The Logan Files - Pain Center: The Logan Files

by Marshall Huffman

  “No. The thing is the address was listed at 5634 Franklin Street.”

  Logan jotted the address down on a slip of paper and handed it to Miles.

  “Check this out in the phone book.”

  “I doubt that will be necessary,” Newcomb said.

  “Why is that?” Logan asked.

  “I already have. It is not listed in the phone book. Now that isn’t so unusual for specialized medical facilities that do not open their doors to the public. I have a few that only give their numbers to the companies they deal with, especially research facilities.”

  “Alright. What else?”

  “I decided to make a follow-up call to see how our product was performing. We do that with every new customer to see if they have any problems and to make sure the maintenance procedures are understood.”

  “And when you went there, it didn’t exist,” Miles said.

  “Actually it did in a way. There was a building there but it was an apartment building. Now I have some unusual customers, I’ll admit, but none are located in apartment buildings,” he said.

  “Mr. Newcomb, this is very important. I would like to show you a picture of a guy and see if you recognize him.”

  “Certainly.”

  Logan dug out a photo of Jerome that they had confiscated during one of the searches. He handed it to Newcomb.”

  “Oh yes. That’s the guy I sold it to. Said he was starting up a new lab. Seemed sort of strange but you know, it isn’t illegal to buy one of these saws.”

  “And when you read about the murders you started to put it together.”

  “I’m not sure I would say that, but it did grab my attention.”

  “Where did you sell the saw to him?”

  “That’s rather strange also. We met at a restaurant initially. He said the lab he was building was in the construction stage. I took our brochures with me and after lunch he placed the order. It was sent to the apartment address I just gave you. I didn’t think too much about it at the time with him telling me the place was under construction.”

  “Mr. Newcomb you can’t imagine how thankful I am that you came in. You may have provided the missing piece we have been searching for. I’ll keep your card. If this does lead to solving the case, you will certainly be considered for the twenty-five thousand dollar reward.”

  “Oh heavens, I didn’t come here for that. I just thought I should bring it to someone’s attention.”

  “Nevertheless, It would rightfully be yours. Thank you again.”

  “Well, I hope it helps,” he said and headed back down the stairs.

  “Holy shit,” Sorenson said.

  “Ain’t that the truth,” was all Logan could say.

  * * *

  It took Logan another two hours to get everyone assembled and procure the search warrant. If they could link the saw to the murders they could crack the case wide open.

  An overhead satellite map was stuck to the wall of the ready room. Logan pointed out the two entrances to the building.

  He lives on the second floor. Apartment 23. His overlooks the back parking lot so we want to keep the car at the end of the drive.”

  “No lights?”

  “No lights.”

  “Okay. Everyone in a vest, no exceptions. Morse and Harold, you guys take the back. Miles and I will go in the front. Sorenson you stay with the car out front. Carson, you are with the car around the back. Once we enter the building you can pull into the drive. I want to have the cars ready to roll just in case he gets by us somehow. If that happens, don’t wait for us, follow him and call in for support. Any questions?”

  “Do we know if he is armed?”

  “No, but I want you to go on the assumption that he could well be. He is in a sleaze business and that often means a gun around someplace. He carries pretty big deposits from what we have learned about The Cave.”

  “Anything else?”

  No one said anything.

  “Then I’ll let the chief know we are ready. Miles, you hold on to the warrants,” Logan said handing them to him as he headed to the Captain’s office.

  * * *

  “Nice spread you have here,” Erin said, looking out the bay window.

  “Yeah, I kind of like it. There’s lots of room,” JJ said.

  It had taken a lot of effort to get Mistress Delia to agree to come to his place for an interview for The Cave newspaper. Of course it was just a sham but at least he got her here.

  She was dressed in skin tight black latex pants, a vest that laced up the front and 5 inch black heels. She was stunning, JJ thought, as she stood in front of the window. He could hardly wait to get her down to the basement.

  “Where do we start?” she asked.

  “Well, I thought I would ask a few basic questions first then go on from there.”

  “What kind of basic questions?”

  “You know. How you got into this lifestyle. When was the first time you tried BDSM. That kind of thing.”

  She walked over to the couch and sat down with one leg over the arm rest.

  “Sounds good. Start asking.”

  “Would you like something to drink first? I have soft beverages, beer, wine, just about anything,” JJ offered.

  “Wine. What do you have?”

  “White or red?”

  “White.”

  “I have a Pinot Grigio.”

  “That will work,” she replied.

  JJ went to the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with a large glass of wine. Erin laughed when he placed it on the coffee table.

  “What?”

  “Those are red wine glasses,” she said, smiling.

  “Big deal. Now we won’t have to get up so often to refill them.”

  “Okay. That works I guess,” she said, picking up the glass, “So about the questions you want to ask.”

  JJ started in, scribbling notes like he was really interested in what she was saying. All he had to do was wait for the drug to kick in and then he would show Mistress Delia what pain was really all about.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  “Everyone ready?” Logan spoke into the microphone attached to his vest.

  “Affirmative.”

