Cold Blue (24 page)

Looking into Thorpe’s history, the first thing Hull had done was pull the man’s pre-employment background investigation. Every officer who is considered for the Tulsa Police Department undergoes a background check by an investigator assigned to the Training Academy. Some of the probes are more involved than others, depending on how many alarms are raised during criminal checks, initial interviews and so forth. Because of Thorpe’s superior scholastic achievements, and a record’s check revealing just one traffic citation and zero arrests, his background check had been very limited.

Hull immediately found one glaring concern somehow overlooked by his background investigator. The city physician documented a myriad of scarred lacerations on Thorpe’s torso, head and limbs during his mandatory physical. In response to the physician’s inquiries, Thorpe stated he’d been assaulted by an assailant with a knife while residing in Kansas City, Missouri. TPD’s background investigator never followed up on Thorpe’s claims. Hull and Lagrone were unsuccessful in their attempt to locate any paperwork substantiating the assault. Had this actually occurred, surely the boy’s parents would have insisted upon a police report. Thorpe’s only documented contact with law enforcement was the aforementioned traffic citation.

In his background questionnaire, Thorpe reported that his father, Benjamin, served in the United States Army. Hull learned the elder Thorpe had been a supply sergeant for the army but had been honorably discharged when John was eleven. From tax records, Hull determined Benjamin Thorpe had been employed by USA International, a private security company that hired mostly ex-military personnel, especially ex-commandos. Hull and Lagrone repeatedly got the runaround and could barely get the company to admit it once employed Benjamin Thorpe. The US Army was equally uncooperative.

Both men had been preparing to pay a personal visit to USA International when Hull’s captain told him to cease investigating Benjamin Thorpe’s employment. Hull had asked if that meant he were to end his investigation of John Thorpe as well. His boss informed him to continue the investigation, but anything relating to John’s father was irrelevant and off limits. Clearly, Hull had been poking his nose somewhere sensitive. He didn’t know what Benjamin Thorpe had done in the Army or for USA International but was certain it didn’t have a damn thing to do with ordering supplies.

Also during the investigation, Hull learned John Thorpe had acquired an Oklahoma Driver’s license under the name “John Sullivan.” Many SID investigators obtain a driver’s license with bogus information to use during undercover operations. In an effort to rout out cops, criminals sometimes insist on seeing an individual’s identification. The last thing the investigator wants to do is hand over a license listing all his personal information including his home address. The DLs are actual valid licenses capable of passing checks by law enforcement agencies. Hull decided to run an NCIC, records and license check under the name and date of birth on Thorpe’s undercover DL. Nothing came up; he hadn’t even used it to dodge a speeding ticket.

Not expecting to find any results, Hull Googled the name on the internet and found several hits under Thorpe’s alias. Most of the results were in reference to John Sullivan, the American general of the Revolutionary War and also the Oklahoma representative of the same name. After wading through numerous returns he noticed the name also kept popping up on several mixed martial arts sites. There were no pictures of John “The Scar” Sullivan but his physical description was similar to Thorpe’s. At six feet in height and 195 pounds, John Sullivan fought in the light-heavyweight division. Hull also discovered the name on an upcoming fight card in Dallas, Texas. Hull noticed none of the previous fights had taken place in Oklahoma but all were within easy driving distance of Tulsa. Figuring it was a long shot, he talked Lagrone into the five hour trip, telling his senior detective they were going to Dallas, book a hotel, watch some fights, and check out Dallas’ West-End nightlife, all on Hull’s dime. Lagrone probably knew something fishy was afoot, but wasn’t the type to pass on a free weekend of boozing.

When the detectives arrived at the arena for the night’s fights, Lagrone noticed his boss had purchased seats on the row furthest from the ring. As the night progressed, the two men continued ordering beers and thoroughly enjoyed the bouts. With two fights left on the card, Lagrone was lifting his beer-filled red Solo cup to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man,” when he saw Thorpe’s head bobbing up and down in the arena’s aisle. After a double take, Lagrone turned to a smiling Hull who said, “That’s our boy.” Even from the back row, they could see Thorpe was in phenomenal condition, prompting a response from Lagrone.

“I had no idea he was in that kind of shape.”

