Violence (6 page)

“It’s fine.” Anderson answered abruptly, not making Crotty finish the sentence.

“Thank you. It’s an immense help. If we can be reasonably certain these are the men…“ Crotty let that thought trail off but kept talking to keep Anderson engaged and keep the silences to a minimum. “Anyway, it’s a public safety issue as well. I also want to inform you we are being recorded right now, and will be inside the holding area. This is for your protection and ours. It’s important in major felony investigations that everything be documented so defendant’s lawyers cannot give differing versions of what occurred behind closed doors and say their client’s rights were violated.“

The interior door buzzed and the lock disengaged. Crotty pulled it open and lead the way into the Detention section.

Anderson followed him through the door and immediately came to a stop once he was on the other side. Crotty had paused to announce more instructions and give a lay of the land, but Anderson’s halting was more reflexive. It was almost as if Anderson could smell “them.” Animal-like, his nostrils flared. He was infused with a quiet burst of extra adrenaline. Anderson warily scanned the space as if he had crossed one of the rivers of the underworld and now stood firmly in Hell.

“We have them in separate holding cells, isolated by sight and sound as required by law.” Crotty said pointing to the inner cellblock where half a dozen distinct chambers were visible via one-way glass. “We’ll bring them out one by one and you can take a good look at them. This is not an official line-up which many times later in court is deemed unnecessarily suggestive of criminality, no matter how they are performed. But we would like to know if you’re reasonably certain these are the men you believe were at your house earlier doing the landscaping you spoke about. There were what looked to be bloodstains on the clothing of one of the suspect’s, which we have impounded as evidence, but we can’t even be sure it is blood until a preliminary test is done. All in all, they have been cooperative to this point.”

And Crotty was right about that. Even the camera in the patrol car that picked them up recorded Derek and the others as very compliant. They did everything they were asked. They didn’t fight at the traffic stop or in lock-up which was appreciated by the arresting officers and Crotty who all have had their individual experiences of being spat at, kicked and bitten by resisting suspects. Crotty, in his days starting out as a patrolman, was pricked early on by a dirty hypodermic needle searching the pockets of an unruly vagrant who was found to be HIV and Hepatitis C positive. That incident alone was good for a year’s worth of taking a variety of drugs and sweating out blood tests in the event he had been infected. Crotty wasn’t.

Derek, Gabriel and Ruben had also all been obedient through booking. They were informed of the nature of the likely charges so they knew the basics were required and any refusal there would reflect badly on them down the line. They submitted to Gunshot Residue Tests which can show if a suspect has recently fired a gun. This had to be done immediately, preferably within one hour of the crime, no more than three, and before fingerprinting. They gave mug shots. They had their clothing taken as evidence and placed in paper bags. Photographs of their bodies were taken to show any defensive wounds the victims may have inflicted.

A male nurse had come over from the local hospital and administered a Suspect Sexual Assault Evidence Kit. Derek and the others went through blood draws to test for drug/alcohol levels and DNA typing. They gave fingernail scrapings for possible evidence. They all allowed their pubic regions to be brushed and additional genital hair reference samples as well as head hair samples were collected. The part Derek and Gabriel enjoyed most was when the penile and scrotal swabs were applied to collect any blood, semen or saliva stains on their skin. Moistened with distilled water, the swabs were moved in a continuous rotating motion to ensure uniformity, sampling the area around their scrotums in addition to the head, shaft and base of each of their penises.

After all this was done, Derek, Gabriel and Ruben were given standard issue jumpsuits.

Ruben was dressed like this when a beefy patrolman fished him out of his cell.

“You can bring out the first one.” Crotty had told the patrolman over the intercom who led the drowsy Ruben, slouched and shuffling in leg irons, into the center of the inner corridor where another beefy patrolman helped hold Ruben upright before the observation glass.

“He’s one of them.” Anderson stated clearly, hiding his revulsion.

“You’re sure?” Crotty asked for confirmation. “Obviously you’re not seeing them in the same clothes or setting as they appeared earlier at your home.”

“I got a very good look at them.” Anderson assured him.

