On Deadly Ground (21 page)
Word about George Gadasky's murder had spread around Kanab faster than a wildfire through dry sagebrush on a windy day. People were afraid. Several folks stopped Books to ask questions. He didn't know the answer to some and wouldn't answer others.
Books waited at the sheriff's office until Sutter, Call, and the members of the CSI unit arrived. He turned over Jimmy Johnson's fingerprints and the guest registration card to the latent fingerprint examiner who agreed to process it immediately. She promised to run any latents that didn't belong to Jimmy Johnson through IAFIS.
Books ran into Rebecca Eddins in the parking lot on his way to the meeting with Virgil Bell.
“Just the man I was looking for,” said Eddins.
“Sorry, Becky, but I'm kind of in a rush. Can this wait until later?”
“I don't think so, J.D. I just heard what happened to George Gadasky. Awful! What I need to tell you is that I received a call late this morning from a guy who claimed to be a reporter from the
Law Vegas Sun Times.
He said he wanted to arrange an exclusive interview with Ronnie Gadasky.”
“What name did he use?”
“Elliott Sanders.”
Books took her arm. “I think it would be best if you got your little boy and headed over to your dad's place for a day or two.”
“How come?”
“I think you just spoke with the guy who killed George. He used the name Elliott Sanders and claimed to be a reporter with the
Sun Times
. How did he get your name?”
“He claimed his paper discovered I'd represented Ronnie in a couple of cases and figured I'd know how to get hold of him.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him that I hadn't heard from Ronnie and had no idea how to find him.”
“How did he take that?”
“He was businesslike, polite, and well spoken.”
“Any accent or was there anything unusual about his voice?”
“I didn't detect any accent or regional dialects. He definitely didn't sound like a young guy. His voice sounded older, more mature.”
“You handled that well, Becky. Don't stay at home for a night or two.”
“That's not necessary. I can take care of myself and my family.”
“No, you can't. Listen to me. This guy has already killed two people and he won't hesitate to kill again. Why take the risk? You've got someplace else you can go. Now go get your son and get the hell out of there until it's safe.”
She shook her head. “I won't do that. Nobody drives me out of my home.”
“Pardon me, Becky, but that's just stupid female pride talkingâand it's a damned bad idea besides.”
She was adamant, so Books went to Plan B.
Books tried to reach Ned Hunsaker. The old man didn't answer his cell phone. He had probably left the thing inside that Velveeta box in the glove compartment of his truck. Books left him a message on his home phone explaining the situation Becky Eddins was in, and her stubborn refusal to leave home.
***
Sutter and Call arrived at Virgil Bell's office ahead of Books. When Books got there, he found a somber-looking group gathered around a small conference table in Bell's office. The tension in the room was palpable. Call looked decidedly uncomfortable, as if he sensed something he wasn't going to like. It got worse when Books placed a small voice-activated tape recorder on the table.
“What's that for?” asked Call.
“So that we'll have an accurate record of everything that's said,” Sutter piped up. “And for the record, Brian, I want you to understand that I consider this an internal personnel investigation as well as a possible criminal matter. I've asked Ranger Books to conduct the interview.”
Virgil Bell sat with a legal pad in front of him and a pen in his hand. He stared at Call without speaking, his face expressionless.
Call's eyes darted around the room like a trapped animal's. “I don't get it.”
“Sure you do, Brian,” said Books.
Call became belligerent. “What the hell is this all about, anyway?”
“Regrettably, Brian, we have reason to believe that you're mixed up with some bad characters out of Las Vegas,” said Books. “Before we can go any further, I'll need to advise you of your constitutional rights under Miranda.” Books walked him carefully through the Miranda warnings.
Call looked frightened but defiantly stood his ground. “I know my rights and I don't have any goddamned thing to hide. I'll answer your questions, and I don't need a lawyer to do it.” He'd just violated the first rule of the career criminalâwhen challenged by the police skip the bluff and bravado. Keep your mouth shut.
