Black Velvet Ch. 02

"You're tired, Don. You've been up all night."

"I know." I said. "I used to could pull all-nighters and not feel it like this."

"You're getting older. Plus, last year you were training like hell for the Police Boxing Matches." Cindy replied. "This year... not so much, especially with your bad back. Better step it up... or don't, and I'll just take that Championship trophy back."

"We shall see." I said. "Anyway, a lot of it right now is mental... Jeanine's death. So fucking senseless."

"Think she found out something she wasn't supposed to know?" Cindy asked.

"I think it's more." I said. "I think Michael got caught up in the Superior Bloodlines shit. You remember what happened to Carroll and Blondie in the 'Black Badge' case. In this case, Michael tried to sneak them out of the trap---"

Just then there was a knock at my door. Mary Milton poked her head in.

"Come on in." I said. "Did Myron come up, too?"

"Yes sir." said Myron as he came in behind his wife. Today Mary's hair was black, in homage to Jeanine's death.

Cindy got up to go. "I need to start on that warrant for the clothes."

"Wait until you hear this." I said, having her sit back down on the sofa as the Mighty Miltons sat on the hot chairs. Mary started the report.

"Sir," she said, "I emailed you the reports of the cases I found. In the past two years, there have been four bodies found wrapped in black velvet. Those are the first cases listed. Then I listed the eight more with velvet of other colors, mostly blue. Lastly, there were a couple where women were found dressed in velvet dresses."

"Hmm," I said, bringing up the report. "Three women, one man, all on the west side of the City. The other-colored velvet wraps were in towns generally along the Interstate from the City towards Midtown. And the women in the velvet dresses were... also west of the City."

"Yes sir." said Mary. "I've begun a search in other States, especially to the north and east of the City, as well, but that will take time."

"West of the City." I said, thinking about it.

The geography goes like this: the mountain finger upon which my home The Cabin sits is the southern end of a range of such hills, which are also the hills of the Lake Amengi-Nunagen and Lake Watchacoochie area. Another mountain finger goes along the east side of Lake Reservoir. Lake Reservoir was created by a small meteorite hit millions of years ago, that also split the mountain fingers into a wishbone of sorts, and pushed the hills a bit higher. On the east side of that eastern mountain finger is a lot of scrub land going towards the City suburbs.

A road from the Nextdoor County Highway to the City goes north-south along the eastern base of that mountain finger, and connects with a bigger road going northwest from the City, which goes on up to the eastern side of Lake Watchacoochie and the town of Waguli.

For some reason, that land west of the City towards that road and the mountain was never heavily settled, and the City suburbs have been slow reaching the 30 miles or so westward to it, and civilization has only sprung up in the area in the last ten years or so.

"So these four people found in that area..." I started.

Mary said "Similar deaths to Ms. Holmes and Mr. Dortmund, sir, though all found separately. They were all found naked, they were wrapped in black velvet. All of the women had been raped, and two of them over a period of time. The dead man's DNA matched the semen of one of the women, though the bodies were not found together."

"Also," said Mary, "one of the women found in a velvet dress had been tied to a bed and held captive, and she had been repeatedly raped over time, meaning a period of days. She died of dehydration lying on that bed; it looked like her captor abandoned her there."

"Time to visit Bonnie Karpathian at State Women's Prison?" Cindy asked. I cut my eyes over to her.

"Just might be." I said. "Yep... I'm afraid we're up against a serial killer..." I became lost in thought.

"Sir," said Mary, "would you like me to look for mental institutions, maybe see if something related to this comes up?"

"Sure." I said. "Get with Paulina about a State-wide warrant for that..."

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

Almost like clockwork, as if on cue, I got a call from Les Craig of the FBI.

"Got anything new?" he asked.

"Just got some information that it may be a deeper case than we first thought." I said.

"I just got that, too." said Craig. "Some of my people look into serial killings that cross State lines. I'm also about to give Jack Muscone a call. We're not trying to step on your toes, but we'd like to look into this matter."

"Well, I'd ask you to hold off unless we find something that does cross State lines. There's other considerations in the Dortmund/Holmes murders, and we're not really sure what we're dealing with yet." I said. "And as I'm sure you know, or Jack will tell you... I'm not a fan of too many cooks in the kitchen."

"All right." said Les Craig. "But do keep me in the loop. I have people looking over my shoulder on this."

"Who?" I asked.

