No Stone Unturned

by C. J. Johnson

  Frankie attempted small talk with Jackson during the elevator ride from the jail to the interrogation room. Once inside the room she asked him basic, biographical questions, and continued to make small talk – trying to put him at ease.

  Finishing up her paperwork, Frankie opened the case file and pulled out a photograph of Maggie’s bruised and bloody face. “Do you recognize the woman in this photograph?”

  Jackson pushed the photo back towards Frankie. “I don’t want to look at that.”

  “Do you recognize her?”

  Jackson looked down without answering. Frankie gently pushed the photograph back towards him, letting it rest under his downward gaze. He pushed the photo away, looked up, and said, “Yeah. That’s Maggie. I went out with her a few times.”

  Frankie noted he did not ask how she got the black eyes and swollen jaw. “When was the last time you saw her?”

  “A few days ago.”

  “What happened when you saw her?”

  “Nothing really. We had dinner then she told me she didn’t want to see me anymore.”

  “How’d you feel about that?”

  “How the fuck do you think I felt? I was pissed. How dare she think she’s too good for me.”

  “Is that what she said? That she was too good for you?”

  “Not exactly. But that’s what she meant.”

  “Have you talked to her since that night?”

  Jackson looked down and began picking at his pants. “No,” was his quiet response.

  “Where were you at around 2AM.”

  Refusing to make eye contact Jackson said, “In bed asleep.”

  “Can anyone confirm that?”

  “I live alone.”

  Frankie pulled out a photograph of the house. “Have you ever seen this house?”

  Jackson picked up the photograph and said, “That’s Maggie’s house.” Laying the picture back on the table he asked, “What’s this about detective?”

  “Maggie was attacked when she got home from work last night. Someone beat and raped her. She had to go to the hospital.” Frankie watched Jackson’s face as she told him the information. The news had no effect on him.

  Brushing his hands along his pants he said, “Like I said, I was home in bed.”

  “Is there any reason your DNA would be in her forensic kit?”

  Jackson twisted his lips and considered his response carefully before saying, “Depends on how long it stays there. I gave her a farewell fuck the other day, so it might be there. I mean I don’t know what her hygiene is like.”

  Frankie wasn’t surprised at his response. “When was that?”

  “Like four or five days ago.”

  “Hmm. She told me you all never had sex.”

  “She lied. She probably didn’t want you to know what a whore she is.” Jackson smirked.

  “When did you say you talked to her last?”

  “The other night when she kicked me out of her house.”

  “Why would she kick you out of the house after you had sex?”

  “Like I said, she told me she didn’t want to see me anymore.”

  “So, you haven’t talked to her since then?”

  “Detective, I told you I haven’t talked to her since that night.”

  Frankie pulled out the recording of his phone call with Maggie. She pressed play and the sound of Maggie’s voice filled the room. Jackson sat quietly but his face twisted in rage. After the recording ended Frankie asked, “Is there anything you’d like to say?”

  “Yeah. I want a lawyer.”

  Frankie nodded, put the photographs back inside the case file, and escorted him back to the jail.

  Chapter 97

  Derek laid in bed stroking Bear’s fur, listening to the news on the television while staring at the ceiling fan. The sound of the phone ringing jolted him from his thoughts. “Hello?”

  “Did I wake you?”

  “No, I was just watching the news. What’s up Jessica?” Derek tried to hide his irritation with the late-night phone call.

  “I wondered if you, maybe, uh, wanted some company tonight.”

  Derek rolled his eyes and sighed.

  “I’ll take that as a no.”

  “What, uh, I’m sorry. I’m just tired, that’s all. It’s been a long day.” Tell her you idiot.

  “I bet I can help you forget all about what’s bothering you.”

  “Look, Jessica. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. I don’t want anything serious with you. I thought I was pretty…”

  With a huff, Jessica said, “I was just trying to have some fun.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just, I’ve been seeing someone off and on…”

  “She must not be too important – you didn’t seem to mind screwing me…”

  “I wasn’t trying to hurt you, Jessica. I just...I made a promise this weekend that I’d stop seeing you.”

  “I thought you two were just having fun.”

  “We were,” said Derek. “Or at least that’s what I told myself.”

  “Are you telling me it’s suddenly serious? What? Is she pregnant?”

  “No, she’s not pregnant. I can’t explain it. I just know I can’t lose her. I made a promise and I can’t break it. I need some time to figure things out.”

  “Humph. Well, when you get tired of playing with that detective, you know where to find me.”

  Jessica disconnected the call before Derek could say anything. He lay on his bed wondering if he did the right thing. He wasn’t sure he could give Frankie everything she wanted. He didn’t want to be a dad. Didn’t want to be a husband. Why couldn’t she just let things stay the way they were? He was happy with the time they had together.

  Derek lay back against his pillow and continued to stare at the ceiling fan. After a few moments he grabbed his cellphone and sent a text before turning the lights off.

  “Sweet dreams baby. XO”

  As he dozed off his phone dinged with an incoming text.

  “Still working. Wish I was there with you.”

