Undercover Inmates

by Madison Johns

  Chapter Five

  If I thought the mattress and accommodations in our cell were bad, they were four-star compared with the thin pads in solitary. I didn’t mind the search, but I was glad I had ditched whatever was in that baggy I found buried in my cornbread.

  Why did Jana give me the drugs? Did she think I was up for something like that? Was she trying to set me up? Was she hoping I’d get into an altercation with Crusher? I’m too old for fighting, and I’ve never struck anyone, including my children.

  A small mesh window, currently closed, was set in the door. I presumed that allowed officers to check on me and speak to me. A thin slot at the bottom of the door was presumably how food trays would be given to me. This was beyond miserable.

  I wanted to scream Eleanor’s name to see if she was celled nearby, but we were now suspects in the murder of a trustee. It wasn’t time to act out of line. I hoped that the security cameras would be checked, but I had my doubts that the warden had listened to anything we’d said.

  In a mad panic I wondered whether Eleanor and I would be stuck here forever. I wished I had told Andrew where we were going. In fact, nobody other than Sheriff Peterson knew where we were or what we’d be doing. At what point would he contact our families? He had given us a month to investigate this case

  I eased down on what served as my bunk, thumping my head on the wall. As I rubbed the back of my head, I heard a thump in return.

  “Eleanor, is that you?” I called out finally. To hell with the guards. I couldn’t imagine how frightened Eleanor would be about now.

  I didn’t get the response I wanted. Perhaps it would be better to call through the window. Surely there had to be some cracks that would allow sound to carry.

  I stood up and stretched with a crack in my back. It sounded louder than usual, but in this place the echo was massive.

  “Eleanor,” I called out again.

  “Agnes?” came Eleanor’s voice faintly.

  “I’m happy you can hear me. I hope you’re okay.”

  “Good enough, I suppose, but I hate the accommodations.”

  She laughed loud enough for me to hear, which brought me some relief. At least her spirits were up. I had imagined Eleanor near tears, which I must admit was my first inclination when they put me in here.

  “Settle down, you two,” a woman’s voice ordered. “The guards will be making a pass soon.”

  I heard footsteps approaching. I stumbled back at the sound of metal doors opening and slamming. When my window opened, Officer Schulze looked in on me.

  “How you faring, Barton?”

  “Well as expected, I suppose. I didn’t kill … .”

  “We’ll talk later. With any luck you’ll be out of here soon. Lucky for you, the deputy director is still in town.”

  She had given me something to hope for. Would the presence of the deputy director pressure the warden to review the camera recordings?

  I reclined on my bunk. In the corner, a fly continually bounced into the wall, lulling me into a light slumber.

  I woke with a start at the clanging of metal. I couldn’t tell how close it was, and the only voices were muffled.

  I was blinded by light as my door opened and the frame of a man filled the opening. “Barton, it’s time to go.”

  Eleanor was in the hallway behind the man. “I’m not sure if you remember me. I’m Deputy Director Smith. I saw you the first day in the chow hall. I hope you’re getting along better with Officer Schulze. She’s one of a kind.”

  “I know. I think that’s why we butted heads, but it’s hard enough in here without breaking the rules.”

  “Come along, then. The warden is expecting us.”

  We walked with Smith and I smiled at Eleanor. I was so happy to be released from solitary that I could kiss my friend. Eleanor and I are the closest of friends. I know as long as we’re together we can get through anything, including incarceration, even if our stay is temporary.

  Warden Geyer didn’t look happy to see us when we walked into her office.

  “It appears I’ve made a rush to judgment. The camera recordings show you both working diligently. But as you can imagine, it did look bad that you were the last ones here.”

  “Where was everyone earlier today?” I asked. “Was there really a meeting?”

  “Potluck in the officer’s lounge.”