“I think there’s a lot about the kid we don’t know.”

The ring announcer called out the vital statistics of “John Sullivan” over the speaker system.

“Standing at six feet zero inches, one hundred and ninety-five pounds, with a perfect professional record of seven wins zero losses, from Kansas City, Missouri, John ‘The Scar’ Sullivan.”

The Scar was a fitting nickname for the man who stood in the ring with an assortment of healed lacerations. As the introduction of his 205-pound opponent echoed through the arena, Thorpe quietly paced in his corner seemingly scanning the crowd. His eyes appeared to momentarily lock on the two detectives before moving on. Lagrone spoke as both detectives kept their eyes focused on the ring.

“Did he just spot us way the fuck back here?”

“Sure looked that way.”

Whether they’d been seen or not was still unknown to the two detectives; they’d never brought it up to Thorpe, and Thorpe had never mentioned the incident. The Scar dominated the fight standing
and
on the ground, ending by referee stoppage in the third round. Later, when the two detectives left the arena and were drinking beers at a downtown Dallas bar, they’d discussed the bout. As usual, Lagrone broached the subject.

“John was just practicing on that poor bastard, wasn’t he?”

“Damn, he could have ended the fight any time he wanted; had the guy in a deep choke in the first round. I think he let go of him just to get some more rounds in.”

“What the hell is he doing fighting in Texas under an assumed name anyway?” Lagrone asked.

“He either doesn’t want the attention or doesn’t want anyone to know he has those abilities. Fucking bad-ass. Bet he learned that shit from his old man.”

“You mean his old man who never existed. That’s some cloak-and-dagger shit if I ever seen it. Makes sense though; might also explain how he got those scars.”

“Yeah, all those knife wounds his parents never bothered reporting to the police.”

“The most amazing thing about the fight—in front of a huge crowd no less—the kid is so calm he spotted our sorry asses sitting in the back row.”

“I think he did too. Most guys wouldn’t be able to focus one row outside the ring under that kind of pressure.”

“Yeah…most guys.”

STILL DISCUSSING THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF
Thorpe, Hull paused, pulled a pad of paper from his desk and grabbed a pen.

“Let’s summarize what we have so far before we continue.” Hull began writing as he spoke. “First, we agree John has the mindset capable of killing those responsible for his family’s murders. Second, the day Marcel Newman was found tortured and killed was the first time I’ve been around the kid and he didn’t ask about his family’s investigation. Third, it appears both Price and Newman were shot with arrows. Fourth, it’s highly likely our killer has some type of military background. Fifth, John’s father most likely served in Special Forces in the army and probably continued in a similar capacity with USA International. Sixth, John has some nasty fighting skills he works hard at keeping secret. Seventh, he also has an assortment of jagged scars with no record of medical treatment. Now this is pure speculation so I’ll put this off to the side…I think his father passed on some military skills to his son and I think the lessons might have been severe. Okay, what else we got?”

Lagrone shrugged his shoulders. “The problem with the murder of John’s family is the sheer number of possible suspects. You talk about people with motive. John and his unit have tossed a ton of assholes in prison. We’ve always wondered if the murder of the Double D brothers were related—though John didn’t have much contact with the two. But any one of those people he threw in prison could have enlisted those two to do their dirty work for them.”

“What about TPD? Who on the department doesn’t like Thorpe?” Hull asked.

Lagrone didn’t hesitate. “Charlie Peterson made an Internal Affairs complaint claiming Thorpe had planted drugs on his son. And it’s no secret Price was good friends with those two shitheads.”

“And we’ve always suspected Price plays on both sides of the fence,” Hull added.

“So Price might have killed Thorpe’s family as some sort of pay back?” Lagrone asked. “That’s a bit of a stretch.”

“Maybe it was more than payback. Like I said, Price was probably dirty. Plus we’re just thinking out loud here—remember?”

Lagrone tried to vocalize what he thought his boss was theorizing. “All right, so Price thinks Thorpe is some crazy racist or something who is planting dope on his buddies. So he talks Deandre and Damarius into killing Thorpe, but things get fucked up and they kill his family instead. Price then decides to tie up loose ends and kills the Double D brothers before they start running their mouths like they all eventually do. But somehow, Newman is involved in this, or at least knows more than he should. Thorpe finds out Newman has this knowledge, kidnaps him, and gets the information out of him through torture. Then Thorpe grabs his trusty bow and takes out Price.”

