The Hot Date Mystery Ch. 02

"So how did you derive Ms. Schultz's intent?" asked the Judge. I explained about the website as well as the entries found on Ms. Schultz's computer.

"Okay." said the Judge. "Ms. Patterson, you will have to make a much more solid connection if any of this ever gets to trial. But that level of proof is not necessarily needed just to obtain warrants. So, Commander, if I grant the warrants, what will you specifically be looking for?"

"Motive, means, and opportunity, Your Honor." I replied. "We, meaning the Police, are developing leads that the murder may have been a professional hit upon Ms. Shultz. We want to look into the finances of these men for any abnormalities. We also would like to read their emails and cellphone text records where possible, to see if they did us the favor of spelling out their intent to harm Ms. Schultz."

The Judge pored over the data for several long minutes. He then asked "What were the numbers of divorce filings versus the number of cases you have here... some forty or so of them?"

"I believe that twelve of fourteen 'red flags' ended up in divorce filings, sir." I said. "Six of sixteen 'yellow flags' led to divorce, and only one of ten 'green flags', that being Dr. Robin Grayson. He was involved in some of our previous cases months ago, but is not a prime suspect at this time."

"Okay." said the Judge. "What I think I am going to do is allow warrants for any of these people for whom a petition for divorce was actually filed with the Courts. Additionally, I'll allow warrants for all those listed as 'red flags', men and women. For the rest of them, you'll need to show more before I grant the intrusion into their lives, or if all the 'red flags' don't come to anything."

As that was the best I was going to get, I said "Thank you, Your Honor."

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

Back at Headquarters, I first went to check on Teresa. She was sitting at her desk.

"Nothing in the trash cans." I said. "So you're not getting sick any more?"

"They gave me some medicine for nausea." said Teresa. "It's working pretty well today. Can't say that for yesterday."

"I'll bet." I said. "When I leave this room, lock the door behind me and lie down on the sofa. Sending you home is harder than keeping you from getting Purple Orders, so if that's the best I can get you to do, I'll take it."

"Yes sir." said Teresa. "Oh, by the way... I've asked the Precincts and the SWAT Teams to do as much training as possible as quickly as possible on crowd control and riot interdiction. I'm hearing some 'grapevine' stuff about that girl that got kicked off the University basketball team... someone may try to make hay out of that situation."

"Your ears are very good." I said. "Thanks for the info. Get some rest."

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

It rarely fails to happen: the Green Crowbar followed the Red Crowbar into my office. I had Cindy sit down in a hot chair. She repeated to me what Teresa had told me about rumors of something being made out of Jayne Hallerton's issues.

Cindy then said "Joanne is still floating in the clouds over your handing her your crowbar in this morning's meeting."

"She made a great observation." I said. "And I totally missed it."

"If you were perfect, you could run for God." Cindy replied. "As it is, we'll take you as the big ol' teddy bear with a 99% record that you are." A red crowbar was waved in her general direction.

"Okay," I said, "we got some of the warrants on the 'red flag' business."

"Yes sir, and Mary and Myron are already amassing the information." Cindy replied. "And speaking of that... everyone just about went nuts when you brought that up about the original computer being brought back for us to find."

"I surprised myself on that one, too." I said. "But it is just about the only thing I can think of that fits the data. So what is everyone doing with regard to that?"

"They're going back over the film footage, to see if anything got taken out, or if the recording was somehow interfered with." Cindy said.

"Tell you what," I said, "Get Joanne and Teddy, and let's ride over to those Townhouses."

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

As we were riding in my Police SUV, Cindy said "One thing about all this doesn't make sense to me."

"Oh?" I asked. "What's that?"

"Terry Schultz." Cindy said. "To be running this 'red flag' business... I get the idea she's a man-hater. So why is she dating a man? Don't get me wrong, but my first impression is that she would be looking for dates with women, or just not dating at all."

"Maybe it's just unfaithful married men she had a problem with." Teddy Parker replied. "But I understand where you're coming from, that she has an issue with men."

"Or maybe she changed her mind and decided she wanted to try to date men again." Joanne said. Cindy's face assumed a look between skepticism and cynicism.

"You have a point, Joanne." I said, rescuing my Detective. "My wife says that 80% of all lesbians are actually bisexual, and some of them often end relationships with other women because they begin dating a man."

