Gods and Crowbars Ch. 01

"Jason went to Eastern State on a football scholarship and majored in business management." continued Joanne. "After graduating, he tried out with a couple of NFL teams but didn't make it. He then began selling insurance, then got into one of those MLM insurance companies, and made a boatload of money. He was married for six years, then his wife divorced him after catching him cheating several times, so he was single at the time of the fateful tenth year reunion and his death."

"Next is Kevin Arnett." said Joanne. "He was basically Jason's wingman all through high school. They were both on the football team, hung out together, double dated all the hot girls. But while Jason was smart and headed for Eastern State on a football scholarship, Kevin was as dumb as a box of rocks, and was going to have to go to Junior College to get his grades up."

"Wait... how do you know all this?" Cindy asked.

"It's in the case notes, ma'am." said Joanne. "They're very thorough."

"Who the heck was that good, back then?" asked Cindy, taking the notes and looking at them. "Oh... Tanya Perlman. Figures. She always got the sexual stories."

"Yes ma'am." said Joanne with a grin. "She was a Detective Apprentice then, and this was her first assigned case after being promoted to the Detective track. I'm going to interview her later today about this."

"All right." said Cindy. "So, Kevin Arnett..."

"Yes ma'am." Joanne said. "Kevin went to Junior College but couldn't make the grades there, either. So he tried out for minor league baseball and washed out at Class A ball. He did some low level work, such as custodial engineering, then Jason got him a job doing polling work for the State Republicans. He did okay there, but then went into the MLM stuff with Jason, and while Jason made a fortune, Kevin didn't do nearly as well. After Jason died, Kevin became destitute. His current whereabouts are unknown."

"Jason didn't leave Kevin anything when he died?" Cindy asked.

"No ma'am," said Joanne, "and I'll get back to that in a moment. Let me first discuss Jimmy and Jennifer Amberton." Cindy nodded.

Joanne said "Jennifer Green was very popular in high school. Cheerleader, witty, bright, blonde, beautiful, the typical All-American Teenage Girl. Homecoming Queen, Miss County High, and she was said to be dating Jason Rutledge. Surprisingly, at least according to the stereotypes, she went to State Tech, majoring in Aerodynamics."

"Jimmy Amberton was what you'd call the traditional nerd. Class valedictorian by a mile, State Chess Champion, State Math Bowl Champion four years in a row, which has only been matched once, by our own Christina Cho in the CSI group." Joanne continued. "Jimmy graduated early and enrolled early at State Tech. He majored in materials engineering, specializing in acoustics, and had always wanted to work on airplanes breaking the sound barrier."

Joanne went on: "Somehow, this beautiful cheerleader and this brainy nerd found each other at State Tech, began dating, got married, and had two children. They had jobs with BigAerospaceCorp in Nevada. And everything seemed fine until they went to their high school class's tenth year reunion.

"The formal party was Saturday night, but on Friday night, after the Homecoming football game, a number of people gathered at one of the homes for an informal party. All the so-called 'cool crowd' was there, including Jennifer Green Amberton, who brought her husband."

"According to several people there," continued Joanne, "as the liquor flowed, the talk turned rather sexual. Someone was telling a story of how Kevin snuck up and stole Jason and Jennifer's clothes while Jason and Jennifer were having sex, which led to a story about an orgy after a swimming pool party. Then everyone realized that Jimmy Amberton was present. "

"He was trying to get Jennifer to leave with him, and they were about to argue about it." said Joanne. "Then Jason began belittling Jimmy, saying Jimmy couldn't satisfy Jennifer like he, Jason, could. Then Kevin began asking Jennifer why she married a 'needle-dick' like Jimmy. Jimmy got up to go, and Kevin actually confronted him and prevented him from leaving. When Jimmy got out his cellphone to call the Police, Kevin took the phone away from him. At that time, others intervened, got Jimmy his phone back and got Jimmy and Jennifer out of there."

"Jimmy later stated that he wanted to call the Police anyway, but Jennifer talked him out of it, and actually got angry at him for wanting to push the matter." Joanne said. "So on Saturday, no one expected Jimmy or Jennifer to show up, but both did. Some other guys had warned Jason and Kevin to leave Jimmy and Jennifer alone, saying they weren't teenage pipsqueaks anymore and could take Jason and Kevin down.

