Point Hollow Ch. 05

"In addition," I said, "I am having Paulina Patterson get some warrants for us. Captain Ross, get ready to issue orders to the Precincts in my name to execute those warrants..."

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

An hour later, I entered Interrogation-A with Teddy Parker and Paulina Patterson. Cindy and the Chief were in the anteroom. Ron Estes was in the room, attended by Sr. Patrolman Morton. "Why am I here?" he demanded to know.

"You are here to answer some questions I have for you, regarding the Danny Cantrell case." I said. "First, I am going to read you your rights." I did so from the card, asked if Estes understood his rights, and he said he did, but wanted to know why he was forced to come to the Station.

"I just have one question for you, Mr. Estes." I said, looking hard at him. "What did you do with the body of Danny Cantrell?"

Silence in the room was instantaneous. Estes looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. Admittedly, so did everyone else.

"Say what?" Estes finally spluttered. "I didn't do anything with Danny. I don't know where he is, and he could be alive for all I know."

"We'll see. Stay here." I said. I got up and went into Interrogation-B, where Theo Washington was waiting, and Patrolman Hicks was attending. Ben Ellman was in the seat. I read him his rights from the card, then asked him the same question. He was more practiced and prepared for me, and said I was out of my tree and he wouldn't dignify me with a response.

It was then that I got to put into execution one of my favorite ploys. With a pre-planned signal to Cindy, I told Ellman that he was going to go through booking. He was made to stand up, cuffs were put on him, and with a second signal, we opened the door to the hallway and brought him out... at the same moment Cindy brought out Estes.

Their eyes bulged as they caught sight of each other, but neither said a word. I told Cindy to take Estes through booking first and put him in I-1. Ellman was destined for I-2.

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

"All right." I said, going into I-1 thirty minutes later. A Chase, Lynch & Berry attorney had almost magically appeared to represent Ron Estes.

"More police brutality, more lynch mob tactics against innocent citizens." the lawyer snarled. Chase, Lynch & Berry were rabidly anti-Police as well as ambulance chasers.

"Mr. Estes, your rights have been read to you." I said. "I ask the question again: what did you do with Danny Cantrell's body."

"Don't answer that." said the lawyer.

"Is your client taking the Fifth?" I asked. "If not, he's compelled to give an answer."

"That's bullshit." said the lawyer.

Paulina Patterson said "If he doesn't answer, the Court will consider him to have invoked... so if he says anything in the future, he will be willingly giving up his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination."

"You people are absolutely ridiculous." the lawyer said.

"Ms. Patterson," I said, "I am getting tired of this lawyer's lies, as well as his slander against the Police Force. I would suggest we go to Court and ask them to assign new counsel to this defendant, just to protect his rights. I will then arrest this lawyer for slander, for his comments about police brutality in this case, which has not happened."

"Sounds good." Paulina said. "I'll call the judge now." She got up to go.

"All right." said the lawyer. "We'll do it the proper way. Mr. Estes, invoke your Fifth Amendment rights."

"I invoke my right to remain silent." said Estes. "I will answer no questions and will not help the Police in any way."

"Too bad." I said as Paulina came and sat down beside me. "I only have one offer to keep Death off the table. And since you're no longer able to talk, I guess Ben Ellman will get it."

"That's harassment!" screamed the lawyer. "That's intimidating my client!"

"No it's not." I said. "And you know it. And let me just say this, Ron... my Officers are executing a search warrant of your apartment. Specifically, they are looking for an engagement ring purchased by Danny Cantrell for Sherry Kim. If that ring is found in your apartment, Ron, it is all over for you. All over. I'll be going for the death penalty for you."

Estes had turned pale as I'd talked, and I knew I was very close. Still, I got up and left, as did Paulina.

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

Ben Ellman had none other than Forest Gillis, who'd defended Dora Ellis in the Lance Priemus case, as his legal beagle. That in itself told me volumes.

"Okay, Ellman," I said, "your rights have been read to you, and you have legal counsel with you at this time. I am not going to waste any time on you. You are going to prison for having sexual relations with girls in your classes in exchange for better grades. I can charge you a number of ways for that alone, including rape if any of the girls testifies that they were coerced by you. In addition, there is one deal on the table for either you or Estes. One of you talks, gets a reduced sentence; the other gets the death penalty."

"Go fuck yourself." said Ellman, his eyes boring into me. I could tell he was getting a little unhinged. "Oh, and by the way... I'm invoking my right to remain silent."

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

"If they don't find that ring, or something else," said Chief Moynahan in his office, "then you don't have a case, Mr. Crowbar."

"I think I have a good circumstantial case." I said. "Eventually Sherry Kim is going to come out of her trauma, and she's going to remember. Also, we got warrants to take DNA samples of both Ellis and Estes; I'm going to bet 'all-in' that those DNA tests show a match for Ellis, if not both men, with the rape kit evidence from any or all of the women."

"So where do you think they put Danny's body?" asked Cindy.

