by Thomas Bloom
“Jesus H. Christ,” Dusty said. “Two head shots from fifty feet in four seconds. I didn’t have any idea you could shoot like that.”
“You’ve forgotten the marksmanship award in my office. Did you think it was just wallpaper?”
“Right. Sorry.”
“Now we have to break the news to Roberto’s mother. Like you said he made his own bed but I don’t think he was criminal, just nuts. Plus now we’ll never know who set this up.”
Dusty shrugged. “We have to get a break sooner or later. Let’s start by backtracking and see if we can identity everyone who had any contact with Roberto. He didn’t come up with a key and a weapon on his own.”
Just then Dusty got a call on his shoulder radio. “Alert, we just had two vans with Illinois plates drive by. We did not intervene. We’re still watching through binoculars.”
A few minutes later the officer came back on line. “They saw your cars parked at the head of the access road, they slowed down and then just drove on by. My guess is they’re on their way back to Chicago.”
“I agree.” Dusty said. “Let them go. They’ve committed no crime and I don’t want to take on the whole Chicago cartel. If the Chicago police don’t want to go to war with them why should we?”
Chapter Seventy Five
That afternoon Dusty and Amanda knocked on Mrs. Jiminez’s door. When she opened the door she just looked at them and said “I know. My son dead. You did not protect him. Leave me now so I can grieve alone.”
“Our sincere apologies,” Dusty said. “We tried but it did not work out. Let us know if we can help you.”
As they drove away Amanda said “poor woman. She loses a son and she may lose her house, right?”
“Actually, no,” Dusty said. “The way bail works is that when we put him back in jail after the SWAT incident the bail was eliminated. She still owes the bail bondsman a premium but she did not lose her house.”
“Thank God for small favors.”
“By the way,” Dusty said. “We have a debt to pay.”
Amanda looked at him quizzically.”
“Gabby,” Dusty said. “We owe him one hundred dollars.”
“Oh, jeez, I totally forgot about that.”
“Look, you go home and start dinner with the kids. I’ll drive out and take care of it.”
Chapter Seventy Six
A day later Dusty had interviewed every employee in the jail. No one had seen anything suspicious or unusual. One deputy mentioned that he had seen the Deputy Chief moving through the jail and speaking to several inmates including Roberto but this was standard procedure. Dusty did it himself just to get a feel for any problems or tensions. Any officer entering the general area of the jail removed all weapons first. There was always the risk of being jumped but the area was constantly under surveillance and any wrong move would bring other officers to the scene immediately. Plus it gave the prisoners a chance to voice their concerns. They all had a beef and by giving them a chance to vent it de-escalated situations that could grow into more serious problems. Once in a while Dusty decided that a prisoner had a legitimate complaint and then he moved to address it. That gave him considerable credibility with the inmates.
The next day Dusty, Amanda and Croft revisited the cabin on the river. Their CSI team had gone through the premises and had found little of note. They removed all the crime scene tape they had wrapped around the premises. Dusty said “I suppose we ought to give the Wallace’s the courtesy of an update.”
Dusty spoke with Mrs. Wallace at the front door. He told her the property was theirs again and apologized for any inconvenience. As he returned to their vehicle Croft and Amanda were leaning against a squad car and chatting. “Well that’s it,” Dusty said. “We can wrap this up.”
As he spoke Croft said, “Look chief, there’s something I have to discuss with you. Do you remember that aunt in Flint that I went to visit a couple of weeks ago?”
“Yeah, how’s she doing?”
“Well, she passed away and as her only surviving relative I’m going to inherit her estate. It’s a considerable amount of money. I hate to hit you with this but I need to go to Flint to finish this up. When I’m done I’m not coming back. I intend to resign.”
As he spoke Croft absently reached in his pocket and pulled out a pack of gum. He offered a piece to both Dusty and Amanda who both declined and then peeled off a wrapper and stuck a stick of gum in his mouth. He balled up the aluminum foil and threw it into the ditch. He then took the outside wrapper, folded it length wise and dropped it on the ground. It was an unconscious habit. He did not appear to be aware that he was doing it.