"Harrumph." Cindy said quietly.

"You mean like Melina Allgood, sir?" asked Joanne.

"Maybe." I said, studiously not showing surprise at Joanne's 'gotcha' comment. "My wife Laura is the academic expert on those subjects. Our expertise is in catching criminals and making them pay dearly for committing their crimes in our County. Okay, here we are..."

Part 9 - Finding A Cat

I made the notations on the tag attached to the seal on the apartment door, then sliced it open. I went into the apartment, followed by Captain Ross and Detectives Warner and Parker. Though I had not asked for it, a Uniformed escort, that being Rudistan and Morton, were sitting in their parked patrol cruiser on the street below.

There was still a huge bloodstain on the carpet in the bedroom. The bed was stripped; the sheets and pillowcases had been collected as evidence. I went up to the front window and looked out. Then I tried to open the windows. They were locked. I then examined the locks with my magnifying glass.

"Okay." I said. I then went to every other window and did the same. All the windows were locked, but on the last window I tried, the right-side window that looked out back from the greatroom, I saw a tiny sliver of bright, shiny brass. I took a picture with my cellphone, and sent it into the evidence servers.

"Note this, everyone." I said. "This window lock was recently moved. Unlocked and locked back. None of the other windows have been opened in a very long time, if ever. Y'all can borrow this magnifier if you want to check for yourselves.

Joanne eagerly took the magnifying glass and looked at that window, then went to all the others. Teddy said he'd take our word for it, and only looked at the window that showed use, as did Cindy, who videotaped it on her cellphone.

"So this window was opened, sir?" Joanne asked.

"With all of you as witnesses," I said, "I'll try opening this window." I did so, with Cindy taping it, and it opened fairly easily. I tried the one on the left, also; it opened, but gave a lot more resistance.

"Yes, I'd say this one was opened somewhat recently." I said.

"So whoever replaced the computer came through this window?" Joanne asked.

"Possibly." I said. "Let's go check outside."

We went out the door, downstairs and down the hallway to get to the backyard area. There was a grill for common use and a bit of yard.

"Interesting." Cindy said. "The fire escape ladder is up, and it'd be rough but doable climb to get up there."

"Easier to come from the roof or the third floor apartment." I said. "Come down that fire escape to Terry's landing, then on down. Extremely poor design of a fire escape; barely meets code."

"You gonna bust Edward Steele on it?" Cindy asked, probably meaning it as a joke.

"All kidding aside," I said, "I might have a quiet word with him about it. Okay, who lives in the third floor apartment."

"It's empty." said Teddy Parker. "It's never sold nor been rented out."

"Let's go up and take a look." I said.

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

The apartment manager, Tom Yaris, let us into the third floor apartment. The floor design was identical to Terry Schultz's apartment. The walls were bare white. The place was fairly clean and not very dusty, but it still looked and smelled stale and unused.

I went to the back windows. "These have been closed and unused for a long time." I said. I opened one window, with Cindy filming me, and looked out at the landing.

"It's pretty grimy on the landing." I said. "If anyone walked on here, it'd be hard not to leave traces." Everyone else looked and agreed.

"What about the ladder to the roof?" asked Joanne.

I went out onto the landing, leaving footprints, and examined the ladder to the roof, which was attached to the side of the building. "Tough to tell." I said. "But I'm not seeing any mud or obvious signs of recent use. Besides... this is the only way to the roof. How else would someone get up there in order to climb down here?"

"Sir, I have a question." Joanne said. "Do you think the man who had sexual intercourse with Terry Schultz is the person who murdered her?"

"I can't say one hundred percent, but I think it's the most likely scenario." I replied. "And to that point... what we're looking at here, while important, may just be a side issue. Remember, my thesis is that the murderer took the decoy computer, so the question of who put the computer back may not answer the more important question of who murdered Terry Schultz..."

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

As Cindy and I got into my Police SUV to return, with Joanne and Teddy riding with Rudistan and Morton, she said "Well, I guess we eliminated some things, but didn't really get any concrete answers."

"True, that." I said. "Like I said, that was a fun intellectual exercise, but if I'm right it's not going to land the fish that murdered Terry."

"What about Andy Martoli?" Cindy asked.

"Hmmm, that reminds me of something..." I said as I had a thought. I called David Krueger.