  “Which is a violation of prison rules,” Smith interjected. “You’ll do well to remember to review cameras before you throw inmates in solitary. I’ll assume you’ve already lifted lockdown. I’m sure you know how bad that is on the inmates. It stirs them up, and we can’t afford that. It’s bad enough that beautician was found dead. What have you found on that front? Any suspects?”

  “I-I hardly think this is the time to talk … .”

  “Come now, Felicia. Certainly you can’t be worried about what a couple of inmates might think of you. Especially after the camera fiasco.”

  “No, no suspects, but plenty of persons of interest … like the entire F Pod population.”

  “I hope you’re also considering officers since Trudy was found during a lockdown,” I pointed out.

  “Do I really have to listen to inmates tell me how to conduct an investigation into something that happened before either of them arrived?”

  “Of course not,” Smith said, “but I wanted to point out what the inmates really think. They believe an officer is involved in Trudy’s murder. The longer this case goes unsolved, the worse it will go for you.”

  “I understand that, but right now I have another investigation to conduct. I have no idea who would murder Lopez. She was well liked by inmates and staff.”

  * * *

  The silence was thick when Eleanor and I returned to the pod. All eyes were on us. Eleanor waved and did a little jig. “I knew they wouldn’t keep us long,” she exclaimed.

  I smiled as Char approached. “They wouldn’t tell us what was going on. Let’s meet in the shower room. They don’t have cameras in there.”

  Eleanor and I gathered our toiletries and towels and headed for the showers. Crusher was standing by the sinks. She turned her head and glared at me. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did to me,” she said with a clenched fist.

  “I’m not looking for trouble. Next time I’ll give you the cornbread, I promise. I wasn’t aware why you really wanted it.”

  My heart pounded as Crusher rose to her full height of nearly six feet. I feared I was about to die, but more inmates piled into the room, eager to hear our story. Char and Jessy led the pack, and all of them carried shower supplies. I knew I didn’t have much time before a guard showed up.

  I took a breath and dove in, “Maria Lopez is dead.”

  Gasps echoed off the tiled walls. “How?” Char asked.

  “She was found dead in the warden’s lounge.”

  “And the warden tried to put the blame on us because we were cleaning the offices today,” Eleanor added.

  “Lopez took over for Barlow, who was supervising us. She told us she was headed to the lounge, and that’s the last time we saw her,” I said.

  “Why did you kill, Lopez?” Crusher asked with a sneer. “Kinda strange you two showing up in the pod and suddenly Lopez is murdered, just like Trudy.”

  The women murmured among themselves.

  “I assure you we have no reason to kill anyone. We liked Lopez. She told us about Trudy’s death.” I sighed. “And when the warden checked the cameras, they proved that we were only cleaning. The recordings must have shown that we never entered the lounge when we were searching for Lopez. We knocked on the door, but it was locked.”

  “How did you get the warden to check the cameras?” Velma asked.

  “She wouldn’t. Instead she put us in solitary.”

  “Lucky for us, the deputy director was still in town,” Eleanor said. “He made the warden check the cameras.”

  “This entire thing doesn’t add up,” I said. “First, Barlow insisted she had to stay
with us the entire time we were cleaning.”

  “And then she disappeared, supposedly to a meeting,” Eleanor added. “That’s what Lopez told us, anyway.”

  “Then Dr. Franks must have joined Barlow, because later they returned together.”

  Yolanda’s nostrils flared slightly. “So they couldn’t have murdered Lopez.”

  “I’m not sure. They could have murdered Lopez after we came back to the pod,” Eleanor said.

  “Or Barlow,” I pointed out. “Dr. Franks brought us back to the pod, remember?”

  “You’re right. Barlow also told us the warden was off today, but she returned.”

  “She would have to with the discovery of a body,” Velma said.

  “Does anyone know how Trudy died?”

  “Why does that matter?” Char asked.

  “I was wondering whether it was the same way Lopez was murdered. She was strangled. She had bruises on her neck.”

  “I don’t know how Trudy’s died,” Yolanda said.