  “Stay away from the door,” Logan said to Miles.

  He reached over and knocked on the door.

  “Police, Mr. Hanson. Open the door.”

  They waited but got no reply Logan banged on the door again.

  “Jerome Hanson. This is the police. You need to open the door or we will break it down. We have a warrant to search your place.”

  Still no answer.

  “Last chance Hanson,” Logan yelled.

  “Break it down,” Miles said to the police officer with the battering ram.

  The officer stepped over and took a big swing at the door. It had a cheap lock and the door crashed open, almost coming off its hinges. Logan and Miles rushed in, weapons drawn and started a search of each room. A few minutes later they told the others it was all clear. Hanson wasn’t home.

  “So where the hell is he,” Sorenson said stepping inside, “His car is in the lot still.”

  “Not sure. We have a unit at The Cave and he isn’t there either.”

  “Shit. You think he knew we were closing in?”

  “I don’t see how. Even the press didn’t get a tip this time. The ADA went directly to the Judge. No clerks until after we hit the place. We wanted to make sure of no leaks,” Logan told him.

  “So now we just wait?” Morse asked.

  “You and Harold wait here. Arrest his ass if he comes back. Keep the car out of sight. I don’t want him to bolt,” Logan replied.

  “What are you guys going to do?”

  “Try to find his dumb ass,” Miles interjected.

  “Let’s just get this prick and wrap this damn thing up,” Morse said.

  “Now there’s an idea,” Miles mumbled.

  The drive back to the station was somber. They were all in their own little zone thin
king about Jerome Hanson. When they got back to the station, Logan gave the Captain the bad news.

  “Now what?” he asked.

  “I guess we just wait. The guy has to be someplace. I doubt he would just take off. His car is still at the apartment. We are running down cabs just in case he took one to the airport. We have people checking the airlines as well.”

  “A guy like this thinks he is too smart for us. He is still around here someplace,” the Captain said.

  Logan rubbed his eyes. He felt tired. The adrenalin rush of the break-in was wearing off. He felt like he could sleep for a month.

  The Captain looked at him and asked, “How much sleep have you had?”

  “Enough. Really, I’m fine. I just felt we were this close,” Logan said holding his finger and thumb about an inch apart, “To getting the guy.”

  “You’ll get him,” the Captain assured him.

  “Maybe, but before he kills again?”

  The Captain didn’t reply.

  * * *

  Miles and Sorenson were sitting around Logan’s desk hashing out a plan of attack when Phillips, the resident computer geek came over to them.

  “Hey guys. I know you are bummed out about the Hanson guy so I’ve been doing some research. I found a JJ Hanson that has a house not far from Beech Grove, off of Emerson. Actually you have to take a frontage road to get to the place. It’s very hard to find with lots of trees and land. No other places for quite a ways,” he told them.

  “Show me on the map,” Logan said.

  “Better still, let me show you on Google earth,” he said, “Follow me.”

  They followed Phillips to his room stuffed with electronic gear. There wasn’t room for them to all sit so they gathered around his computer screen.

  “Okay. I have it backed out so you can get a reference,” he said, “Now I will slowly zoom in so you can keep the perspective. If I go too fast it is easy to lose the relationship.”

  He slowly zoomed in using the mouse until he focused on a large house back in the tree line. “It would be almost impossible to see from either Emerson Avenue or Raymond Street. You have to get on the frontage road just south of there at Crossroads Avenue,” Phillips said.

  “That’s a hell of an isolated place,” Sorenson said.

  “And not easy to get to. We are going to need more than just us. There are too many avenues of escape with all the trees around that place. I have to get both S.W.A.T and the Sheriff in on this,” Logan said.

  “That’s going to slow us up,” Miles lamented.

  “Maybe so, but I’m not about to just drive in there and hope for the best. I’ll let the Captain know and get the ball rolling,” Logan told them.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  The staging point was at an Industrial Park just off of Raymond Avenue. The S.W.A.T unit and Sheriff’s deputies were briefed by Logan and assignments made. They were all aware that this was not going to be a simple job. The trees and having only one road in would make it more dangerous if Hanson was barricaded in the place and had a stash of weapons.

  The Sheriff’s officers would control the ingress and egress to the surrounding area once the operation started. S.W.A.T would work their way through the trees until they had a visual on the house. Once that was accomplished, Logan and his team would drive part of the way up the driveway and scope the situation out. If everything seemed good to them, they would then drive up to the house and serve the warrant. At least that was the plan they all agreed on in the end.

  The S.W.A.T unit wanted to storm the place but Logan said they had no cause at this point. He hadn’t shown a violent behavior pattern to justify that kind of action. After a long debate and wasted time, Logan finally won out.

  It took almost another hour before everyone had been give their assignments and were ready to push off.

  * * *

  The S.W.A.T. had the most difficult job. The trees were dense and it was starting to get dark. Snow had started to fall again making everyone even more miserable. Progress was slow and they had to stop several times to get everyone in position.

