The Swap

The order of my stories to read is:

Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, Case of the Executed Evangelist series.

The Swap series.

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, 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 21 - Plan of Action

"Okay, does everyone understand what we're going to do?" I asked. Everyone was looking at me, dumbfounded, still trying to grasp the theory I had told them.

"Put it into effect." the Chief ordered, breaking the silence. "And let's get going. Move, people, move."

We all went down to the I.T. room. Myron had the lights dimmed to almost off, so that we could all see the screens more easily.

"All right, here goes nothing." I said, picking up a phone and dialing Robert Schelle's cell phone number.

"Hello Mr. Schelle," I said, identifying myself. "Yes, I'm calling to tell you that we may have a break in our investigation of the death of your wife.... yes, sir, one of your neighbors had a security camera that caught a car leaving your RV driveway right at the time of the crime, and we'd like you to come to the station and see if you can identify her.... yes, that's right, I said 'her', it's a woman... how about tomorrow morning, 10:00am? That'll be great... thank you Mr. Schelle. Good night."

We all watched Myron's screen. It did not take long.

"There it is, burner phone number one!" Myron said. "Kensington cell tower!"

A moment later he added "Burner phone two, near Katherine Wilson's apartment complex!"

Picking up the phone, I called the Chief's office and asked him to go ahead and call the D.A. for warrants. Then I picked up what looked like a green telephone handset but was actually a hookup to the police radio system.

"Okay Cindy, Tanya, go!" I ordered.

------------------------

"Who the hell is that?" Karla Warner asked, scowling at the harsh knock on the door. She released Katherine Wilson from her embrace, their lips smeared with their lipstick after their several minutes of deeply kissing.

After arranging their opened dresses to look presentable, Katherine Wilson went to the door of her apartment. It was the Police. She opened the door.

"Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Warner," Detective Cindy Ross said imperiously, "I'm going to have to ask you both to come to Police Headquarters and answer a few questions."

"Are we under arrest?" Karla Warner said.

"We can play it that way if you want to, Mrs. Warner, but you're coming to the station one way or another." Cindy Ross replied. Two female uniformed officers came in to escort the women to police cars. Tanya Perlman darted into the apartment and confiscated both women's purses.

"What the hell are you doing with my purse?" Karla Warner shouted, her face crimson with anger.

"Evidence, Mrs. Warner." Supervisor Perlman stated. "We'll return it to you at the station."

--------------------

"Mr. Schelle, I'm Detective Martin Nash and this is Detective Hewitt. We need you to come down to the station with us."

"Uh, sure, give me a second." said Robert Schelle, attempting to retreat back into his house. Nash stopped him from closing the door.

"We need you to come right now." said Nash.

"Wait, am I under arrest?" Schelle asked, beginning to show anger. "Do you have a warrant for my arrest?"

"You're not under arrest yet, Mr. Schelle, but you will come with us now. If we need to place you under arrest, we can do so." Nash said.

"I want a lawyer first." Schelle demanded.

"You can call your lawyer at the station." Nash said. Hewitt moved in on Schelle, who decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and did not resist as he was led to the squad car outside by the larger, stronger man Hugh Hewitt.

-----------------------------------

"Let's take Mrs. Warner first, shall we?" I said to Cindy Ross. We entered Interrogation-B. Tanya Perlman came in behind us, with Mrs. Warner's purse.

"What the hell is going on?" Karla Warner demanded. "Why have I been brought to the police station? Where is Katherine? I want to call a lawyer,... lawyers for both of us, right now!"

"Take it easy, Mrs. Warner." I said. "In fact, allow me to make the call." I dialed a number from the police phone on the wall. A cell phone inside Mrs. Warner's purse went off. Tanya Perlman fished it out.

"Is that your cellphone, Mrs. Warner?" I asked, my voice cold.

"Yes it is." Mrs. Warner said. "What the hell is this about?" I did not reply; I was dialing a second number...

-----------------------------------

Some ten minutes later, I entered Interrogation-A with Detective Nash. Tanya Perlman also came into the room.

"Mr. Schelle, we've brought you here to ask a few more questions about the murder." I said.

"What about it?" Schelle said.

"We're trying to ascertain your whereabouts at the time of the murder." I said.

"I... we've been through this. I was in the meeting with Conlan at Ward Harvester when my wife was killed." Schelle said.

