Power Ch. 03

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Opposing forces wield power against each other.
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Part 3 of the 7 part series

Updated 06/08/2023
Created 04/11/2017
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This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is now listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

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 10 - Power of Evidence

Thursday morning, February 23d...

I called the Westphalia State Crime Lab to send a full team. I called State Patrolmen from the City and from Nextdoor County. I called the City Police and alerted Sapper Warren and Robin Ventura of where we were and what was going on. And only when I had these reinforcements did I call the local county Sheriff.

"My God." he said as he looked around the room. The Crime Lab had set up klieg lights, which illuminated the room to the extent that dark gray walls could be illuminated, and were working on evidence collection. "Why didn't you call me first, Inspector?"

"No disrespect intended, Sheriff." I said. "You guys don't have enough people to secure a scene this massive." The entire sanitarium grounds was now crawling with various LEOs.

There were a couple of other rooms to the left and right of the death chamber. One looked lived in, like a bedroom and living room, but no clothes were present. The other was storage for a lot of junk, but I did see that there was some videocamera equipment.

There were no tunnels directly to the sanitarium building itself, at least none anyone could find even with the best of sonar equipment... which was brought in by Tanya Perlman's State Crime Lab, who were working in tandem with Westphalia's crew.

"Someone was up here the other night." said the Sheriff. "We found a tracking device. The FBI said it was one of theirs, but wouldn't say who they were tracking. They said it was probably thrown over the fence to confuse us. Now you guys have found a crime scene underneath the place, and I'm the last person you called. I see now why the SBI is so distrusted. So what's going on here, Commander Troy?"

"Multiple murders in multiple jurisdictions." I said. "Serial killer. And speaking of the FBI, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back outside to call them now." I suited the deed to the word. Once outside I walked up to where the Black Beauty was. Hugh and Cindy were at the car. Norm Chow was near the storm drain entrance, talking to a couple of State Patrolmen.

I called Jack Muscone on my Police cellphone and told him what we'd found. He said he would come right over. While we waited, I called Chief Moynahan and told him what was up. Then I called Laura and told her.

Thirty minutes later, Jack Muscone, Martin Nash, and Lindy Linares arrived. They went inside and looked around, then came back out.

"Great job, guys." Jack said. "Assuming this is George Aurus, where do you think he is now?"

"No idea." I said. "Where's Les Craig?"

"No idea." said Muscone. "I just went and got Martin and Lindy and took off. Called my boss on the phone while we were driving here... oh, speak of the devil, there he is."

Sure enough, FBI Special Agent in Charge Les Craig had pulled up on the road above us, and was making his way down the hillside. I noticed that he first went to the Sheriff, who was at the entrance. I looked over at Cindy, who nodded back to me. Then I went and got my crowbar out of the Black Beauty, and headed up the road towards the gaggle of LEOs.

"Well, Commander Troy," said Craig as I came up to him and the Sheriff. "What's going on?"

"If you'll come with me," I said, "I'll show you the crime scene." I led the way back down the tunnel, with Craig, the Sheriff, and Jack Muscone following. The Crime Lab people were finishing up, and rolling trays of evidence were coming down the big concrete pipe.

Craig looked around the main room. "Think this guy kept multiple people here at one time?"

"I don't know." I said. "It's very possible, though."

"Sheriff," Craig said, "the FBI would like to assist you in your investigation of this matter. That's the nice way of saying we'd like to take over the investigation."

"Not my call, Mr. Craig." said the Sheriff. "SBI Inspector Troy has claimed jurisdiction. I thought the SBI was supposed to be taking a supporting role from now on. Guess I was wrong."

"No, Sheriff." I said. "We're assisting you, and when we catch the bastard he will be yours to prosecute, if you want. However, I took jurisdiction specifically so that it could not be given away to the FBI... which has no prurient interest here in investigating the State crime of murder. Unless you can show these killings cross State lines, Mr. Craig?" I saw Les Craig's eyes narrow as he peered at me.

"Don't trust us, Commander?" Craig said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Do you want the truth?" I replied. "Or do you want me to tell you what you want to hear?"

Craig had heard enough. "I'll be in touch, Sheriff." he said. The Sheriff nodded to him in a friendly fashion. Craig stalked off.

"Let's go talk outside." I said to Muscone.

