The Logan Files - Pain Center: The Logan Files

by Marshall Huffman

  “It would appear so,” Logan agreed.

  “Find anything significant?”

  “Bottles of liquor that came from a bar and a box of The Cave matches.”

  “A box?” Sorenson asked.

  “Yeah. You think he worked there? I mean, how else would he get a whole box of the matches? Add that to the fact that he has quarts of liquor and I’m wondering if he was a bartender or something.”

  “The Cave. Looks like we are going to have to pay The Cave and Mr. Hanson another visit.”

  “I would say so. I don’t know if it is enough to get a search warrant but we will go to the DA and see what he says,” Logan said.

  “We have enough,” Miles said behind them.

  Logan and Sorenson turned to find Miles holding up a small pad.

  “What did you find?” Logan asked.

  Miles handed him a checkbook register. Besides the usual entries for withdrawals and bill payments were entries of deposit from The Cave.

  “No doubt about it, he is connected to The Cave as more than a member,” Logan said emphatically, “Anyone find anything else?”

  No one spoke up.

  “Then we will have CSI do their thing. We can go back to the station.”

  While they were riding back Miles said, “What is the connection of these three other than The Cave?”

  “What do you mean? That is the connection.”

  “Right, but why those three? They all have been involved but it doesn’t answer who is doing this. What is the motive?”

  “Brandon, one thing I’ve learned as a detective, crazy people seldom need a motive. The simple act is the motive. They like what they do. It isn’t like a crime of passion or trying to extort money. It’s usually a sick individual that is either unbalanced or just evil. They enjoy hurting people. Sometimes it is a little of both,” Logan said, flinching as Miles narrowly missed a man emerging from a parked car.

  Logan was relieved when he finally got back to the station alive. Miles may be a good detective but he couldn’t drive for squat in Logan’s opinion.

  * * *

  “I agree there is a connection but it is nothing more than that. Nothing indicated any criminal element is involved.”

  “Come on. All three spend time at this Cave place. All three are dead. We have a record of payments from the Cave to one of the deceased. That has to be enough to at least get us a look at what is going on,” Logan argued.

  “And I’m telling you that it isn’t enough. Do you have any indication that they knew each other or spent time with one other? Any mention on the message board that they were in touch with one another?” the young DA asked.

  “We are still looking into that. They use aliases so it isn’t easy to detect,” Logan added.

  “My point exactly. Nothing indicates anything transpiring at the Cave that deserves a search warrant or at Hanson’s residence,” he said.

  The DA was good in court but he always wanted more. He never went to a judge for a search warrant unless he was totally convinced it was going to hold up in court. Most of the detectives didn’t have much use for him but Logan understood how he operated. His method was much the same. Only pounce when you are sure it is going to get the job done. His record for convictions was impressive by any standards and he damn sure intended to keep it that way. He had further political aspirations.

  “What do you need?” Logan asked.

  “A solid reason.”

  “I understand that. What I mean is what, in your opinion, would be a solid reason?”

  “Proof that they all knew each other. Just because Bobby Varner worked there it doesn’t mean he knew them or was connected to them. From what I understand of what you have explained so far, the bartenders work a service bar more than anything. Few people actually sit at the bar; isn’t that essentially correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “So he may not even know them except by sight. Since he ended up dead, we can assume he wasn’t the perpetrator. So even if he did know them we are still in the same place,” he pointed out.

  “What if he was more than a bartender?” Logan asked.

  “Like what? Bouncer?”

  “What if he was a manager?”

  “Well, I guess that would change things somewhat but you still have the fact that he is dead so he couldn’t have been part of the others’ demise,” the DA said.

  “Damn it. We need to get into that place to find the connection. Someplace inside that building is the connection we are looking for. Either there or at his house,” Logan said.

  “Logan, I want to make sure I end up with evidence, not egg on our faces,” he said.

  He almost said ‘my face’ but caught himself at the last second.

  “Sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling. You have known me long enough to know I never come to you unless I am pretty darn sure I know what I’m talking about. Well, I am. I need to find out the truth about Hanson and The Cave. I can’t do that just looking the place over. We need to get inside and have a real look at everything that goes on there. He has to have records and who knows what else?” Logan said.

  The DA looked at him for several moments, mulling over what Logan had just said. How many times had Logan been wrong? He could probably count them on one hand.

  “Alright John, I’ll get your search warrant for The Cave. I’ll go see McGomman, he is the most likely one to give us a warrant with what we have at present. I won’t even try for Hanson’s house unless you can bring me more than a gut feeling. Hopefully you will turn something up. I’ll go argue for the search warrant but you need to deliver.”

  “I know what I have to do,” Logan replied.

  Two hours later they had their search warrant signed by Judge Vance McGomman.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  JJ was surprised when he saw a police car in the parking lot of The Cave. When he drove into the lot, two men got out and stood waiting for him to get out of the car.

  “Officers. Can I help you?”

  “You’re Mr. Hanson?” one of the officers said.