"David," I said when he answered, "do you still have friends among the Governor's staff?" David had been hired by me from the Governor's staff.

He answered: "Yes sir, I still talk to a couple of them from time to time."

"Listen, I'd like for you to do me a favor..."

Part 10 - Fruition

At 4:30pm, I called to see if the Mouseketeers had gotten anything quick and dirty from all the data the warrant had allowed us to obtain that morning. Mary said they had, and that they'd be up to brief us at 5:00pm, if that was okay.

Of course it was, and the Chief brought us into his conference room to discuss it. It was me, Cindy, the Chief, and the Three Musketeers David Krueger, Myron Milton and Mary Mahoney around the table, the Chief at the end of the table near the door, me at the end of the table at the far end, Cindy to my left.

"First, sir," said Mary, "you wanted information on Tommy and Tina Yaris. They've been married four years. She's the daughter of Harmon Sage, who runs Sage & Son Funeral Home. Tommy Yaris did not like that kind of work, so he instead took a job at Crown Chemicals."

"From what I could get from the Crown people," Mary said, "Tommy resigned suddenly, and about two weeks after he was promoted to shaft manager in one of the factories. After that he had a job with the County Department of Education, doing maintenance at some of the schools. I can access their records, and they say he resigned from there over the summer about a year and a half ago. They were surprised because they were going to make him the Maintenance Manager for all the schools. Then he and his wife were hired as apartment managers when the Alberta Pines Townhouses were completed, and they've been there ever since."

"What did she do before they married?" I asked. "And after they married, for that matter."

"She was a receptionist for Effim, Goode & Hart, the Men's Divorce law firm." Mary said. "She left there when she got married, and had no official job, per tax records. Then she was put on the payroll along with her husband when they came to the Alberta Pines Townhouses."

"Not a whole lot there." I said. "That's not a complaint about you, Mary. There's just... not much on them. Okay, tell me about 'red flags'."

"Of the nineteen divorces and two other 'red flags'," said Mary, "we had two immediate names come up. You know Patrol Officer Louie Towson?"

"Towson!?" exclaimed Cindy. "He's one of our best Patrol Officers! He's going to be up for promotion to Corporal or even the Detective Track in August!"

"Yes ma'am, and it's not him." Mary said, which calmed Cindy down. Mary explained: "He has an older brother, Gregory Towson, called 'Greg'. Greg was also a TCPD Police Officer. He was married with one child. It's Greg's name that came up."

"He was before my time." I said.

"He left right when you got here." Cindy said. "I remember him, now that you mention him. Had a domestic abuse issue, didn't he?"

"His wife claimed he was verbally threatening her and their child. He said he never raised his voice." said Mary. "I went back into the records and found the date of the call to 9-1-1; it was in the Spring before you got here, Commander."

"So with any domestic abuse case, for real or imagined, the Police have to make an arrest. What did they do?" I asked.

"They brought Greg Towson back to Headquarters, but didn't formally arrest him." Mary said. "Internal Affairs grilled him extensively. He said his wife was accusing him of cheating on her but he swore up and down that he never had. He had a good record as a Police Officer, no hints of alcoholism or violence or job stress. So the TCPD arranged for marriage counseling with... well, you get one guess, Commander."

"Pastor Westboro, I presume?" I said. Mary nodded.

"Yes sir, but it didn't work out." Mary said. "This was also Terry Schultz's first 'red flag' case, too."

"What was the name of Greg Towson's wife?" I asked. Mary and Myron just looked at each other.

"Not much at all gets by him." Cindy said, noticing their look.

"Let me guess... " I said. "Her maiden name is Schultz, or she's in some way related to Terry Schultz."

"Yes, Vivian Schultz Towson." Mary said. "First cousins; their fathers are brothers. And I already bet Myron a bottle of wine that you can tell us the gist of what happened."

"Sooo..." I said, "it now makes sense. I'll bet 'Red Flag' was the not-so-good Pastor Westboro's idea. Fits him like a glove. He got Terry to start doing it, beginning with Greg and Vivian Towson, with the idea he could use it, and her, in the future, perhaps to blackmail people he wanted to put into his power."

I continued: "So Terry sent a woman to seduce Greg, and with that marriage falling apart, he likely succumbed. Ergo, red flag; ergo, divorce."