Suddenly a bell went off in Dusty’s head. He went back to the scene at the farmhouse where the FBI agent had been hit by sniper fire. The only thing they had found the next day after an exhaustive search was the wrapper of a Doublemint stick of gum folded lengthwise. A most peculiar habit. Dusty snuck a peek at the wrapper on the ground—Doublemint.
More bells went off. Lived with his mother and grandmother. Had a wife who disappeared. Dusty never found out exactly what happened. He inherited the home by the river when his grandmother and mother died. No girl friends that Dusty was aware of. He was very hard to get close to. Almost impossible to strike up a casual conversation with. No idea what he did in his spare time but he had access to the river. Dusty rarely worked with Croft because they split the officer in charge duties. When Dusty was off Croft was in charge and vice versa. Even though Dusty did not care for Croft personally, he had to admit that the man handled his professional obligations impeccably. He had made Deputy Sheriff through a combination of time in service, always taking care of his assigned duties and scoring at the top of the advancement exams. Randall was a very smart guy.
Now, did one gum wrapper make him a multiple murderer and the mechanic of all that had happened with the Mexicans and the Arabs? Could one man cause all that chaos? And why? For the Mexicans and Arabs there was only one answer—money. If he was the man then it had to have been for money. Which meant there may not actually be a rich dead aunt in Flint. That would be a cover. He was planning to run while there was still time. What to do? He needed to talk to Amanda and do some research. If he acted now based only on a gum wrapper he could commit a serious professional lapse.
And what about the three dead women. That had not been for money. That had to be a wholly different scenario which he did not understand. Dusty needed time, proof and a lot of input. Jeez, he thought. Is this the end or is it just another crisis?
“Look,” he said to Croft. “Come in tomorrow morning and we’ll discuss your resignation. I’m sorry to see you go but it’s your choice. I’d just like you to stay on a few days so I can pick a replacement.”
“No problem,” said Croft.
“Okay,” Dusty said, “we’re done here. Let’s go.”
Chapter Seventy Seven
Well, mama, I’m in it now. I did everything perfectly. No trace. No evidence. They did not have a clue. I was one step ahead of them all the way. Then a stupid gum wrapper trips me up. Dusty did not think I noticed his checking out the wrapper but I did. Then I remembered the wrapper they found at the sniper scene. I knew it was mine but no way in the world will they make a connection I thought. Then I give it to them because of some stupid habit I picked up from papa. He did it that way so I do it that way. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Well it’s not over yet. They will start checking everything and they may come up with something sooner or later. The first thing I did when I got home tonight was to move the beakers and bury them far back in the woods. Then I took the guillotine blade and the frame and buried them someplace else. I put the throwaway phone and the laptop I used for everything connected with the bad stuff in a double plastic bag and buried them too. There’s another laptop in the house but it’s totally clean. There’s nothing in the barn or the house to incriminate me.
What they don’t know is that since I decided to do the three of you I’ve spent a yea
r building up a false identity. I built it around that guy about my age who died of a heart attack. I got the call to clear out the body and secure the home. What I found out about him was that he was single, lived alone and had no close relatives. We could not find any next of kin. I took his driver’s license and some credit cards just for ID. Then I found a current passport in his desk. Bingo! I also found a savings account passbook with about twenty thousand in it. I need that to prove my financial integrity when I hit my new country. I was going to the Caribbean but now it has to be someplace else. His picture is not a perfect match for me but if I shave in a widow’s peak and stuff some Kleenex in my cheeks I can pass. It’s an example of my planning ahead. I hoped I would never need this but now I might and I have it. They’ll be looking for Randall Croft but I will not be him anymore. Beautiful.
