by Bob Blanton
“And that’s all you saw?”
“Hey, I have a life. Besides, I was at my limit on holding my portal open, so I went to bed.”
Chapter 6
Breaking News
Matthew was watching the 10 o’clock news on Monday night, trying to see if there would be anything he could use for their investigation when a news bulletin came up.
“Breaking news! San Diego Police sued for harassment! On Friday, the police accosted two citizens in Starbucks. The police claimed that they were breaking up a suspected drug deal, but when they searched the suspects they found nothing to indicate anything untoward had taken place. The detective in charge used unnecessary force when he searched the male suspect, who has now filed a harassment suit against the police department.”
They played the video from the Starbucks surveillance camera.
“As you can see, the suspect did not resist the police officer. The police tell us that the officer told him to assume the position, but who among us would know what that meant? It is clear that the officer slammed Mr. Sutton’s head into the counter for no reason.”
The reporter went on about how police harassment against Black males was a problem and pointed out that the City of San Diego spent millions of dollars each year settling suits against the police for illegal use of force and other abuse-of-power charges.
Matthew did a quick check on Detective Vaughn. The detective was watching the same news program and clearly, he was not happy. Matthew decided he definitely had to check in on the briefing the next morning.
◆ ◆ ◆
When Matthew tuned into the briefing the next day, Detective Vaughn was already yelling.
“Jones, you screwed up, you’re lucky you’re not suspended!”
“Hey, the kid was being a smartass!”
“It doesn’t matter. Now we’ve got the press all over us, as well as alerting the drug ring that we’re tracking users.”
“Like they didn’t already know that. I don’t know how they set us up, but that kid was dealing, I just know it.”
“Well, what you know and what you can prove are two different things. Now that kid is like kryptonite, we can’t touch him.”
“We can still follow him and see where he leads us.”
“Yes, now that we have a real name, we can put a tail on him,” one of the other detectives offered.
“Great, I appreciate the offer. You tail him. See what he does. Now, what else do we have?”
“I finished sorting through all the users we have files on. I’ve flagged those with profiles matching our target, well-to-do, middle class. It’s a pretty short list.”
Matthew closed his portal. It didn’t look like they were likely to be making any progress if they still thought Frankie would provide any leads.
◆ ◆ ◆
Brianna and her parents had stayed over on Monday to watch the professional finals at the U.S. Open. So they flew in early Tuesday morning so Brianna could make it to school before first period. Matthew hurried off to school even though this was Tuesday and he had first period free; he wanted to be there when Brianna arrived.
When the Winthrops drove up, Jason piled out of the car and waved at Matthew as he ran off to his first class. Brianna got out and smiled at Matthew.
“Hey, Matt, long time no see.”
“Hi, Brea, how are you hanging?” Matthew said, not sure how to ask his girlfriend if she was over losing the final match in the tournament.
“I’m okay. I have to run or I’ll be late for class. I’ll see you at lunch.” Brianna gave Matthew a hug and a kiss on the cheek before she ran off.
“Don’t worry, Matt, she’ll be okay,” Mrs. Winthrop said. “She had so much invested in that tournament that she’s struggling to deal with losing.”
“But she came in second. That’s a major deal.”
“It is, but you know Brea. We’ll see you tonight at the party, right?”
“I’ll be there.”
Mrs. Winthrop got out of the car and gave Matt a hug. She patted him on the cheek before getting back in. “Just be patient.”
“Sure. See you tonight, Cara. Bye Carl,” Matthew waved at the Winthrops before heading to the library.
◆ ◆ ◆
That night the party at the Winthrops was low-key. Just the few friends that Brianna stayed close to. Jennifer, Raquel, Alex, Emily, and Matthew. Of course, Jason was there and Hanna as well. Brianna put on a good face and everyone had a good time, but there was an undercurrent of strain throughout the party. Matthew was actually glad when it was over.
◆ ◆ ◆
Friday evening, Matthew was checking the news out again. Another news bulletin came up.
“Breaking news, Evelyn Frye, the woman involved in the incident at Starbucks last Friday died suddenly this afternoon at her place of work, Timeless Gems, in La Jolla. Her employer said she went to the bathroom about one o’clock and never came out. He says he pounded on the door for a minute before asking another employee to go in and see what was wrong. Mrs. Frye was found dead on the floor, the cause of death has not been released. Ms. Frye was twenty-three years old.”
Matthew quickly tuned in on Malcom, aka Frankie. He was watching the same news program. Matthew could see tears glistening in his eyes.
“Bastards!” Frankie growled.
◆ ◆ ◆
Matthew tuned in to the taskforce briefing the next morning. He’d checked the night before and caught Detective Vaughn calling his team to let them know they would be working Saturday.
“Okay, what do we have?” Detective Vaughn asked.
“We searched her apartment. We found a stash of Oxycontin, about a week’s worth. She had a pillbox on her with six pills in it, enough for a day. We’ve sent the pills to the lab, they look the same, both stamped with the Oxycontin logo.”
“What does the coroner say?”
“He says it looks like an overdose.”
