If you haven't read the prelude or the previous chapters you might want to scroll down and read them. This is another long chapter, so I’ll post it in two parts. Here’s part 2. Please let me know what you think.

SYNOPSIS: Jason Franco is an aspiring novelist stuck in a dead-end job working for a newspaper in a small town where nothing exciting happens until someone rapes and murders a young woman only eighteen years old. All evidence points to the woman's boyfriend who confesses to the crime. Jason is assigned to write a follow-up story for the paper and soon suspects that the local police are covering up for one of their own. Jason enlists the help from a high school classmate who works at the state crime and the two soon fall in love. Jason and his girlfriend, Tina, follow the leads, and Jason finds himself a target for the rapist turned murderer. An attempt on Jason's life puts him in the hospital as the alleged rapist commits suicide. An unexpected turn of events put Jason back in the cross hairs of a different killer.

(Chapter 22 Part 2 cont.) When Jason got back to the office on Wednesday, Mary and Zac were huddled around Zac's computer.

“What you guys looking at?” asked Jason.

Mary stood up. “We were just looking over this list of victims. We thought you should come up with a name for this rapist killer.”

“Like what?”

Zac looked up from his monitor. “All serial killers have names given to them by the press. Names like the Boston Strangler.”

Jason laughed. “He's a serial rapist. He killed only one person. That doesn't make him a serial killer.”

“That we know of,” added Mary.

“Still,” continued Zac. “A cool name would mean more followers. Another newspaper will name him if we don't.”

“Zac's right,” agreed Mary. “You have the lead. You have to come up with a name. The press called John Gacy the Killer Clown. Now there's the Teardrop Rapist in LA.”

Zac and Mary looked at each other. “We've kicked around a few names,” said Mary.

Zac held up a sheet of paper and read from it. “Like the Torrington Terror.”

“Sounds like a boxer,” said Jason. “Although, he does box the hell out of his victims. We don't know where he lives.”

“How about the Wyoming Weasel?” suggested Mary.

“No,” both Zac and Jason answered.

“He might not live in Wyoming for all we know,” added Jason.

“The Cowboy Rapist?” suggested Zac.

“Might not be a real cowboy,” said Mary.

All three sat in silence for a moment.

“We got the victims' names from Register Cliff. How about The Register Cliff Rapist?” asked Jason. All agreed on the name. From then on Jason referred to The Register Cliff Rapist in his articles.

Jason spent the weekend with Tina in Cheyenne and drove back to Torrington Sunday night. On Monday, Jason and Mary were working late. Around nine they decided to call it a night and go home. Jason left first while Mary locked up. Jason’s car was parked on a side street as usual. He noticed that the street light was out. As he started to unlock his car, someone pulled a black bag over his head. Before he could react, his assailant had him pinned against his car. Jason felt a fist punch him in the back. His knees buckled and he dropped to the sidewalk as his attacker ran away. He tried to stand, but it was so painful that he couldn't move.

Mary turned the corner and saw Jason on the ground. “Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Don’t move, Jason. Lay still. I’ll call 911.”

Within minutes, Jason was on his way to the county hospital ER. After the doctor finished examining Jason, he opened the privacy curtains so Sean and Mary could come in.

“You okay?” asked Sean.

“I’ve been better.”

The doctor rapped his stethoscope around his neck. “No broken bones. He took a punch to the left kidney. He’ll pass blood for a couple of days, but he’ll be okay. We’ll start the discharge process.” The doctor left.

Sean shook his head. “They're trying to scare you.”

“Well, it worked.”

“Thank God,” said Mary. “They could have killed you.”

Jason smiled. “I seem to recall you cussing when you found me. You owe the cuss jar.”

Mary laughed. “It doesn’t count. I was outside. Shouldn't we call the police? You know, report this?”

Jason laughed and then made a face as he felt the pain in his back. He leaned to one side and grabbed his side. “My attacker might be a police officer.”

“I don't doubt it,” agreed Sean. “We pissed them off. Did your attacker say anything? Could you recognize his voice?”

“No, he didn't speak.”

“Come on and get dressed,” said Mary. You should stay at our house tonight.”

“No thanks,” answered Jason. “I live with my parents. I'll be okay.”

The next morning Mary marched into her father's office and closed the door behind her. Sean knew from experience that the closed door meant he had upset Mary. He didn't mind being reprimanded when he made a mistake. He did mind that Mary always seemed to be right.

“Did you know?” asked Mary.

Sean sat back in his chair. “Did I know what?”

“That if we kept up these stories about Paulo that there would be reprisals? Is that why you gave Jason the lead on this story?” Mary leaned forward on her father's desk. “So help me, dad, if you put that poor boy in danger to save your own butt, I'll...I'll...” Mary was at a loss for words.

“No,” interrupted Sean. “No, I didn't know. Honest. In the beginning, I thought we would be going after Paulo's lawyer and a mistrial. Jason uncovered the thing about the missing evidence.”

“You have to protect that boy, Sean.” Mary turned and stormed out of Sean's office.