"Don't ask. Gotta go, talk to you later."

The phone disconnected.

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

Cindy and Teddy Parker entered Lenora Holmes's townhouse. "My condo is west of here, and my mother's is east of us." Cindy said. "These are nicer then either of ours."

"Pretty clean." said Teddy Parker. "But no computer, no cellphone. There's some clothes in the hamper, though."

"Good!" said a voice behind them. It was Christina Cho, and she had two State Crime Lab techs with her. Lt. Tanya Perlman was outside. "I'm tired of these sterilized scenes the Consultant of Crime would always leave us!" Christina added.

"I hear you. We'll go to Rob Dortmund's home next." said Cindy. "Teddy, you can't go there; I'll be going in an SBI capacity..."

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

An email from the Sheriff in the town of Beaver Ruin came to my mailbox at 2:30pm. It was the results of the autopsy of Jeanine Burke. It confirmed she had been stabbed in the chest, with a glancing blow to the heart muscle, and then in the throat. She had fought her attackers, and skin had been found under her fingernails, which was now being tested to obtain a DNA profile. But the fight had been brief. She had not been sexually assaulted; the killer or killers had chased her, caught her, killed her, and left her.

An hour later I got an email saying that the body would be released to me whenever I came to get it. I called Frank Freeman Funeral Home to hire them to pick up the body in one of their hearses. They refused to accept payment for the transportation, as long as we used their Funeral Home for the final processes. I went with that.

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

The sun was setting as I sat in my office, looking out the window. I heard the door open and looked over my shoulder; it was the Chief letting himself in.

"Fill 'em up." he said, putting two shot glasses on my desk. I took the 101-proof bourbon out of the bottom drawer and poured two shots. We clinked our glasses and downed the shots. Then the Chief sat down in a hot chair.

"Long day?" he asked.

"Yes sir." I said. "Tomorrow will be worse, too."

"Yes, it hurts losing a friend."

"Jeanine was more." I said. "She had been married to my nephew. One of her kids is his." The Chief nodded.

"You're stretching yourself pretty thin, Mr. Crowbar." said the Chief. "Two big cases, neither of them in this jurisdiction."

"Is that a hint, Chief?" I asked.

"It's not a hint to confine yourself." said the Chief. "But it's a hint to not stretch yourself too thin. You're overworking yourself, Mr. Crowbar."

"Would you believe me, sir," I said, "if I told you that this is nothing, that if it weren't for family involvement in Jeanine's case, I'd be bored?"

"Heh heh heh heh." chuckled the Chief in his peculiar way. "Okay, okay. But get some rest. Have another shot, go home, pet the dog, hug the wife and kids..."

I obeyed those instructions.

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

"Daddy!"

Hearing Carole's greeting, followed by Bowser barking happily, was music to my ears as I came into the Mountain Nest. Then Jim came up to greet me, followed by Buddy, and soon I found myself sitting on the sofa with a lap full of kids and dogs.

"Dinner will be ready soon." said Laura. My mother was cooking, and I noted she was making extra... it was food for the Burkes.

Laura then continued: "Oh, I forgot to tell you: that program you were running came up with a hit yesterday."

I extricated myself from the mass on my lap and went to the little study room, whose door was under the stairs to the upper floor. Sitting at the desk, I saw that the facial recognition pattern program had come up with a hit. Two hits, actually. One from this Town & County, the other from Los Angeles. I fired off a couple of emails...

Part 9 - Requiem

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said the lovely redheaded reporterette from in front of Frank Freeman Funeral Home at 7:00am, Wednesday, February 8th. "The visitation for Jeanine Olivet Burke will be from 6:00pm to 9:00pm tonight, followed by the funeral and burial tomorrow. The Town and County remain in a state of shock over the death of this young woman, whose charitable contributions are still making a difference in the lives of our children."

"Local police in Beaver Ruin, near Lake Amengi-Nunagen, have no leads, but said they are still awaiting results from their Crime Lab. The FBI issued a statement that it is too early in the investigation to make any comment on the case."

"In the case of Rob Dortmund and Lenora Holmes, the results of the autopsy show that Dortmund and Holmes had sexual intercourse with each other prior to their deaths. The Nextdoor County Police refused to comment on the case. Headmaster John Meadows of Walnut Preparatory Academy did not return our calls for comment on this information."

"And so it begins." said Cindy as we sipped our coffee in MCD. "They smell a sex scandal."