"So it was a tense time, but eventually Jennifer started talking with the other women while Jimmy basically sat near the bar and had a couple of drinks. A few guys went and talked to him, but he wasn't very talkative and said he wanted to go home soon."

"So," Joanne said, "that leads to the events of the shooting. At some point in time, it was noticed that Jimmy was not at his table any more. Jennifer was not there, either, but had left her small purse at her table. Kevin was there, dancing with different women, but Jason was also not there.

"Then Jennifer came back, got a drink from the bar, then went and sat at her table again. Some moments later, Jimmy came back, and he began imploring Jennifer to leave. She got moody with him, and said she was staying, but she let him sit down with her at her table. While he was at the table, non of the other women came back to sit down there."

"About a half hour later, the body was found by a couple that had 'wandered' onto the practice field, and it doesn't take the Iron Crowbar nor Lt. Perlman to figure out what they were heading off to do. An ambulance and Police were called, but Jason Rutledge was already dead. His wallet was in his pants pocket, seemingly undisturbed, with $300 in cash and two credit cards inside. He had no cellphone on him, though."

Joanne went on: "The Police got warrants and searched every car on the premises, including Jimmy and Jennifer's, Jason's, and Kevin's. No guns found at all. Literally none, by anyone. One guy had a concealed carry permit, but said he didn't bring his gun because they were on school grounds. Jason's cellphone was found in his car, charging up. I'll also add that checks of existing records at the time showed that no one had bought a .40 S&W pistol."

"Which doesn't mean much." Cindy said.

"No ma'am." agreed Joanne. "Anyway, dogs were brought in to sniff around and Police Academy cadets were brought in to search. After three days, nothing. And to this day, no gun has been found on the school grounds. The only thing around Jason Rutledge was a ton of cardboard and plastic shards scattered around near the body. The Crime Lab collected all the material, but tests showed it was just ordinary cardboard and plastic; nothing special about it."

"A lot of other people at the party, especially Jason's friends, kept telling police that Jimmy had been sitting alone and had disappeared, all but saying he'd done it. But none of them could say he ever had a gun on him or acted strangely, other than sitting alone and drinking. They also said that Jason had been sitting with them the whole time, then got up and walked to the bar area."

"For his own part, Jimmy said that he left to use the bathroom, which was in the fieldhouse that are off the end of the football stadium, on the same side as the party was set up. He said he had to take a dump, and that's where he was. He denied going anywhere else.

"When Police started interrogating him really hard, he said he was being railroaded and asked for a lawyer. The Police denied him legal representation and continued to browbeat him until then-Captain Griswold came in and ordered them to respect the suspect's rights. At that point, a lawyer was obtained for Jimmy, and he's refused to say another word about any of it ever since. He also refused to take a polygraph test."

"For her part, Jennifer said she briefly left to go find her husband but couldn't find him. She said she'd danced with Jason and Kevin several times that evening, but hadn't seen them anywhere but in the awning areas. She did take a polygraph test and passed it. And that's pretty much it."

Cindy nodded. "Wow, amazingly good police report."

Joanne said "It says 'case notes', but Tanya Perlman pretty much wrote it up as a full report to go to the ADA. Now, here's what I've found since that report. I looked up the finances of the people involved. First, both Jimmy and Jennifer Amberton had to give up their jobs at BigAerospaceCorp; their clearances were revoked after the Rutledge murder. Apparently several of their old classmates had contacted the company, about Jimmy only, and reported he was a person of interest in that case. Though Jimmy was never charged with anything, neither he nor Jennifer were allowed to keep working there, but they did get pretty large severances."

"I then looked at Jason Rutledge's estate." said Joanne. "His ex-wife tried to claim it, as he had no other heirs, but her claim was denied; he had a will, and specifically forbade her from receiving anything. What is interesting is that about a month before the reunion, Jason set up a trust fund and put a huge chunk of his money into it. Both legal documents and his Last Will and Testament ordered that the money be held in that trust for 30 years, and then anyone that could prove he or she was Jason's son or daughter via DNA analysis was to be given monthly payments from that trust from his or her 21st birthday or the day of the claim made, and for the rest of his or her life."

"Interesting." Cindy said. "Any claims on it?"

