Price No Object

This story is part of an ongoing series.

The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

Feedback and

constructive

criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racism, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

***

Part 7 - Sheer Arrogance

My eyes widened in shock as I watched the rutting couple lustily humping on the video monitor.

"Forget what I said earlier, Mary." I said. "I need Julia Rodriguez and Theo Washington to go to the Magistrate's Court

now!

The warrant you will be getting is not just as a material witness, but as a Person of Interest in the murder of Julie Davalos Matheson, a human being. You will also get a warrant to bring in Donna Childers as a material witness. Go now... go!"

Julia and Theo scrambled up and out of the room as I said "Joanne, I didn't want you to make those arrests of Alicia Tate and Donna Childers, because of your rather close relationship with the Hospital Administrator. But I do want you to interrogate them with me when they get here. And that was really good work on your part getting that hotel information. Ditto that for you, Myron, on the tapes."

I began getting up. "In the meantime, I need to------"

"You need to sit back dowwwnnnn, Commanderrrrr." drawled the Chief, pointing at my chair. "And you need to ex-plainnnnn what is going on, herrrrre. Unless this new information totally changes your suppositionnnns."

"It may, sir." I said. "And I need to check and confirm something. I need to talk to Jeff Cawthorne again."

"I need the Green Crowbar back." muttered the Chief. "You would not dare

tease

us like this if she were here."

"I'm not trying to

tease

anyone, Chief." I said. "I

am

trying to keep rampant speculation down, though, by confirming something before I let all of you know about it..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

3:15pm, Tuesday, January 5th. Senior Detective Theo Washington and Detective Sergeant Julia Rodriguez came into the Records Room of University Hospital, escorted by two female and one male Uniformed Officers and Hospital Administrator Seth Warner.

They walked up to Alicia Tate's desk, where Alicia was studying her computer monitor, trying to ignore the Police presence. Supervisor Donna Childers rushed out of her office and to Alicia's desk.

"What now?" Childers yelled. "You're harassing my employee! If you don't have a warrant, get out NOW!"

Theo Washington gave his 'movie star handsome' grin as he said "It just so happens we

do

have two warrants, which your Administrator is holding up now." Everyone looked to see Hospital Administrator Seth Warner waving the two documents in the air. Theo said "Are you Donna Childers?"

"What of it?" snarled Childers.

"You are coming with us to the Police Station, as a material witness in the murder of Julie Matheson, a human being." said Theo. "Officer Green, escort Ms. Childers to your Patrol cruiser."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Donna Childers exploded as Officer Lydia Green moved forward. "I had nothing to do with that! Why are you arresting me?"

"They're not arresting you... yet." said Seth Warner, his voice cutting through the low hum of chatter starting up. "But if you don't go with them, they

will

arrest you."

"And you could be charged with several crimes." said Theo.

As that was going on, Detective Julia Rodriguez said "Mrs. Tate, please stand up. You

are

under arrest as a Person of Interest in the murder of Julie Matheson, a human being. And yes, you

are

being arrested, on the initial charge of Lying to Police. Officer Burrell, if you will, please?"

Officer Lisa Burrell affixed handcuffs to Alicia Tate and began reciting her rights to her. "I know the rights." Alicia said. "I want a lawyer."

"You'll be able to call one at the Station." Julia Rodriguez said. The group filed out of the Records Room, leaving behind a stunned group of Hospital employees...

Part 8 - Down The Winding Path

3:45pm, Tuesday, January 5th. Alicia Tate had been taken through Booking and was in Interrogation-1 waiting for her lawyer. I used the time to go into Interrogation-Alpha and talk to Donna Childers.

"What the

hell

am I doing here?" she yelled the second I walked into the room. "Why was I arrested and brought to the Police Station in front of my employees, as if I'm some kind of criminal?"

She had risen to her feet as she was yelling. I said "Have a seat, Ms. Childers... Sit! NOW!" Donna Childers finally sat back down, and I sat down on the other side of the table.

I said "You were not arrested, not formally. You were asked to come to the Station to answer some questions, and yes, it was an invitation you couldn't refuse. If you had, you

would

have been arrested. As it is, your confrontations with my Police Officers border on interfering with a Police investigation. So, answer a few simple questions, and we'll take you back to the Hospital."