“We appreciate that,” said Books. “What can you tell us about a Las Vegas company called Nevada Mining & Manufacturing?”
“What's that got to do with anything? That's ancient history.”
“We'll be the judge of that. Tell us about your ancient history with the company.”
“I didn't say I had any history with Nevadaâ¦whatever you called them.”
“So you're telling us that you've never heard of Nevada Mining & Manufacturing. Is that correct?”
“I didn't say that.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“I'm saying I knew the people who ran that company from the old days when I lived in Vegas. I haven't had any contact with them for years.”
“Those people you're referring toâ¦that would be Michael and Victor Calenti. Is that correct?”
“Yeah.”
“And in those old days, you were employed as a corrections officer in the Las Vegas County Metropolitan Jail. Is that right?”
“That's right.”
“How did you meet the Calentis?”
“I didn't know Victor. I knew Michael because he had legal problems. He had some minor scrapes with the law and ended up serving jail time.”
“So you met Michael in your official capacity as a law enforcement officer.”
“Yeah, so what?”
“The
so what
is that you were subsequently canned by the police department because they caught you consorting with a hooker who happened to be under correctional supervisionâprobation, I thinkâand because you were suspected of bringing contraband into the jail for Michael Calenti.”
“Pure conjecture. It was never proven.”
“If it wasn't true, why didn't you stick around and fight for your job?”
Call's face reddened and he struggled to hold his temper. “Because they'd made up their minds. I wouldn't have gotten a fair hearing, so I decided it was time to move on.”
“A minute ago you said you haven't had any contact with the Calentis in years. Was that the truth, Brian?”
Call hesitated, wondering if Books was bluffing or really knew something. He hedged his bet. “I can't say definitively that I've never had any contact with the Calentis since I moved here.”
“How frequent have the contacts been?”
“I don't know, on and off, not very often, though.”
“Tell us why you would continue to have contacts with a family everybody knows has organized crime connections.”
“That was just a rumor. I never believed it.”
“For sake of argument, let's say you continued to have intermittent contacts with the Calentis after you moved here and after you got back into law enforcement. What kind of business could you possibly have with them?”
“Social, mostly. One time when I was working as an outfitter, Michael called and asked if I would guide him and some friends on a deer hunt.”
“And did you?”
“Naw, the trip fell through.”
“How recently have you had contact with Nevada Mining & Manufacturing or the Calenti brothers?”
“Not for months.”
Books removed Call's cell phone records from a file folder on the table in front of him. “These are your cell phone records for 2009. We don't have your home phone records, but we'll have them shortly. You've been lying to us, and we know it.”
“Bullshit.”
“Okay. Let's look at the calls.” Books slid a highlighted copy of the records in front of Brian Call. “During the past several months, you've made numerous calls, more than two dozen, to two different Las Vegas numbers. One is the main number to the company and the other is Michael Calenti's cell phone. And you have almost as many calls from him. How do you explain that?”
“This is ridiculous. I don't have to answer any more of your questions, and I'm not going to.”
Sheriff Sutter said, “Listen up, Brian. As an officer in this department, you are obligated to cooperate with any internal investigation and truthfully answer our questions. If you don't, I can fire your ass, and I will.”
Call looked confused and upset. He was on the edge, unsure of what to do or say. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead.
Books saw an opportunity to break him. “Look, Brian, let me tell you what I think is going on. We've got a killer loose in this communityâa killer who I believe murdered George Gadasky and David Greenbriar. I think this guy's probably a pro, a contract killer dispatched by the Calentis. I think you're involved, and I think you've gotten in way over your head.”
Call interrupted. “That's bullshit. We caught the killer. It's Lance Clayburn, and we've got the evidence to prove it. He killed Greenbriar, and he probably killed George, too.”
“He didn't kill George, I'm sure of that.”
Call sneered. “Yeah. How can you be so sure?”