  “She didn’t have any bruises on her neck that you could see?”

  “Not that I noticed, but we were all pretty upset at the time.”

  “I can imagine. There’s no way the warden would share the findings of the autopsy with us.”

  “You certainly know a lot about how things work,” Jessy said. “Are you a cop?”

  “Not hardly, but Lopez told me about how upset the inmates were about losing the beautician. Were you really planning to riot over it?”

  “Some good that threat did,” Yolanda said.

  “So you never planned to go through with it?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “Of course we could stage a little sit down over Lopez’s murder,” I suggested.

  “What’s going on in here?” an African-American inmate asked as she pushed her way into the shower room. “I didn’t call a meeting today.”

  “Mary, Lopez was murdered in the warden’s lounge,” Yolanda said. She then brought Mary up to speed.

  “Lopez too? It seems we might all need to watch our backs.”

  I stared at Mary who wasn’t necessarily an imposing person. But from the way she pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest, I just knew she was someone of great importance in the pod. She also had two other inmates with her who might just be the muscles of her operation.

  I introduced myself to Mary, “I’m Agnes, and this is Eleanor.”

  Mary rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to introduce yourself to me, honey. I know everything that goes on in this pod. Whatever you girls plan to do, keep me out of it. Just don’t get us locked down. I can’t do business that way.”

  I was relieved when Mary left, until Yolanda said, “You really need to be careful. Mary Phelps is the pod’s dealer.”

  “Agnes doesn’t care about that,” Crusher laughed. “I just hope you ladies know that Agnes and Eleanor here won’t be able to do anything in the way of finding out who murdered Trudy and Lopez. You’re all fools if you believe otherwise.”

  I waited until Crusher left the room. “We do need to do something like a sit down or hunger strike.”

  “Hunger strike?” Eleanor said. “I’ve been hungry since I’ve been here. Doesn’t this prison ever serve anything edible?”

  “No, that’s what commissary is for,” Yolanda said. “You’d be surprised what we can whip up. We should get our chance to go later.”

  “The only problem with staging a protest,” Velma said, “is that we could be put on punishment and lose privileges. A loss of commissary wouldn’t go over well with anyone.”

  “What suggestions do any of you have then about forcing the warden to allow me and Eleanor to investigate the deaths of Trudy and Lopez?”

  “You can’t force that dragon lady to do anything,” Char said.

  “I can see that, but do we have your support to speak on your behalf. The warden is worried you might riot over the death of Trudy. And I believe she might give Eleanor and me the permission to investigate the deaths if it’s spun the right way.”

  “Can’t you do that without the warden?” Yolanda asked.

  “We could if it was only us inmates we’re talking about. But we need the freedom to question the guards, too.”

  “She’ll never give you the permission to do that. Everyone knows how close-lipped the officers can be.”

  “Not to worry. We have experience about how to extract information from people who refuse to cooperate,” Eleanor said with a wink.

  “I think you’re both crazy, but what do we have to lose,” Char said. “When will you put your plan into motion?”

  “After commissary would be good because we don’t know whether the warden will yank our privileges.”

  Chapter Six

  Eleanor and I, along with Char, Yolanda, Jessy and Velma, walked to the commissary. I chose Snickers candy bars because sweets made me happy —most of the time.

  “How much can we spend?” Eleanor asked.

  “Thirty-seven dollars a week,” Yolanda said.

  “I’m not sure how much of that I want to spend on pop.”

  “You can buy a pop card. That will cost you two dollars and fifty cents.”

  Eleanor’s face came alive. “You mean I can get as much pop as I want for that?”

  Yolanda laughed. “No, that would be per pop.”

  “That’s a total rip off,” Eleanor complained, “but I do love my Diet Coke.” Eleanor grabbed a fistful of pop cards.

  “So that’s all you plan to buy?” Char asked. “You won’t have any money left to buy anything else.”