After Zac did such a good job on the picture concerning the pubic hair that Jason decided to see if he could come up with the exact time of murder. “Zac take a look at these pictures. It might help if we could figure the exact time the killer took the picture of Angelina’s body.”

“That’s an easy one. The pictures are time and date stamped. But I can’t do it from just a print out of the pic. I need the cellphone.”

“We don’t have the cellphone. See what you can do with just the pictures.”

Zac took the pictures over to his desk and began to study them. After thirty minutes, he called Jason over. “Take a look at this picture of Angie’s body. Look closely at the back ground.” He handed Jason a large magnifying glass.

Jason looked through the magnifying glass at the picture. In the background, a kitchen cabinet was open. In the glass of the cabinet door was a reflection of a TV in the living room. He squinted but couldn’t make out the reflection. He looked at Zac.

“Don’t you see? That’s the weather girl on the news.”

“You can tell that?”

“Yeah. She’s hot. She’s the reason I watch the news. The image is reversed, but she’s doing the forecast at that point. The TV station records their program. It should be easy to pinpoint the exact time this picture was taken.”

Jason jumped up. “I’m on it.” Within the hour, he had a recording of the news broadcast. Ten minutes later, he and Zac were able to determine that the picture was taken at 10:34 pm.

Jason nodded his head. “That means that the murder must have taken around 10:30. The neighbor said that he saw a white car in the driveway at that time. It must be the murderer’s car. Thanks, Zac. Good job.”

####

Donald Trump hardly finished insulting Heidi #Klum when he renewed his attacks against Megan Kelly. WTF? According to NBC News, he said, "he liked her show better while she was away." He also said Kelly "must have had a terrible vacation" because "she's really off her game." He then re-tweeted a message that referred to her as a bimbo. The entire exchange is rather strange since Fox News is the propaganda wing of the #Republican Party. It may be further proof that Trump plans to run as an independent. Fox News chief Roger Ailes said Trump owes the network's Megan Kelly an apology. Of course, that will never happen. Fox News was created by Rupert Murdoch, who hired Roger Ailes as the CEO. Roger Ailes was the former Republican Party media consultant. Fox has denied bias in news reporting. Yeah, right. Truth is, we liked Donald Trump better when he wasn’t running for office.

For more humor visit Montesblog at http://monteranderson.wordpress.com or my short stories at http://monteranderson-author.com.

If you haven't read the prelude or the previous chapters you might want to scroll down and read them. This is another long chapter, so I’ll post it in two parts. Here’s part 1. Please let me know what you think.

SYNOPSIS: Jason Franco is an aspiring novelist stuck in a dead-end job working for a newspaper in a small town where nothing exciting happens until someone rapes and murders a young woman only eighteen years old. All evidence points to the woman's boyfriend who confesses to the crime. Jason is assigned to write a follow-up story for the paper and soon suspects that the local police are covering up for one of their own. Jason enlists the help from a high school classmate who works at the state crime and the two soon fall in love. Jason and his girlfriend, Tina, follow the leads, and Jason finds himself a target for the rapist turned murderer. An attempt on Jason's life puts him in the hospital as the alleged rapist commits suicide. An unexpected turn of events put Jason back in the cross hairs of a different killer.

Child Porn Web Site

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Sean decide that they needed to see the underground pornography websites for pedophiles to verify what Tina had discovered. Sean asked Zac to find the websites. Zac was able to get on the dark internet. After briefly reviewing the menus on the website, he rushed into Sean's office. Jason was already there talking to Sean.

“Boss,” said Zac. “I found those websites you asked about, and I found videos with officer Rudd in them. They're kind of old but still there.”

“Okay,” said Sean. “Let’s down load them and take a look.”

“That's a problem,” said Zac. “Those sites are in the dark internet. They're illegal. We could be arrested if the police find we've down loaded them. They might be monitored.”

“But we're investigating a story,” Sean pointed out. “Surely we can do this.”

“Maybe not,” interjected Jason. “It could give the police an excuse to shut us down. The FBI monitors those sites.”

“I hadn't thought about that,” said Zac. “I was talking about me. I'm on probation. I could be arrested. Besides, judging from the titles, these are gross. I don't want to watch them.”

Sean thought for a moment. It was clear that Zac and Jason wanted a decision from him. After a moment, he asked, “What do we do? It seems we're damned if we do and damned if don't. These videos could tell us more about officer Rudd. We need to know what's on them.”

“I'll do it,” answered Jason. “I've got the lead. I'll do it. Zac shouldn't do it.”

“Okay,” agreed Sean. “You and I’ll look at them just to confirm that officer Rudd is in them.”

“Zac helped Jason find the websites and videos. They had to purchase them through a non-traceable website. After down loading, Jason had the copies of the videos. He and Sean sat in Sean's office to view them. After an hour, they decided they had seen enough.

“That's the most discussing thing I have ever seen,” said Jason as he and Sean emerged from Sean's office. Sean agreed.

“What do you think?” asked Jason.

“I don't know what to think. I can understand why Officer Marini killed Art's parents. What they did to that poor boy is unforgivable. I can also understand bringing him here and changing his name. The question is, how did this affect officer Rudd?”

