At that moment the chief entered the interrogation room accompanied by two tall men wearing dark blue pin stripe suits. If one was not a few inches taller than the other, they might have been twins.
The chief was laconic, “Fred, could I see you in the hall for a moment?”
“But, Chief, I’m questioning a suspect; and I think you’ll be interested in hearing what we have just found out about her.”
It was as if the chief hadn’t heard a word that Fred said. “I said, please come out in the hall with me—now!”
Fred wasn’t sure what to make of the chief’s attitude. He suspected the two men were Black’s lawyers, although he had never seen either of them before.
“Okay, Chief, he said testily, “what is it?”
“Miss Black is to be released immediately. These two gentlemen will escort her out of the station.”
Fred was astounded. “But you don’t know all the background, what we found at her home and the overwhelming evidence!”
“Fred, I don’t really care. She’s free to go. It’s as simple as that, don’t argue.”
At that moment Fred lost it. He didn’t have great respect for the chief to begin with, and now the chief was taking control of his case without knowing the circumstances, and he was releasing a person who was most likely a murderer!
For the first time in their formal relationship, Fred used the chief’s first name.
“Dan, go ahead and release her and go fuck yourself at the same time! I’ve had it!”
Fred removed his badge and threw it forcefully on the hard tile floor. He promptly left the office, slamming the door loudly behind him.
Chapter 66
Outside the station Fred jumped into his rental car and, disregarding city speed limits, he sped directly home.
As he burst through the front door, Maureen immediately knew that something was wrong.
“What’s the matter, honey, bad day?”
“I just quit my job, is that bad enough?”
Fred headed directly to the refrigerator, simultaneously removing three bottles of his favorite dark beer.
He returned to the living room, silently sat across from Maureen, and gulped down the first of his three beers without taking a breath.
“Honey, I’ve never seen you so mad. What happened?”
On one hand Fred did not want to talk about it. On the other he needed some form of release; and Maureen was always exceptional in providing a sounding board for him.
He told her everything that had happened, starting from the attack on Schultz’s secretary’s life to the point in which his chief had defied logic and released the person responsible for the attempted murder.
Fred said, “I just can’t deal with this any longer! Hell, I’ve been investigating night and day to find the real person behind the murders, without notifying the chief of all that I have been doing. Because I knew he would have stopped me in my tracks. When I finally get a suspect with a massive amount of evidence linking her to at least one crime, they take it out of my hands. Screw them! Screw them all!”
Maureen started to get up when the doorbell rang.
“Don’t answer it, Maureen! I don’t want to talk to anybody now.”
“Not even the Fuller Brush man or the Avon lady?” Her attempt to lighten the situation went nowhere. There was not even the hint of a smile on Fred’s face, he just kept fuming. He was already halfway through his second beer.
The doorbell continued to ring.
Finally, amid all of Fred’s frustration he could no longer listen to the irritating sound. He jerked the door open, yelling, “What the hell do you want?”
Standing on the other side of the door was the chief.
“Well, Fred, are you going to let me in or not?”
Fred’s resentment against the chief had not abated. “Why should I, I don’t work for you anymore!”
The chief said, “Well, we’ll see about that,” as he pushed his way past Fred. “Fred, I have to talk to you. I know you’re pissed, but listen to me and after you hear my story. Then, if you still want to be a total fool and resign I won’t stand in your way.”
He looked at the beer sitting next to Fred’s sofa. “That beer looks good. I think I’ll have one.”
Fred started to say, I will tell you what you can do with my beer, but the words never got out.
Maureen delicately intervened and said, “Of course, Chief, I will get you one. Please, please sit down and make yourself comfortable.”
The chief sat down and said, “Fred, sit down!”
Damn, Fred thought, now he’s ordering me around in my own house. Fred sat down.
“Fred, I know you are irritated that I let your suspect go but I had no choice.”
“What do you mean, no choice? Why the hell did you let her go?”
“Fred, I didn’t do it!”
“I don’t understand.”
“Look, what I am about to tell you is confidential. I have no authority to communicate it to you. Do you understand?”
Maureen entered the room with the amber beer foaming over the brim. With all of her massive intelligence, Fred thought, she never did learn how to pour beer.
The chief said, “What I have to say is confidential, Maureen. I have no control what Fred says to you after I leave your house; but I would appreciate it if you’d leave us alone for a few minutes.”
Maureen started to leave the room, but Fred stopped her. “No,” he said, “she’s my wife and she stays.”
The chief ignored Fred’s request and repeated his order. “Maureen, please leave the room.”
Maureen complied, causing Fred’s barely controlled anger to reignite.
The chief ignored Fred’s unconfined emotion. “Okay, I told you I didn’t order your suspect’s release. Now aren’t you a little bit curious as to who did?”
“Do whatever you want! What the hell do I care?”
“I know you too well to believe that. The person was the DA.”