  Chapter 98

  Frankie woke up to her cell phone ringing.

  “Thomas.”

  “Frankie, sorry to wake you.” Frankie recognized the irritated voice of Sergeant Jeff Kramer, the supervisor of her sister squad.

  “It’s okay Sarge. What’s up?”

  “We just tried to get the search warrant signed for Miller’s house. The prosecutor refused saying there isn’t enough probable cause. She also said she isn’t going to charge him. I put a call into Miller’s parole officer to see if he’ll violate him but haven’t heard back. I’m not letting him go yet– something doesn’t feel right about this.”

  Frankie was awake and sitting up. “Let me guess. The prosecutor is Jessica Moon.”

  “Yeah. I know she’s new but this case is pretty open and shut.”

  “Hold him. I need to make a phone call. I’ll call you back in a few.”

  Frankie dialed Derek’s office number. He answered on the second ring. “Derek Kensington.”

  “Did you end things with her?” Frankie didn’t try to conceal the rage boiling inside of her.

  “Frankie? Hold on a second.” He got up and closed his office door. “What’s going on?”

  “Did. You. End. Things. With. Her?”

  “Yes. She called me last night and I told her it was over. What’s wrong?”

  “She’s refusing to charge the in-custody from last night. In fact, there are several she is refusing to charge. Sawyer and Stockton to name but two. I didn’t say anything at first because I thought she had a little ground to stand on with Sawyer and was even willing to give her a little latitude with Stockton. But not this one. This one is different. We have evidence at the scene and he fucking admitted everything in a pre-text phone call. Your friend refused to sign the fucking search warrant for his house where there could be additional physical evidence. Then she told Kramer she was going to let this batterer go. She made this fucking decision base
d on you and me and I’m not going to stand for it. I’m going to call her fucking boss and get this handled. The Missouri Bar Association will be next.”

  “Hey, hey, calm down…”

  “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down. You know as well as I do that this is fucking personal.”

  “I’m sorry. Let me go look at the case file and call you back. If there’s any merit to this I’ll handle it. Okay?”

  Frankie was only slightly pacified. “Fine. But if you don’t handle that bitch, I’m going to.”

  Derek hung up the phone, ran his hand through his hair, and called Jessica. “Can you come here for a minute. And bring the file for the sex crimes in-custody.”

  Less than five minutes later Derek’s door opened and he was met with another angry woman.

  “Who do you think you are calling me into your office? You aren’t my supervisor and have no right to ask to see anything I’m working on.”

  Calmly Derek said, “Close the door.” He didn’t say anything more until his door was closed. “You are right. I’m not your boss and I have no right to tell you what to do on your cases. However, I have been doing this a very long time and I have a very good relationship with the police department. The case detective on the in-custody you are holding has already called me…”

  “Oh for Heaven’s sake! She called her boyfriend on me?” Venom dripped from the word boyfriend.

  “Detective Thomas has never called me on a case before now which tells me there might be some merit to her frustration. You can let me look at it and give a more senior legal opinion or you can let her call Becca.” Derek intentionally left out that Frankie was also threatening to call the Bar Association. “But I’ll warn you, if she calls Becca she’s going to tell her about all the cases you’ve declined to charge in-custody and all of your cases will be reviewed. If that happens, and she determines you’ve been letting criminals go because of a personal vendetta, Becca will send you to handle traffic cases. Or worse, fire you. For your own good, let me look at this one, and any others Detective Thomas has worked. I’ll give you my unbiased, legal opinion.”

  “Unbiased my ass.”

  “It’s me or Becca.” Derek softened his voice, “It’s not too late to fix this Jess.”

  Jessica’s face was flush with anger and embarrassment. She stared at Derek, trying to decide if she should call his bluff. Without a word she stood up, slammed the case file on his desk, turned and left.

  Derek exhaled and called to tell Frankie he was reviewing the in-custody and would be looking at the other cases Jessica had been charged with reviewing. He was going to make this right.

  Chapter 99

  Frankie was too angry to go back to bed and she had several hours before she had to be at work. Derek was not going to rush his analysis so Frankie changed into her workout gear and decided to go for a run.

  The air was crisp when she stepped out of her car in the parking lot by the river path. Frankie was glad she had worn gloves and brought a hat and heavy jacket. One earphone in her ear, she blasted Daughtry, and started with a slow jog. As the tempo of the music increased so did her speed. Her anger at Jessica, and at Derek, fueled her run.

  To herself she thought, “If he would have just kept it in his pants.”

  Forty-five minutes later Frankie was stretching by her car, thankful she had a bottle of water, when a familiar voice said, “Fancy meeting you here.”

  Looking up Frankie laughed and said, “Hey Jim. What are you doing?”

  “Same thing you are. Did you excise all your demons today?”

  Frankie nodded as she took a long drink of water. “Something like that.”

  “You look like you need to talk. Want to grab some pancakes before you head home?”

  “I don’t want to keep you from your run,” Frankie answered.

  “Aw, it’s okay. I can run later. Let’s grab breakfast.”

  Frankie nodded and followed him to the City Diner.