"Ah, forgive me, I'm so sorry Mr. Schelle for not making myself clear." I said, trying not to break into a smile or laugh, "I was not referring to your wife's death. Mr. Schelle... where were you at 10:05pm...

when Mr. Anthony Warner was shot dead in his car

?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Schelle said, getting up. "I'm getting the hell out of here!"

*BRRRINGGG! BRRRINNGG! BRRRING!*

"Not so fast, Mr. Schelle." I said. "Is that your cell phone?"

"Yeah..." Schelle said, reaching into his right-hand pocket and taking out the cell phone. Looking at it, he said "It says 'Blocked'".

"That is what you may expect to see when a Police telephone calls yours." I replied. "Just place that cell phone on the table, if you will. Thank you. "Now--"

*BRRRINGGG! BRRRINNGG! BRRRING!*

"Is that your cellphone, Mr. Schelle?" I asked again, having dialed a second number.

Schelle turned pale. "Uh no, it's right there on the table." he said. The ringing phone continued.

"Surely it's the phone in your pocket, Mr. Schelle?" I said. "Why don't you take it out?" He didn't move. "Or I can have my officers forcibly remove it from your pocket, Mr. Schelle."

Schelle finally reached into his left pocket and extracted a small cell phone.

"Detective Perlman, secure that burner phone. Take both those cell phones into evidence. Note the numbers." I said. Tanya did so. We now had both burner phones with the numbers Myron had discovered... and found in the respective possessions of Robert Schelle and Karla Warner!

"Okay, Mr. Schelle, you should be able to see now that we know everything. So once more from the top... sit down, Mr. Schelle, sit down." I said, sitting down myself. "There you go. Now... where were you at 10:05pm?"

"I told you this before: I was driving home." Schelle stammered.

"Yes, with the tire low on air." I said. "I remember that story. The problem is, it won't pass muster. You have no alibi at 10:05 because you were at the River Valley Country Club, where you lay in the back seat of Mr. Anthony Warner's car, and then shot him to death when he got in."

"What!" Schelle said. "You will never prove that."

"I think I will." I said. "I know that you and Karla Warner conspired to kill each other's spouses. You got the idea from one of your favorite movies: Alfred Hitchcock's

Strangers On A Train

, which I saw in your home the night of the murders. You set up the electricity and extension cord so that she could drop it into the hot tub while you were in your meeting, then you hustled over and shot her husband while she was creating a diversion at the Ladies Auxiliary dinner.

Schelle said nothing. The look on his face was simple disbelief, fear, and not knowing what to do or say next.

"Come now, Mr. Schelle," I continued, "we are talking about a death penalty case if you don't start cooperating. How did you and Karla Warner meet and form this little scheme of yours?"

"I... I want a lawyer." Schelle said. "I've got rights."

"Yes, you have rights." I said. "You've got lots of rights. In fact, you've got so many rights that sometimes I count them all, just to make myself feel crazy."

I continued, leaning in on him. "But right now what you've got is a world of shit, Robert. Do you think Karla Warner is going to go down alone, do you think she's going to take the fall for

you

? Think about it, buddy, while I arrange for you to call your lawyer... though I don't think you can afford to pay for one good enough to save you from the syringe." I said.

I got up and exited into the Headquarters area. Cindy was waiting in the anteroom.

"Karla Warner hasn't said a word since the burner phone in her purse went off, except to demand a lawyer." Cindy said.

"Okay, it's time to take them into booking." I said. "Do you have the pager?"

"Sure do. When you beep it, I'll bring her out."

I re-entered Schelle's room. "Mr. Robert Schelle, I am placing you under arrest for suspicion of the murder of Anthony Warner, and conspiracy to commit the murder of your wife, Michelle Schelle. Nash, read the citizen his considerable rights." Nash did so as Patrolman Morton handcuffed Schelle's hands behind his back. As I opened the door to the public side, I pressed the pager.

Schelle stepped out into the hallway at exactly the same time Karla Warner did. They looked at each other, shock on their faces, and Schelle nearly jumped out of his skin. It was Karla Warner who burst forward.

"Don't say one word to them, not one god-damned word, you hear!" she shouted into Schelle's face. Cindy began pushing her forward past him and Karla turned and screamed over her shoulder "They can't prove a god damned thing; don't say one fucking word!"

I don't know why everyone was looking at me. I was just grinning.