“Intentional?”
“No, he says it looks like just one pill in her system. He’s testing, but he thinks it’s probably a bad batch.”
The phone rang. “Vaughn!” the detective barked as he answered the phone.
“Yes, . . . Test them all!” He turned back to the team. “That was the lab. The pills she had were made with Fentanyl, not Oxycontin.”
“That’s wicked stuff. If the dealers don’t control the quality, you get a bad pill once in a while. It only takes one.”
“Tomorrow, I want to go over her house again. There has to be something that points to her dealer.”
“Tomorrow?”
“This is a murder investigation. We’ll work seven days a week until we clear it up.”
“Murder?”
“What are the odds that Ms. Frye would be caught up in our sting, and then, just one week later, OD on Fentanyl?”
“If she was a user, I’d say they were pretty good.”
“I don’t think so. I think someone was cleaning up after themselves.”
Matthew could see several of the detectives in the room rolling their eyes, but he was with Detective Vaughn. This really smelled of a cleanup, and clearly, Frankie had thought so too.
“I want Frankie Sutton in here now!”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Mr. Sutton, police, open up!”
Frankie came to the door. He opened it a few inches so he could see the police officer. “What do you want? You can’t be here, I’m suing you.”
“We’re aware of that, this is not about the lawsuit. We’d like you to come to the station.”
“What for?”
“We have some questions.”
Frankie pulled out his cellphone and punched a speed dial button.
“Hey, this is Frankie. The cops just showed up at my door. They want me to go to the station with them. . . . Uh-huh. . . . Okay.”
Frankie hung the phone up. “My lawyer and I will meet you there at one o’clock.”
“Mr. Sutton, it’s eight-thirty.”
“Hey, my lawyer is a busy man. See you at one.” With that, Frankie closed the door.
Matthew watched as the two detectives looked at each other. “Call Vaughn.”
The second detective pulled out a cell phone and dialed.
“Detective, he says his lawyer and he will meet us at the station at one. . . . Yeah, I know he’s being an ass, but what do you want us to do?”
“Well?” his partner asked after the detective hung up the call.
“We’re to sit on him until he gets to the station.”
“Great.”
“Hey, there’s a Starbucks just down the street. I’ll stay here while you go get coffee.”
Matthew figured that nothing would happen until one, so he would have time to go to the Golden Dragon and do his routine. His lesson was at 11:30, so he would be done in time to make it home before one. He sent Emily a text explaining the situation.
‘Pick you up at 12:45’ Emily texted back. She wasn’t going to miss her chance to listen in on the interview.
◆ ◆ ◆
Matthew was just getting out of the shower when Emily showed up. He quickly dressed in jeans and a polo shirt and ran out to meet her.
“We probably have lots of time. I’m sure the lawyer and Frankie will talk before the lawyer lets the police question him.”
“But we want to hear what he tells the lawyer.”
“Isn’t that unethical?”
“Investigative reporter, remember. We’re not building a case against him.”
Matthew shook his head as he sat back in the seat. He took the opportunity to check on Frankie who was just leaving for the police station. He got into a beat-up Camaro to make the drive.
They made it to Emily’s house and into the study before Frankie met his lawyer outside the police station.
“They’re just checking in,” Matthew told Emily.
“Great, now open it up so I can see and hear.”
Matthew and Emily sat on the sofa next to each other so they could both see through the portal that Matthew opened in front of them. The lawyer and Frankie had just been seated in an interview room.
“So what’s this about?” the lawyer asked Frankie.
“They said it’s something about Evelyn Frye. She died yesterday.”
“Do you know anything about it?”
“Only what I heard on the news.”
“Good. Now, remember that the police can lie to you, so don’t react to anything they say. They’ll try to trip you up. Don’t answer any of their questions unless I tell you to.”
“Got it.”
“You sure there’s nothing you should tell me?”
“Nope, I have no clue about what happened to her.”
“Okay.” The lawyer got up and knocked on the door. Detective Vaughn and another detective came in.
“Hello, Mr. Sutton. Tell me, where does the name Malcom come in?”
“It’s a nickname,” Frankie blurted out. His lawyer patted him on the leg to remind him not to answer any questions.
“I have advised my client not to answer any questions without my explicit okay. Now can you tell us why we’re here?”
“We’d like to get some more information about his relationship with Ms. Frye. I’m sure you’re aware that she died yesterday.”
“I saw it on the news,” Frankie said. “It sucks, she was a nice lady.”
“Do you know how she died?” Vaughn asked.
“Not sure, the news said she died in the bathroom at work. They said the cause of death had not been disclosed.”
“Would you be surprised to learn that she died of an overdose?”
Frankie made a good effort at looking shocked. His lawyer placed a hand on his arm to keep him from answering.
“My client would have no way to confirm that.”
“We found a bunch of Oxycontin pills on her, would that surprise you?”
Frankie shook his head.
“Is that head shake saying you’re not surprised?”
“NO! It’s saying I can’t believe it.”
“She had twenty pills in a bottle at home, would that surprise you?”
Frankie just looked at the detective.