Fred’s curiosity overcame his anger. He asked, “Why would the DA get involved at this stage? We haven’t even briefed him about this. You mean he just reacted out of the blue to the story those two defense lawyers gave him without checking first with us for corroboration?”
“They were not lawyers, Fred.”
Now Fred was confused, and his confusion transcended his anger. “Who were they then?”
“They were from the CIA.”
“I could get into big trouble if anyone knew I was telling you this; but you’re a good man and I don’t want to lose you. It’s worth the risk to try to retain you. Look, Miss Black works directly for the CIA; she’s a plant at AU. She has been put there because there is concern that secrets from their research have been getting into enemy hands. They don’t think it’s accidental, they believe someone in that company is a spy for a foreign government. The CIA was concerned that if she was officially arrested, the details of the investigation she was involved in could become public.
The chief continued, “The DA was contacted directly by Washington and he was provided with all the details. He, of course, could not afford to ignore directions from the top cops in the nation. He called me just after you had taken her to the interrogation room. I told him I would not release her. He said I would have to. He then said the DA’s office would never prosecute the case, regardless of what I did. I couldn’t tell you the details in the presence of the two CIA officials, since I was sworn to secrecy. So that’s the story. Fred, I had to release her, I had no choice!”
Fred was finally starting to cool off. “I guess I understand, Chief, but we have a host of evidence that involves her in an attempted murder.”
“Fred, I didn’t say I wouldn’t continue to investigate. The DA bought himself only a moment in time as far as I am concerned. He’s a political animal, so if we do have some solid facts and we can get those facts to the media, we can use that as leverage on him. Now let’s work together on this.
“By the
way,” the chief continued, “either you’re having an affair with someone at AU or you have some other reasons to spend so much time there. How about leveling with me?”
“I will, but you won’t believe me.”
“Fred, first let me tell you a story and then you decide if I will believe you. There was a point in my career during which time I used the services of a psychic detective. At that time I had no leads in the investigation I was on and had nowhere to go. An earlier DA was on my back during that period. A friend in another station recommended, what he called, a special analyst. When she arrived, and claimed to be a psychic, I almost threw her out of my office. However, just for the hell of it, I talked to her.
“She asked me for any type of clothing associated with the victim and anything I had from the murderer. I went to the evidence room and pulled out a scarf that the deceased had been wearing, and also a cloth of unknown origin found at the scene. Fred, she touched each of those objects for what seemed like an hour, but at the end of that time she provided me with information that ultimately led me to the murderer.”
For the first time in his career as a policeman, Fred found himself entering a strange comfort zone with the man seated across from him, a man whom he absolutely hated just 30 minutes ago. Fred felt no time was appropriate to apologize, but he decided now was as good as any.
“Er, Chief,” he stuttered, “I have to apologize for my behavior earlier. I guess I just lost it.”
“That’s okay; it showed me you have spunk and commitment. I like that in my people. But if you ever call me Dan again, I’ll kick you out on your ass.”
Fred noticed that there was no sign of humor in the chief’s last remark.
“I understand,” Fred said, “and I …”
At that moment the chief burst into laughter. “Relax, Fred, I’m just kidding.”
Fred’s emotions were frozen. Maybe I’ve been all wrong about him Fred thought. I always saw him as a one dimensional individual, but he’s much more connected with life than that. I totally misjudged him, Fred reflected.
“OK,” Fred said smiling, “Let’s get on with it.”
“Fred, just what is going on? Why do you refuse to believe that the two men who actually committed the murders weren’t responsible for their actions?”
At that point, Fred’s cell phone rang. He let it ring.
The chief said, “Go ahead and answer it, Fred. I need another beer anyway.”
By the time Fred answered the phone, the caller was gone but he had recorded a message: “Sergeant, I mean Lieutenant, please call me back at 555-4311. I have some information. This is Don.”
In the interim the chief had made himself at home. He walked into the kitchen and pulled out a beer from Fred’s refrigerator. He opened a couple of cabinet doors, and finding some chips, took them and the beer back to the living room. “Who was it?”
“Somebody called Don left a message saying he had information,” Fred replied. “I don’t even know a Don—oh, wait a minute—I recognize his voice, that’s the security guard from AU.”
“Call him back, Fred, our discussion can be put on a back burner for awhile.”
Fred called the number given. “Hello, this is Lieutenant Harris. Did you call me?”
“Yes, but I can’t talk to you now.” The voice on the other end of the line was whispering. “Just meet me after work at 5:30 in front of the AU building.” The line went dead.
Fred checked his watch, it was 4:30. Soon the regular employees would be leaving work. Don must be staying at the company until the evening guard came to replace him.
“Chief, Don wants me to meet him at 5:30. He might be able to help us in our investigation. I’ll have to leave by five.”
“No problem, but can you give me a few minutes to brief me on the results of your investigation.”