"This is going to sound very brutal, but remember that these guys are biologists... they dissect things." I said.

"Oh, geez." Cindy cried out. "Like that headless guy in the Crown Chemicals acid drum?"

"Worse." I said. "The Biology Department and Vet School do a lot of testing on animals, and they have to destroy the tissues and the bodies, usually by incinerator..." I could see the others were getting squeamish; human faces are not supposed to be those shades of green...

"Not much evidence to test for DNA, then." said the Chief.

"And that makes things a little trickier," I said, "but we're still going to have a solid case, if I don't miss my guess."

"And you rarely do." said the Chief.

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

The evidence bag was placed on my desk. Inside was a ring box, inside of which was a diamond engagement ring.

"The Jared Jewelers at the Mall identified it as the one they sold to Danny Cantrell a few weeks ago, and we have a sworn affidavit to that effect." said J.R. Barnes of the Crime Lab, who had participated in the evidence collection raid.

"We've got him, then." I said, a smile forming on my features. "Captain Ross, would you care to join me in a philosophical discussion of ideas with Mr. Estes?"

"I wouldn't miss it." said Cindy.

Part 27 - The Solution

I put the box in its evidence bag on the table in front of Ron Estes and his lawyer.

"It's over, Ron." I said, as Cindy and I sat down. "And when the DNA sample we took comes back as a match of the rape victims, you're looking at the death penalty."

"You have no body." said the lawyer. "The students were found in other States. You have no habeas corpus."

"Oh, I think I do, as the crimes started at Point Hollow." I said. "The missing engagement ring was found in this County, as well. And Mr. Estes here is going to tell me what he did with the body, to save his own life."

The lawyer leaned over and whispered something to Estes, who nodded.

"We're calling your bluff, Commander Troy." said the legal beagle. "We don't think you have a case. And again, I'll be fighting you to the Gates of Hell on jurisdiction."

"Whatever." I said. "I'll be called to testify in any jurisdiction. And my story will have Mr. Estes never seeing personal freedom again, even if he avoids the death penalty. Shall I tell you what happened, Mr. Estes? And you just have your legal beagle correct me if I go astray."

As I settled in, I noticed that Cindy's ice-blue eyes were lighting up. She just loved it when I did this to perps.

I began: "On Friday, April 21st, you and Ben Ellman delivered the six students and their gear to Point Hollow. You left the Jeep in case of an emergency, and to bring the samples back, and you told them you were going to bring a van back on Sunday to pick them up. You also said you were going to go to the other site, south of the nuclear power plant. But you and Ben never went down there at all. In fact, there never was a second soil collection expedition at all."

"You and Ellman intended to come up to the Point Hollow site, where you and perhaps some of the six students were going to treat Danny Cantrell to a nasty night of humiliation. You see, Ron, I know that you also were in love with Sherry Kim. You were totally smitten with her. She used Danny to reject your advances. She teased you by dating Danny. And when you'd heard he bought her a ring, you just about went berserk.

"I know that Sherry and a couple of her Asian girlfriends gave Ben Ellman blowjobs in exchange for good grades." I said. "They didn't fuck him, though. And you... you weren't getting jack shit from her. She wouldn't even let you take her out to dinner... Danny was getting that much from her, and you weren't."

"So maybe you were going to make Sherry give you head in front of Danny, maybe your initial plan wasn't to rape her. But as you and Ellman drove up that evening, you were surprised to find someone walking back towards Town from Point Hollow... Danny Cantrell."

"When you stopped to pick him up, he probably told you the story of Big Jake Stone deflowering Sherry in front of everyone, popping her cherry earlier in the day. I'm sure you were enraged by that as well, Ron. Sherry wouldn't even date you or blow you, but big Jake Stone was getting nuts-deep into her."

Ron Estes's eyes showed his utter hatred... and I could see he knew I was right, so far. I continued: "So you subdued Danny, tied him up, pounded a few punches and kicks into his belly, then waited until night. Then you and Ellman planned what to do."

"I suspect that you went on up to camp, leaving Danny tied up, and not driving all the way up so as to not leave fresh traces of your vehicle. I'm sure the other students were surprised to see you. Jake and Natalie had finished having sex by then. So Ellman broke out some wine, which was laced with powerful hallucinogens. Everyone but you and he drank the wine. The hallucinogens would take time to take effect, but it explains why they all were affected at the same time."

"So the next morning, you and he gave them more drugs, then got Sherry and Annemarie into a van. You took them up to that shelter, maybe met up with some of Ellman's friends, and you beat the living hell out of Danny and forced him to watch Sherry being repeatedly raped and sodomized by yourself and the other men."

"Is this for real?" the lawyer sneered.