“I don't see how anyone can go through that abuse and not be affected,” answered Jason.

“I don't know. Does that make him a rapist? He did serve in the military.”

“Yeah,” agreed Jason. “but it also explains his behavior. And what about Officer Marini? She protected him–rescued him. She killed his abusers. Is she still protecting him–covering for him?”

“That we don't know. These videos can't even be considered as evidence. They prove nothing. We need to get rid of them and delete any history that we down loaded them.”

“I can do that,” volunteered Zac. “Consider them gone.”

###

A lot buzz on the internet over the exposure of the website AshleyMadison.com. According to CBS News, the website apparently connected people who wanted extramarital relationships. Hackers infiltrated the website and collected the names of 37 million members. Huh? Another source claimed the total was 39 million in the US and Canada. The hackers threatened to expose all the names if the website wasn’t taken down. The lawsuits are flying as well as the divorce papers. Now before millions of names are revealed, I just want to remind everyone that Monte Anderson is a very common name. Part of the buzz is about government employees using government computers to visit the site. And people wonder why Hillary Clinton didn’t like to use her government e-mail. I suppose it isn’t cool to use your home computer to look for a partner for an affair. I think it was only natural for government workers to use official computers since they were used to screwing the public. I’m not sure if all the names can remain secret in a class act lawsuit. Could be fun.

If you haven't read the prelude or the previous chapters you might want to scroll down and read them. Please let me know what you think.

SYNOPSIS: Jason Franco is an aspiring novelist stuck in a dead-end job working for a newspaper in a small town where nothing exciting happens until someone rapes and murders a young woman only eighteen years old. All evidence points to the woman's boyfriend who confesses to the crime. Jason is assigned to write a follow-up story for the paper and soon suspects that the local police are covering up for one of their own. Jason enlists the help from a high school classmate who works at the state crime and the two soon fall in love. Jason and his girlfriend, Tina, follow the leads, and Jason finds himself a target for the rapist turned murderer. An attempt on Jason's life puts him in the hospital as the alleged rapist commits suicide. An unexpected turn of events put Jason back in the cross hairs of a different killer.

 

Natalie Hathaway, Administrative Assistant

Tuesday. July 14, 2015

 At lunch time Mary was sitting at a bench when Natalie arrived. Immediately, Sean and Jason strode over.

“Natalie, I asked Mary to arrange this meeting so that Jason and I could talk to you,” said Sean. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Sup?” answered Natalie.

Sean turned to Mary. “Why don’t you go back to the office? The less you know, the better.”

“Bull crap,” replied Mary. “I’m in this all the way.”

Sean shook his head. “Okay.” “One of the police officers might be a serial rapist. We have DNA from other rapes. We’d like you to get DNA samples from the officers for us to compare.  Can you do that?”

“Wait, wait, wait,” protested Natalie. “One of OUR police officers might be a rapist? You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I wish I were. This is serious. Jason has been researching Angelina’s murder and we’re sure whoever murdered her has raped other women. Now with this lost evidence, we think it might be a police officer.”

“So you want me to work undercover?”

“Not undercover,” said Jason. “You would be a confidential source.”

“And if I get caught?” asked Natalie.

“You’d probably be fired,” answered Jason.

“It might also be illegal,” interjected Sean. “What do you say?”

“So you want me to help catch a rapist? Okay. Count me in. What’ll you need?”

“Just about anything with saliva on it; cigarette butts, soda bottles, napkins. You will have to be careful not to contaminate…”

Natalie made a face. “Come on guys. I’ve been around policemen long enough to know how to do this. Plus I watch CSI. Trust me. I should have something for you tomorrow.”

The next morning Mary came to work with a paper bag. “You’re not going to believe this.” She marched over to Jason’s desk and dumped the contents of the bag on his desk. Several plastic zip-lock bags dropped out. “The first delivery from Natalie.”

Sean heard Mary’s voice and came out of his office. He took one look and whistled.

Mary picked up one bag. “Will you look at this? She put each sample in a separate plastic bag. Then she wrote the officer’s name, the date, and the time on the bag. She must watch CSI on TV.”

Jason spread out the samples and counted eight.

“I’ll read the names and you write them down,” said Sean. He picked up one at a time and started to read the names. “Dunley, Rudd, McCarthy, Brown, Kostner…What the hell is this?” Sean held up a bag with a paper cup with a dark brown liquid spilled in the bag.

Mary and Jason looked at the bag. “One of the officers chews tobacco,” said Jason. “That must be the cup he spits into.” He looked at the name. “Officer Firth. Or it Filth?

Everyone laughed at Jason's joke. Sean read the rest of the names. “Smith, and Grube. Okay, so we have four cigarette butts, one cigar butt, one chewing gum, one paper cup with tobacco juice and one soda can. That’s more than half the department. Let’s get these to the crime lab.”

Jason started putting everything back into the paper bag. “I’ll take care of it. What about the rest?”

“Nat said she’d try to get the rest today,” answered Mary. “She’ll drop them off at the house after work.”