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

"Just between you, me, and this pine forest, Jack," I said, "Les Craig was seen having lunch with KXTC reporter Bettina Wurtzburg yesterday."

"I know." said Jack. "My team does not know, and I did not tell my boss. But I have friends here and there, as you do. Craig has met Wurtzburg at least three times in the past couple of weeks."

"Interesting." I said. SBI Agent Norm Chow came up to us. "SBI Agent Norm Chow, do you know FBI Agent Jack Muscone?"

"Yes sir, we've met." said Chow. They shook hands. "Good to see you again, sir."

"And you." said Muscone. "I might have known the Iron Crowbar would corral you into working with him. He has a knack of picking out the very best people."

"I'm glad for the chance to work with him." said Chow. "Every time I do, things get exciting. First the Sharples case in Hamilton County, and now this."

I chuckled. "And the party never stops. You ready to go, Norm?"

"Yes sir." said Chow. Cindy was already behind the wheel of the Black Beauty, and Hugh was in the backseat. I got into the shotgun seat, and Chow got in behind me.

"I'll talk to you soon, Jack." I said as Cindy gunned the engine.

"Stay out of trouble." replied Muscone. He waved to us as we drove out.

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

"Where to, Commander?" Cindy asked as we made our way back to the highway.

"How about the Hillside Diner in Nextdoor County." I said. "Late breakfast on me."

As we drove along, I said "Norm, Hugh, what did the local LEOs have to say? Especially about the SBI."

"I talked to some of them." said Hugh. "For the most part, they're just doing their jobs, like our Patrol Officers do. They knew you were the Iron Crowbar, Commander, and they didn't seem to have any problem with us being there. I did overhear the Sheriff bitching about the SBI presence. One of the Deputies said he thought the Sheriff was hoping to bust the serial killer himself, and use that to move up the ladder, maybe a job with the SDOJ or the SBI leadership."

"Chow, how do you know Jack Muscone?" I asked.

"Met him several times at Law Enforcement seminars and security briefings." said Chow.

"Do you know Les Craig?" I asked.

"I know him." Chow said, the inflection of his voice showing a lack of approval. "Heard some rumors about him, too. He was the FBI's point man in Southport against Organized Crime. He was always trying to make a big bust so he could move up the ladder, but he never did. If he were a baseball player, he'd have been sent to the Minors for remedial instruction. And he screwed up some of our operations, too. Of course they're ignoring that, and applying the Peter Principle to him."

"Limitlessly ambitious, he is." I said. "By the way, Cindy, did you get the GPS logs?"

Cindy smiled and held up a mini-laptop computer. "Sure did. Myron's favorite toy."

"What that?" asked Chow, interest appearing on his normally placid, emotionless face.

"I took Les Craig down the tunnel for one reason." I said. "So that Captain Ross could download his GPS logs from his car. This device isn't much of a computer, but it's dedicated to downloading GPS logs from cars, then we can hook it up to our servers and download that data."

"By the way... how did Craig know about the crime scene?" Cindy asked. "Martin was helping me download the data, and he told me that Jack did not call Craig."

"I think that Sheriff called Les Craig in." I said. "And I'm not saying anything sinister, here. That Sheriff mentioned that an FBI tracking device was found at the sanitarium; ergo, he probably has been in contact with Craig before, so he called him. That's one reason I called him in only after I had some State Patrol there for our protection, and the Crime Lab to actually get some evidence, of course."

I don't think anyone was fooled by my commentary, but I continued: "So the Sheriff called Craig just as soon as he, the Sheriff, found out. Now I didn't call Jack until well after I'd called the Sheriff, but Jack and his team got there well before Craig... and what do you deduce from that, Mr. Hewitt?"

"He had to have come from a lot farther away." said Hugh.

"Yes, exactly." I said. "And I'm curious about that, so I took the liberty of having Captain Ross download Craig's GPS data."

"No wonder you get the results you do, Commander." said Chow in his dead flat, dispassionate voice. Cindy grinned.

Part 10 - Power of Experiences

The food at the Hillside Diner was delicious, and we ate ravenously. When we were done, I called the Nextdoor County Police Department to let them know we were stopping by.