"I have nothing to say to you." said Donna Childers.

"You don't even know what I'm going to ask." I replied. "You might find it in your very best interest to answer."

"I'm not cooperating." said Donna Childers. "I want a lawyer. I will answer no questions without legal representation present."

"As you wish." I said. "You can use the wall phone there to call your attorney. Just press '9' first to connect to the outside." Donna reached for the phone...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Robert 'B-1 Bob' Berry of the Chase, Lynch & Berry Law Firm was in Interrogation-1 with his client Alicia Tate. As Joanne Warner and I waited for them to get done, we talked about the case.

"Sir," Joanne said, "why did you even bother talking to Donna Childers? Do you think she has something to do with the case?"

I shrugged. "No idea yet. But her hostility and her attempt to stop you from talking to Alicia Tate got my hackles up. So I had her brought in to rattle her cage and see what pops out. So far, not a lot... except that she and her family are active on the Left side of the political line. That's not illegal, of course, but I wonder... I wunnnn-drrrrr if they might have a connection to Dr. Lionel Carmela."

Joanne said "You sound almost as obsessed with him as you were with the Consultant of Crime back in the day------"

"Excuse me, sir." said Christopher Purvis as he came up to us. "I'm glad I caught you before you went in there. I just found these interesting deposits by Alvin Tate, Alicia's husband, to their bank account."

He handed me his iPad, and I looked at the entries. I said "Small monthly deposits of $250, once a month for the last six months. That would take us back to June of last year. Chris, I need you to print a copy of this for me..."

"Already done, sir." said Purvis, handing me a file folder with the printed bank entries.

"Good work." I said. Just then, B-1 Bob Berry got on the phone to the Duty Desk, and an instant later my Police iPhone chimed with a text that they were ready.

"Okay, Joanne, let's do this just like we talked about." I said as I opened the door and let her walk through. After we closed the door, Officer Lisa Burrell came in

When we went in, I observed Berry looking hatefully at me. He was well-known as a hater of Police, and loved taking cases of alleged Police brutality... but what was 'interesting' was that neither he nor his firm took any cases on behalf of Blacks during the protests and riots the summer before. Hmmm, maybe because they didn't pay enough to be worth his time? I wondered to myself.

I put that into its compartment of the mind as Joanne and I sat down opposite Alicia Tate and Berry. "Mrs. Tate, you know Senior Detective Warner, and I'm Commander Troy. I'm going to------"

"What the hell is this about, Troy?" thundered Berry. "Why did you arrest my client? On what charges?"

"I'm going to re-read you your rights, Mrs. Tate." I said, not letting the legal beagle interfere with my proper application of the Law. I read Alicia her rights from the card, and she let me finish, then said she understood the rights.

"What this is about, Mr. Berry," I said, "is that your client is a Person of Interest in the murder of her neighbor Julie Matheson, and could possibly be charged with Felony Murder or related crimes due to her actions possibly leading to the death of Dwayne Matheson."

"You are absolutely nuts." snarled Berry. "My client was nowhere near the scene of the crime yesterday, and you'll never prove any ties or motive------"

I couldn't help myself. I grinned one of 'those' grins as I interrupted Berry by saying "Let's watch some TV, shall we?"

I turned on the monitor and the video of Jeff Cawthorne deeply fucking Alicia was played. "Ah, shit." Alicia said. "The bastard kept that? God, he's stupid!"

"That's not illegal." snarled Berry.

"Having a sexual relationship with the Matheson's business partner and roommate, and you didn't tell us?" I said, pretending astonishment.

"Nobody asked." Alicia said. Seeing my look, she quickly continued: "I'm not trying to be facetious or snarky with you, but all I was asked was if I knew him, and I said I did. I never lied about that."

"And withholding the truth when not asked for it is neither a lie nor a crime." said Berry.

"No," said Joanne, "but this is where she lied to us. As the Commander likes to say: 'Let's watch some TV.'." She started the next video, which was the University Hotel's footage of her and her husband checking in late Monday night. Then a clip of Alicia's interview in the Hospital Chapel was shown, where Alicia said her husband was in Midtown."

Joanne said "No Jury is going to give you the benefit of the doubt on that, Alicia. You lied to us. Felony lying to Police."