“Because Lance called me two nights ago from New Hampshire. The kid got scared and ran home to his family. He wasn't around to kill George Gadasky.”
That news nearly brought Charley Sutter out of his chair, but he didn't say anything. Virgil Bell raised his eyebrows, but, like Sutter, kept quiet.
“Let me tell you something, Brian, I've been thinking about the physical evidence implicating Clayburn in Greenbriar's murder. You know what? I think somebody planted that evidence so it would look like Greenbriar was killed by Darby's jealous boyfriend. It actually made a lot of sense. And if you happened to be the guy who provided that evidence, it would explain the frequent calls between you and Michael Calenti.”
“You're crazy. You can't prove any of it. It's all speculation. Besides, why would the Calentis want to kill Greenbriar?”
“So they could remove a serious obstacle to road expansion in the Grand Staircase. They couldn't buy David Greenbriar, so they had him killed.”
The sweat poured off Call's forehead. “Why would the Calentis care about that?”
“Because David and the Escalante Environmental Wilderness Alliance opposed Nevada Mining & Manufacturing's plan to mine coal in the monument. The coal deposits are there. The company owns the mineral rights to what's under the ground. All they need is new roads to make it cost effective to get their product to market. There's a lot at stakeâeconomic development, new jobs, and enormous profits for the Calentis.”
“For Godsakes, man, if there's some reasonable explanation for all these calls to the Calentis, please tell us what it is,” implored Sutter.
Call stared at the floor, unblinking, like he had entered into a catatonic state.
“Come on, Brian. We're wasting time,” said Books. “You need to tell us what's going on before this guy kills somebody else. And he will kill again. We have to assume he's still looking for Ronnie Gadaskyâthat he killed George because he either couldn't or wouldn't lead him to Ronnie.”
“Suppose, just suppose I do know something,” said Call. “What's in it for me if I agree to cooperate?”
Books looked from Sutter to Virgil Bell. “Gentlemenâ¦..”
“It's the DA's call,” said Sutter.
“All right,” said Bell. “If you come clean, and I mean completely clean right now, I promise you that I'll take the death penalty and life in prison off the table. You turn state's evidence, testify against these guys, if necessary, you'll do some time, but you'll get out of prison with some good years still in front of you.”
“You'll guarantee itâput it in writing?”
“I'll do it tonight, but only if you cooperate fully and tell us the complete truth. If I find out later you lied about anything, the deal's off the table. Understood?”
Call took a deep breath. “All right. What do you want to know?”
The most pressing need was to find the killer before he killed again. Everything else had to take a back seat to that. “Tell us, Brian, who is this guy, and how did you meet him?” asked Books.
“That's just it. I've never met him. I've never even seen him. Everything I did went through Michael or Victor; Michael mostly.”
“Any idea how we're going to find him, then?” asked Books.
Call glanced at his watch. “Yeah. I'm supposed to meet him in about three hours.”
Books and Sutter glanced at each other. “Tell us about that. When and where are you supposed to meet?”
“This is what happened. This morning at the crime scene I get this call from a guy who introduces himself as Arthur Tate. He apologizes for killing George and claims he's got a plan that will make it so he doesn't need to go after Ronnie. Problem is, he needs my help to do it, or so he says.”
“What does he want you to do?”
“He wouldn't discuss it over the phoneâsaid we needed to meet face-to-face, tonight at eleven o'clock at the city park.”
“Why the city park?” asked Sutter.
“How should I knowâprobably because it offers privacy and little chance that anybody would see us.”
Books considered that. Arthur Tate and Elliot Sanders had to be one and the same. But why would he agree to meet Brian Call when he had gone to some lengths to avoid just such a meeting? Books wasn't sure. What he was sure of was the invitation created an opportunity to bring this guy down, if Call was willing to help.
“How about you help us nab this guy tonight?” said Books. “We'll wire you up, stake out the park, and catch this bastard before he can hurt anybody else.”