Crotty knocked on his side of the glass, giving the signal, and Ruben was returned to his cell.

Once Ruben’s cell door was shut, another interior meshed-glass door could be closed in his section of lockup effectively sealing him off from the second cell where Gabriel was situated. The beefy patrolman waited for the other door to close before the programmed interlocking sequence allowed him to open the door to Gabriel’s compartment. He yanked opened the cell door and motioned Gabriel into the corridor. Gabriel hobbled up to the glass, making some effort to hold his head up.

“Yes, he was there, too.” Anderson nodded.

Crotty rapped the glass and Gabriel was put back in his cell.

Soon it was Derek’s turn to be brought front and center. Derek seemed much more awake than the others though he affected the same world-weary wilt. Derek was also the better-built of the three so the patrolmen were especially vigilant as they led him before the glass.

Anderson hesitated to affirm Derek as one of the three. Not because he wasn’t sure Derek was one of the men at his house. He knew Derek was the clear ringleader of the group. It was just such a jolt to his primal reactive instincts to be standing across from the animal he was sure was the one particularly responsible for putting the grisly series of events in motion. The room had suddenly gone icy-cold for Anderson as he peered into the mocking abyss of Derek’s petulant stare.

And there was something else. It was almost as if Derek could see through the glass, too. Could see Anderson. His return gaze was unflinching, unrelenting, and the subsequent smirk was subtle but clear to Anderson.

Anderson went berserk. He howled, sprang forward and tried feverishly to open the door to the inner corridor. The door held fast. Anderson stepped in front of the observation window and slammed his fists furiously against the glass.

The mirror was shaking and muffled shouts could be heard on Derek’s side of the glass. Derek knew what was happening but was unperturbed. Actually smug. The beefy patrolmen next to him were not as confident that the window would hold.

Crotty was already trying to grab hold of Anderson when an extra patrolman materialized and helped Crotty pull Anderson away from the glass.

It was at least an hour later when Crotty was able to escort Anderson from the facility. Anderson was left to cool off in one of the all-purpose rooms used for police training and emergency services. Right now Crotty was walking him through an empty hallway that ran through the idle offices of the police station administrative area.

“They should be arraigned in the next 24-hours. I’m fairly certain they’ll be remanded into custody, that is ‘held without bail’ until trial, considering the seriousness of the charges.” Crotty was saying this as his thick-soled footfalls clacked on the glistening waxed floors of the hallway.

Anderson’s accompanying steps were more catlike, silent and mournful.

Crotty continued, “I fully expect the prosecutors and the grand jury to follow up with formal murder charges. We have what appears to be a wealth of physical evidence and we’ve got an eyewitness of the suspects leaving the scene.”

Crotty did not want to say Anderson’s elderly neighbor had been in just before Anderson to identify Derek and the others but could not say for certain who the men were, or whether they were the ones he saw running from the Anderson house or even if they were the ones he saw earlier that morning landscaping on the Anderson property.

“I’m going to do everything I can to put these guys away.” Crotty stated, then added a quick qualifier. “If they did it.” Crotty continued walking and talking. “I don’t know how long we’ll be tied up out at your home, but my department will work tirelessly on doing a thorough investigation.”

Crotty’s two-way radio crackled to life on his hip. “Wayne, got a sec?” A female dispatcher’s unemotional voice crackled over the radio’s speaker mic as Crotty stopped before a door with a vision panel and a key pad where he was about to enter a 4-digit code to gain entry to the Sally Port Area.

Crotty brought the two-way up to his mouth and answered. “This is Wayne. Go ahead.”

“They’re all done with the victims at the Anderson house. Do you want me to call for body removal?”

Her voice had a smoker’s rasp, Anderson thought. She must be the other woman he saw in the Dispatch Room. She probably had to smoke outside. He hadn’t smoked since his days in the military. Anderson didn’t know why his mind was flitting to mundane thoughts, but he felt oddly like a computer left on, uselessly having to cool, cycle updates, be ready to give information, but essentially having to wait for input to perform anything worthwhile. Alive but not real. Maybe it was just better to think about something like that right now.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Crotty answered uncomfortably, shooting an apologetic glance at Anderson. Crotty didn’t want to appear insensitive but he couldn’t know Anderson was in a void at this moment. Nothing like this had ever happened to Crotty, personally.

