Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 02

The Case of the Murdered Chessplayer, Chapter 2

by The WifeWatchman

The order of my stories to read is:

Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series.

Case of the Murdered Lovers series

Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

Part 4 - Police Auxiliary

At 6:00am the next morning I entered the MCD office in my dress uniform: dark blue jacket with a thin light blue stripe, called "piping", on the sleeve near the wrist; light blue shirt and black tie, dark blue pants with a thick light blue "piping" stripe down the sides. My gold badge was pinned over the left breast pocket on my chest, ribbons over the right breast pocket. My Supervisor bars, which looked like an Army Warrant Officer's bar with three black squares, adorned the epaulets on the shoulders of the jacket. The Medal of Valor hung by its red ribbon around my neck, and as always I felt guiltily uncomfortable while wearing it.

"You look good, Detective." the Chief said, coming up to me. He was wearing his dress uniform, same as mine but he had gold eagle "bird colonel" wings denoting his rank as Police Chief, and yellow piping on the jacket and pants. He also wore a Medal of Valor, the only other police officer that I knew of who had been awarded the highest honour of the Town & County Public Safety Department.

The chief had specifically ordered me to dress properly for today's ceremony, which I normally had nothing to do with, but he had not told me why.

"One day we're going to get those black squares out of that bar." the chief said, meaning making me a Lieutenant. "The Town & County Council has agreed to a re-write of the requirements, and we're working hard to get an exception for you immediately."

The current requirements to be a Lieutenant included being at least 30 years old, and I was months away from that. "We're close to being there, but a couple of Council members are opposed to what they say is promoting you 'too quickly'. That's B.S., of course. Just Malinda Adams and Captain Malone making trouble."

"Ah, politics." I sighed. "I understand..."

Today we were inaugurating several new members of the Police Auxiliary. These were volunteers who in times of need were called up to perform functions such as driving, traffic, sometimes foot- or bicycle patrols, and often helped on search-and-rescue missions.

Police Auxiliary volunteers who had been officers in the past, had completed the Police Academy, or had completed the Police Auxiliary Academy (a scaled down version of the Police Academy) were given the gold badge of a police officer with "Police Auxiliary" inscribed at the top. They could begin investigations and were authorized to carry weapons.

Auxiliary who had not had the experience or training received badges, but they were silver instead of gold, they could not carry arms unless they had a concealed carry permit obtained separately, and their duties were more limited, though useful. Non-trained PA wore a metal circle as their "rank", similar to ROTC officer ranks (and I suspect copied from ROTC) should they choose to wear a uniform. Trained PA wore two metal circles; and the Auxiliary Commander, who was required to be a former officer and whose command was mostly ceremonial and acted as an advisor to the Chief, wore a metal diamond.

"What do you have on that murder last night?" the chief asked.

"Perlman is going to give me a rundown when she gets here." I said. At 7:00am, Detective Tanya Perlman arrived.... wearing her formal attire. Her rank bar had two black boxes, noting the second Detective rank and informally called Senior Detective, and light blue piping like mine on the coat. She wore a dark blue skirt and black patent leather high heel pumps.

"Let me get a prelim report for you." she said as she sat down and made a phone call while looking at her computer screen. Meanwhile, Hugh Hewitt, Cindy Ross and Myron Milton arrived... all of them also in formal attire. Cindy wore pants instead of a skirt, her piping thinner than men's pants piping. Milton looked a bit gawky in his uniform. All three had bars with one black square; Hewitt and Ross as Detectives, and Milton as a ranking Senior Technician in the I.T. Department.

"Everyone in formal attire?" I asked. "C'mon Chief, whassup?" I asked.

"I want to support the Police Auxiliary today, and your team is helping me do it." the chief replied. But I could tell that everyone else knew something that I didn't.

"You've already said I'm not getting promoted, but it's me you're keeping something from."

"That's right." the chief said, smiling, almost wickedly. You'll find out soon, and I think you'll like the reason."

"Okay, here is what we have so far." Tanya Perlman said as she came up to the rest of us. "Oooh, Myron, you look hot in dress uniform! Trying to get all the women today?" Myron blushed but smiled at the compliment.

