team. If they got caught or found something, the DA was willing to work with them on it. Everyone agreed they could not afford to alert Devon. Roger had also made arrangements for GPS to be installed on whatever car Devon drove to the center.

  Roger’s phone rang. “Dance.” It was the surveillance team. Devon had just left, and they were going in. Roger asked to be kept on the line. He could hear voices in the background yelling “clear”. He waited. Then he heard, “They’re going to the basement now.” Then the voice on the line said, “Sorry boss, nobody here.” Roger thanked them, told them not to leave any evidence they were there but to snoop around for a bit.

  Roger called Paul, “Nobody there.” Paul just hung up.

  Devon arrived at the police center about ten minutes later. Paul walked him into the interrogation room and told him he would go get Jack. It took all of Paul’s control, every fiber of his being just wanted to just shoot Devon, but he wanted to find Ashley. When Paul got to Jack’s room, he asked him if he would consent to handcuffs and ankle bracelets. Jack said yes. After he was cuffed, he really looked like a criminal. Paul said, “You know Jack, you are going to do fine. Just try not to think about Devon being the bad guy. He’s your lawyer. He’s supposed to get you out of this mess. That’s how I would play it.”

  Jack was nodding his head, “Yeah, he’s supposed to get me out of this mess. I like that, ‘cept I know he’s the one that put me in it!” Paul opened the door of the interrogation room and had Jack sit next to Devon across from the observation window. Paul announced he would let Special Agent Dance know they were ready.

  Roger was already in the observation room when Paul entered and closed the door. They turned on the microphone, so they could hear what was being said. Jack started, “Well, hello again.” He actually smiled.

  Devon looked at him, “They are probably listening to us. They’re not supposed to, attorney client privilege and all that.” Devon looked at the window with a sneer, he looked back at Jack, “So Jack, how did you get into this mess?” Devon had tilted his chair back and was checking his fingernails.

  Jack looked like he would come unglued. Then took a deep breath and said, “I don’t know! One minute I’m drinkin’ a beer at my bar, and the next minute I look like this! (He held up his cuffed hands) The only thing I can think of is maybe I did some shit when I was drunk or something. I don’t remember anything!”

  Devon actually laughed. “Maybe you didn’t do this stuff. What did they tell you when they arrested you?”

  Jack took a minute, “They said they had direct evidence that placed me at a murder scene.”

  Devon rolled his head a little, “That’s not good Jack. Not good at all. Which murder scene?”

  Jack answered, “Hell, I don’t know! All I know is that I know a bunch of these women that have popped up dead…. Nettie, Darla, Karen. Doesn’t look good. You gotta get me out of this!”

  “You knew three of the women?” Devon was smiling again. Then he got a serious look on his face, “Do you think you could pass a lie detector test?”

  Jack thought a minute and said, “How does, ‘I don’t remember’ register on a lie detector?” Devon said he didn’t know. Might be a 50/50 chance.

  Jack remembered they wanted Devon’s DNA. He reached over and poured two glasses of water and pushed one to Devon through his cuffs. Devon ignored it. Jack took a drink. Devon asked Jack, “Exactly when did the police pick you up?”

  Jack answered, “Last night.”

  Devon looked angry, “They just called me this morning? Have they been asking you questions?” Devon glared at the observation window.

  Jack raised his wrists, “They put all this metal on me, put me in a cell, and asked me if I had a lawyer. That’s all I know until… now.”

  Roger figured it was a good time to go in the room. He decided to change his strategy a little. Ellen followed him. Jack noticed the cat and spent five minutes trying to get it to come to him. Devon watched annoyed as Jack talked ‘baby talk’ to the cat. Devon finally asked, “You guys keep animals here?”

  Roger said, “Science says they help with blood pressure.” Then Roger sat down at the far corner of the table. Roger said, “Attorney Devon, we have accumulated a great deal of circumstantial evidence, and some direct forensic evidence that your client is the man we have been looking for. The FBI is willing to discuss a plea agreement if Mr. Simpson here will provide names and locations of all of his victims.”

  Devon leaned back in his chair and let out a laugh, “What are you crazy? Just like that, huh? Hit us with your hardest ball up front. You want to talk plea agreement? No arrest, arraignment, grand jury? If you have so much, why haven’t you arrested and named him?” Devon looked smug. They want this done. He had them.

  Roger answered, “Oh, he will be arrested and charged. What’s the hurry? We are still finding bodies. You know how this is played Attorney Devon. As long as Jack is a POI we have more latitude in our investigation. The more we find out, maybe the less likely we will be to make a deal. This is today’s offer.”

  Jack looked at both Roger and Devon and said, “Will somebody tell me what you guys are talking about? Use real words. Damn.”

  Devon looked at Roger, “Can I have a moment alone with my client?”

  Roger stood to leave, “Of course.” Right as Roger reached the door Ellen jumped right towards Devon’s face. He swatted at her and pulled back a bloody hand.

  Devon yelled, “Jesus! You lookin’ to get sued here?” Roger apologized, grabbed Ellen from the table and left t
he room.

  He handed her to Paul and said, “Swab that paw!” Ellen was holding the offending paw out like it was a treasure.

  Roger went back into the observation room and listened. Devon started, “Jack. How much money do you have?”

  Jack looked at him and said, “About three thousand dollars… and my truck.”

  Devon was shaking his head, “That buys about one court appearance. Do you have any idea how long a trial like this could take? Years! If they have your DNA at a crime scene, well….”

  Jack said, “What are you saying? I should take the deal?”

  Devon answered, “Not this deal. You told me you don’t remember anything. How can you give them names and locations of bodies?”

  Jack frowned at him, “How ‘bout this? Maybe I don’t remember because I didn’t do it!” Jack leaned back in his chair with an appropriate amount of disgust on his face. “I don’t want no deal! And you know what else?” (Roger held his breath) “It is your job to fix this! You are my lawyer!”

  Devon looked at him and chuckled, “Not really, I am retiring after the first of the year. You are probably the last client I will see. If we don’t figure this out soon, you are going to get stuck with some court appointed lawyer. Let’s give this a day and see if I can’t think up a better deal.”

  Jack was astonished. He looked at Devon and asked, “You mean you want me to plead guilty?”

  Devon looked at him with ice in his eyes, “Can you prove you’re not?” Then he smiled, got up, and left the room. Jack actually smacked his head down on the table. Roger met Devon in the hall. It looked like Roger was bringing him a wet cloth.

  Devon said, “No thanks… to the cloth or the deal. Sweeten the pot. The guy’s a drunk. He doesn’t know what he did yesterday morning. Save yourself and the county some money and time. Just bring me a better deal, one that doesn’t require this asshole to remember anything.”

  Roger was stunned and asked, “He’ll plead?”