  I helped Eleanor put most of the pop cards back and picked up a candy bar, waving it in her face. “Yes, like a candy bar. I know how much you love them.” I picked up apple cinnamon oatmeal. “I’m getting Hawaiian Punch; it’s cheaper.”

  Eleanor wandered along another snack aisle. “This is actually fun.”

  “Prison isn’t all doom and gloom,” Velma said. “Commissary keeps us sane.”

  I stared at Eleanor’s hand basket, which she was filling with banana Moon Pies. Before I had the chance to say anything, she asked, “What? I hope you don’t plan to deprive me of these Moon Pies.”

  “No, I just thought you might want something more sensible, like granola bars.”

  Eleanor eyeballed my basket. “I can’t help but notice you don’t have any granola bars in you basket, Agnes.”

  I chuckled to myself. “I hope I have enough money in my account for all of this.”

  “I hope so, too,” Jessy said. “It would be embarrassing if you don’t.”

  I glared at Jessy as she passed in front of us. She then stumbled and crashed to the floor, several cans of ravioli thumping her on the head. She jumped up instantly. “Which one of you old bats tripped me?”

  I backed up. “Don’t look at me.”

  “She means don’t look at us,” Eleanor quickly added. “You should watch where you’re walking.”

  “Or who you’re antagonizing,” Char said with a wink. “I have a feeling Agnes will be running our pod soon.”

  I shook my head and piled my items on the counter. I gave the man behind the counter my pin number and he checked the computer, supposedly to make sure I had funds for my purchase. He then rang up my items and put them into a paper bag. “Luckily someone deposited money into your account today,” he said.

  I lingered close to the counter as the man rang up Eleanor’s purchases. He told her the same thing.

  “Who could have deposited money into our accounts?” I asked Eleanor. “Nobody knows we’re here.”

  “Beats me, but I’m glad they did, whoever it was.”

  “Huh!” Jessy said, moving past us.

  “What’s wrong with her?” I said.

  “I think she’s still miffed about her little fall,” Char said.

  “I can’t believe you ladies actually tripped her up,” Yolanda said with a grin. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.”

  “J
essy told us she’s been in here before,” I said.

  “Yes, and she was miserable that time, too. That one is a trouble maker,” Velma said. “I’m sure by the time we get back to the pod she’ll have some conspiracy worked up in her head.”

  “We didn’t do anything to her. She’s the one who chooses to be a shrew to us.”

  “Prison isn’t much different than high school at times,” Yolanda admitted. “Or a college dorm.”

  “So how did you wind up here?” I asked Yolanda.

  “My boyfriend asked me to deliver drugs to this guy a couple of times. I don’t know why I did it, but the cops caught up to me and I was arrested. The thing was, I had gotten away from that loser and had just enrolled in college classes. I wanted to be a nurse, but now that’s all gone. I’m serving a thirty-year sentence.”

  I shook my head. “That seems a long time for delivering drugs a few times.”

  “That’s what my mother says, but I should have taken the plea or waited for a better one.”

  “You never take the first one they offer,” Char said. “It’s hard to know what to do when you’re young. Ninety percent of the people here deserve to be here, the other ten percent just made a mistake.”

  Yolanda wiped away the tears that rolled down her cheeks. “I’m taking classes here,” she said. “I can earn a nursing degree and work in the sick room here, Dr. Franks said.”

  “I only met him briefly. Does he follow through with what he says?” I asked.

  “He might be only the psychiatrist, but he did help me fill out the forms for the classes.”

  I nodded, although I had Dr. Franks on my suspect list along with Officer Barlow.

  We were shocked to discover a television had been delivered to our cell. I hoped we weren’t shown any special privileges. I was already nervous about the money deposited into our accounts. Was someone setting us up?

  “Nice television,” Char said from the door. “I was wondering when they’d bring that to you. All of the cells have them, although the television is cut off at midnight. It helps you keep sane.”

  “Next time I’ll make better choices with my commissary purchases.”