Power Ch. 03

"So there was sex. Drinking?" I asked.

"Oh, sure. And we popped pills every once in a while, though those were harder to come by." said Leonard.

"What did they teach you there?"

"Aw, it was typical remedial high school shit." said Leonard. "Nobody paid attention, no homework got done. We didn't fucking care, and neither did the staff. Everyone just wanted to get laid."

"So the program didn't work? Nobody tried to do well?"

"Oh, sure, there were some kids that played it straight." said Leonard. "But they were scared of the rest of us. They had their own cabins, locked the doors, all that stuff."

"Did they do any tests on you guys?" I asked. "Psychological tests, blood tests? Did they test any drugs on you?"

"We had questionnaires, talked with the counselors from the college." said Lotz. "But no, they didn't do any blood work or drug testing on us, unless they were putting something in our food without us knowing it."

"You think they did put something in your food?"

"No." said Leonard. "It wasn't Yarborough's style. He wanted his methods to work without having to drug us up."

"Did you know a guy named George Aurus?" I asked.

"Ohhhh... yeah... Aurus." Leonard said. "The fucking midget."

"What can you tell me about him?"

"Like I said, we mostly left the nerd kids alone." said Leonard. "Plenty of pussy being given out for free, and they were begging us guys to fuck them. But George... he's the one that everyone picked on. Now I'm no fag; I haven't even gotten my cherry popped in prison in all my time here and there. But there were a couple of guys that wanted another guy, and they got tired of each other... well, I heard they helped themselves to little George."

"Did he participate in sex with the girls?"

"Oh hell no." said Leonard. "In fact, Dr. Yarborough had George sit in while a couple was fucking in front of them. But the teachers wouldn't fuck George. They teased him. But Yarborough seemed to like the dwarf. Kept talking to George about empowering himself. George just listened, but he was in no position to empower himself among that group of thugs, tough girls, and the rest of the shit eaters."

"And I guess you never heard of George again after you left?" I asked. "Or from him?"

"I heard he went to the Circus, which went bankrupt." Leonard said. "But otherwise, no... unless he's this Black Velvet Killer you're chasing." Astute man, Leonard was.

"Think George is capable of something like that?" I asked.

"Maybe. I dunno." said Leonard. "I'm a bank robber, I've never killed anyone. But if my back was to the wall? Well, you know what that's like, Commander. Your back has been to the wall, and you did what you had to do."

"True enough." I said. "So let me ask: has anyone else asked you about George? Especially recently?"

"No." said Leonard. "I was told last night that someone was going to interview me this morning, but it took you until now to show up."

"Wasn't me that asked for that morning appointment." I said. "Okay, Leonard, thanks. If you need a small favor that I can help arrange, get word to me."

"Put me in a cell with that 'Silverfish' guy you caught." said Leonard. "I could learn a few things about robbing banks from him."

"By the time you get out of here," I said, "you'll be too old to rob banks."

"We'll see about that." said Leonard. "I'm pretty good at prison breaks. But I'll make you this deal, Mr. Iron Crowbar... I won't go anywhere near your County. I don't want to end up like Silverfish did..."

Part 11 - Power of Thought

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF from in front of the State Office Building on Courthouse Square at 7:00am, Friday, February 24th. "Channel Two News has learned that the SBI has found a crime scene that might be the location where the Black Velvet Killer murdered several men and women!"

"The location is west of the City, near an old, abandoned sanitarium." Bettina continued. "Sources tell Channel Two News that the crime scene was found underground. Several bodies related to the Black Velvet killings have been found in that area. The SBI did not give any further details when contacted. The sanitarium itself was closed many years ago, when all of its patients were moved to the State Hospital for Mental Diseases in Coltrane County. That facility is now a standard men's prison."

"And in other news," said Bettina, "lawyers for Citizens for Police Accountability, Jay Swenson and Ken Eidex, filed a complaint with the SBI Office of Ethics and Review, saying that Commander Donald Troy and the Town & County Police failed to give Wayne LaCroix adequate protection while he was out on bail, which led to LaCroix's murder at the hands of unknown perpetrators. In dismissing the complaint, SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell said that the ankle monitor LaCroix was wearing had been tampered with, and that the Police have no obligation to guard any suspect unless they're actually in jail..."

