Reichenbach Ch. 03

The chronological order of my stories is as follows:

Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, The Murdered Football Player Series, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, The Case of the Black Badge series, A Case of Revenge series, Teresa's Summer Race, The Trilogy series, Dark Side Of The Force series, Caught In The Act series, The Phyllis Files 1-2, Case of the Murdered Bride series, The Credit Card Caper series, The Phyllis Files 3, The Hot Wives Investment Club series, Seriously Inconvenienced series, Case of the Paper Trail series, Christmas Mystery Theater, The Porno Set Mystery series, The Medical Murder Mystery series, The Eightfold Fence series, The Phyllis Files 4, Pale Morning Light series, Silverfish series, Cold As Ice series, Secrets of Apple Grove series, Sting of the Scorpion series.

Reichenbach, Ch. 01-03.

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 9 - A Successful Arrest

"Thank you for coming, Don." Susan Wexler said as she came into Room 1822 of the Marriott Grande Hotel on Saturday morning, June 20th. It was a very nice suite, with a living room, a back office room, and a luxurious bedroom suite. I was sitting on a sofa in the front room, and had not gotten up when Susan walked in.

Susan looked good, in a tight dress meant to show off her body, sheer black stockings on her sexy legs, and high heel black pumps. I wondered if she dressed like that to entice me into bed as she said "How are you feeling?"

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." I said. "Henry Wargrave got away from the FBI."

"I'm not surprised." said Susan. "Henry Wargrave is a great man. The FBI is peanuts compared to him. Why they thought they could bring him down, I'll never understand, but I can tell you this: Henry Wargrave will never stand trial for those... 'alleged' crimes."

"I totally agree with you." I said. "But for different reasons. You sound like you're on his side about things." I said.

Susan was staring at me, a peculiar look on her face. "I just know that the FBI has no earthly idea what they're up against. Mark my words, Don... Mr. Wargrave will win and the FBI will be caught flat-footed and looking silly, like they always do."

I said "Wow, sounds like you have no love lost for the Federalés.

"No, I don't." said Wexler. "Those God-damned incompetents are worse than the SBI when it comes to fucking up my cases, not to mention trying to jump in and steal all the glory after we make the bust. Don't tell me you have no problem with them doing that to you, or that it doesn't burn you up when they take the credit."

I smiled. "No... I don't have that problem. And time will tell if you're right about them and Wargrave. So... what do you have on the Cherie Ward case?"

"Just this." Susan said. "It's going nowhere. Your culprit won't be found, and even if he was found, there's no evidence to convict."

"Oh really?" I asked. "How can you be so sure of that? Especially about the other case, Nicole Stanton..."

"Because there is nothing there." Susan said. "I followed the FBI's case, trying to protect my own resource Cherie. As I told you earlier, I believe the FBI's fucked-up investigation of that case led to the exposure of Cherie, and her murder."

"And as I told you, that's not the case." I said. "So really, Susan... why did you bring me here?" Susan smiled, knowing that I was through bullshitting.

"Just to give you this." she said, handing me a DVD in a jewel case. "Do you know what's on that copy, with the original safely hidden away? It's you fucking me in Room 609 the other day."

"I see." I said. "And why are you sharing sex tapes with me, even when it's you and me on the tape? Gonna give it to KSTD?"

"I might." Susan said. "But that's not what's important: the bottom line here is that I told the SBI to drop the case, per the new law you helped write." Susan's face was getting just a bit ugly as she talked. "Apparently the hint didn't get through. So now I'm telling you... walk away from the case, stay away from it... and from helping the FBI's persecution of Mr. Wargrave."

"Ohhhh, I see." I said. "This is his suite. Maybe you or he is recording this right now. And you think blackmailing me to walk away from the case will work?"

"Oh I don't know." Susan said smartly. "If you don't want your wife seeing those hot little movies, and if you don't want your Town Council's members getting a copy of your little 'iron crowbar' in my sweet little pussy, colluding with fellow officers in the most wrongful of ways."

"I do appreciate this video." I said. "I'm sure my wife will enjoy it. You do realize who and what she is, don't you?"