"Yep." I said. "I also notice that neither KXTC nor KSTD contacted either me, the TCPD, or the SBI about the case, and they did not mention the execution of the warrants for their clothes and other items... they didn't want us pushing back on the sexual angle of the case. So you're right... it's an agenda for them now."

"What's Walnut Prep going to do?" Cindy asked.

"I don't know." I said. "That'll have to play itself out. I can only do so much, and the Press is going to do what they want to, no matter what."

Bettina arrested my attention: "The Town & County Council met last night in open session. A resolution of condolences for the family of Jeanine Burke was passed, 9-1, and needs no second reading. They also voted on zoning ordinances, and then went into executive session to discuss Fire Department personnel issues."

"And in State news," continued Bettina, "the Legislature is in utter deadlock. The Democrats, led by Senator Katherine Woodburn of the First District, are not allowing any bills at all to reach the State Senate floor until the SBI bill is resolved and voted upon. Governor Val Jared has gone on the offensive, accusing Senator Woodburn of holding teacher's paychecks and new environmental regulations hostage, and accusing the Democrats of refusing to negotiate the SBI bill in the first place."

"Deadlock, Commander." said Cindy as the Detectives were trickling in. "Bettina will be blaming you for that."

"I'll take the credit for shutting down the State Government." I said. "Like I told those idiot Legislators... let's shut it down, and when people see how well they do without the Government, they'll start ripping Legislators new ones."

"Er, sir," said Theo Washington. "You do realize we all are working for the Government?"

"Yes I do." I said. "But our job, the Police Force, is a legitimate function of Government."

"How do you define that, sir?" asked Joanne Warner.

"Our job benefits everyone as individuals, and equally... well, theoretically, and I certainly try... and is something more successfully done by Government than the private sector. The military, Fire Department, Courts of Law, infrastructure, basic education, are in the same general arena. Not a whole lot else, though, in my humble opinion."

"So..." I finished, "I was good with being in the military, as I'm sure Ms. Warner is, and I'm good with being with the Police Force. But don't ask me to be part of the EPA, 'Urban Development', or anything that oppressively regulates businesses to the point they can't succeed. Okay... enough ranting. I've got funeral arrangements to make."

"Speaking of that sir," said Jermaine Davis, "who on the Council would vote against a resolution for Mrs. Burke?"

"Thomas P. Cook." I said. "Remember the Nathaniel Jones trial? Jeanine defended the kid, pro bono, got a correct 'not guilty' verdict for him." (Author's note: Case of the Black Badge, Ch. 01.)

"Yes sir, I remember that." said Davis. "But..."

"Mr. Cook remembers Mrs. Burke's actions in that case, and he is still unhappy about it." I said. "And yes, Detective Davis... you may draw a racially-based inference from that." I left the MCD room, letting the Detectives discuss those issues amongst themselves.

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

I wore a black suit with black tie to the visitation, a.k.a. the wake. It was at Frank Freeman Funeral Home. I had a flashback: this is where I realized that Pastor Raymond Westboro was the Consultant of Crime. (Author's note: Seriously Inconvenienced, Ch. 02-03.)

Laura was dressed in a simple black dress that did not hide her shapely curves at all, sheer black stockings and black high heel pumps that only shaped her legs, feet, and ass to perfection, and a black hat with a veil. My mom was dressed similarly in black, and looked very nice. Also with us was Cindy Ross.

And then came Teresa Croyle, staying with us. Because of the nature of Todd's relationship with Jeanine (formerly married to each other), Teresa had thought it best to just stay with Todd's family, while Todd and his father Michael greeted the guests. Teresa had told me that Todd was far more devastated by Jeanine's death than he was letting on.

"Sir," she had asked me earlier, "I know Todd loves me, but... if Jeanine had stayed with him, they'd still be married. She had a child with him. Does he still love her more? Did he just ask me to marry him to make Christmas Eve better?"

"No, he loves you... very much." I had replied. "Let me ask this: if your ex-husband died, how would you feel?"

"Sad for him, but not devastated." Teresa had said. "But that marriage was some time ago, too."

"Yes." I said. "I know that if something happened to Melina, I'd feel terrible, even though I'm much happier with Laura than I ever was with Melina. Todd did care about Jeanine, and of course he's shocked and hurt by her death. But he loves you now, and your support for him and his children while he's down will just make him love you all the more."