I could run now but that would be an admission of guilt. All the money is in a bank which has a branch in a country with no extradition treaty with the United States. If I can make it there I’m safe, at least for a while. I can only get permission to stay for two weeks on a visitor’s permit but a few million dollars will buy a lot of extra permission in a third world country. I need to make a break but on my terms and in a way that will let me get out of the country. Think, think, think.
Chapter Seventy Eight
Amanda and Dusty headed for home and immediately started talking. They had both seen the same thing. “Where the hell do we go from here?” Dusty said. “I’m 90% sure it’s him but how do we prove it?”
“We’ll he was on the inside all the way. He knew everything that was going on. He could have easily planted the bug. What do you know of his personal life?”
“He was married but his wife left. I never knew any details and he never talked about it. In fact he never talked about anything except work. I know almost nothing of his personal life. After his wife left he lived with his mother and grandmother in their place by the river. They both passed away and he inherited the place. Note that he had easy access to the river, just in case he wanted to dump something in it. Jesus, it all fits for the three dead women but I still can’t see any connection to the Mexicans and the Arabs. We’re missing a big piece of the puzzle.”
“We need to talk to everyone involved,” Amanda said. And they did.
They started with Zitweiller. “Okay,” he said. “Extrapolate from the wife leaving him. It probably hurt him deeply. He developed a hatred of all young, good looking women. I would guess that his mother and grandmother may have ridiculed him for losing his wife and for not being able to find another. They may have wanted grandchildren. These things tend to cycle up. The more they ridiculed him the more inadequate he felt and the more inadequate he felt the tougher it would have been to strike up a new relationship. He compensated by clamming up and by organizing the rest of his life so that he was in control. The worse he got in the women department the better he got at everything else. After his mother and grandmother died he decided that the way to clear the slate was to take out a surrogate for each of them. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to you or me but it obviously made a lot of sense to him. Once a mind passes a certain point under pressure then logic, rationality and common sense go by the wayside. They become fixated on some goal and nothing else matters. And he achieved his goal. Were it not for a gum wrapper he might have gotten away with it. Life hinges on strange coincidences.”
“Why the beheadings?” Dusty asked.
“This is a guess but I’m betting he kept the heads as trophies. Any time he needed a psychological boost he could look at them. That would mean preserving them. The only logical way to do that would be in formaldehyde. So I’m guessing there are three containers somewhere each with a head in them. Pretty sick, right?”
“I don’t want to think about it,” Amanda said. “But thanks for your analysis. It all makes sense. Any idea how the Arabs and the Mexicans fit into this?”
“Not a clue. I’ll leave that to you and the FBI.”
They then called Tamourini.
“I can’t tell you how many cases we’ve had that have hinged on a minor clue like this. I agree with you. It all fits. That’s why we inspected every inch of the ground where the attack occurred. You never know.
“Let me fill you in on some things I couldn’t talk to you about before. The Arab who survived is singing. We’ve explained to him that he has two choices—life in prison with no chance of parole or maybe twenty years if he cooperates. I’ve got clearance to share part of it with you. We all know we owe you a big thank you for what happened in Lansing. Here’s what we have. There were a total of ten of them. Six came in on tourist visas from the Middle East. We aren’t sure yet but we think it was ISIS. The other four were U.S. citizens recruited on the Internet. Our guy is one of the four locals which is why he isn’t quite so committed. They wanted the locals because they were born here and could speak English without an accent. The locals rented the apartments and the cars. The connection to Croft is that he met one of their guys at a gun show. The Arab was trying to buy weapons without a lot of success. Croft offered to supply them for a price and the Arab accepted. Croft then made a deal with the Mexican cartel guys in Chicago to bring in the weapons. We don’t know yet how he connected with the Mexicans. In any case, it appears Croft made a big profit off the deal. Then, when the Arabs killed the guys who delivered the weapons and the cartel wanted revenge, Croft made another bundle by setting up the ambush that we all got involved in. Besides everything else, this guy is responsible for the death of two of my people. I want him real bad. But I agree with you. We can’t convict on a gum wrapper. I’m bringing in a team tomorrow. We start with his home but I need to know when he’s not going to be there?”