Tanya gave her report: "Our dead man is named Vladimir Kurchikov. Found his passport in a bedroom drawer. Russian Federation. Traveled frequently. Plays-- er, played high level chess, was an International Master and had 'norms' for his Grandmaster title, whatever that means."

"That means he's a damn good chessplayer." I said. "What else?"

"More interestingly: FBI files show very limited information, and it appears he is not a part of the Sergei Molotov mob. The FBI does think he might be running drugs as part of a European Cartel, but it's really small-time compared to other operations, and is active mostly in Europe."

"Which countries?" I asked.

"France, Russia, and recently England. Unconfirmed reports of activity in Spain and Italy. They may be trying to grow into something bigger and more important."

I thought for several seconds. "Tanya, is the Crime Lab running the tests on the perfume?"

"Yes, and they think they'll be able to identify the brand, but it might be a while." Tanya said.

"I'll help them: the perfume was--" I named the brand within the hearing of everyone present. "And I know this because it's my dear sister Elizabeth's favorite brand, and she's recently been suspected of making money involving herself in the drug trade. She might be this little gang's entry into America."

"Therefore, it was your sister at the apartment?" Cindy Ross asked. "And therefore she is not dead from that warehouse explosion, but is still around making trouble for us."

"Dunno." I said. "But it's possible. And I never thought she was dead."

"Crap." said the chief, muttering to himself, drawing all of us to look at him. He looked at us, then realized what he'd said. He pointed at me and said "That means this guy is going to be distracted by this." The chief might have forgotten that pursuing my socially unacceptable family members was one huge reason I took my job with the Police Force.

Chief Griswold looked at his watch. "Okay, be in the hallway in front of my office at 8:35 sharp, and we'll walk outside to the Police Auxiliary ceremony." He left, unable to suppress a grin. Just at that moment, we were joined by Lt. Brittany Maxwell of the University Campus Police. She was wearing her police uniform, also. Cindy Ross began filling her in on the details of our case, and I noticed the nature of the eye contact between them.

Something was up, and this one was apparently beyond my powers of deduction to solve. I'd just have to wait until they decided to spring the surprise upon me.

-----------------------------------

We were assembled in the hallway, chatting about various things, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a lovely older woman walking up the hall towards us. She was wearing a Police Auxiliary uniform, which was generally just like ours but had no "piping". She wasn't yet wearing her badge, which would be presented today.

The woman had light brown and gray hair in an simple, short, attractive style, straight down and curling slightly inward at the shoulders. She was shapely and very attractive, and she was also in good shape, especially for a woman her age. And then I did a double-take and gasped as it hit me.

It had taken me five full seconds to recognize my own mother.

My mom Phyllis grinned as she walked up to us. "Hi, Son." she said. "How do I look?"

"Mom... uh, you look great!" I said. I hugged her. "Police Auxiliary?" I asked. Everyone was watching us with suppressed, and sometimes not-so-suppressed grins. Then it dawned on me... the chief had me dress up to be here knowing that my mother was going to be here... and all of my team came in dress uniform also, and were here in the hall mostly to see my response to my mother's appearance.

"Yes, son, I decided to make myself useful and join the Auxiliary." my mom said. I noticed the two-circles insignia on her uniform, and my fingers went to them.

"Yep." Cindy said, noticing what had my attention. "She went through the Police Auxiliary Academy and passed everything. Passed the physical tests, passed the shooting tests... and darn well I might add... and even passed the defensive and combat driving courses."

"Wow!" I said. "I had no idea. Congratulations, Mom! But... you don't live here."

"We'll talk about that at lunch. Why, thanks for inviting me." my mother said. Just then Chief Griswold joined us from his office. "Good morning, Phyllis. Nice to see you again."

"Good morning, Chief." my mother said. "I hope my son is not causing you too much trouble around here." she added, glancing sideways at me. I had never before seen such a playful side to my mom. Some good changes had happened to her.

"Quite the opposite." the chief said, his mustache quivering merrily as his eyes twinkled. "Quite the opposite. It's time to go to the ceremony, shall we go?"