Part 22 - Confession Is Good For The Soul

In Interrogation-C, a room I rarely visited as it was only used when "A" and "B" were full, Katherine Wilson was sitting alone. We had left her alone in the room for as long as possible. Now it was time to work on her. I entered the room from the headquarters side with Detective Cindy Ross and Patrolman Diana Torres. Torres stood off to the side and watched as Cindy and I sat at the table facing Katherine.

"Katherine," I said, "you were at the Ladies Auxiliary dinner the night your brother was murdered, weren't you?"

"Yes, Karla and I were both there." Katherine said.

"Were you there the entire time, Katherine?" Cindy asked, keeping her voice as soft and friendly as she could.

"Yes... yes! We've told you this already." Katherine said. Her eyes were near to tears, her face looked panicked, almost like an animal caught in a cage.

"Katherine," I said, playing the role of 'bad cop", "Karla wasn't there the entire time, was she?"

"I... yes, of course she was there." Katherine said.

"The whole time? You can testify you were in sight of her the entire time?" I said.

"I..."

"Katherine," Cindy said, her voice soft and pleading and helpful, "you need to tell us what happened." Katherine's eyes looked to Cindy for support and guidance, but she still held back. "If you didn't do anything wrong, you shouldn't take the fall for this."

"Katherine," I said, boring in on her, "Karla rented that car in your name.

Your

name, Katherine! And that car was spotted by a neighbor driving away from Michelle Schelle's home when she was murdered."

"What?" Katherine said. "I... we had nothing to do with any of that! I thought you were talking about Anthony's murder..."

"Katherine..." I said. "You've been deceived, tricked by Karla Warner. She left the dinner for a while, didn't she? She drove the car, rented in

your

name, to Dr. Schelle's home and threw a live wire into the woman's hot tub. Now I don't think you had anything to do with that, Katherine, but the car at the scene was rented in

your

name."

Tears were flowing down Katherine's cheeks.

"Katherine," Cindy said, "Karla left the dinner for a while, didn't she? Come on, tell us what you know. Where was Karla at 9:30?"

"I...." Katherine said. "She... she went to the restroom for a few minutes. That's all. I'm sure someone saw her in the hallway or the restroom."

"Katherine," I said. "I know what happened. Karla left, telling you she was going to the restroom. She was gone at least 20 minutes. After a while, you grew concerned. You went to the restroom to see if she was all right... but she wasn't there, was she, Katherine?"

I bore down, hard. "You waited for a long time, wondering where she was. You only saw her again when she crashed into that waiter, isn't that right, Katherine?"

Katherine looked at me, her eyes huge, like a doe at bay. She was a lovely woman, but total fear was now etched upon her face.

"Come

on

, Katherine!" I commanded. "Karla Warner is setting you up, don't you understand? She rented that car in your name! She's been cheating on you, having affairs! And why do you think your brother was cutting

you

out of the company, eh?"

Katherine looked at Cindy. "Help me..." she whispered. "I don't know what to do, please... help me."

"You have to tell us the truth." Cindy said with as much compassion as her ability to commit deception would permit.

Katherine Wilson began sobbing. And she broke.

"No... she wasn't there the whole time." Katherine admitted, the words coming between sobs. "She... it was as you said, she went to the restroom and I didn't see her again until she ran into the waiter. Oh God... oh Karla I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." She buried her hands in her arms, the choking sobs coming unabated.

--------------------------------

I strode into Interrogation-2, painted cold jail gray, on the other side of the Headquarters from the public interrogation rooms. Robert Schelle was sitting at the table. He still looked like a frightened rabbit, but he now had a resigned look on his face. Entering the room with me was Assistant District Attorney Paulina Patterson.

"Okay, Robert, your rights have been read to you." I said, making sure the videocamera's taping the session got that. "I think you understand that we have sufficient evidence to place you in the vicinity of Anthony Warner's murder, and at the time of it. What's more, Karla Warner has been arrested, and if she cuts a deal with the D.A.'s office before you do, you are looking at the death penalty. She'll have no qualms about throwing you under the bus to save her ass-- er, save herself."

"I understand." Schelle said. "I know now that she never loved me. I'll tell you what you want to know." He looked at me. "I never should've let you into my house. You figured it out when you saw the movie, didn't you?"