Nat dropped off three more DNA samples a Mary's house after work. They were from officers Stephens, Hyde and Love. That made eleven samples. Nat told Mary that getting a DNA sample from chief Cruse and the two officers in the Investigation Division might take a while. Chief Cruse always locks his office when his not in it, and the same goes for the two investigators.

Jason drove the DNA samples down to Cheyenne. It was a good excuse to spend the night with Tina. He asked her to do Art Rudd’s DNA first. He drove back early the next morning.

Two days later, Tina called Jason. “I ran the DNA test on Rudd as you asked. I checked his DNA against the ones on file for the other rapes. It doesn’t match.”

“Holy shit. I thought for sure that Rudd was the rapist.”

“That doesn’t mean that he didn’t rape and kill Angie. It means he didn’t rape those other women. Maybe we were wrong about a serial rapist. Maybe we forced the MO to fit our own scenario.”

“Maybe, but I don’t think so.

“Wait, there’s more. I ran his DNA through the data base just to see if there was a match. His DNA was on file, and I came up with a match.”

“Oh? Go ahead.”

“Like I said, his DNA was on file but not as a perp. He was a victim years ago. He was only twelve at the time. Turns out that he was abused by his parents. They were pedophiles. Only his name isn’t Art Rudd; it’s John Godfrey”

“Holy shit. That complicates things.”

“Listen. I’ve an idea. I need to run these other tests, but there’s more about John Godfrey I need to tell you. We shouldn't be talking on the phone. Drive down here and meet me at my apartment. Bring all your files.”

Jason got to Tina’s apartment late, but Tina was still at work and so was Dyanna. Jason waited in his car for about thirty minutes until Tina arrived. After they made love, Tina opened a file on the bed and started to explain this newest twist in the case.

“Rudd’s DNA, or I should say, Godfrey’s was on file. He was a victim at twelve up in Montana. It was an FBI case. They often take the vic’s DNA if it contaminates a crime scene.

“A murder case?” asked Jason.

“No. Not at all. It was a raid on a child pornography ring. His parents were big-time producers and distributors of child pornography. They also sexually abuse their own child John. They abused him every way that you can abuse a child, and they used him in their videos; very sick people.”

“So what happened?”

“Wait cowboy. I’m getting to it. It’s very complicated. His DNA was a partial matched to one of the arresting officers, meaning that they’re related. The officer was in the house the day prior to the raid, so her DNA was also on file. They’re half-brother and sister. They had the same mother.”

“You said ‘had?’”

“Yeah. John’s parents were killed during the raid.”

“I read something about Naomi being in Montana on a raid.” Jason thumbed through his files. “Here it’s. Listen to this. “Officer Naomi Marini received an award at the Torrington Town Hall today. She was cited for bravery and for assisting the Rosebud, Montana Sheriff’s Department in cracking a case of child abuse and child pornography. During the raid on a local residence, Officer Marini was shot at and wounded by one of the perpetrators. She suffered a minor wound but was able to return fire and kill both of the assailants. The Sheriff’s Department said that it was her initial response to a child abuse incident that culminated in the raid. The residence was used for the production and distribution of child pornography. The FBI reported that ultimately, as a result of this action, over one hundred people were arrested across the country and in Europe.”

“So let me guess. John’s half-sister is Officer Marini--Naomi Marini.”

“Lucky guess. She was the one who killed the parents. Apparently, they were armed and shot at her.”

“She killed her own mother?”

 “Yeah. Then she took John back with her and changed his name to Art Rudd. She became his legal guardian and kept their relationship a secret. The whole story is in this file.” Tina closed the file and handed it to Jason. “It’s shocking. You won’t believe it.”

 “So I guess she drove to Montana looking for her mother,” said Tina. “Then she discovered what was going on and ended up in the middle of it. Maybe she didn’t know she had a brother.”

“So it’s possible that Marini has a motive to cover up for Rudd. Rudd raped Angie and killed her and Marini helped.”

“Maybe, but we have no evidence.”

####

 

If you haven't read the prelude or the previous chapters you might want to scroll down and read them. Please let me know what you think.

SYNOPSIS: Jason Franco is an aspiring novelist stuck in a dead-end job working for a newspaper in a small town where nothing exciting happens until someone rapes and murders a young woman only eighteen years old. All evidence points to the woman's boyfriend who confesses to the crime. Jason is assigned to write a follow-up story for the paper and soon suspects that the local police are covering up for one of their own. Jason enlists the help from a high school classmate who works at the state crime and the two soon fall in love. Jason and his girlfriend, Tina, follow the leads, and Jason finds himself a target for the rapist turned murderer. An attempt on Jason's life puts him in the hospital as the alleged rapist commits suicide. An unexpected turn of events put Jason back in the cross hairs of a different killer.

Austin Bridges, Eye Witness

Monday, July 13, 2015

Monday morning Tina called Jason. “The evidence isn’t here.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“We got all the evidence from the Littlefield murder. The pubic hairs are missing.”

Jason let Tina’s remarks sink in. “Holy crap! What do you mean the pubic hairs are missing? That’s the crucial piece. What happened?”

“I’m just calling to give you a heads up. The Attorney General knows, and he’s pissed. He may have the TPD investigated. A press release will come out later today. Gotta go. Love you. Bye.”