"Funny how Bettina didn't mention your name, sir." said Joanne Warner as we drank our coffee in MCD.

"And she's using your good work to make the SBI sound good, sir." said Theo Washington.

"Yep." I said. "But the day, for her to pay, is on its way."

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

"It's ready, sir." said Captain of Operations Teresa Croyle. "The raids will start at around 10:00pm. Early enough to catch most of the working girls still at the clubs. We concentrating on the Tenderloin District." She outlined the full plan for me.

We were in my office, and this was the 'Angels' meeting.

"The Detectives are ready to question the suspects once they're brought in and booked." said Cindy. "Are we doing this at County Jail, or the Old Mill?"

"The Old Mill." I said. "They've got some extra room that Captain Thompson has long had plans for to use for mass processing, like when making arrests during riots."

"Sir, is your original plan, to let girls go that cooperate with our questioning, still in place?" Cindy asked.

"Yeah, I think so." I said. "But one thing I'm going to tell the Detectives: if they think a girl or boy knows something really big, they need to get her or him in front of me for some... follow-up questions." They nodded.

After some more discussion, I then said: "Ladies, I need to hash through something, and I would like to use you as sounding boards. Speak freely, and nothing is off the table, except using my name in vain." They both nodded.

"The issue is the Black Velvet Killer." I said. "We need to find him, and quickly. Any ideas at all where he might be?"

"Hiding in the Asylum, like Ned did?" asked Cindy. "I was going to say that jokingly, but you know... it may be a real possibility."

"Yes, that's very true." I said. "I was also thinking he could hide in other facilities the same way: hospitals, and the like. Any other ideas?"

"Sir," Teresa said, "the man is only four feet tall, if that. He can't hide that at all, unless he's walking on stilts or something."

"True." I said. "And that may be our trump card in finding him."

"He has to have a money source, sir. A job, welfare, or something." said Cindy. "But the Mouseketeers have been unable to find anything. They've also looked for possible aliases using 'George', 'Power', 'Aurus', or 'Gold'. It's a needle-in-a-haystack search, sir, and so far they've found nothing."

"Yes... money." I said. "The only source of true power outside of a gun. Hmmm, he could've blackmailed someone for money, and we just haven't found that victim yet."

"Government assistance, sir?" asked Teresa.

"He has to have a name in order to get that." I said. "And an address or mailbox."

After a moment of thought, I said "So what would you do, if you were me? Put out an APB? Go to the Press?"

"I'd bring in Chaplain Steven Ikea of the SBI, and have him pray for you." Cindy said. That earned her a red crowbar being waved in her general direction.

"Seriously," Cindy said, "if you put out an APB, chances are he'll find out and he'll disappear. If you go to the Press, he'll see it, but so will everyone else... and people will be remembering seeing a four-foot-tall man. You'll get a ton of leads that won't be him, but you might get that one that is."

"And as I was saying earlier, sir," continued Cindy, "I'm thinking that this is almost a repeat of they way Ned was eluding us all those years ago. He either has someone hiding him and feeding him, or he has some kind of job that gives him access to food and a place to stay, and therefore not be seen."

I just nodded. "Okay." I finally said after thinking about it. "Cindy, ask the Mouseketeers to try to find out where people from that defunct Circus went to. If any are in the City area, or anywhere in the northern part of this State, let me know. And I'll decide tonight if I want to go to the Press about this. If I do, it'll be Priya I go to, and I might ask you to arrange that meeting, Cindy. Okay, you two have work to do, so I won't keep you any longer." Taking that as the dismissal it was, my Angels left my office.

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

I spent the day getting my paperwork and reports done on everything about all these cases to this point. The 'mothballs' case was closed as having been taken over by the FBI, and all paperwork on that was now officially classified by the Federal Government. The murders of Terry Schultz and Jeanine Burke were closed as being the work of the now-deceased Jeff Fuqua. There may have been someone else involved in Jeanine's killing, but it would have to be on the back burner for now.

That left open the murders of Wayne LaCroix and Jeff Fuqua, Michael Burke, and the Black Velvet serial killings. And while the Frozen Mothballs case might be officially closed, I still wanted to know what the answers were. Oh... and there was the case of the sniper that shot out Moe Molinari's window while my hat was sitting on my crowbar in front of it, after seeing the laser dot sight... the... laser... dot... sight...