"Are you kidding me?" burst out B-1 Bob Berry. "You're going to charge her with a Class E Felony for

that?

"

"Yes. Yes I am." I said. "Your client has a lot of explaining to do... a lahhhht of explaining. Now if she starts coming correct and truthfully tells us what's going on here, I might see fit to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor with a slap on the wrist and no jail time. Maybe not even any probation. But she's gotta come clean. For example, Mrs. Tate, how do you explain these deposits by your husband to your joint bank account?"

I slid the papers showing the deposits across the table. Berry picked up the sheets and perused them. Alicia looked at them but did not touch the sheets of paper.

"I... I need to confer with my lawyer for a moment." Alicia said.

"Certainly." I said. "But before we go out, where is your husband right now?"

"She told you she wants to consult with me." snarled Berry. "Now get out so I can talk to her!"

Joanne and I went into the anteroom, and I went on through to the hallway and to the Monitor Room, where Captain Michaels and Lieutenants Davis and Mary Milton were watching. I said "Captain, do I even

need

to tell you to get an arrest warrant for Alvin Tate? Put out an APB, but also call Nell Bell of the Midtown Police Force and have her and her people check out wherever the State Department of Labor conferences are going on. I'll bet he really is there, this time around..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

4:10pm, Tuesday, January 5th. Joanne Warner and I went back into I-1 and sat down opposite Alicia Tate and her lawyer Bob Berry, who said "I am going to make a statement on behalf of my client." Neither Joanne nor I said anything, which may have surprised him. He continued:

"My client was aware of the deposits into the account she holds jointly with her husband." said Berry. "However, she does not know the origin of the money. She never asked her husband about it. She assumed it was some kind of stipend or bonus money from the State Department of Labor."

Berry: "My client is invoking the marital privilege, and will not answer any questions regarding her husband. However, she will cooperate, waive the marital privilege, and answer all of your questions truthfully and fully in exchange for full immunity from prosecution for any charges arising from this unfortunate incident. If------"

"Stop right there." I interrupted. "Just stop." Berry was a good actor, he pretended to be totally shocked as I looked at Joanne and said "They think we are stoo-pid. All these years, all those cases successfully solved, and this jackass is sitting there insulting my intelligence, and yours."

I turned and let my eyes bore into Berry as I said "Mrs. Tate, there is one mistake you should not make, and that is letting this idiot attorney lead you to believe that I am an Agency of the Weak-Minded. There is no way on God's green earth that you are getting full immunity against

any

crime, especially since you are suspected of murdering Mrs. Matheson."

I stood up and said "Come on, Detective Warner, I think we're done here. Officer Burrell, when Mrs. Tate is finished with any discussions with her lawyer, take her back to her holding cell to await her arraignment, which will likely be tomorrow morning."

"Now you just hold on!" shouted Berry. "It's a fair exchange! Immunity for her full cooperation."

"Mrs. Tate," I said, not even looking at the jerk attorney, "Let's be real clear about your position here. You are under arrest, and you are charged with a felony crime. You can get as much at ten years prison time, and I will be fighting hard to make sure you get every day of those ten years as your sentence. You have no leverage to bargain with.

I do not need you.

"

Alicia was looking at me in total shock and the beginnings of misery as I bore home. "I'm not promising you a damn thing, Mrs. Tate. If you do cooperate and convince me that you're telling the truth and that you've told everything you know, I might, I just

might

ask the DA to reduce your charge to a misdemeanor. But I'm not even promising that. You need to think about your future."

As I looked at Joanne and made a 'come on' nudge of my shoulder towards the door, Bob Berry snarled "You're bluffing. You

do

need her information."

I said nothing, just herded Joanne to the door. Just as I was going through the door I turned and said "I

never

bluff." And with that, I walked into the anteroom, closing the door firmly behind me.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Think she'll talk, sir?" Joanne said as we walked down the hallway towards MCD, accompanied by Claire Michaels, who had come out of the Monitor Room after watching and listening in on the interview.

I shrugged my shoulders, then said "I don't know. If she's smart, she'll drop that diseased dog Berry and ask for new and better representation. And here's a pro tip for you both: he'll probably try some maneuver to get us back in there, such as saying she wants to cooperate. And then when we go back in, he pushes for immunity for her again.