Jason was in shock. He was sure when the pubic hairs were tested, it would free Paulo. Now that plan was falling apart he told Sean.

Sean called Mary and Zac in and repeated what Jason said. “I guess our victory celebration was premature,” said Sean. “When the press release comes, we’ll run it word for word on the front page.” He shook his head. “What a disaster.”

The mood around the office was very sober for the rest of the day. Zac checked the Attorney General website every thirty minutes until the press release was posted. When it was, he printed it and read it out loud.

“Attorney General Bryan Freeman today has directed the Goshen County District Attorney to conduct a full investigation into the Torrington Police Department’s handling of the evidence in the murder of Angelina Littlefield. This decision was prompted after the discovery that a key piece of evidence from the case is missing. The Attorney General had earlier requested the Goshen County DA to send all evidence on the Angelina Littlefield murder case to the State Police Crime Laboratory. Upon examination of the evidence at the crime lab, a key piece of evidence was missing. The Torrington Police have no explanation on the missing evidence. Ms. Angelina Littlefield was murdered on August 15, 2012. Mr. Paulo McAdams, her boyfriend, was arrested and charged with her murder. He agreed to a plea bargain and was convicted. Attorney General Freeman said that irregularities in the handling of the evidence by the local police could result in a retrial. The Goshen DA will submit all findings to a Grand Jury.”

Everyone was silent. After a moment, Jason asked, “Does that mean we’re back to square one? I mean Paulo might get a new trial, right?”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” said Sean. “The investigation could take weeks. It might be just a PR stunt by the Attorney General to take pressure off his office. If the pressure lets up, there won’t be a retrial.”

“Do you think the TPD just lost the evidence; that it was an honest mistake?” asked Mary.

Sean thought for a moment. “No. I wanted to believe that the police weren’t involved. I wanted to believe Jeri Cruse. I gave him several chances. Now with this stunt, the police are covering up. They must know who the murderer is, and they’re protecting him. It could be one of their own. Jeri both knows and is covering up or he is incompetent. ”

“Holy crap! Now what?” asked Jason.

Sean thought for a moment. “We have to find a witness.”

Zac interrupted. “I may have something. I’ve been going through the email from our website. We have so many lately that it’s hard to keep up. But I found one from a guy who says he saw something the night Angie was murdered. And get this – he lives across the street.”

“I’m on it,” said Jason as he headed for his desk. “Show me Zac.”

Jason read the e-mail and called the sender, a Mr. Austin Bridges. He agreed to meet Jason after work at his house. Jason drove over to the house. Austin Bridges was a middle aged gentleman. He had lived at that address nearly twenty years. After introductions, he invited Jason into his home. He lived alone.

Jason got right to the point. “Mr. Bridges you said you saw something the night that Angelina Littlefield was killed.”

“Damn right. Call me Austin.”

“What did you see?”

“Well I go to bed right at eleven pm. Always have. I’ve a regular routine. I watch the news until ten thirty. Then my dog, Scooter, and I go out to the front yard.” Mr. Bridges pointed to a pile of fur sleeping in a dog bed. “That’s my dog, Scooter. As I was saying, the weather comes on at that time and I don’t care much about the weather. I mean, there’s always going to be weather, right? I grab a smoke, and we come back inside in time for the sports news around ten forty. At eleven I go to bed.”

“Do you recall what you saw?”

“Darn tooting. I saw a car parked in the Littlefield driveway. Now I know who Paulo is and I know his car. He parks it there nearly every night during the summer. That’s why I thought it was odd.”

“What do you mean?”

“I never saw this car before. It was white. Paulo’s car is green, dark green.”

“How long was it there?”

“I don’t know for sure but it was there the whole time I was outside with Scooter, ten thirty to ten forty. Afterwards, I came inside and didn’t pay attention anymore.”

“Do you recall what make of car?”

“I don’t know the model but it was a white, four door sedan.”

“You didn’t see anyone? Hear anything?”

“Nope. Just saw the car parked there.”

“Did you tell the police?”

“Well no. I was going to, but a few days later, Paulo confessed. After that, I didn’t see any point in reporting it. It was probably nothing anyway.”

“Austin, what you've told me is vital information. Would you be willing to repeat your story to the District Attorney?”

“Why sure--anytime. Do you think it’s important?”

“Yes sir, I do. At this point you shouldn't say anything to anyone until we contact the DA.”

After a few more questions for background information Jason left. Back at the office he let Sean listen to his pocket recorder. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know. We’ll share this with the DA but I’m not sure it’s enough.”

“What do you mean?” asked Jason.

“Well, this was over a year ago. A lot of folks own white cars. The ME said that Angelina was murdered between ten and ten thirty. It might be hard to claim that this car was driven by the murderer.”

After a few minutes, Jason said, “Maybe Zac can figure the exact time of the murder from the photographs on Angelina’s phone.”

“Good idea,” said Sean. “Do you agree that it might have been a police officer?”

“Yes, I do. We can't trust chief Cruse any more. Like you said, he might be covering for one of his officers. Right now officer Rudd is at the top of my list. We won’t know for sure unless we obtain DNA samples from every officer.”

