Criminal Affairs

Chapter 4

Molly noticed Vicki's eyes going from Masters to hers, back and forth, but more often to her, as if studying her. "I'm sorry, Detective..."

"Evans." Molly said.

"Yes, Detective Evans." said Vicki. "You look familiar to me, have we met before?" Molly played it cool, shaking her head, realizing the woman was observant enough to see the resemblance to Cindy in Molly's face. She was a smart, tough adversary, Molly surmised.

"No ma'am, we have not." Molly said, then to change the subject, "Mrs. Oldeeds, can you tell us the last time you saw Mike?"

"Uh... yesterday, yesterday morning." Vicki said. Molly watched her, becoming more convinced every minute that Mrs. Oldeeds was not telling the truth. She wished Don could be here to observe the woman; he'd be seeing right through her. She continued to observe as Vicki continued "He... he asked for the day off so that he could visit some friends at the University, and he left about ten o'clock. That's the last I saw or heard from him."

"No texts? No phone calls?" Sgt. Masters asked.

"No, none at all." Vicki said. "I... didn't really think anything of it before now, before you got here. I thought he was still up there visiting his friends."

"Do you know who those friends are?" Sgt. Masters asked.

"No... no, he didn't mention any names." Vicki said. "He said they were graduating in May, but that was all."

Interviews with other members of the Oldeeds contingent yielded nothing, everyone's story was the same.

---

"Well, one thing she's lying about," said Cindy Ross, "Mike shows up on the Hyatt's front lobby camera about eight o'clock in the evening, and in the elevator, getting off on the floor the Oldeeds group had rooms on. The cameras of the hallway were inoperative, however, and Mike never re-entered his own hotel room by using his key."

"How did you get that footage?" asked Lt. Moynahan, very impressed.

"Uh, I asked your I.T. data guy to get it from the hotel." Cindy replied. "Don't you normally get the footage as quickly as possible?"

"Of course we do." said Sergeant Masters, obviously miffed at Cindy's question.

"Actually, Sergeant," said Cav Moynahan, "we could probably do things like that more quickly. Learn from our friends in our fellow departments, that's what the SBI Reserve program is about."

"Yes sir." said Masters, his face showing nothing, but I sensed some anger and frustration within him.

"The one other thing I have," I said, "is that he was on campus of the University yesterday afternoon. My wife is a professor there, she knows him, and she said she saw him yesterday. She said he left for Midtown late that afternoon, which with a two-hour drive and possible stops would put him in Midtown at seven to eight p.m." I did not divulge that Laura had told me she'd spent several pleasant hours f*****g young Mike, nor that he was a young CIA operative on assignment inside the Oldeeds' empire. It was pretty obvious to me that Mike's cover had been blown, and Vicki Oldeeds had had him murdered.

"Guys, we need to get a warrant and get Vicki Oldeeds and her entourage in the house immediately." I said. "Before they skip town."

"A warrant will take two hours." said Masters. Perhaps my look of utter shock caused his next statement. "It doesn't take that long for you guys?"

"Uh, no." I said. "We call an ADA and unless a judge has a problem with the probable cause, we get what we need in minutes."

"Call the Courthouse, Wes." Lt. Moynahan said. "Get the warrant based upon the conflicting testimony of Mrs. Oldeeds to what these cameras show."

Part 5 - Federal Takeover

"I don't know what the delay is." Cindy said as she, Molly and I ate sandwiches Cindy had grabbed at a sandwich shop a few minutes before. "We'd have a warrant and a crowbar stuck up the perp's ass by this amount of time."

Molly laughed at that. "Sergeant Masters is absolutely by-the-book." she said. "He hasn't cultivated the relationships you have with Paulina and Vice had with Sanders. He actually types up the warrant request, prints it, has a courier take it to the Courthouse, who then waits and brings it back. You guys just say 'Hey, Paulina!' and magic just seems to happen for you."

"Yep, Paulina is great about that." I said. Just then, Lt. Moynahan came and asked us to come into his office, which was even bigger than mine back at my HQ.

As I walked into the room, I saw two men. You know how it is when you get an 'epiphany', when you suddenly get a vibe and just know something? Well, I had that vibe about the man sitting down. His face was a bit pudgy, hair only on the sides, something of a mustache and goatee. He was in his 40s at least, but looked overweight and more like he was in his 50s.

And my vibe was that this man was a danger and an enemy, an even greater threat than Wargrave, though I'd never seen nor met this man before... that I could remember.

"Lieutenant, I'm Joseph Corrigan, a Deputy Director of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology, same general level as your wife, but with a different group. My friends call me Jody. I do not consider you one of them." the man said, not offering to shake hands and not getting up out of his chair."

"Well then, the feeling is mutual." I said. "Why am I not surprised to see you here today?"

"Allow me to introduce FBI Special Agent In Charge Lester Craig." said Corrigan.

"Call me 'Les'." said the FBI agent, who was younger, tall, slender, his brown hair styled in a military haircut. He did offer his hand, which I shook. "Jack Muscone is a friend of mine, he's told me a lot about you, Don, if I may call you Don."

"By all mean, Les." I said. "Good to meet you."

"We're federalizing your case." said Director Corrigan. "Special Agent Craig is going to be taking over the investigation into the murder of this young man Mike. I was just telling Lt. Moynahan and his team that the victim was working with the CIA and we're treating this at a very high level."

"Our Police Chief has agreed to let them have it, too," said Lt. Moynahan, showing no emotion, "so we're standing down."

"Anything you can tell us that might help us?" asked Agent Craig. Molly was looking at the bulge in his pants, which had me wondering if Les Craig was well-hung.

"Well, you know about the Oldeeds association." I said. "I think they found out he was a mole and they whacked him last night."

"They also skipped town just as soon as we left their hotel rooms." said 'Coldiron' Masters. "We're not sure if they went to the City or to the University."

"The City." I said, feeling very sure.

"How can you be sure of that?" Corrigan asked, derision in his voice.

"Simple." I said, again not revealing everything I knew. "Jonas Oldeeds was murdered up there in my County. I doubt Vicki is going to want to go there right now. If she had business in the City, that's where she went. Alternatively, the City International Airport is also there, if she means to put some distance between herself and you guys here."

Something in the way Corrigan was looking at me bothered me. It was almost as if he were smirking at me, as if he knew something I didn't. I knew I'd have to think about that one while I drove home...