"No, Robert, the movie only showed me that

you

got the idea from it. I began getting the idea that your wife's and Mr. Warner's murders were connected when I visited his crime scene. It

was

all your idea, wasn't it?"

"Not really." Schelle said. "It was Karla that kept talking about how great things would be for us if we were free from our spouses. I knew Michelle was going to divorce me, and I suggested Karla divorce her husband, but she said she'd lose her company and her money.

He paused, then added "She also said that the only way I could save my company was to avoid divorce, otherwise Michelle and her lawyers would lay claim to it. Everything I had worked for, gone, just like that. That's when I thought of the plan."

"So Karla really wanted you to keep your company, didn't she?" I asked.

"I..." Schelle paused for a moment, then said "Now that you mention it, she did keep saying how important it was that we keep the company in my name, and that she'd help me rebuild it."

"Why do you suppose that was, Robert? What about your struggling company was so interesting to Karla Warner?"

"I have no idea."

-------------------

"You can save yourself from the death penalty, Karla." Cindy Ross said. She, Martin Nash and Paulina Patterson were interviewing Karla Warner in Interrogation-1 as I watched through the one-way mirror. "Just work with us. You can save Katherine. You'll get to see pictures of your grandchildren. But right now you are looking at a one-way ticket to Death Row."

Nothing fazed the woman. All she said was "I wish to confer with my lawyer privately for a few moments." Everyone but Karla and her lawyer got up and walked into the anteroom where I was.

I had a sense of foreboding, that there was more to this legal pow-wow than just her legal options... Karla Warner was up to something, I could just feel it.

--------------------

It was nearly 2:00am when I got back home to The Cabin. A lovely sight greeted me there, and my cock sprang to instant throbbing hardness.

Blankets were spread on the floor in front of the fireplace in the greatroom. Laura and I often fucked on the floor or the sofa or wherever we were when the mood hit us... and it often did. But this time, we had a guest. It was Gayle Roberts.

Both women were naked except for Laura wearing her white high-heel slides and Gayle wearing bone-color sandals with thin straps, different from the ones she'd worn when I'd fucked her at her apartment. Laura was between Gayle's legs, eating Gayle's pussy, Laura's long tongue penetrating deeply into Gayle's hole and licking and lashing all over the beautiful woman's swollen labes.

"Hi darling, welcome home." Laura said, looking up. "I'm just enjoying this delicious late-night snack. Want to join us?"

"You bet your sweet ass I do." I said. I came up to Gayle's feet as Laura got out of the way. Gayle and I locked eyes as I stood over her and began undressing, slowly enough to make a show of it for both ladies. Laura was beautiful, as always, but I was concentrating on Gayle. She was lying on her back looking up at me, her legs spread obscenely, her feet in the high heels on the floor. My cock sprang out, hard and ready, and both women's eyes smoldered with lust and desire matching my own.

Naked, I moved to my knees between Gayle's legs, but before I mounted her I pulled Laura up to me and deeply kissed her mouth. I could feel more than see Gayle's eyes watching us as I deeply kissed my fiancee, tasting Gayle's sweet cunt juices on Laura's lips and tongue.

Breaking the kiss with Laura, I turned my attention and lust-fueled desires onto Gayle. I mounted her, hooking her legs under my arms. I felt powerful as I leaned over and deeply kissed Gayle's sweet mouth, twining my tongue with hers. I felt her reach between us and take my cock and fit it to her cuntlips. She was hot, wet and ready. I drove forward, burying the full length of my meat nuts-deep into Gayle's lovely cunt...

Part 23 - The Solution

It was Sunday evening, and we were gathered at The Steakhouse, in a private back room. The Chief had kept his promise and arranged dinner with the restaurant owner, John "Jack" Colby. I did not know, nor care to know, what financial arrangement had occurred between them, but I suspected Colby was going to try to conveniently forget to send a bill; such were police perks in this Town, for right or wrong.

Present were: the Chief, myself, Captain Brittany Maxwell, Detectives Cindy Ross, Martin Nash, Hugh Hewitt, Teresa Croyle, Tanya Perlman, Technicians Myron Milton, Mary Mahoney, and Sonali, Police Auxiliary members Laura Fredricson and my mother Phyllis, and Patrolmen Diana Torres, Pete Feeley and Christopher Purvis. I'd invited SBI Agent Ted Crenshaw in an effort to forge better relations, but he had been called to a case in the City.