“The first rape was in 2007. Rudd would have been seventeen or eighteen. Did he start raping women then?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“A couple of rapes happened while he was in the Army.”

“Maybe he didn't commit those.”

Sean chuckled. “I doubt the TPD will volunteer to provide their DNA. So how do we want to proceed?”

Jason thought for a moment. “I guess we need to obtain their DNA secretly.”

“Jason, that's lot of people. Plus, it might be illegal.”

“I know but I don’t see any other way.”

“Wait. I’ve an idea. Mary, come in here please.” Mary ambled into Sean’s office. “Mary, what’s the name of your friend in the TPD?”

“You mean Natalie Hathaway. She’s the administrative assistant for the Chief.”

“Yeah, that’s the one. How close are you two?”

“She’s my BFF,” answered Mary. “If you paid attention, you'd know that. We eat lunch together most days in the park by the water tower. Why?”

“Would she be willing to help us solve this murder?”

“She might.”

“Good,” said Sean. Sean explained what he had in mind. “Tell her to meet you for lunch tomorrow in the park. Don't mention Jason and me and don't tell her anything yet. Jason and I’ll talk to her.”

 

####

By now you probably heard that during an interview, Donald Trump said, “Sometimes I do go a little bit far. Heidi Klum. Sadly, she’s no longer a 10.” WTF? Clearly the man has aged and needs a new pair of glasses. If Heidi Klum isn’t a 10 then I must be a negative 5 (no comments from the peanut gallery). I can’t imagine how her name came up in an interview: foreign policy or immigration maybe? Does Trump realize that Heidi isn’t an illegal alien? I’m sure she is in the USA on a work visa. If Trump is elected president and starts expelling beautiful women like Heidi, then I’m renewing my passport and heading to Germany. Does Trump realize the current Chancellor is Angela Merkel, a woman who is serving her third term in office? She is the first female chancellor for Germany. Now that Trump has insult a German national and a female at that, our relations with Germany may chill. Fear not, fair German maiden, the rest of the male population of the USA still think you’re a 10.

If you haven't read the prelude or the previous chapters you might want to scroll down and read them. This is a long chapter so I posted it in two parts. Here's the second part. Please let me know what you think.

SYNOPSIS: Jason Franco is an aspiring novelist stuck in a dead-end job working for a newspaper in a small town where nothing exciting happens until someone rapes and murders a young woman only eighteen years old. All evidence points to the woman's boyfriend who confesses to the crime. Jason is assigned to write a follow-up story for the paper and soon suspects that the local police are covering up for one of their own. Jason enlists the help from a high school classmate who works at the state crime and the two soon fall in love. Jason and his girlfriend, Tina, follow the leads, and Jason finds himself a target for the rapist turned murderer. An attempt on Jason's life puts him in the hospital as the alleged rapist commits suicide. An unexpected turn of events put Jason back in the cross hairs of a different killer.

Dyanna Jones, Rape Victim and Rex Gilmore, Registered Sex Offender

Thursday, July 9, 2015

(Part 2 cont.)

Jason told Sean about the registered sex offenders; Theodore McPherson and Rex Gilmore.

“It might be worth a visit to Mr. Gilmore,” said Sean. “Let McPherson go for now. I’m going with you. I don’t want you facing a potential murderer alone.” Sean took his pistol out of his desk drawer and stuck in his belt under his coat.

Sean and Jason drove over to the address given for Gilmore. It was a nondescript house partially hidden from the street by high hedges. A white picket fence circled the property. Mr. Gilmore was raking grass in the front yard. He wore camouflage pants and a white T-shirt, and a baseball cap that covered long hair down to his shoulders.

Sean took the lead. “Mr. Gilmore, could we talk to you?”

Rex Gilmore met them at the front gate. “Yes?”

“Sir, my name is Sean Tyler and this is Jason Franco. We’re from the Torrington Star-Gazette. We’d like to talk you about the Littlefield murder.”

Rex threw down his rake. His whole demeaner changed. “You ass holes! I don’t have to talk to you. You’re not the police.”

Sean raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “No, sir. We’re doing a story about the Torrington PD’s handling of the case. We just want to know if they interviewed you.”

Rex calmed down a little. “No, they didn’t, and I’m a little surprised.” He took a cigarette and lit it.

“Why’s that,” asked Jason.

“The same reason you’re here, I’m guessing. Look. I served my time. I paid my debt to society. I haven’t had so much as a traffic ticket in fifteen years. But every time someone gets assaulted within five hundred miles of here, the police come knocking. They didn’t this time. Why not?”

“You’re saying they didn’t come around this time?” asked Jason.

“No, and that’s odd, isn’t it?”

“Well, the boyfriend confessed,” said Sean.

“Maybe that’s why. Anyway, I had a rock solid alibi.”

“Oh?” asked Jason.

“Yeah. That night is my AA meeting night. We meet from seven to nine. Afterwards, a few of us went for pizza. We were together until eleven.”

Sean thought for a moment. “Isn't it odd that the TPD didn’t question a registered sex offender who has raped several women and lives nine blocks away?”