"What do you mean?" Susan warily asked.

"She's a tenured and full Professor of Psychology at the University." I said. "Her focus is sexual studies. She'll probably evaluate this video and grade my performance, but she certainly won't be shocked or worried about it... especially since I told her already that I fucked you. My wife and I have an honest, open marriage."

"I doubt your Town Council will be as open about that." Susan said, but I could see on her face she was getting worried. Her gambit was not working.

"I do have to agree..." I said, "... that Councilman Pastor Westboro, being a Baptist preacher, might take some offense to this. Or who knows, he might enjoy it in secret. But the bottom line, here, Susan... is that nobody really cares if I'm fucking a City Vice cop. In fact, the guys will congratulate me for tapping a hot MILF like yourself, and the women might pretend shock but will secretly be jealous that you got some of what they want."

"Damn, you are arrogant, aren't you?" Wexler snarled. "But you're bluffing. You may think this won't hurt you, but you'll find out that you're wrong when the Media blasts it out all over the place. The Media loves taking down successful people like you; they just love tearing apart those who do good and powerful things. With this... they'll rip you apart in public, they'll take you off your little pedestal. Now you can walk away from the case... or you can endure some pain. I have friends that will make sure you feel the pain, including a former newswoman who knows how to deal with arrogant assholes like you."

"Okay." I said agreeably. "I'll walk away." I went to the door.

Susan looked bewildered. I then said "I'll walk away from this, just as soon as it's over." With that I opened the door, and Jack Muscone and Lindy Linares appeared, followed by a blue crowbar and the woman holding it, Cindy Ross.

I said "Susan Wexler, you are under arrest for the murders of Nicole Stanton and Cherie Ward, both human beings. You have the right to remain silent..." As I recited Susan's considerable legal rights to her, Lindy Linares was affixing the handcuffs to her wrists behind her back, having removed Susan's three handguns from various places on her person...

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

We did not take Susan Wexler to the City Police Headquarters but to the FBI offices in the City, as the Stanton murder was a Federal crime and the Feds had first dibs and the right to keep her. What with the potential corruption in the City Police, as well as Susan Wexler being a very high ranking officer, we knew there was no way we'd let the City P.D. keep her.

We had to wait until 10:00am for her lawyer to arrive, a lawyer that she immediately asked for when she was arrested. Consider me 'not surprised' that it was a lawyer from Gresham & Mason, P.C.; indeed, he was the same legal beagle that had represented Alicia Foster in the Credit Card Caper. Leaving Cindy, Sapper Warren, Robin Ventura and Arthur Wilshire to watch from behind the glass, I followed the U.S. Attorney and Jack Muscone into the interrogation room... and was pleased at the sound as the lawyer groaned at the sight of me.

The U.S. Attorney was the same black man that had been insulted by Tommy Gunn during the Black Badge case. And he was all over this case like white on rice.

"Did Ms. Wexler invoke?" was the first thing he asked.

"Not in my presence." I said. "She only demanded an attorney before any questioning."

Per normal procedures, the U.S. Attorney read Susan her rights, then asked if she understood them. She replied "Go to hell, nigger."

"Well, so much any bail or deals." the man said, getting up. As he left the room, he said, "She's all yours, Commander Troy."

"Okay, Susan," I said. "I'll just lay out the evidence here, so that you and your attorney from Gresham & Mason will understand fully just how deep the hole is that you've dug for yourself."

I began: "First, we have DNA evidence from under Nicole Stanton's fingernails, which I'm willing to bet is going to match your DNA sample we took from you under a physical evidence warrant after arresting you. That alone will put you at the Stanton crime scene.

"Second, while you were meeting me in Room 1822, the FBI and City Internal Affairs were jointly conducting a search of your home under warrants issued by Federal and State Courts, with the City Police Union represented as observers. And they found Nicole Stanton's registered gun, which likely was taken from her purse when she was murdered, but in any case should really not be in your apartment, now should it. We also found the .22 LR semi-automatic pistol that I strongly suspect will match ballistically with the bullet fired into Cherie Ward's head. I must admit I was wrong there; I thought it'd be a .22 Magnum."