As the sun was beginning to set, I sat back in my Command Chair and looked out the window, which faced south, seeing to the right the dying sun and the Fairgrounds behind the parking lot. I began thinking about the Black Velvet serial killer. Where are you, George Aurus? Where can you possibly be hiding?

Some bodies were found around the sanitarium, and the killing chamber was also found near there. All of the dead had come from the City or near it... until Lenora Holmes and Rob Dortmund... they were found in Nextdoor County... they'd disappeared from the Lakeside Inn & Suites... near where that burner call had come from...

Nextdoor County... that has to be it, I thought to myself. The bastard is moving west, he's coming towards my County... towards me.

There was a knock on my door, breaking my reverie. As I turned, Teresa Croyle opened the door and looked in.

"Commander," she said, "they're assembling for the raids. Is it a 'Go'?"

"Yes." I said, making the final decision. "It's a 'Go'. Make it so, Number One."

Part 12 - Police Power

At 10:15pm, Friday, February 24th, Cindy and I headed out in my Police SUV for the Old Mill, which was the Headquarters for Precinct Two. We'd waited until the raids had started, as that one little bit of extra precaution in case someone was watching my vehicle.

"No drones, except ours." said Cindy as she looked at her iPad, which had apps to trace drones. One of those apps was the standard Police app. The other was her private app from her father, and I need not say it was vastly superior in its capabilities.

"Good." I said as I listened to the chatter on the Police radio. "Looks like this thing is going well." The raids had just begun, and the simultaneous, coordinated hits on a number of strip joints and bars where prostitutes were known to be were extremely effective. Paddywagons were filling up quickly.

We arrived and parked in the employees parking lot, then went inside. The Duty Desk was in good shape and its officers were performing their duties efficiently. The Sergeant was going to have the Desk Patrolman escort us to Ppt. Thompson's office, but I countermanded that, saying that they were busy and we could find our way.

"They're being processed now, sir." said PCpt. Thompson as we came to his office. We watched on the television monitors. The arrested suspects were being put into a large holding cell, then taken in groups to be booked, photographed and fingerprinted. Then they were put in a room with chairs and told to stay in the order they were in.

Some minutes later, as nearly all the raids were finishing up and suspects were in the house, trouble began. One young woman began demanding to be released, saying she and the others were being unlawfully detained... and she was citing the correct sections of the State Code. The other women within her hearing began applauding, then demanding their rights.

"Okay," I said, "I need to go nip this in the bud. Care to come along, Captain?"

"Would not miss it." Cindy said. With that, we went downstairs and to the holding area.

The noise and shouting in the room suddenly ceased when Cindy and I walked in. I studied the young woman who had started the trouble. She was college-age, fairly plain-faced, wore glasses, and her body was decent now but would one day not be able to hide the weight she would gain; her thighs were already beginning that accumulation process.

"Take her through booking next." I said to Patrolman Morton. "Then bring her to Interrogation-1."

"I demand a lawyer!" the woman shouted, for the umpteenth time. "I demand you respect my rights."

"The fact you're able to speak right now shows that I am doing that." I replied. I gestured to Morton, who took the woman to booking. The rest of the women began shouting, and it was pandemonium.

*CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!*

The red crowbar raked across the iron bars, then I held it up. Things quietened down.

"Ladies!" I said loudly. "Cooperate and go through the line, and you'll be out of here by morning. What that young lady failed to mention is that I can hold you for 72 hours before giving you your Court hearing, if I want to. That's three days where you are in here, not making any money, nobody knowing where you are. Work with me, and you'll be out soon. Keep irritating me, and it'll be a long few days."

Not another word was said in the silence of the chamber, and I would have no more trouble tonight.

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

"Okay." I said as I sat down across from the young woman in the Interrogation Room. "Eileen Brandon. Law student at the University. Originally from the City, moved here last year. Money from your parents and from State tuition grants, no problems there, no debts. So, Ms. Brandon... why were you in in the 'Strokers' strip club tonight?"

"I want a lawyer." Eileen said. "I will answer none of your questions without legal representation."