Rex shook his head. “Never happened.”

“What never happened?” asked Jason.

“I never raped any women.”

“Your file says that you were court-marshaled for raping recruits. The Army sent you to Fort Leavenworth.”

“I never raped any women.”

“What?” asked Sean.

“They were men. I’m gay, you idiots. Besides, it was consensual sex, not rape. The Army said it was rape because I outranked them–undue influence, fraternizing they said.” Gilmore madde air quotes with his fingers. “The persecutor scared the recruits into saying it was rape. No violence–consensual.”

Sean looked at Jason and back at Rex. “Okay, we got that wrong. I’m sorry that we bothered you.” He handed Rex his card.

Sean and Jason were satisfied and headed back to the car. Sean stood by the side of the car and pounded it with his fist. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”

Seans reaction surprised Jason. Sean was always cool headed. “What’s stupid?” he asked.

“What the fuck were we thinking? We shouldn’t have been here.”

Jason agreed. “We made a mistake.”

“No. No. We lost sight of our objective. What did we want to accomplish by coming here?”

“We wanted to find who killed Littlefield.”

“No!” shouted Sean. “That’s what I mean. It’s not our job to find the killer. That’s a job for the police. We should be after the story. The story is that the TPD mishandled the investigation and may have sent an innocent young man to prison. We don’t have to solve the case. We have only to show there is a reasonable doubt that Paulo's guilty, because the police mishandled the evidence.”

“You’re right, of course,” agreed Jason. “But now we confirmed that the TPD didn’t question all possible suspects. Why?”

Sean thought for a moment. “Because they know who the killer is. They railroaded Paulo and covered up to protect one of their own.” He pointed a finger at Jason. “I warned you about jumping to conclusions. Don’t be judgmental.” Sean shook his head.

“Like what?”

“We made assumptions. We assumed that Mr. Gilmore raped women, not men. What if the TPD made wrong assumptions too. Since there was no evidence of forced entry, they assumed Angie knew her attacker. Maybe she didn't. The door wasn't locked so anyone could have come in. Then since they assumed she knew her attacker, they assumed it was Paulo. When they found the murder weapon at the McAdams house, it only confirmed their assumptions–case closed.”

“Maybe they're not covering up; just making bad assumptions.”

“Maybe. They should know better.” Sean kicked the dirt a few more timer. He looked up at Jason. “What if Mr. Gilmore had a shotgun instead of a rake? He could have shot us and claimed self-defense. Would I shoot him?”

“I think you would. You have your gun from Vietnam.”

“Yeah. Yeah. And what if he confessed? If he's guilty, we tipped him off. He could escape. Were you prepared to arrest him? Would his confession to two reporters be admissible?”

“I don’t have the answers, Sean. I guess we didn’t think it through. It was stupid on our part.”

“Do you think?” Sean opened the car door and got in, slamming the car door.

Jason got in the passenger side. “Did you shoot anyone in Vietnam?”

“Never ask a vet a question like that.”

Jason smiled. “I’m just the dumbest guy in the room.”

“Well, to answer your dumb question, no I didn’t. I was a platoon leader. I planned ambushes. When the shooting started, I was too busy to shoot anyone.”

“I guess it was bad over there? In Nam, I mean.”

Sean started the car. He looked at Jason. “I’ve never told anyone this.” He took a deep breath. The reason I don’t talk about it is because I actually enjoyed the war. I’m not ashamed about that, but I’m not proud either. It was thrilling. The VC were trying to kill us, and we were trying to kill them. It was an adrenaline rush; a game of wits--a deadly game.”

When Jason got back to his desk, he checked his e-mails and saw a message from Chief Higgins in Casper. He said the DNA from Beth Alton's rape and Jill Stones rape matched.

####

If you haven't read the prelude or the previous chapters you might want to scroll down and read them. This is a long chapter so I posted it in two parts. Here's the first part. Please let me know what you think.

SYNOPSIS: Jason Franco is an aspiring novelist stuck in a dead-end job working for a newspaper in a small town where nothing exciting happens until someone rapes and murders a young woman only eighteen years old. All evidence points to the woman's boyfriend who confesses to the crime. Jason is assigned to write a follow-up story for the paper and soon suspects that the local police are covering up for one of their own. Jason enlists the help from a high school classmate who works at the state crime and the two soon fall in love. Jason and his girlfriend, Tina, follow the leads, and Jason finds himself a target for the rapist turned murderer. An attempt on Jason's life puts him in the hospital as the alleged rapist commits suicide. An unexpected turn of events put Jason back in the cross hairs of a different killer.

Dyanna Jones, Rape Victim and Rex Gilmore, Registered Sex Offender

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Later, Jason talked to Dyanna and the next day Jason interviewed her. They sat down at the kitchen counter in Tina’s apartment. Dyanna agreed to let him record the interview as long as her name was not mentioned. Jason started. “You said that you were raped when you were a freshman at Wyoming University, is that correct?”

“Yes. I was very naïve at that time. I came from a small town in Wyoming, and it never occurred to me that anyone would want to do something like that.”