"Not yet." said Joanne. "It's still in an account at J.P. Goldman Bank. But here's the thing. Seven months after the reunion, Jennifer Amberton gave birth to a baby boy, her third child."

"And this is important, because...?" queried Cindy.

Joanne grinned. "I did learn something from Commander Troy's 'Medical Murder' case... I checked, and found that after having their second child, Jimmy Amberton had a vasectomy."

Cindy's eyes widened. "And it's a bit too much of a coincidence to believe that after all this, that vasectomy failed."

Joanne said "Yes ma'am. I'm still working on how Jennifer could've been impregnated two months before the reunion, and by Jason. By the way, Jennifer and Jimmy are still married and still together. He's teaching Physics at Nextdoor County High School, and she's doing design work for Aerospace Dynamics, a drone-making company."

After a pause, Joanne said "Ma'am, is it cheating to talk to the Iron Crowbar about this?"

"For right now," Cindy said, "talk to Tanya, talk to Chief Griswold and any other Officers here that might remember that case. After you get every duck in a row that you can, then we'll take it to Commander Troy."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Friday night, April 7th. Dr. Morgan and Dr. Cordell were in agreement that I could be released from the Hospital the next day, provided that I swore oaths on all I considered holy to rest at home, to rehab properly but not overdo it, and to not start trying to do any Police work until my wife said I could. They would put the unassailable barrier of Laura's permission on it, wouldn't they? I thought with mock defeat.

Chief Griswold had stopped by to see me and talk with me when, by extraordinarily coincident timing, Cindy came by after work to fill me in on what was going on at Headquarters. She filled both of us in on Joanne's cold case.

"Oh yes, I remember that one." said Griswold. "I always thought the husband did it, but there was absolutely no proof to bring charges against him. I had to stop some of the boys from leaning on him a little too hard when he was being interrogated, but he never broke down, never contradicted himself, never lost his composure. Those were the times we needed an Iron Crowbar... or a Green Crowbar... to do a good interrogation."

"It's an interesting cold case." I said. "I'll let Joanne work with it as far as she can, then maybe point out a few features of interest about the case."

"Tell her I'll be glad to talk with her at Police Headquarters whenever she's ready." said Chief Griswold. "You know, Crowbar, I really miss teaching young Detectives. I like this cold case program idea. Maybe I can help you guys with it."

"I thought you'd never ask." I said jovially. "I'm tempted to pick up a couple of cold cases just so you can teach me some things about it."

"Har!" barked the Chief, though he could not hide how pleased he was at my words. "I need to pick up a case so you can teach me, Crowbar. Problem is... what you do... can't be taught. It's just something you have, and you have it. Captain Ross has 'it', too, but in a slightly different way. She gets 'vibes', like her father... you, Crowbar, just know..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I declined the sedative for that night. The pain in my back was chronic, and might well be with me for the rest of my life; but it was also subsiding in intensity, and by relaxing I could deal with it pretty easily by now.

I was sleeping very lightly. Sometimes I heard myself talking to myself or someone else, and I realized I was starting to be in a dream state. I was thinking about the past few months, and the various cases that had netted us George Aurus, Jerry Morelli, Paul Brandon... all of the Superior Bloodlines stuff... and Jasmine Nix, Big Ice, and T-Square... and where did Les Craig fit into all this?...

And then the image of him came into my mind. I was lying there, as I had on that table in that Torture Room, seeing him looking down at me. Then I heard him talking to Laura...

No... not Laura... it had not been Laura. They'd projected something into my mind to make me see 'Laura'... how'd they do that, by the way... and who was it really, standing there, questioning me? Not part of the torture, but questioning me...

I went deep, deeper into my 'mind palace'... I was seeing that room, feeling the cold, the weakness in my body, looking past the image of Laura... and seeing who it was...

Oh my God, I thought to myself as I realized who it had been. I was now seeing her sitting there, asking me questions, seeing the real CIA spymaster and leader of one of the Company's deepest, most secretive cells... Like the man with no name, she had been the woman whose name could not be spoken... except that I'd spoken her name and shocked her to her core... yes... my daughter's namesake had been part of the torture!