"Thank you, sir." Teresa said. "I always feel better talking with you... except when you're ripping me a new one for fucking up."

"Which very rarely happens." I said. "But I'm always here if and when you need to talk."

Now, in present time, I went in with family members. The visitation room was on the right. Against the side wall was the coffin. Jeanine was in a pink gown, lying on a white satin pillow, her black hair arrayed over her shoulders. Somewhat to my shock, the coffin was lined with black velvet.

We signed the book, then passed by the coffin. Jeanine had been a very beautiful woman, and looked so unlike herself in death. Then we greeted the widower and his son. My mother hugged Todd, then cordially offered her condolences to Michael Burke. Next came Laura.

This was an awkward moment; after all, Michael Burke's wife had tried to kill Laura, and Laura had made damn sure Michael never got near Ivy. Still, Laura cordially said "I'm very sorry for your loss." as she shook Michael's hand. Michael cordially said "Thank you.", and that moment was thankfully over.

I hugged Todd, then as I shook Michael's hand he whispered to me "Thank you for making the arrangements. I... I'm in no condition to..."

"I understand." I said. "I was glad to do it." I moved on, Cindy coming up behind me, then Teresa. She and Todd whispered some things for a long moment.

Jeanine's former lawyer partners, Tina Felton and Virginia Madison, came in. They cried their eyeballs out when they saw Jeanine lying there, and Todd spent some time comforting them.

Judge Rodney K. Watts and his wife came through, with Councilman Reginald B.F. Lewis and his wife; Watts from knowing Jeanine as a lawyer, and Lewis remembering Jeanine's defense of Nathaniel Jones. Councilman Lewis told me that Nathaniel had earned a scholarship to City University. Because of Jeanine, one man that had been targeted for a legal lynching was now going to be a productive member of Society. If nothing else, Jeanine had changed the world that much for good.

Other lawyers came through, including D.A. Gil Krasney and Solicitor Miriam Walters. She was tall for a woman, not quite up to Laura, but as tall as Krasney, and she had beady black eyes that reminded me strongly of Jack Muscone.

And then came Jenna Stiles. She shed a few tears upon seeing Jeanine, hugged Todd and Michael, then found a place to stand alone, nowhere near Krasney. "Excuse me." said Cindy, who went over and began talking with Jenna. They were cordial, but not really more.

All the BOW Enterprises people came. Barry Oliver, Teddy Franklin, several other employees. Todd's assistant Mariko came with a youngish-looking Japanese man. Following them was the CEO of Ichimoku Industries, based in the City. Todd exchanged formal Japanese greetings with all of them.

Mariko brought the young Japanese man over to me. "Commander-sama, may I introduce to you Ogawa Hiroku-san. He is representing my father in this unfortunate moment."

"Hiroku-san, I am honored to meet you." I said, formally bowing, using his 'first name', as was tradition. Ogawa bowed back.

"I am honored to meet the Iron Crowbar, Sire." he said, his accent thick. I introduced Laura, and they bowed to each other as well.

Then I noticed Cindy turn and leave Jenna's side, and I saw why: her father, Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart, was approaching the funeral home, escorted by Tommy and Candy and two other acolytes, a young white man and young black woman.

"If you will excuse me,." I said, bowing. My Japanese friends bowed and I moved to greet Dr. Eckhart. Cindy escorted him through the line.

"Ah, Todd, I am so sorry for your loss." said Eckhart to his grand-nephew, giving Todd a hug. Eckhart then greeted Michael Burke courteously but formally.

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

It was near the end of the visitation. I had introduced Dr. Eckhart to the Japanese visitors, and he greeted them formally but as if they were his best friends ever. Eckhart then began speaking to the CEO of Ichimoku Industries... in fluent Japanese.

"I didn't know my father spoke Japanese." said Cindy as she came over to me.

"Neither did I." I said. "You and I had better start learning it... for when he and Todd start talking in it." Cindy smiled briefly at that.

Eckhart's young acolytes had greeted Laura as if they knew her very well. As they talked, Cindy said to me "As you like to say: it is possible that they were part of the team that cleared the way for you to remove Sheriff Spaulding from Apple Grove and the face of this earth."

"Ah." I said. "I knew I had help up there."

And then... Cindy and I looked at each other. "You felt it, too." I said.

"Yes, I did, and still do." she replied. I excused myself and made my way through to the back areas. In one of the back offices sat a woman, a shawl covering her.