Virgil Bell chimed in. “At some point, Brian, you're going to end up standing in front of a judge pleading for leniency. I can help you only so far. If you do this for us, it'll show the court you cooperated and did your part to stop this monster.”
Call mulled over the implications of their request. “This could be downright dangerous, couldn't it?”
“Absolutely,” said Books.
“All right. I've gone this far, I might as well go all the way. Let's do it.”
Books looked at his watch. At a few minutes after eight, they had less than three hours to mobilize personnel, create a plan, and get everyone in position. If Books was right, this guy was a pro, and a pro would be cautious, leaving nothing to chance. He would probably scout the area well ahead of the scheduled meeting time. If anything looked out of place, he'd be a no-show.
Books and Bell continued to question Call. Sutter left the interrogation to begin mobilizing equipment and personnel.
“Explain to us how incriminating evidence implicating Lance Clayburn managed to end up at the crime scene,” said Books.
Call sighed. “It was actually the easiest part of the whole deal. One night a few months ago, I drove past Clayburn's house the night before garbage pickup. His garbage can was out on the street, and I picked up a couple of bags. I took them back to my place, sorted through them until I found what I needed.”
“What did you do with the evidence then?”
“I drove it to Las Vegas and gave it to Michael Calenti.”
“And when was that?”
“I can't rememberâabout two months ago, I'd guess.”
“Where did you meet?”
“Michael's condo.”
“And what did Michael do with the evidence?”
“I don't know for sure. I assume he passed it along to the guy you're looking for.”
“So you had nothing to do with planting the evidence at the crime scene. Is that correct?”
“That's right.”
“What about Clayburn's hunting rifle. Did you steal it?”
“I did.”
“Tell us about that.”
“I broke in and stole it out of his house. I knew he had a .30-06 and figured if it disappeared, he'd look even more guilty.”
“What did you do with the rifle after you stole it?”
”I got rid of it at the county landfill.”
“When was that?”
“I can't remember dates, manâsix, seven weeks ago, maybe.”
Books shook his head and sighed. “Why did you get mixed up in this, Brianâafraid I just don't get it?”
“I can't tell you how many times I've asked myself that very question since Greenbriar was killed. I guess I really don't knowâhabit, I suppose. I'd been doing favors for the Calentis for years. Michael would set me up with some of his girls from time to time, and I got some money, not a lot, but some.”
“What about the Calentis? Besides the roads issue, what, if anything, were they trying to accomplish?”
“The Calentis figured that eliminating Greenbriar would have a quieting effect on the environmental movement all over the West. There's a lot at stake.”
“Like what?” Bell asked.
“Not only was Greenbriar causing problems with road expansion, he was also pressing various Congressional committees to raise grazing fees, which would cripple the livestock business. The Calenits didn't care about that, but they damned sure cared about Greenbriar's recommendation that companies like Nevada Mining & Manufacturing start paying royalty fees for mining on federal lands. Victor told me once that if Greenbriar got his way, companies like his could end up paying an 8% royalty plus the true costs of land reclamation. He figured it would cost the company millions.”
***
After the interrogation, Books and Bell escorted Call to the Kanab Police Department. Call was fitted with a wire enabling officers parked in a nondescript surveillance van near Kanab City Park to monitor his conversation with the suspected killer.
Sutter had managed to assemble a ten-person rag-tag team of sheriff's deputies, city police officers, and two members of the CSI unit from St. George who had just spent the day processing the crime scene at Grosvenor Arch to take part in the sting. Sutter also dispatched two members to prepare a sketch of the park and select the best positions around its perimeter to place officers. Everyone would assemble in the police department's training room at nine-thirty and be in place an hour before the scheduled rendezvous.
Books caught up with the sheriff in the police department's lunch room where Sutter was scarfing down a Hostess Twinkee and a can of diet Pepsi. “That shit'll kill you, Charley.”
“Tastes good, though,” he said, around a mouthful of Twinkee.