-----------------------------

The induction ceremony was over, with many pictures taken. Todd had come, wearing a suit and tie no less, and he was the sensation of every female member of the Town and County Police Force that was present... except Cindy Ross. Meanwhile, my team put me and my mother, and occasionally Todd, through a ringer of poses, since we were a mother-son duo wearing our dress police uniforms.

I endured it, then we went inside for the reception and refreshments in the main auditorium. I caught myself several times looking at my mother in her tight clingy skirt. Her ass looked great. I noticed a lot of other men throwing a few glances her way, also. Even at 58, my mom was a hottie.

I showed my mother around the police headquarters. Captain Charles, the captain of patrolmen, was as charming as I'd ever seen him before when I introduced him to my mom, and I suspected I might not see him that charming again without her around.


We went into the MCD room, where Tanya was talking to Cindy and looking at a report that had just come over from the Crime Lab.

"What do we need a Crime Lab for, when we have Don?" Tanya asked. Then she saw me and my mom standing there. "You were right about the perfume. It was--" she named the brand.

My mom looked up at me immediately. "Son, that's--" My glance at her in reply arrested her thought.

"Yes, Mom, it is. Elizabeth's perfume." I said. The others were looking at us, wondering if my mother needed to be hearing this.

"And before you ask, I still don't know if it was her or not, but it could've been." I said. By now my mother's face had hardened. "What else do you have, Tanya?"


"Uh, we can talk about it later." she said, not being sure of my mom's presence.

"You can say anything in front of our Police Auxiliary detective that you can say to me." I told her. Tanya smiled, relieved, and everyone else got less tense.

"Have a seat, Mom." I said. I was acting as if my mother being here was nothing but a Police Auxiliary volunteer being here, but inwardly I was totally conscious of her presence. My mom sat her lovely ass down in one of the chairs as Perlman began her report.

"Time of death: indeterminate. The M.E. says it was before midnight, but he's curiously vague about it. Said it could have been minutes to hours before we found it."

She switched papers and continued, "Okay, here's the autopsy report: the third stab wound cut the aorta and was the cause of death, so says the M.E. Not the decapitation." Tanya said. My mother showed no squeamishness at all, but curious interest as Tanya continued "The M.E. thinks Kurchikov saw his attacker, was stabbed, and fell backwards into the living room. The perp then turned him over and slit his throat."

"No, he didn't fall back, he deliberately went to the chess set. He then fell flat on his face and died." I said. "I have really got to talk to the M.E. about that one."

"Go for it. He hates being argued with." Tanya warned. "Meanwhile, no fingerprints on the murder weapon, which we found in the kitchen trash can. You never looked there, Don, what distracted you?"

"Gotta leave you guys something to do." I said, but Tanya was right, I had missed that... and I suspected thoughts of the perfume had distracted me.

"Did find other fingerprints around the place, especially at the card table, on the ash trays, some DNA on the cigarettes, but that'll take time to process. As in days to weeks. One thing, though.... neighbors said that there had been an argument in that apartment earlier that night, around 8:15, and two patrolmen came by to calm it down. No arrests made."

"Who were the officers?"

"Don't know."


"Hugh, check the logs."

--------------------------------

At noon, the chief told me to take a long lunch with my mom. We went to the Soup and Sandwich place to the north of Town with the back patio on the lake, which was Laura's favorite lunch spot. Mom liked it, too.

"Okay, Mom." I said after we had ordered. "Tell me about joining the Auxiliary and your moving here, since you obviously are moving here."

"Obviously... if I'm going to be in the Auxiliary, it would be best if I did move here." Mom said, not the least fazed at my observation and deduction. I nodded.

She continued "I also want to be here with my family. Speaking of family, how is Todd doing with his new family?"

"Good." I said. "How much do you know about Michael Burke and Elizabeth?" 



"I didn't know, but I wasn't surprised." Mom said. "Michael Burke did a lot of business in Apple Grove during those years. I never really knew him, but Elizabeth was so wild that I'm sure it wasn't hard for them to meet.

"And if my observations are correct, he was just the type of man that would've bedded your sister. He's not a moral man at all... but now he's Todd's father, I guess. We always thought that quarterback boy that you saw her with knocked her up, but I guess that wasn't the case. How did YOU know to look for that, by the way?"