I continued: "Third, we have the very interesting case of the credit card. The credit card that Sapper Warren found as 'evidence' was actually created by my FBI friends. The name on it was Cherie Ward, which you would expect to see. But the number on the card... was the number of Nicole Stanton's card that was found at her crime scene."

"So, Susan," I said, "after Sapper gave you and Wilshire that card, you allegedly ran the number and came up with the information on Cherie's card... but with a few changes to your C.I. police record of it. It was suggested in the meeting, which was recorded, that your Lieutenant, James Rogan, was involved in Cherie being a C.I... which directly contradicts what you told myself and Captain Ross at the crime scene. Then Rogan's name appears on that report as the handler of Cherie, and the person who gave her that card. Funny how his name appeared only after it was 'suggested' that Rogan was the mole. But he wasn't, was he Susan?"

"That's entrapment." said Susan's lawyer.

"No sir, it's a sting." I said. "We've got warrants for every part of this, for creating the credit card to how we were going to do the sting. All approved by the judge. Of course, the result is that you gave us the report on Cherie's credit card... after being given Nicole's credit card number. You didn't run the number, you just saw Cherie's name on the card, brought up her report, changed some items to protect the guilty, and gave a false report back to the other officers, as well as City I.A., attempting to implicate an innocent man."

"You'll never prove that." said the lawyer.

"Won't I?" I asked. "Just look through these warrants, Counselor. One of them was to let our undercover agent put software on Susan's computer, software that traces what she did, what apps she brought up, and such. It also records her keystrokes, and all that. We've got her pulling up Cherie's card without typing a number, changing the data on it, then spitting out those false reports. This is rock-solid stuff, Counselor." The legal beagle did not look very happy.

"Last, but not least," I said, "is the circumstantial evidence that will build up, especially in Cherie's case. It was you, Susan, who kept both Rooms 509 and 609 on retainer, but paying Cherie's agency to pay for Room 509. You bugged Room 509 to the hilt, and Cherie was helping you get information, maybe for police business... and maybe to use in criminal enterprises, as well. Rich clients who work in companies that have industrial secrets, maybe."

"Also, I have noticed a certain pattern: one gang operating in each of several zones in the City, and the Police busting all the others that try to come in. Your busts have been spectacular, Susan, but one gang in each area seems to remain untouched." Susan's eyes burned at me as she realized I'd figured that one out.

"So Cherie was your agent, Susan," I said, "and she was a double or triple agent, taking pay from others in exchange for information, as well. She burned the candle from too many ends, and she got burned at the last."

"As to Nicole..." I said. "She wasn't your C.I. directly, but she was on your payroll... as your hedge against your partner in crime, Henry R. Wargrave. He was paying and using Cherie for information, and entrapping men into sexual indiscretions, but you had to make sure he didn't try to burn you. So that was Nicole's role, to watch over Cherie.

"But something went wrong. Maybe she was turned by Michael Burke, and so you had to eliminate Nicole. And then you ultimately had to burn Cherie... permanently... because she was of no further use to you. She was exposed, and while you pretended to continue to use her to get secrets from men, you knew she was increasingly more of a liability than an asset. She was doomed to die, anyway, so maybe you justified it by telling yourself that you made it as painless as possible for her..."

I saw the first slightest emotion in Susan's eyes, other than anger at me, upon that last statement. I decided to pile on.

"By the way," I said, "we didn't just put this together yesterday. We've been watching you for months." I pointed at the one-way glass. A second later, Arthur Wilshire came into the room.

"Captain Wexler," he said, "my name is Special Agent Arthur Wilshire of the FBI. My home office is Boston. I was asked to come in and watch you as a suspect in the Stanton case, as you became a suspect last March. I was the one that tapped your computer lines, so that we could amass evidence on your illegal activities."

"You bastard." Susan said quietly. "Okay, I need to confer with my lawyer." We got up and left the room. It would be over thirty long minutes before they were done privately talking.

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

"What kind of deal will you give my client, in exchange for her truthful answers and possible testimony against others?" the lawyer asked.