Mary said "Close, sir. Greg contested the divorce, and said his wife had sent the woman to seduce him after getting him drunk. He said it was 'male rape'. The Police backed him up hard; a bunch of them testified on Greg's behalf. Some evidence of Vivian cheating was also introduced into the case. Greg got joint custody, but his wife left the State with the child. At that point, Greg began becoming unstable and drinking, and Captain Charles got him a transfer to the Fire Department. He got cleaned up with some help from 'The Vision' in Coltrane County, and he's still with the TCFD."

"Okay, he's suspect number one." I said. "You said there was a second name that jumped out?"

"Yes sir." said Mary. "His name is Dan Walther."

I sat upright in my chair. "The executive producer of KSTD?" I asked, shock in my voice.

"The same one, sir." said Mary.

"Damn..." I said, going into a reverie. "When did he get 'red flagged'?

"Six months ago." said Mary. "The divorce was filed four months ago, and is working through the Court system now."

"Besides the fact that he's part of your 'beloved' Media, Mr. Crowbarrr," said the Chief, teasing me, "is there anything special about Mr. Dan Walther?"

"Yes sir." I said. "Walther is a good friend of Gil Krasney, our District Attorney. I've suspected that Krasney has leaked information to Walther from time to time. And Walther is also close to State Senator Katherine Woodburn. When she was at KXTC, she and Walther colluded a lot more than Citizens would realize."

"So is Walther a possible sus-pect herrrre?" asked the Chief.

"Not from what I'm seeing of his finances, Chief." said Myron. "The divorce is killing him financially, and tangling up his finances. So I don't see him hiring anyone to kill anyone. And he's too old to be the killer, who we think is around Andy Martoli's age."

"That might apply to any of these guys that have gone through divorces." Cindy said.

"Most of them are definitely in bad shape financially." Mary said. "But we're still looking, and some of them have worked or are working their way out of their problems."

"Okay, guys," I said, "the six o'clock news should be extremely interesting. Captain Ross, I halfway expect Andy Martoli to be found tonight, so put the Force on alert. No, don't ask why... call it a 'vibe'."

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

"This is Amber Harris, KXTC Channel Two News at Six!" said the lovely athletic blonde reporterette from the Channel Two Newsdesk in KXTC's studios. "Channel Two News has learned that a compromise SBI bill may be in the works! Sources close to the situation have told Channel Two News that a group of legislators and members of the Governor's staff are working to bypass the feuding party leaders and achieve a reasonable solution for all sides."

"Other sources tell Channel Two News that our own Police Commander and SBI Inspector Donald Troy was integral in this legislative compromise, and that he is on his way to Midtown to help close the deal!" Amber continued.

As Cindy and I watched from my office, she peered at me and asked "Is this true?"

"Beats me." I said. "I'm obviously not in Midtown right now. I'm up here trying to solve a murder case."

"Uh huh." Cindy said skeptically. "Yesterday, Sunday, you came back from Midtown reporting virtually no hope. Twenty four hours later, Amber is announcing near-term hope, and you were anticipating watching the news. And I don't hear any choppers flying in to take you down there. So what's going on?"

"If I tell you that I expect new information in the Terry Schultz murder case," I said, "would you believe me?"

"Of course I'll believe you." Cindy said. "But why?---" She stopped short, beginning to realize some things. I just let her think through them.

"Figure it out while you drive Teresa home." I said. "That is a dismissal, Captain."

"Yes, Commander." replied the Captain as she got up and left the office.

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

At 7:15pm the news came. The Duty Desk Patrolman knocked on my door, then stuck his head in when I called out "Come in!"

"Sir," said the Patrolman, "we've just got a call that a body has been found in Ronald Reagan Park. Young man, dark hair. I.D. on the body says he's an Anthony Martoli, and we have an APB out on him.

"Thank you, Patrolman." I said. "When you get back to the Duty Desk, call Captain Ross and Detective Warner, and tell them to meet me at the scene." The Patrolman hastily left to implement my instruction.

I got my kevlar-lined trenchcoat and the ubiquitous red crowbar. Putting on my Tilley Hat, I was about to leave in response to this very expected development when Myron Milton came racing up the hallway and to my office door.

"Commander!" he said, catching his breath, "do you remember when we learned of that code 'Pink Knights', that it was the signal for something about to happen? And that it would appear on the website of Citizens for Police Accountability?"