“Anything from the fingerprint examiner?” asked Books.
“Good news. After dusting the card, she found several identifiable latents. When she eliminated Jimmy's from the mix, she was left with a partial index finger and a thumb print. All we're waiting on now is a response from IAFIS.”
“Boy, I hope we get an IAFIS hit. It sure would be nice to know who we're up against out there tonight.”
“Sure would. How'd it go with Call?”
“Once he made the decision to cooperate, he never wavered. He gave us everything he knows.”
“That's what we needed,” said Sutter. “I've known the man for a lot of years, and I think he's wracked with guilt over this thing, particularly George's murder.”
“Well, he ought to be. He was up to his eyeballs in it.”
“Better late than never, I guess,” replied the sheriff.
The two went over the logistics of the night's operation. Getting everyone in position an hour ahead of time was essential. “I think we're dealing with a pretty savvy killer. This guy knows what he's doing. I think he's smart and doesn't make mistakes. He'll sniff around out there early to see if anything looks out of the ordinary.”
“You're probably right,” said Sutter. “I'm damned uneasy about sending Call into that park after dark. We won't be able to see a thing once he goes in.”
“The wire has to serve as both our eyes and ears. And don't forget, he'll be wearing a vest.”
“That's true, J.D., but we don't have much experience with this high tech equipmentâalmost no call for it out here. I'll bet we've only had that stuff out of the box once or twice in five years.”
“First time for everything, Charley. Here's a thought. If Call is wired up and ready to go, send him home and have the surveillance van follow him and park nearby. It's a good way to test the equipment. Assuming everything's working fine, have the van take up its position near the park. Brian can follow from his house right before eleven. This guy may have decided to follow Brian from his house to the park. That way he gets a chance to see if everything looks okay.”
Sutter liked that idea. He huddled with Call and the two officers assigned to drive the surveillance van and operate the monitoring equipment before he sent them out the door. It was almost nine-thirty. Officers began to gather in the training room for the briefing and to receive their respective assignments.
As Books and Call were about to start, the fingerprint examiner hurried into the training room. “We've got a match. We've got him identified.”
Books and Sutter stared at a grainy black and white photograph of a much younger Peter Deluca. “He's got a criminal history, and he also served in the U.S. Army.”
Neither man spoke as they read the biographical information in the report. Finally, Books said, “A lot younger, but this looks like our boy, Charley. Mr. Deluca matches the description Jimmy Johnson gave us of the guest from the motel.”
“Sure seems to.”
Books continued. “He's a white, male, ageâ¦..let's see, I'd make him fifty-eight years old, six feet-four inches, two-hundred-fifteen pounds. He's got three misdemeanor arrests in Chicago in the late sixties. Arrested again in Chicago, 1994, suspicion of murder, charges dismissedâinsufficient evidence. That's it on the criminal history.
“Enlisted U.S. Army, 1969, honorably discharged as a sergeant in 1973, after serving three years. This guy was an army sniper and served two tours in 'Nam. Can't say I like that. It looks like he spent much of the next twenty-five years working as muscle for the Chicago Outfit. He moved to Las Vegas four, maybe five years ago.”
“Geez,” said Sutter. “He's gettin a little long in the tooth for this kind of work, don't you think?”
“You'd think.”
***
Sutter conducted the briefing. The information on Deluca was disseminated to everyone. Officers were assigned to work in pairs. Each team was assigned a geographical area around the perimeter of the park. When he was finished, Sutter turned to Books. “Can you think of anything else, J.D.?”
“Just a word of caution. The park's closed, so we don't anticipate civilians being out there. But you can never be sure. If it becomes necessary to shoot, be damned certain you've got a target. And for crissake sake, don't be shooting at each other. If we end up on the move, it's possible that we could catch each other in a cross fire. Be careful and know what you're shooting at.”
The briefing ended at 9:45. Eight officers, excluding Books, took up positions around Kanab City Park.