“Chief, I believe the men who pulled the trigger were simply puppets. Someone else was controlling their actions. I don’t have the foggiest reason how or even why; but it’s apparent to me that they weren’t responsible for their actions. I have several reasons for my belief. Let me start with Slivers. He certainly doesn’t have the profile of a murderer; he is a pillar of his community and a devoted family man who is very well off. Believe me, he is no sociopath. Beyond that, he is proclaiming his innocence when any rational person would realize that he has been caught red-handed with overwhelming evidence against him. He is intelligent, but certainly not acting that way. Logically, he should be focusing all his efforts on trying to minimize his sentence. Instead, he keeps maintaining that he had absolutely nothing to do with the shootings, even when faced with video evidence. The same is true with Shepard, insisting on an alibi that he knows we have totally disproved. Neither man fits the profile of a murderer.
“I know it sounds strange, Chief, but I firmly believe someone in the AU Company has used some type of mind control over both of them to the extent that neither man was responsible for what he did.” Fred added, “Boss, if you could witness some of the mind experiments that company is involved with, you just would not believe it.”
“And you believe that someone connected with AU is responsible for the murders?” the chief asked.
“Absolutely—without question.”
“But earlier, you believed Mr. Ford was somehow involved with the murders, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did, he was a prime suspect of mine in the two mass murders. But it turns out that he was already dead when the third murder was committed.”
“You mean the third murder that looked like a suicide?”
“Yes, the third division director killed from AU.”
“So you believe the two mass murders and the apparent suicide were all connected, and you also believe a host of people were killed just to obscure the fact that the real objective was the elimination of the division directors? I would further assume, since you believe the three shootings were all linked, Mr. Ford logically could not be the culprit?”
“Exactly!”
“Ok, then, who is responsible?”
“Well,” said Fred, “a hint of Chanel No. 5 perfume was found on the ‘suicide’ rope. That rope did not come from the household of the victim; it was delivered by someone the morning that the victim died. Obviously, perfume points toward a woman being involved. So far, I have linked that brand of perfume to at least one woman in the company, but I’m yet not sure of her identity. I have a division head at the company working with me to try to determine who might be using it.”
“And what about this Miss Black, the person the DA directed me to release? How does she tie in?”
“There was an attempted murder of Miss Lang, Schultz’s secretary. Gas was turned on in her apartment while she was asleep; fingerprints found on the stove matched Miss Black’s. Beyond that, a single shot had earlier been fired at Miss Lang outside the AU building. Fortunately, we were able to recover the cartridge. We searched Miss Black’s house. And found a 32 caliber automatic. There were bullets remaining in the weapon; we fired them in the lab. The firing pin’s impression and the barrel signature on the fired bullet was an exact match to the cartridge that was found where someone fired a shot at Miss Lang. Chief, the evidence is overwhelming.”
“Fred, I understand your position. But according to the DA, Miss Black has a spotless record in the agency. She was put in the company as a plant. What possible motivation would she have to try to kill Schultz’s secretary?”
“I don’t know,” said Fred, “but how can we possibly ignore the mountain of evidence against her?”
“Well, you believe that those responsible for the mass killings were not really responsible for their actions, so why not give Miss Black the same benefit of the doubt? Is it possible that she is also being controlled?”
“I guess so, Chief. Hell, I just don’t know anymore. Nothing, nothing whatsoever in these cases is what it first appears to be. I really have been simply trying to find some sense in all of it.”
“Fred, other tha
n Miss Black, do you have any other suspects?”
“I’m not sure,” said Fred. “As far as someone having mind control capability over their victims, it could be virtually anyone in the company. Mr. Schultz has encouraged the cross-training of his employees in multiple areas of the paranormal. But if Ms. Black is responsible for the attempt on Donna’s life, then she most likely is responsible for the other murders as well. I can’t believe that we have a multiplicity of murderers coming out of one company.”
“I agree with your logic, Fred. I cannot conceive that more than one person would be responsible for the spate of murders. By the way, did you find any Chanel Number 5 perfume in Black’s home?”
“No, I have to admit that’s one piece of evidence we had hoped to find, but didn’t. Of course, she could have gotten rid of it before the search.”
“Fred, think about what you just said. You believe she got rid of the perfume, but she kept the gun that would help convict her of murder?”
Fred had to admit his boss had a valid point.
“Fred, you said you are using someone in the company to help you determine who has used that brand of perfume. Did you ask her about Miss Black?”
“Not yet.”
“I suggest that should be your next step. If you can confirm that Miss Black has used the same brand of perfume, that will add more evidence to the pile. If she doesn’t, then it’s entirely possible that we may have someone in AU trying to pin the blame on her. At any rate, I believe we still have to talk to Miss Black again. And this time we won’t treat her as a suspect, but as someone who can help you get to the bottom of this mess.
The chief continued, “I know this has been a grueling case for you with no let up. Take tomorrow off, and this time I really mean it. Don’t try to sneak back into the office when I’m not looking. I’ll get in touch with the CIA agents that accompanied Miss Black out of her jail cell and see if we can’t speak to her in a neutral territory.”
Mind Switch Page 31