Once there, I introduced Agent Chow to Lt. Molly Evans. He looked back and forth between her and Cindy several times. He really is good, I thought happily to myself. Then I introduced the NCPD Chief, Lt. Paul Price, and Detective German.

"We came by," I said as we sat in the conference room, "to let you guys know we found a crime scene that fits the Black Velvet Killer." I explained the details.

"That's great news!" said the Chief enthusiastically. "If you make an arrest, let us know and we'll put in an extradition request. I know we'll be fighting a lot of others, but we want to make damn sure we get our shot at him." I nodded.

"So you don't think this has anything to do with the Walnut Prep situation?" asked Lt. Price.

"Well, it may, in its own weird way." I said. "We'll get more of the details to you, but the perp appears to be one deranged and seriously fucked up person. It's complicated."

"But not to the Iron Crowbar." Molly said, her eyes looking as flirtatious as her voice sounded.

"Oh, definitely to me." I said. "I still have a long way to go to untangle the mess. And we'll keep you in the loop as we go along."

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

Back at TCPD Headquarters, Cindy gave Agent Chow a tour of our Headquarters building as I had Myron Milton, and only Myron Milton, come to my office.

"Myron," I said, handing him the small computer. "This GPS data was taken without a warrant... from an FBI Agent's car."

"Understood, sir." said Myron. "You'll get a redacted report soon, and no one will ever see this data on our Police servers."

"Well, save it somewhere safe." I said. "In spite of the inadmissibility, it may be probable cause for more warrants in the future. But just make sure we don't get cold-busted for having it in the first place."

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

"Well, seems that Mr. Craig spent last night at the apartment of Bettina Wurtzburg." I said to Cindy as we looked at the report Myron had provided.

"We missed the morning broadcast." Cindy said. "Joanne told me that Bettina looked like she'd gotten laid."

I chuckled. "Les Craig didn't look quite as relaxed today. Let's see... mostly around the City... trip to Nextdoor County, our County, drove around the University... Bettina's home... hmmm... this morning he took the road around the mountain, the one passing right beneath the Cabin. Didn't stop, though."

Cindy continued, "Then he went south, into Coltrane County... he was approaching The Asylum when he turned around, went up to the County Road that goes north of The Asylum, then over to State 142 through Nextdoor County to the main highway... and then up to the sanitarium."

"So, Green Crowbar," I said, "what is your evaluation of everything we learned today?"

Cindy said "I think that storm drain is anything but. It was put there years ago. I suspect that sanitarium patients were taken there and experimented upon. If it is at all like the Asylum was, women were probably taken into those tunnels or somewhere else to be raped."

"Some males might've been taken down there to be sodomized, as well." I said. "I'll go you one further, too. That Federal Installation up there... not all that far away. So maybe a truck or van is loaded up with sanitarium patients, they are driven out of there via that pipe without being seen, driven on up to the Federal Installation, experiments done upon them, then they're returned to the sanitarium."

"The way that whole thing was built, from the sheds to the labyrinth to the big concrete pipe..." Cindy said, nodding her head, "... that does sound like something the Government could and would do. Having said that, we don't know if that Federal facility was used for medical reasons, for lack of a better term."

"If not something like that," I asked, "what do you think that facility was for, and is being used for now?"

"Word is that they were doing nuclear materials research in the 1950s." Cindy said. "I think it's something related to that."

"I was thinking upon similar lines." I said. "Nuclear medicine is a field that has been limited but is growing. Things like Theraseed to combat prostate cancer without a major operation, for example. It has occurred to me that the CIA could've done experiments using radioactive drugs on some of the sanitarium inmates."

"So why classify the place so highly now?" Cindy asked.

"That's the Government for you." I said. "They try to have their cake and eat it, too. They try to not destroy what they've done, but don't want it being found out. The other possibility is that that facility is now being used for something else entirely now... and not necessarily for the good of the American People."

After some more talk, Cindy left. I called Myron. "Myron," I said, "I made a mistake telling you to preserve that GPS data. Go ahead and obliterate any possible trace of it, or that we had it at all." Myron happily agreed to do so.

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

At 10:30am, still Thursday, February 23d, I received a phone call. "It doesn't matter who I am." said the caller, whose voice was digitized. "I called to tell you that an inmate at The Asylum was a patient at the Millwakee Camp when he was high school age. His name is Leonard Lotz." The line disconnected before I had a chance to say a word.