I tried to climb out of the depths of my mind palace... the demons inside my head were trying to keep me there... I felt the pain coming back as Casey B. Walker and the unknown man that had been 'Ned' began driving electric shocks into my back... I embraced the pain, feeling the pain in my back... no, that didn't happen then... that was happening now!...

I woke up. It was pitch black dark in the room. Even the outside lights were out. I heard beeping, and looked around... only the equipment plugged into the emergency outlets were working. There was a power outage in Town, or at least the Hospital, and the facility was on generator power.

I felt a keen sense of danger. I sat up as much as I could, and took the sword cane next to my bed and readied it... I thought I saw a shadow at the door. I blinked, then closed my eyes for a second...

When I opened my eyes, the beginnings of dawn were outside. I was still holding my sword cane. The main power was back on. Most importantly, I had to pee.

After peeing, then shaving, I felt much better. But I still could not shake that foreboding from the night before. And I knew in my soul that I'd found a clue to the real reason for my torture at the hands of the CIA those months before...

Part 4 - Sightings

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the lovely redheaded MILF from in front of University Hospital at 7:00am, Saturday, April 8th. "We are bringing you coverage of the unexpected power outage that affected the County and parts of the region last night!"

Bettina started up: "Channel Two News has learned that what is being called a 'major malfunction' occurred at the main substation that accepts power from the nuclear power plant in Farmdale County, south of us. Power was lost for over two hours before the problem was found and could be restored. University Hospital, County Airport, and Police Headquarters went onto generator power, and no casualties or injuries are reported."

Bettina went on: "Channel Two News has confirmed through multiple sources that the FBI was contacted by StatePowerCorp. Neither the FBI nor StatePowerCorp will confirm that the power outage may have been the result of a cyber-attack."

Bettina then said "And criminals in this County, beware: sources tell Channel Two News that Police Commander Donald Troy is being released from University Hospital today. The Police Department will not confirm if and when Commander Troy will be returning to full duty."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Okay, Commander," said the lovely black Nurse Jones, "ready for your wheelchair ride out of here?"

"I guess so." I said. "Thanks for... everything." I said, giving her a knowing smile. She gave me a warm smile back.

"Oh that was my pleasure, Commander." Nurse Jones said seductively. "But you and I need to get together more when you're not in the hospital."

"I could not agree more, and we will do so when my back can hold up the hours of work I'll need to satisfy you." I replied.

"Mmmm, looking forward to that." she said. Then Laura and Dr. Morgan came in.

"Okay, everything looks good." said Dr. Morgan. "But if you try to overdo it, you can hurt yourself again, so do what your wife tells you to do."

"Ah, so when did you take up marriage counseling with such good advice, Doctor?" I joked with a smile.

Dr. Morgan chuckled. "I do better putting people's bodies together than putting their marriages back together. Your wife is the expert on that. But really, Don... take it easy." I promised to do so.

"So," I said as Laura opened the door and I wheeled myself into the hall, "who is driving me out of here."

"We are!" said a voice. Coming down the hall was Lt. Tanya Perlman, with FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone in tow. "Well, Jack is. You're going to ride home in my wheelchair-accessible van while I go through my rehab appointment, then the van will come back and get me."

"Sounds like a plan." I said, knowing that Jack Muscone wanted to talk to me.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Daddy!"

Hearing Carole's cry of greeting as I walked on crutches into the Mountain Nest was music to my ears. She came running up, but did not try to tackle my legs like she usually did.

"Hey, Fussbudget." I said. "Let me get seated and I'll give you a biiiig hug! Hey, Little Man!"

"Hey, Daddy!" said little Jim. "Are you okay?" He could see me moving slowly and using the crutches, but did not really understand why.

"I hurt myself, but I'm getting better." I said. "But I have to go slow, so I can't wrestle with you and Buddy, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy!" Jim said, then ran off to play.

"I put a cot with a stiff mattress in the little office room." Laura said. "Or we can pull out the sofa-bed... but it's going to suck to sleep on with that lousy mattress."

"I still have to get upstairs to shower and shave." I said. "So I might as well get some practice with the stairs."

"Only if I'm with you." Laura said. I agreed.

I led the way into the den and went for the wooden rocking chair. It was firm, and it sat a bit higher than the sofas and softer chair in the room. It had also been the rocking chair my mother had sat in and rocked me when I was a baby, and she'd given it to me and Laura when Carole was born.