“What would you say if I told you that we found a piece of foil in her trash with traces of Fentanyl and your fingerprints on it?”
“I’d say you were lying,” Frankie said as the lawyer squeezed his arm again.
“Are you sure? Would you be willing to give us fingerprints for elimination purposes?”
Frankie started to say yes but his lawyer stopped him.
“My client doesn’t wish to submit to any further invasion of his privacy by the police department. If you want his fingerprints, you’ll need a warrant.”
“What are you afraid of? He says his prints won’t be on the foil.”
“I never gave her anything in a foil package. We weren’t sharing leftovers or nothing like that. Why would I?”
“Detective Vaughn, please quit trying to bait my client. He has no knowledge concerning Ms. Frye’s death. He is a student at Mesa College and works at Target to support himself. Your persistence in trying to connect him to some kind of drug deals is becoming tiresome and we will add this to our complaint with the courts.”
“You’re free to do so. We’re just trying to figure out who killed Ms. Frye.”
“Killed her. I thought you said she died of an overdose.”
“Yes, but we’re operating under the assumption that she was intentionally given pills that would cause an overdose.”
“That’s sick, who would do that?” Frankie shouted.
“You tell me.”
“Unless you have some real questions, we’ll be leaving now.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Wow,” Emily said. “Do you think they have his prints on the foil?”
“No. They’d have gotten a warrant if anyone’s prints were on it besides hers. And when I watched the kid drop the packages on the cars, they were in a small baggie that he dropped the foil package out of. He never touched the package itself and I’m sure that Frankie was wearing gloves when he put it together.”
“You didn’t tell me that!”
“I can’t remember everything.”
“Why not, you have an eidetic memory.”
“That means I remember things when I try to recall them, but it doesn’t mean I’ll recall something when we’re talking. It’s complicated.”
“Okay, let’s list what we know. But first, what’s Detective Vaughn doing?”
Matthew opened his portal again and watched as Detective Vaughn walked into the incident room.
“What did the kid say?” one of the other detectives asked.
“Not much. Swears he doesn’t know anything. The lawyer didn’t let him answer much. What did you think, Ron?” Detective Vaughn asked the detective who had attended the interview with him.
“I don’t know. I don’t make him for intentionally trying to kill her. But I think he knows more than he’s saying.”
“Okay, I want officers to canvas the area around her apartment and place of work. Find out if anything unusual happened. Use Frankie’s driver’s license photo to see if anyone has seen him around.”
Matthew closed his portal. “They don’t know anything.”
“Okay, now what do we know? First on Frankie.”
“He was selling drugs, I saw him pulling the drugs and money out of his apartment and handing them off to Dante.”
“Anything else?”
“He’s a college student and works at Target.”
“And?”
“He’s out of the loop now. He told Malcom II, that’s Dante Cruz, that he wouldn’t be seeing him anymore.”
“Okay, so what do we know about this Cruz guy?”
“He works for an accounting firm downtown, drives a nice three series BMW.”
“Does that make sense?”
“Not really. He’s just an entry-level guy, not a CP
A.”
“Okay, what else?”
“He’s obviously a distributor. I saw him collecting a lot of money last weekend. He’s still in his apartment, but I bet he goes out and collects more this morning.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I saw him handing the drugs off to his little buddy this morning.”
“AND?!”
“Oh, ‘we’ haven’t gone over this yet. He gives the kid the drugs. They’re in little black boxes. The kid also gets a list. He goes to the North Clairemont Library and puts the drugs on the bookshelves based on the list. He sticks them to the bottom of one of the lower shelves. I assume the buyers know where their package is supposed to be and come in later in the day to collect it. I saw him do it this morning, it made me miss group class.”
“How does he know he’s got the money first?” Emily asked.
“I think they operate on the honor system. It seems weird, but the dealers are making a lot of money, so I guess they wouldn’t want to jeopardize that by trying to steal from him, much less take the risk there would be a contract put out on them for stealing.”
“So, how does he get the money?”
“He takes the trolley from downtown to San Ysidro. Every few stops a guy gets on, drops a package in his lap, and continues on to another car. They get off a few stops later. I counted eight last Saturday. I couldn’t manage to count them all on Sunday, but I’m pretty sure the kid put out eight packages this morning; I should be able to check again tomorrow.”
“So, seventeen dealers.”
“Seventeen?”
“Counting himself. He’s handling Frankie’s clients.”
“No, I think he’s got someone to take that over now. Thursday and Friday there was a guy sitting in the restaurant with him watching him do the handoff.”
“He used the same restaurant?”
“No, Burger King on Thursday and Carl’s Jr’s on Friday.”
“So sixteen dealers. How many clients does each dealer have?”
“A lot. Dante handled eight people every day last week that I watched, so that would be forty.”
“Whoa! That’s a lot of money.”
“Yep. Assume each one takes two pills per day, that would be 80 pills times seven days, so 560 pills a week per dealer. So with eight dealers, we’re talking about 4500, at fifteen dollars a pill, that would be over sixty-seven thousand dollars a week.