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

"It's a burner." said Myron. "This County's Wal-Mart must sell those by the pallet-load."

"The voice is digitized." said Mary. "There is a new program out there that analyzes digital voice patterns. It says the caller was a man, and was breathing heavily as if he'd exerted himself."

I nodded. "From where did the phone ping?" I asked.

"Nextdoor County." said Myron. "Just up Reservoir Drive from the Lakeside Inn & Suites, sir." I remembered that Reservoir Drive was to Nextdoor County what Reservoir Road was to our County. "Then it stopped pinging altogether. I suspect pieces of it are in Lake Reservoir right now."

"Probably." I said. "Can you get an idea of the lot number of the phone from its phone number?"

"Yes, and we've done that." said Mary.

"Y'all are too good." I said. "I was going to have a Detective do it just to get some practice. So have one of them try to trace that lot of phones. Okay... what about Leonard Lotz."

"He's a piece of work." said Myron. "Forty-eight years old. Ten years into a sentence for armed robbery. He's considered a nutcase, and was sent to The Asylum for his sentence so he could be evaluated. As you know, sir, The Asylum kept people like him whether he needed treatment or not. He's described as very cold and calculating. He was an expert bank robber, and it was his partner, who is a meathead, that fucked them both up."

"I see." I said. "And he was at Millwakee?"

"He was in the Juvie system in the City at that time." said Mary. "That's all I could get without hacking them."

"All right." I said. "Good stuff, great work as usual. Y'all can go."

I called Cindy into my office. "Cindy, I am going to The Asylum to interview someone. You'll hold down the fort here... and be ready and able to respond if I don't walk out of there for any reason. Has Chow left yet?"

"He's at the State Crime Lab, sir." said Cindy. "Tanya is giving him a tour of the facility. Nothing about him suggests him having been a CSI or tech before."

"Probably not." I said. "While he observes the Crime Lab, Tanya will be observing him. And her observations will make their way to my email inbox, and Jack's ears through whispers." Cindy laughed.

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

1:30pm, still Feb 23d. "All right, what's this about?" said Leonard Lotz as he was brought into the interview room and handcuffed to the table. Lotz had shaved his black hair; only stubble was on top. He looked like a typical prisoner: medium build, slightly taller than average, in shape. His voice was perpetually sardonic, and I could tell in his dark eyes that he had plenty of cunning behind them.

With me was SBI Agent Norm Chow and Lt. Paul Price from Nextdoor County. In my Police SUV were Detective Roy McGhillie and Detective Sergeant Hugh Hewitt. Outside the gate, in a Police Cruiser, were two TCPD SWAT Team members.

The Asylum had gotten a facelift and some new office buildings, but it was still as forbidding as I ever remembered it. I remembered the raid that rescued Phil Kearns, and I remembered my dream of being in The Asylum while I was under Casey B. Walker's torture. I felt very cold inside.

"It's hard to do any Christmas shopping for you, Leonard." I said. "You don't smoke, you never were a drinker, you got no family we can arrange a visit with."

"I got a sister out there, somewhere." said Lotz. "If she's smart, she wants no part of me."

"Yeah, I've got that kind of a sister myself." I said. "What I want to ask you about is your time at the Millwakee Camp with Dr. Yarborough."

"Oh yeah. That." said Lotz. "That was an... interesting place. Wish this place was a bit more like it."

"What was it like?" I asked.

"It was like any rehab camp, I guess." said Lotz. "Yarborough was a fucking nut, though. Let us have free roam of the place. They practiced what they called 'empowerment'. Well, we were empowered, all right. We'd hook up with the girls, even though we weren't supposed to be in their cabin. I got laid more while I was there than any other time in my life."

"Yarborough knew about it?"

"Hell yeah... and he'd have people in his cabin, watching them fuck while he jacked off. Called me in one time, and one of the female counselors was there. She was in her twenties, thought she was going to change the world. She fucked my balls off while that old coot watched."

"So you could walk out of that camp any time you liked?" I asked.

"Yeah, and some girls did escape." said Leonard. "They probably became hookers somewhere, but even that would've been better than if they'd been sent home to their drunk fathers to get raped every night. The staff always covered up for the escapes, said the girls were sent back to regular jail. But we knew."