  Once they had placed their orders Craven said, “Okay, spill it.”

  Frankie fiddled with the straw in her Diet Coke without saying a word.

  “Frankie…”

  Frankie looked up into Craven’s dark eyes. She hesitated, then told him everything. She told him about giving Derek an ultimatum, about the cases she thought Moon declined because of her, and the case she had worked all night on.

  “I’ve had it. I know she is making decisions because of who I am, not based on the merits of the cases.”

  “What’s he going to do?”

  “He said he’s going to review all the cases with my name attached and give her an unbiased, senior legal analysis. He wants me to trust him to handle it.”

  “Do you?”

  “What? Trust him? I think so. He’s a good prosecutor and believes in doing the right thing where cases are concerned. I think he’ll give them a fair assessment.”

  “Do you think he’ll stop sleeping around and give you what you want? What you deserve?”

  Frankie looked away from Craven and stared out the window of the diner. She blinked away the tears forming in her eyes before turning back to face him. “Honestly? I don’t know. He is a good person but I think we just want very different things. It was what I wanted and needed for a while but now…”

  Frankie’s phone began to ring. The caller-id on her phone was for Sergeant Kramer.

  “Thomas.”

  “I don’t know what you did, but we were told to bring the search warrant back for signature. Moon also said she is going to issue a warrant for Miller. She’s asking for a $100,000 bond.”

  Frankie sighed, “Thanks Sarge. Did she say anything else?”

  Kramer laughed, “Yeah, she said to tell you she’d be in contact with you about a couple other cases you’re working. She said you’d understand. Oh, and Miller’s parole officer called back. He wants you to call him when you get in.”

  “Thanks. See you at 3.” Frankie looked up at Craven and said, “She’s charging the guy from last night and reviewing the other cases.”

  “Good.”

  Before Frankie could say anything else her phone buzzed with another incoming call. Looking at the caller-ID she said, “Hey Derek.”

  “You were right about the in-custody. There was no reason not to charge him. I did a rough analysis on the Sawyer and Stockton cases. I’m not making any promises, but I think there’s a good chance you’ll get warrants on both.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Her supervisor will take a look at any other cases you might have been involved in and make sure the decisions she made were based on a legal analysis and not a personal grievance.”

  Frankie and Derek said their good-byes just as the waitress was bringing the check. After they paid for their meals Craven walked Frankie back to her Jeep.

  “What now?”

  Frankie looked up at Craven, holding her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun, “I’ll finish up the last of the stuff on my cases…”

  “No, I mean you and Derek?”

  Frankie looked out over the river. After a few moments she faced Craven and said, “Honestly? I don’t know.”

  Chapter 100

  Frankie had a list of messages waiting for her when she got into the office, but her first call was to Jackson Miller’s parole officer.

  “Probation and Parole. Harold Cross.”

  “Mr. Cross, this is Detective Thomas. I’m investigating one of your parolee’s, Jackson Miller.”

  “How can I help you detective?”

  “I was wondering if you could tell me anything about Miller and the case he is serving parole for.”

  Frankie heard the clicking of a keyboard through the phone. Cross cleared his throat and said, “Here he is. Jackson Miller. Convicted of aggravated assault against a woman he was dating. The notes say he was originally charged with aggravated rape and aggravated assault. It looks like he may have entered a plea deal. His conviction on record is just for the assault.”

>   Frankie feverishly documented what Cross was saying. She wasn’t surprised about the plea. It was common for offenders to agree to plead guilty to lesser charges to avoid having to register as a sex offender.

  “Looks like there are a few more notes in his file. This guy has some serious rejection issues. The victim in this case was a woman he went out with a few times. She decided to end the relationship and he got angry. She said he broke into her house, beat, and raped her. He was evaluated in prison and is noted as having anger issues, specifically towards women. What’s he being investigated for in Kansas City?”

  “He is in our custody for assault and rape. I’m waiting on a warrant now. The stories are very similar to what he did time for.”

  “Stories? As in plural?”

  “Yes. We have at least two victims in our city.”

  “Damn. Okay, I’ll start working on a parole revocation.”

  “Thanks Harold. I’ll send you the reports if that will help.”

  “It will. Thanks.”

  Frankie looked at the remaining messages. Two were from the lab, confirming the analysis requests she had submitted on the Sawyer cases. The last was from Jerome Connor, Cheyenne’s father. Frankie’s hands trembled as she dialed his number.

  Her call was answered on the second ring, “Hello.”

  “Mr. Connor, this is Detective Thomas returning your call.”

  “Oh, hello Detective! Thank you for calling me back. I was sitting here with Cheyenne and she asked me to call and see if there is anything new with her case.”

  Frankie felt a huge wave of relief sweep over her body. “How’s she doing?”

  “She’s much better. They said she may even get to go home in a few days. She’ll have some rehab, but the doctors said she’ll be as good as new before we know it.”

  “That’s really great. If you can put her on the phone I’ll give her an update really quick.”

  Frankie could hear rustling as Jerome handed his daughter the cellphone.