“How did they get the armored car? They didn’t rent that.”
“They planned that way ahead of time. They told all the locals to apply for jobs with the armored car company. One of them was accepted. He was still in training at the time of the attack. But that gave him time to learn what they needed. He had a code to the gate and he knew where the keys were stored in the office. They do not pick up or deliver on Sundays so no one was there. That may be one of the reasons they picked the inauguration to attack. So they went in late Saturday night, broke into the office, got the keys and drove out. It’s all on the surveillance tape but they didn’t care because by the time someone would see it the attack would be over. This was a suicide mission. They didn’t intend to survive it.”
“So what was in the box?” Amanda asked. “The Arabs risked a lot for it.”
“Some scrap metal and a small vial of radioactive material. It was a dummy.”
“Pretty clever,” Dusty said. “Look Croft is on today, off tomorrow and back on the next. I don’t want to change his schedule. It would look suspicious. He starts at 8:00 AM but he always gets in early.”
“Fine, we’ll come in late tomorrow and plan to start the next morning. I’d like one of you to guide us to the house and then give us a couple of hours to do our thing. Then I’d like both of you to go through the house, the barn and the grounds. You might notice something we missed.”
Dusty shared with Tamourini Zitweiller’s analysis. “Formaldehyde, huh. I’ve got an idea. Call your dog guy and see if he can meet us there with his best sniffer.”
Two mornings later Dusty and Amanda in Amanda’s squad car led a small caravan comprised of two of the FBI’s ubiquitous black SUV’s followed by Hank Houser in a pickup with one of his dogs. They guided everyone to the site and then left with the intention of returning about noon.
When they came back Tamourini was leaning against the hood of one of the SUV’s with a strange look on her face.
“Do you still want us to go through the house and barn?” Amanda asked.
“It won’t be necessary,” Tamourini said. “I’ve got to show you something.” She started walking toward the woods in the rear of the property. They had put a two by ten across the small stream in back of the garage. When they ente
red the woods Tamourini followed a path marked out by small pieces of twine tied to some tree trunks and low lying branches. When they were just short of a tree with a double piece of twine tied to it Tamourini turned and said “this is not easy to take but this is a shared case and you have to see it.”
As they rounded the tree they saw an area that had been dug up and next to the loose soil sat three beakers. Each had a head in it, one had a head and hands. This was what was missing from the three bodies they had found in the lake. Dusty just stopped and stared. Amanda took one look, turned in the other direction and retched.
After a minute Tamourini took out a bottle of water and a small package of Kleenex from her jacket and handed it to Amanda. “Don’t feel bad about that. I did exactly the same thing. And I thought I was the tough guy who had seen it all. As soon as you told me about Zitweiller’s theory about formaldehyde I thought of the dog. Formaldehyde has a very strong and distinctive odor. We gave Houser a small sample of Formaldehyde. Houser was in the woods all morning with his dog. This is what we came up with. Good thing, too, because we found nothing in the house or the barn. This is all we need to take him in. Where can we find him?”
“He should be in the station house unless he’s out on a call.”
“Don’t alert him by calling ahead. Let’s assume we can find him there. Dusty, you go in first. Here’s one of the radios you’ve seen before. Just call us when you’re inside and tell us if he’s home.”
Dusty strolled into the station as casually as possible. He spoke to the dispatcher as he passed his desk. “Just coming in to pick up some paperwork. Anything happening?”
“Nothing. Dead day.”
“Is Croft in?”
“No sir. He came in at the beginning of the shift and then disappeared. No idea where he is.”
Dusty had a bad feeling in his gut. If nothing was happening then there was no reason for Croft to be away from his desk. He went into his office, closed the door and called Tamourini. “He’s not here. We have nothing going on but he left immediately after the start of the shift. I don’t like this. There’s no reason for him to have left, except…”