For Anderson, indignities were forgotten, or completely unnoticed like a receding road in the rear view at the moment. It was going to hit Anderson. Later. For now it was simply overkill.

“Also, the M.E. says they got a slot open at three o’clock today. Are you going to want to be at this one? I can have them push it to four?” The female dispatcher continued.

Anderson figured she must have meant this afternoon because he saw a clock on a wall, and it was already three in the morning.

Actually, the appointment was for this afternoon. The dispatcher wanted to check if Crotty was going to squeeze in some sleep before he sat in on an autopsy. It was not normal that Crotty was here at this hour.

“I’ll talk to you in a minute.” Crotty grunted into the two-way after he cleared his throat. Crotty had been operating on fumes. His tank was empty but he knew he had to put something extra into this case. Things like this didn’t happen that often in his jurisdiction. There were the numerous unexpected deaths that required an examination but which were later found to be due to a medical condition or simply accidental. They had their share of deaths by DUI or “king-hitting” bar fights where a cold-cock sucker punch resulted in a manslaughter or elevated second-degree murder charge. There was even a recent murder/suicide but that was owed to the state of the economy. This was different. Dirty. It was going to get some scrutiny.

Like the case that came up right before Crotty became a detective which made his predecessor put in for an early pension. Media had some fun with it. There was a creepy husband with a dual-citizenship who had murdered his wife. They had a hot tub. She was found floating in it. Drunk. She had some family money. There was a nice-sized life insurance policy on her but it was taken out years earlier. The husband was smart enough not to have the standard M.O.: such as he had a new girlfriend and wants out of the marriage but also wants to make some money off the marriage in a hurry. There was none of that. It was planned. Everybody knew the husband had done it. He moved the money overseas along with himself. Right now Crotty couldn’t even recall the offender’s name.

But Anderson was Joe Citizen. Or appeared to be. The media was going to have to put some focus on this, too. At least until some politico got caught using the taxpayer’s credit card for lap dances or a casino trip. Brutality against the innocent was usually pushed off the front pages nowadays in short order in favor of more easy to stomach fare, but Crotty couldn’t count on that. He had to try and get it right. Go carefully by the book. Anyway, Anderson seemed like a decent enough guy.

Crotty tapped in the code, the door lock disengaged and Crotty opened the door, letting Anderson step through first.

“We’ll let you know of any personal items that were taken as evidence.” Crotty told Anderson as he followed him into the Sally Port, the door swinging shut on its own behind them. “As far as the autopsy goes, they’re very good about getting to them quickly. The medical examiner’s office will do everything possible to expedite the release of your loved ones within 48 hours so it shouldn’t affect any viewing or funeral arrangements. Do you have a funeral home of choice?”

“No.”

“As soon as the examination is complete, the Medical Examiner will be able to release the remains after they get a signed authorization from the legal next-of-kin. As the surviving spouse and parent you’re considered a first degree relative. You hold precedence. Funeral directors are used to working with the Medical Examiner’s office. You’ll just need to contact us, to let us know what funeral home to release the remains to.”

“I’ll get that information to you.” Anderson answered automatically.

“Your wife and daughter’s personal belongings that may have been taken, anything that can be released will be available at our office between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. during normal business hours. That’s Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. If authorized, we can release those belongings to the funeral home or mortuary of your choice.”

“Thank you.” Anderson answered, trying to make sure he didn’t mutter his words.

Crotty was moving Anderson steadily towards the reinforced enclosure where Anderson could collect his keys from the patrolman who logged them in.

“You know you can’t go home right now. Your house and property has been placed under guard and are sealed at this point pending further analysis that may be required. We’ll try to speed up that process as well. I can’t recommend a company to clean your home, but after we’re finished, we can provide you with a list of companies that do that sort of work.” Crotty stopped and took out his billfold. He removed a business card and handed it to Anderson. “You let me know if I can help you in any way. My numbers are on there. And if you can think of anything that might be important for me to know don’t hesitate to call me.“