"It depends on what she has for us, and who else she can bring to us." said the new U.S. Attorney that had come in, who was white. "Let's hear it."

"Speaking hypothetically?" asked the lawyer.

"No." I said, my voice cutting, interrupting what the U.S. Attorney was trying to make an exclusive discussion with the lawyer. "I don't like that game. Perps always weasel out doing it."

What would happen is that a perp would tell the story 'hypothetically', then the prosecutors could potentially decide to honor a deal offer. The problem was that defense lawyers often backed out of the deal, and then it was impossible to use the perp's statement against themselves.

I said "I have enough to convict her, we don't need her testimony. She can cut a deal and admit to her crimes to take death off the table, but I wouldn't give her anything else."

"What if she's offering you something bigger? Someone bigger?" asked the attorney. Was that a direct enticement to me to get Susan off the hook?

"Now I know you're bullshitting me." I said, then turned to the U.S. Attorney and Jack Muscone. "Guys, if Wexler could give us anything that big, the Gresham & Mason attorneys would never let her do it." The lawyer stared daggers at me, then I saw his face change slightly... as he realized the full import of my emphasis of his firm and their attorneys.

"I'll go further with it." I said. "I don't think Susan will give up the name I want to hear, if she even knows it. Because she'll be dead in 24 hours if she does."

"If you believe that," said the U.S. Attorney, "then she'll be dead in 24 hours if she doesn't." My suspicions about this U.S. Attorney immediately soared, but I held my tongue.

"I'll still fight for State murder charges for Cherie and the death penalty, no matter what you do on behalf of the Feds." I said to the U.S. Attorney.

"Let's talk outside." said the U.S. Attorney. Once in the hallway, he lit into me.

"What the fuck are you trying to do?" he snarled at me. "We can cut a deal, get the names of a lot of other dirty cops in City P.D. for them to clean up. We can interdict these drug gangs. And last but not least, we've got DNA for Stanton, but nothing for Cherie."

"Except the gun that killed Cherie found in her home." I said acidly. "That's more than enough. And let me tell you this: She will only give you the names she wants to, not the ones you really need to hear, and then you'll later realize you have nothing and it'll be too late. You, sir, have no way of knowing if what she's telling you 'hypothetically' is worth a shit or not. I do. But I'm not going to play that game. Let her sweat. If she doesn't come correct, then she goes down for Murder-1 in this State."

"That's not your decision to make." the U.S. Attorney tried.

"Yes it is." I said. "I represent the SBI on this case. It's my call to make on the State murder charges until I hand it over to the District Attorney for this region of the City. You, sir, have no idea who you are dealing with. I do. Either you follow my lead, or we just won't be on the same page."

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

I had the good fortune that Jack Muscone was taking my side, therefore his boss was taking my side, in the argument with the U.S. Attorney. The black U.S. Attorney also wanted no deals for Susan, which was understandable after what she'd called him. Jack's boss brought me in for a private talk.

"You think Wexler knows something about Superior Bloodlines?" he asked, after I'd told him of my suspicions of the white U.S. Attorney, as well as pointing out that Gresham & Mason had rushed to Wexler's defense.

"I don't know." I said. "On the one hand, her pattern is exactly like Harold Malone's: setting up exclusive drug distribution rights in a zone, using the Police to bust any others; and, of course, she called the U.S. Attorney a 'nigger'. But how much she knows about Superior Bloodlines? That, I don't know... and you won't get that out of her unless you do know. I think she's been working with Wargrave, and maybe with our Consultant of Crime. It's his name I'm angling to get from her. If she has something on him, we can bust his chops and then I can start working with you on the Bloodlines group."

"All right." he said. "But get something, and soon. Even I can't keep the U.S. Attorney from winning this one if the DOJ backs him up. And you may be right about that U.S. Attorney: with all the moles infesting every level of our organizations, there is no telling who is honest, who is corrupt, and what might happen."

Just then I got a phone call... from Val Jared, Governor of the State.

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

At 2:30pm, Susan's lawyer asked us back into the Interrogation room. She was in a holding cell, having been taken there for lunch, and he was taking the opportunity to negotiate with us.