  Their job was to completely surround the house about a hundred yards out. The ring would close tighter after Logan and Miles went up to the house. If shots were fired first, they would then use teargas guns to lob the canisters through the windows.

  From that point on, it would be a standard tactical entry with flash-bangs.

  “We are in position,” the S.W.A.T. leader whispered into his microphone.

  “Copy. The Sheriff’s Department has the roads blocked. We are starting in,” Logan replied.

  “You ready?” he asked Miles.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be. I’m ready to take this guy down.”

  Logan started the car and slowly drove up the quickly disappearing drive. Snow was coming down harder every minute. He momentarily felt sorry for the men in the tree line.

  “There it is,” Miles said squinting through the wipers.

  “Big damn place.”

  “Must be a lot of money in the sleaze business.”

  “Probably most of it goes unreported as well,” Logan replied as he stopped the car.

  “Can’t really see much from here,” Miles said trying to look through the windshield that was starting to fog slightly.

  “What the hell, we might as well go the rest of the way,” Logan said putting the car in gear. They slowly made their way up the drive and stopped in front of a three car garage. A car covered with snow was parked in the circular drive way.

  Logan and Miles stepped out of the car but stood behind the doors for a few seconds. There was no movement. Miles glanced over to the trees but couldn’t see anyone.

  “Sure hope they’re out there,” he said.

  “Looks okay, let’s go,” Logan said, taking his Sig out of the holster. Miles followed just behind and to the side of Logan as they approached the house. They took up positions on either side of the door.

  “Going for it,” Logan said into his microphone.

  “Copy. Standing by,” came the reply.

  “Here we go,” Logan said, ringing the doorbell.

  They waited. Nothing happened. Logan rang it again but the results were the same. Miles reached over and knocked on the door with the butt of his gun but there was still no answer.

  “Think he’s not here?” Miles asked.

  “Someone is here,” Logan replied nodding with his head toward the car.

  “Still. We found his car at the apartment and he wasn’t there. Maybe he has two or three cars.”

  “DMV only has one registered,” Logan replied.

  “So, we let the S.W.A.T team take over?”

  “That’s the plan,” Logan said, “It’s all yours guys.”

  “Copy. We will wait until you get back to the car.”

  Logan and Miles walked back and stood by the car as the team moved silently toward the house. One member took up a position by the door with the ram.

  “Everyone ready, we go on my mark,” the leader said.

  “Three, two, one, mark,” he said and as the ram hit the door, a flash-bang went through the front room window.

  The explosion caused snow to fall off the trees and the S.W.A.T. members swarmed into the house. Logan and Miles waited but no shots followed. He could hear them yelling out ‘clear’ as they swept through the large house. They waited for what seemed like for an hour before the team leader emerged.

  “Better come see this Logan,” he yelled.

  “Drat,” Miles said.

  “Doesn’t sound good,” Logan replied.

  They walked to the front door and the team leader said, “You aren’t going to believe what we found in the basement.”

  “What?”

  “You gotta’ see this for yourself,” he told them, leading them down a long hall to the kitchen. A door led to the basement. Logan and Miles followed him downstairs.

  “What the...” Miles said, his eyes almost bugging out.

  “Ho
ly-smoly,” Logan said his mouth open.

  Stretched up by his hands was Jerome Hanson. A good looking woman in a formfitting pants and vest was sitting on a table.

  “What?” Miles managed to stammer.

  “You mind telling us what happened here?” Logan asked the woman.

  “Sure. This shit was going to do a number on me but no one gets the best of Delia,” she said.

  “Did you do all of this to him?” Logan asked looking at the red welts all over his body.”

  “Of course. He was trying to drug me. I took the opportunity to switch wine glasses with him when he was distracted. He drugged himself. Had a hell of a time getting him down the stairs but well...you can see for yourself, I managed.”

  “What were you doing here in the first place?” Miles asked.

  “He said he wanted to interview me for an alternative lifestyle newspaper he was going to start. I didn’t trust the little creep so I was very careful. When he offered me a glass of wine I noticed mine was a little cloudy and had a slight bitter taste. I figured it was a drug of some kind so when I got the chance I switched glasses. He was so busy looking at my chest, he never noticed. Dumbass should have used different glasses so he could keep them straight. What a loser,” she said.

  “So you brought him down here and gave him a taste of his own medicine?” Miles said.

  “More or less. He wanted to know about pain, now he does.”

  “He is still alive, right?” Logan said walking over to Hanson.

  “Unless he dies of embarrassment when he wakes up,” Delia said.

  Logan smiled. This was just too good to be true.

  “Incredible,” was all Miles could say.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  “So you got him booked?” the Captain asked.

  “Yep. Murder one, three counts.”

  “And the DA is happy?”

  “Oh you know, he wanted us to catch him in the act with dead bodies stacked all around. Aside from that, he seems relatively pleased.”

  “Evidence?”

  “Logged, tagged, and chain of evidence card attached to each item. The saw is what will probably burn his butt more than anything. Of course the crime scene guys are still going over the place looking for clues. They have hairs and all kinds of things so I would imagine the DA will be really happy at some point.”