"Mannerisms." I replied. "They not only had a physical resemblance in their faces and bodies, but I realized when I saw Mr. Burke at a reception that his movements and mannerisms were a lot like Todd's."

"I see." Mom said. "And how is Melina doing? Is the baby coming along well?

"Yes... uh Mom, there's something I need to tell you." I said. The food came, and we waited until we were served and eating a few bites before I continued. "Mom, Melina and I are getting a divorce."

"Yes, I know." Mom said. "What you don't know, because I insisted that you not be told until I could tell you in person today, is that Laura and I have bought Melina's house from her. I'm going to live there, and Laura believes you and she may have to live there eventually, especially after she has your second child." It was obvious that Mom's vision was steps ahead of everyone else's, but I wondered if I could surprise her with one thing:

"Do you also know about Melina's baby?" I asked. "That I'm not the father?" This time, my mother looked blank. "Todd is the father of Melina's baby, Mom. It'll be your great-grandchild, not grandchild. Laura's baby is mine, of course."

"Ohhh..." Mom said, her voice trailing off. "That I did not know..." It was a few minutes later and I had eaten half my meal when she asked, somewhat incredulously, "Are Todd and Melina going to get married?"

"I don't know, but I don't think so." I said. "I have no idea what Melina is going to do. Do you know where she's going to live?"

"For now, in Laura's condo." Mom said. "She's still working for Laura. I enjoyed a nice day with them a few days ago when I got into town. They told me everything... except about the father of Melina's baby..."

She recovered, then added, "They also told me of the excellent police work you have been doing, and of course..." her eyes turned to me, mischievous, "they told me all about the 'Iron Crowbar'. I never knew you could be so... violent. Sounds like you have been making friends and influencing people, son." My mom's eyes twinkled mischievously as she said it.

"Heh. So when are you moving down?" I asked.

"That's in progress now."

Part 6 - Leads and Misdeeds

I returned from lunch feeling very good. Mom had gone to meet Melina at her gym. Words cannot express how pleased I was to see Tanya Perlman in the MCD room. Not because of her lovely figure, though that brought back a recent and very pleasant memory, but due to the book she was examining: it was a book of chess openings.

"Good lunch with your mom?" Tanya asked as I came up. "When is she moving down?"

"Great lunch." I said. "And she's already bought a house. Melina's, of all places. And how did you know she's moving down?"

Tanya grinned evilly at me. "You're not the only detective around here, mister. Anyone with bigger brains than a Betta fish or Steven Ikea can figure out that your mother would only join the Police Auxiliary, and go through the Academy course to boot, if she was moving down.

"Besides that," Tanya continued, "observant people realize that Laura is having her first baby, which is yours, and Melina will be having her baby, so your mom is coming down to help."

Tanya then whispered conspiratorially "That's what grandmothers do."

"You're right. Okay, did Hugh get anything in the logs about the earlier police call to that location?"

"He looked, but ran into something. Myron is downstairs working on it. It looks like the logs were tampered with. I.A. is on it, too, and agreed to let Myron try to recover the data for us in exchange for helping them find whoever messed with the logs."


"Myron is becoming a negotiator. That's good." I said. "I'd sure love to promote him to I.T. Supervisor."

"When you get promoted?" Tanya asked, her sideways glance at me maliciously teasing.

"Yep. It's a done deal." I said. "If not to Lieutenant, then to MCD Supervisor."

"Ooooh, you'll be my boss." Tanya said. "And that means I'll be fucking the boss. That gets me hot!"

"And who said that I would be your boss?" I asked, my smile firm and set.

"Don't go there." Tanya said shortly, and more seriously.

"You deserve it. They need you."

"I'd rather be here, working with you and the team."

"You will be, more than you realize." I said.

--------------------------

"This is what I have, so far." Myron said, sitting at my desk in my IT office. Daniel Allgood sat next to him. "The logs are backed up every hour at the top of the hour. These logs were scrubbed before the backup could take place. Someone was right on top of it. The call came in at 8:10pm, and the contents scrubbed around 8:40pm. A police car was sent to respond to the call, but there is no police report. It wasn't scrubbed; it was never filed."