Walk away again.

She doesn't get immunity. At all. She gets my vague promise to talk to the D.A., and that's all."

"And you

will

talk to the D.A., won't you, sir?" Claire asked.

"Sure." I said. "I'll

talk

with the D.A..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Back to I-A. Donna Childers's legal representation had shown up, and it was Mr. Gibson Stelling of Succup & Payne, P.C. After they talked, I went in with Claire Michaels, and introduced her to them.

"I understand that my client is not formally under arrest." said Stelling. "And that's a good thing, because I'm not seeing that she committed any crime at all."

"If you want to get really granular about it," I said, "your clients's efforts to prevent my Officers from talking to Alicia Tate can be construed as interfering with a Police investigation... certainly enough for us to inconvenience her with being arrested and formally charged. But I'm not looking to go there. I just want some answers to some questions."

"What are the questions?" Stelling asked.

"I want to know about Alicia Tate, about what kind of employee she is, and what time she left work Monday night. I want to know your client's evaluation of Alicia's husband, and Alicia's relationship with her husband. And after that, we can go from there if we need to."

Stelling looked over at Donna Childers and said "Why don't you show good faith and answer those questions."

Donna said "First of all, I don't know Alicia's husband at all. I don't think I've even met him, but I won't say that for certain. Second, Alicia is a typical employee in my office... she's a bookkeeper. We lead very exciting lives keeping books, crunching numbers------"

Stelling stopped Donna and whispered to her to not get sarcastic, which was sage advice. Donna nodded, then said "My point is that we don't really have lives outside of our work. Anyway, her University Hospital ID card was read by the front door reader at 11:45pm Monday night. She left even though she has a lot of work to do... work she's not getting done now because

you

arrested her!"

"So we did." I said. "Ms. Childers, when was the last time you saw or talked to your cousin, who works at City University?"

Donna's eyes flashed angry fire, then she said "I'm not answering that, and I'm not answering any questions about my cousin." She turned to Stelling and said "They can't make me talk about family members, can they?"

"It's a gray area where cousins are concerned." Stelling said. "But Commander, I'm really going to have to ask you to show some relevance between my client's family, Alicia Tate, and whatever else you're investigating, or else I'm going to take my client with me and leave."

"By all means." I said. "Ms. Childers, I can have a Patrol cruiser return you to the Hospital, unless you'd prefer to get a ride with Mr. Stelling or someone else."

"I'll take her." said Stelling. I knew that wasn't chivalry compelling him to make the offer, but 'billable hours'...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As we were walking down the hall towards my office, Lt. Mary Milton came up to us. "Sir, ma'am, BigCommo is actively fighting our requests for the employee records of Dwayne Matheson, Julie Matheson, and Jeff Cawthorne, even though our requests were made with warrants in hand."

"Let's go into my office." I said. Once inside, I had Claire and Mary sit down in the 'hot chairs', and I sat behind my desk in my comfortable 'Command Chair'.

"What reasons are they citing?" I asked.

"They haven't, so far." Mary said. "They asked for a hearing to make us 'show cause' why we want the information, and they'll make their objections at that same hearing. Judge Folsom granted it for tomorrow morning at 9:00am in his Chambers."

"That's a load of crap, but they're a 'Big Boy' company, so it is what it is." I said. "Call Paulina Patterson and let her know... what?" I had seen Mary's eyes flash in warning.

"Sir," Mary said, "I did call her. She apologized and said that she was under orders to tell me that we have to call D.A. Walters herself, and that she, Paulina, can't help us on anything without Walters's specific permission until Walters makes her new assignments for her ADAs."

"Fer cryin' out loud." I muttered. "Okay then. Claire, you'll probably need to make that call to Walters yourself. If she gives you one word of shit, come get me, and if I'm not available go straight to the Chief." Then I said "By the way, Mary, who is the CEO of BigCommo? Arthur Wood?"

"He

was

, sir." said a well-prepared Mary Milton. "He became the BigWireless CEO last Spring, in what was termed a 'lateral move', but in reality was something of a demotion. The current CEO of BigCommo is Matthew Willis, son of the late Mitt Willis."