“Please tell me in your own words what happened.”

“Not much to tell really. I visited a local bar that was popular with the college students. It was a Saturday night. I met a guy there and we started talking. He seems nice. I mean he seems safe, at least to me at the time. I let him buy me a drink. I guess he put drugs in my drink because right after I took a drink, the room started spinning. I was woozy.”

“Then what happened?”

“Well, he offered to take me back to my dorm, so I told him where it was. I must have passed out in his car. The next thing I remember, I woke up on my dorm room. I was in bed naked. I realize I had been raped. I didn't remember where it happened, but I knew.”

“Did you report it right away?”

“That's the thing about date rapes. I had been drugged. Probably dopamine. I couldn’t remember anything. I couldn’t remember his name, his face, or what happened. Basically, I felt it was my fault which I realize now that’s why so many rapes don’t get reported.”

“Why did you feel that way?”

‘Like I said, I was naïve. I should’ve kept my eyes on my drinks. I shouldn’t have gone alone. I shouldn’t have tried to hook up in a bar with a stranger.”

“Were you injured?”

“No, thank God. He didn’t hurt me physically. But he didn’t have to drug me. I was looking for a hook up. I probably would've slept with him after a couple of drinks.

“How did that experience affect you?”

“I don’t think I dated the rest of that year. I felt stupid and ashamed. I was humiliated. I lived in fear for a long time. Every guy seemed like a threat. I was intimidated. After a while, I got help.”

“What type of help?”

“I contacted Sexual Assault Services. They helped me join a support group. That's when I changed my college major.”

“Did you tell your parents?”

“No. Again, I was a afraid to. I felt bad enough. I didn't want a lecture from my mom and dad about stupidity. I was afraid they would want me to drop out of college and come home.”

“Did you date again?”

“The next year I dated only men I knew from class or activities or from mutual friend. That experience is the main reason I got interested in forensics.” Dyanna took a deep breath. “Jason, I owe you an apology.”

“Oh? For what?”

“For the way I've been acting. I don't want to cause any trouble between you and Tina. I'll behave from now on.”

“Apology accepted.”

“It's just that whenever I break up with a guy, I feel rejected. I feel I'm not good enough. So I act out. I don't know if it has anything to do with my being raped or not, but there it is. I'm sorry. I mean, I may be a slut but I'm no whore.”

Jason wasn't sure how to react to Tina's comment. He just nodded his head in agreement. Jason and Tina spent the night together.

When Tina left for work Monday morning, Jason drove back to Torrington. At the office, Jason was transcribing his recording of the interview with Dyanna when Tina called.

“Jason, you won’t believe this,” Tina said. “The Attorney General is ordering the Goshen County DA to send all the evidence in the Littlefield case back to our lab.”

“You’re kidding? So soon?”

“ I can’t talk now, I’m in the women’s restroom. I just wanted to give you a heads up. Love you. Bye.”

Jason told the others.

“Wait a minute,” said Zac as he pounded away on his computer. “Here it’s. Here’s a press release on their website.” He sent it to the printer.

Mary grabbed the press release off the printer and began to read it out loud. “Effective immediately, the Wyoming Attorney General, Bryan Freeman, has requested the Goshen County District Attorney to send all evidence on the Angelina Littlefield murder case to the State Police Crime Lab. Ms. Angelina Littlefield was murdered on August 15, 2012. Mr. Paulo McAdams, her boyfriend, was arrested and charged with her murder. He agreed to a plea bargain and was sentenced. Attorney General Freeman said that there may have been irregularities in the handling of the evidence by the local police. Blah, blah, blah.”

Sean took the press release from Mary and glanced over it. “Wow. This is your work, Zac. Good job.”

Zac did a victory dance and bumped fists with everyone. Sean summoned everyone to come into his office. After everyone was seated, Sean said, “This was a major victory for Paulo but it’s not over yet. If this were a movie, the editor would break out a bottle of eighty year old whiskey and pour everyone a drink.”

“All right!” declared Zac.

“Unfortunately,” continued Sean. “I don’t have any whiskey. Do any of you have a bottle here?”

Jason and Mary shook their heads and then all three looked at Zac.

“Why’s everyone looking at me?” protested Zac. “I don’t have anything, at least not enough for four people.”

“It’s settled then,” said Sean. He pulled out a ten dollar bill and handed it to Zac. “Go buy four milk shakes. Make mine vanilla.”

Zac laughed. “Grandpa, where have you been? A ten won’t buy four milk shakes.”

Sean pulled out another ten from his wallet. “I think this con artist is ripping me off, but I can’t prove it.”

Everyone laughed. Zac got everyone’s order and left to buy the drinks.

####

The major news networks have reached an agreement with Donald Trump, the GOP presidential candidate. The networks have agreed to provide Trump with free publicity as long as he promises to keep saying outragous stuff. It's no wonder that Trump is the front runner in the Republician polls—the networks won't publicize any of the other candidates. It's basically the same deal they gave Anthony #Weiner when he ran for mayor of New York City. Hopefully, the end results will be similiar. Here's a non-verbal clue on when Trump is about to say something offensive or stupid—his lips move.