“It all fits, except the part about Price wanting to kill Thorpe over some bullshit drug-planting conspiracy. Price had to know those two assholes were dealers. The only reason he’d pretend to buy into that conspiracy shit would be in order to protect them.”

“Maybe he tried to protect them in order to protect himself. Maybe he was in business with them. The older son was looking at some serious time. Maybe Price was afraid Leon and Lyndale would snitch on him to avoid prison,” Lagrone offered.

“Fuck, this is making my head hurt. Does this shit really fit, or are we forcing it?”

“We’re definitely forcing it, but don’t stop me now. I’m on a roll.” Lagrone continued, “We said Price’s killer would have to be ice-cold. Remember the shooting John was involved in during that meth warrant? Put a fucking bullet right between the eyes of a man who’d just fired a shotgun at him, then he put two more into his head before it hit the floor. Later, when we interviewed his squad, they said after John fired the shots, he ordered the unit to keep their focus on the uncleared room. He’s definitely cool under fire.”

“Chuck, you know what we know so far? Shit. That’s what. But some of it fits, and I just got this…
feeling
. But really, I’m not sure how my mind got here with the miniscule amount of information we have. The question is…what are we going to do about it?”

“My vote, Boss? Not a damn thing. If it did go down that way, then Price got exactly what he had coming. Plus, like you said, we don’t have shit. Even if John weren’t a cop, we wouldn’t take this to the District Attorney’s Office. This is one thin-assed theory.”

“Yeah, Chuck, but under normal circumstances, we’d at least look into it.”

“Boss, I say we keep our mouths shut about the whole damned thing. Like you said, we’re just making wild guesses anyway. We don’t know shit.”

“Right now, I’m in agreement, but I have a couple concerns. First, in your theory you assumed Price was the only one—other than the brothers—involved in the murder of John’s family. What if he wasn’t? What if there were others involved? What if there were other police officers involved?”

“If that’s the case, it’s going to get real fucking ugly ‘round here.”

“If that’s the case…damn right it is. I have a feeling if there are others involved besides Price, we’re going to find out real soon.”

“What’s your other worry?” Lagrone asked.

“This is a big fucking mess, Chuck. The brass and politicians are going to demand progress, and we’ve got nothing. The only trail I can even start to sniff is a path I don’t want to go down.”

“Boss, we really don’t have shit. Marcel Newman’s case leads directly back to L.A. The case couldn’t be any tighter.”

“That’s another thing bothering me. I mean a lot of cases are easy, but that damn thing was served-up on a silver platter. Our victim writes our killer’s name in the dirt? Our killer stomps all over the crime scene in a pair of boots…those boots are recovered from his closet?”

“We don’t catch the smart ones.”

“Sometimes we do. Did you know John’s unit served a search warrant on L.A.’s house a few weeks ago?” Hull added.

“Doesn’t mean a thing. He’s served warrants on three-quarters of the gang bangers out there—that’s his job.”

“I realize that, Chuck. I don’t know if the kid’s done a damn thing. Honestly, I hope if he did, he gets away with it.”

“I know what you mean. John is different, though. He always seems to be…evaluating. It’s real subtle but he’s just constantly scanning his surroundings. I think he tries to throw people off with his humor. Guy rarely seems to be troubled, but you gotta figure, he’s a little fucked up after all he’s been through.”

“Yeah, interesting kid. Let’s leave it be for now. Don’t discuss this with anyone—not even your blow-up doll.”

“As a matter of fact, boss, the kid kind of reminds me of you. Except he can see his own dick when he pisses.”

“Skull, you’re as funny as you are boney. We’ve gone way down Fantasy Avenue. Hopefully, this is nothing more than some bow hunter with a grudge against the police, who’ll turn himself in this afternoon,” Hull said.

“You don’t believe that, do you?”

“I don’t know what to believe. Right now, we work the case business as usual. Compile a list of potential TPD suspects, but keep it under wraps. We’ll see what physical evidence pops up and if the ME is able to give us anything useful.”