"And you'll get that representation... sometime before your arraignment in 72 hours." I said. "If you were cooperating, you'd be out of here in two hours, but since you're not... we'll play this strictly by the legal book." I proceeded to read Eileen her Constitutional rights, then said "You are charged with resisting arrest, which you did at the club; and inciting to riot, which is what I saw happen in that holding cell tonight."

"That's bullshit!" Eileen yelled. "I was demanding my rights! That's a false charge!"

"And you'll be able to plead 'not guilty' to it at your hearing." I said. "And while all that is going on, I'll be filing paperwork with the University's Ethics Office related to these charges. You'll be considered for expulsion from the University. And believe me, Eileen, I can make that happen. I can call the University President right now, and he will take my call. And my wife is a professor at the University; after she's done with you, you'll have no shot to graduate, nor transfer with credits."

"You fucking bastard!" Eileen snarled.

"So..." I said, "you've pretty much invoked. I can't ask you why you were at Strokers tonight, and why you're working the pole and being friendly with the clients, when you should be studying in the law library."

I got up. "Okay, put her in the 72-hour holding cell. Like I said, we're going to run the full charges against her. I'll see you at your trial, Eileen." I turned to go, Cindy getting up and following.

"Wait." Eileen said. "What the fuck do you want?"

I just shook my head. "At this point, nothing... but a conviction... and your expulsion from School." I said. I turned to go again, seeing the now-scared young woman trying desperately to think of a solution to her considerable problems.

"Okay, okay." the woman said. I was sorely, sorely tempted to walk on out of the room. But I knew that I had this fish landed, and I needed the information she had. I returned to the table.

"Do you waive your right to silence and your right to counsel?" I asked, making sure to avoid any legal trap she might be setting... and also to make sure she was well aware of the consequences of her next action.

"Yes." she said. "What do you want to know?"

"You don't need the money." I said. "So why are you pretending to be a working girl?"

"It was just for tonight." Eileen said. "We knew you were coming, so I went down there to make sure I was arrested with the other girls."

"You knew we were going to make the raid tonight?" I asked.

"Yes." said Eileen. "And I wanted to be there to get arrested, then tell the girls their rights and push back against you cops on their behalf."

"Why didn't you just come in the front door and say you were representing all those that were arrested?" Cindy asked. "That would've been more effective, legally."

"I'll keep that in mind." Eileen said. "But I did it the way I did in the hopes your cops would exercise police brutality and give us a better case to sue you."

"Who is the 'we' you're talking about?" I asked.

"Ken Eidex and Jay Swenson." Eileen said, without hesitation I might add.

"And Mr. Eidex and Mr.... Swenson..." I said, pretending to write the names down, "why are they so interested in a bunch of prostitutes being arrested? Why did they send you to be arrested with the girls?"

"They didn't tell me why." said Eileen. "They just said they'd pay me to do it, and they paid me half already. So I did. And you really are violating those women's rights."

"Except you don't know the whole story." I said. "Law students like you should be learning, instead of thinking you know it all and making huge mistakes."

"Go fuck yourself." Eileen snarled. Cindy just shook her head in mock sadness.

"So how did you know we were going to make our raid tonight?" I asked.

"Mr. Swenson told me." Eileen said. "I don't know anything further."

"Where were you around February 13th to the 15th?" I asked.

"Here." Eileen said. "In school."

"All right." I said. "You get to stay here until we're finished processing all the girls or until the sun rises, whichever comes first." With that, I got up and left the room. Eileen was destined for a cell for the next few hours.

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

Several rooms were set up for interrogations, complete with portable cameras and audio gear. I had five Detectives at work: Teddy Parker, Theo Washington, Roy McGhillie, Christopher Purvis, and Timothy Geiger. And those Detectives did a very good job implementing their instructions from me.

First, the Detective would say "Before I read you your rights, let me just tell you this: all we want to do is ask some questions. Cooperate, and you get to walk out of here and go home. No court date, no fine, no nothing; you walk. If you don't work with us, though, we'll go through the whole nine yards: 72 hours in holding, arraignment, probably a fine of several hundred dollars. And the questions... consider them 'hypotheticals', off the record, no self-incrimination from them."