  “I am.”

  “Sir, we have orders to keep you from entering the building until Detective Logan gets here with a warrant.”

  “A warrant? What kind of warrant?”

  “I’m not sure sir. I believe they said it was to search the premises.”

  “Bullshit. If they want to poke around they don’t need a warrant. Tell them to just drive their lazy asses down and look around. I have nothing to hide.”

  “Sir, I’m just the messenger.”

  He started for the door but the officer stopped him.

  “Sorry sir, you can’t go in until Detective Logan arrives. He should be here any minute.”

  “Fine,” JJ said and got back in his car.

  He was still in the car talking on his cell phone when Logan pulled into the lot. Logan had hardly gotten out of the door when JJ stormed up to him.

  “What the hell is going on? You don’t need a search warrant. All you have to do is ask,” he said.

  “I appreciate that Mr. Hanson but we need to do more than just take a quick look around. We need to go over the entire premises,” Logan said.

  “How in the hell am I supposed to run a business this way?” he asked.

  “We will be as quick as we can,” Logan replied.

  “You ain’t going in my place until my attorney gets here to look the warrant over,” he fumed.

  “Sorry Mr. Hanson, it doesn’t work that way. He is more than welcome to look it over when he gets here but we don’t wait. You can either open the door or we break it down.”

  “I thought Fascism was dead. It seems to be alive and well in Indianapolis,” Hanson replied.

  “I could have one of my men beat you up if that would help you to feel like it was really a Fascist country,” Logan said.

  Hanson didn’t reply. He walked over and opened the door and they filed in.

  “Let’s you and I go to the office
, Mr. Hanson. My men will look the rest of the place over.”

  Hanson was sullen and didn’t answer. He opened the door to his office and Logan’s eyes opened wide. There were eight color monitors on one wall and another wall with shelves held row after row of DVD cases.

  “What the hell,” Logan said, looking at the rows of DVDs along the wall.

  “I keep a record of what goes on in case I ever need it for legal reasons,” he said.

  “Do they know they are being filmed?”

  “I don’t advertise it if that’s what you mean.”

  “You can’t do that. These people have a right to know they are being videoed. It’s the law. Even security cameras have to be identified to notify people that they are being videoed,” Logan said.

  “I doubt anyone is going to complain. Not with what goes on here,” Hanson said.

  “Hanson, it doesn’t matter if they complain or not. It is against the law. I know about it and that makes it a violation of the law.”

  “You’re going to arrest me over something like this?” he said holding his hands open

  “Maybe. Let’s see what else develops,” Logan said.

  “Why don’t you just tell me what you are looking for? Maybe I can save you a lot of time,” JJ said.

  “Alright. Who was Bobby Varner?” Logan asked watching JJ’s face closely.

  JJ’s eyes opened slightly wider but he recovered quickly.

  “Bobby Varner. Yes, I certainly know him. He was my manager for a while. I fired him for stealing. The little jerk tried to rip me off for ten grand. I caught him and fired his ass,” Hanson said.

  “Did you report this?”

  “Nah. I got the money back. What would be the point?”

  “When was the last time you saw him?”

  “When I got the money back. He drove off out of the lot and that was the last time.”

  “When was that?”

  “Hell, I don’t know. A couple of weeks or so ago. It was on a Monday.”

  “Amy Belker. Know who she is?”

  d“A member here,” JJ said.

  “You know her?”

  “No. I just figured that if you asked about her you already knew she came here. I suspect I will find that she is a member,” he reasoned.

  “Okay. Pull up her record,” Logan said, jerking his thumb towards the computer.

  “Sure,” JJ said, “So, you think since all three of them came here there is someone killing members of The Cave?”

  “That’s one possibility we are looking into,” Logan said.

  “Here,” JJ said when her profile came up.

  Logan read the information. It was the usual type of information you would expect to find for any club. She had paid by credit card.

  “What do the four stars mean?”

  “Oh those? They indicate how many times she participated in one of the events here.”

  “What exactly is an event?”

  “Here,” JJ said, taking one of the DVD’s from the case and placing it in the player.

  Logan watched the scene as a woman was humiliating another female. She was tied with her hands behind her back and the other woman was working on her with a whip similar to what jockey’s use on horses. It made a wicked sound and loud crack as it landed on her bare skin.

  “I get it. Turn it off,” Logan said.

  “That is just one example.”

  “Sick. Where are the ones with Donna, Amy, and Bobby?”

  “Bobby never took part. He just managed for me and, of course, stole whenever he could.”

  “Alright, what about Donna and Amy? I want their DVDs,” Logan said.

  “I have no idea which ones they would be in. It could be any one of them. I don’t log them by who was involved.”

  “Then we will want all of them,” Logan said.

  “What? You can’t just take them,” JJ protested.

  “Yes, we can. We will need to take the computer as well.”

  “This is bullshit. You are going to put me out of business. I have to have the computer to keep my records up to date,” JJ moaned.

  “We will get them back to you as quickly as we can,” Logan told him.

  “Not soon enough. We open at 7:00 p.m. Will you be done by then?”

  “I honestly don’t know. It depends on the schedule of our computer experts.”

  “I have to have it back. I can’t even take in a new member without the computer,” he said.

  “You don’t keep a paper copy of the membership application?” Logan asked.

  “We used to do it that way but now it’s all done on the computer.”

  “I suggest you get some paper applications,” Logan said shrugging.

  JJ didn’t reply. He was trying to control his temper but it was difficult. There was a knock on the door and JJ opened it. It was a uniformed cop.

  “Logan?”

  “Yes.”

  “CSI is here. They want to know if you are ready for them to take over.”

  “Who is in charge?”

  “A guy named Phillips.”

  “Have him come on back,” Logan told the officer.

  A few seconds later Phillips stuck his head in the doorway of the office.

  “You ready for us to start?” he asked.

  “I am. I want you to make sure every DVD and the computer are taken for examination. Go through everything and gather whatever you think needs further investigation. Mr. Hanson,” he said, indicating JJ, “Isn’t too happy about it but I want everything.”

  “What about the rest of the place?”

  “Have your men go over the place and use your own judgment. Don’t take the equipment or stage props, just any paperwork or anything else you might come across.”

  “Will do. We will notify you when we have it all,” Phillips said.

  “Thanks. I’ll be back at the station. You should be able to find me there.”

  Phillips nodded and closed the office door.

  “Logan, you know I’m going to sue you and everyone else connected with this,” JJ said, sweeping his arm around the room.

  “You certainly have the right to try. I think you will find that rather difficult.”

  “You’re an ass. I’ll get the best lawyer I can find. This is still about that Kinshaw guy. It’s all revenge. I’ll go to the commissioner again,” he said.

  Logan looked at him closely and then walked up and got just inches from his face.

  “Mr. Hanson, I have been very patient with you so far. I know you are a bald face liar. I also know I can haul your ass in for filming those people. So, Jerome, you accuse me of revenge again and I’ll have this place taken apart down to the nails. Are we clear on that?” Logan said in a quiet but forceful voice.

  JJ looked into his eyes and nodded that he understood.

  “Good. Now, my people will take whatever they think is necessary and try to leave as much as they can so you can continue to operate. Thank you for your cooperation,” Logan said.

  He gathered up his men and they headed back to the station to debrief.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Lisa McGuire from the National Peoples News was sitting at his desk when they came back from The Cave. Logan thought about just leaving but decided it wouldn’t solve anything with someone like that.

  “Ms. McGuire,” Logan said, looking down at her. Her skirt had ridden up and her long legs seemed to go on forever.

  “John, you were going to call me Lisa. Ms. McGuire is so formal,” she said flashing a dazzling smile.

  She had on a black skirt and simple off white blouse that was cut fairly low. Not exactly what a reporter would wear. At least a working reporter. He had seen Carrie dressed up like that only a couple of times and it was when he had taken her to dinner.

  “What can I do for you?”

  “I just thought I would drop by and see what the latest developments are,” she said, still smiling.

  “Not much has happened since the last news briefi
ng.”

  She laughed loudly, which seemed out of place for her.

  “That was some briefing. Edgar is still complaining to anyone who will listen to him about the way you shot him down. The prick certainly deserved it,” she said.

  “That still doesn’t tell me why you are here.”

  “I thought you knew. I’m taking you to dinner. You like meat don’t you?”

  “I can’t do that. I appreciate the offer but how would it look?” he said, taken aback.

  “Like you were hungry? Look, it’s no big deal. I don’t bite very hard and I promise not to pump you. At least not for information,” she said.

  “I really can’t do it but thanks anyway. We just got back and I have a debriefing to run,” he stammered.

  “I can wait. I don’t mind. Come on, don’t worry so much. A good steak will do you a world of good and I can tell you all about the way we get information. It might come in handy someday,” she said.

  “You buy it. That’s fairly simple to figure out,” Logan said.

  “That’s only one way. I’ll tell you what, you go to dinner with me and I’ll tell you all about the ways we get our information, things like the search warrant you just served. CIS is over at The Cave right now I believe,” she said, flipping the end of his tie with her finger.

  “How did…”

  “Come on. Go to dinner with me. Are you ashamed to be seen with me? Will Ms. Brown give you trouble if you go to dinner with another woman?” she asked with an amused look on her lips.

  “It has nothing to do with any of that. Why should Ms. Brown care what I do one way or the other?” Logan said.

  He wanted to take it back as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He really didn’t want to know how much she knew about his personal relationships.

  “Just asking. Please come to dinner with me and I won’t bother you again,” she said.

  “You don’t really mean that do you?”

  “No, not really but it sounds nice don’t you think?” she said and laughed again.

  “Give me twenty minutes,” Logan said.

  He needed to know how she knew about the search warrant and what else she might know about.

  “Hey Studly-Do-Right, what’s with legs out there?” Miles said when he came into the conference room.