"It will be when the DNA tests come back." I said. "Unfortunately for you, or maybe intentionally, Danny Cantrell was vomiting and coughing up blood. He was dying as a result of the beatings you gave him. So you left the women at the shelter, and drove back to Point Hollow. You took the Wrangler back to Campus, got the other van, went and got Danny's body and disposed of it, cleaned out the van, and hid out until Sunday. You'd taken the engagement ring off Danny's body, maybe to pawn it later, and left it at your apartment."

"So maybe that's not exactly what happened," I said, "but it's the gist of it. If Ellis cuts a deal, he'll fill in the blanks. So, Mr. Estes, this will be our last meeting until I testify against you in Court. Sure you don't want to talk?" Estes said nothing, but the gears were turning behind his eyes.

I got up to go, and made it halfway to the door when he called out "Wait!..."

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

I went into I-2 with Paulina and Cindy, over an hour later. Ben Ellman was staring daggers at me... no, it was Paulina he was looking at that way.

"It's over, Ellman." I said. "Ron Estes confessed. He's given us everything."

"Then why are you in here talking to my client at all?" asked the lawyer.

"Oh, he knows." I said. "Death for him can come off the table... provided he comes correct with what he knows about 'White Roots'."

"I'm not giving this nigger a damn thing." Ellman hissed, jerking his thumb at Paulina.

"Good enough." I said. "What I am going to do... is give you to the FBI." I turned to the one-way glass and waved. The door next to the glass opened, and in walked the Deputy Director of the FBI, followed by Jack Muscone and Eduardo Escobar.

"Bad day for you, Dr. Ellman." I said. "Those drugs you gave those students are of great interest to our National Security friends. And they have some very good methods of... persuasion... in getting you to talk."

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

Friday, May the 13th. Yes, Friday the 13th, but a good one. This party definitely was worthy of The Steakhouse. Chief Griswold said he paid for it. Jack Colby declined to comment on just how much, or little.

It was the Chief Emeritus, the current Chief, me, Laura, Cindy, Teresa, Teddy Parker, Theo Washington, Julie Newton, Christopher Purvis, Tim Geiger, Paulina Patterson, Jack Muscone, Sandra Speer, Martin Nash, Lindy Linares, Eduardo Escobar, his gorgeous wife Rosalyn, my mom Phyllis, Molly Evans, and of course all the kids. Others had been invited, including the Wellmans, the Seth and Joanne Warners, and Dr. Mickelson, but they all had been unable to attend for various reasons.

After an exceptionally delicious steak dinner, we settled down for some discussions of the events after Cindy rang the glass with her spoon.

"First, Don," she said, "what led you to Estes and Ellman?"

"Well, first of all I want to say that Detective Teddy Parker did an outstanding job with this case. He gathered a lot of information, including about the engagement ring and where it was purchased from, and learned a lot about imagination along the way." Everyone applauded as Parker blushed a bit.

"The Rebels will get the Wildcats back next year, sir." he said. "But I don't hold a candle to your case-solving abilities."

"You are well on your way, Parker." I said. "And I mean that. I am very impressed by your work on this case. And speaking of the case... where to start..."

"That burning question you always had." said Cindy.

"Oh yes, that." I said, smiling. "What I kept asking was, 'What were the plans to pick the students up again?' and variations of it. But first, let me say this: my attention was first drawn to Estes when he was one of two persons who went to Dr. Mickelson about the students... but he had the keys to the vans and the jeep. Why could he not have just gone out there himself and checked on them? I could not make much sense of that, and I was not convinced by his answers."

"And the reason my first question was important... because all indications and stories told to us were that the students were left at Point Hollow. In fact, the Jeep was left there with them, and they were going to drive the samples back, then get the jeep or other cars and get the rest of the group. I surmised that after I realized the non-answers on the plans to come home were something of a cover up. Some were guilty, and others were confused or didn't want to become involved by saying anything."

"So," I continued, "let's now talk about this concept of the two soil-gathering trips. I noticed that the group going to Point Hollow didn't seem to care a whole lot about the samples. They took only a few, and were more interested in making Annemarie's very steamy sex movies than in sample taking."

"Can't blame them for that!" said Molly. Everyone broke out into laughter, including me.

"No, no doubt about that." I said. "But since the Point Hollow trip seemed to be much less than serious, I thought about the other trip... and came to some startling observations."

"First," I said, "some of you might remember our case involving the Nuclear Power Plant ('Eyes Only'). I can't go into detail, but suffice it to say that the Plant and the Facility next to it are very closely guarded. One does not go down there on a whim to collect samples... one would have State and Federal agents and security people swarming like hornets. They'd have to go miles downriver to avoid any problems, and at that point, would any samples taken be worth anything?

"When I add to it that Dr. Mickelson didn't seem all that interested in the trip south of the plant, I let my imagination flow a little bit, and concluded that there was no second trip. From that point on, things that had not seemed possible, now started to be possible."

"So everything Estes had said about the second trip was a lie." I continued. "But he did show one thing very clearly: his hatred of Danny Cantrell. And it wasn't too much of a reach to consider that the reason for his hatred was Sherry Kim. You see, guys, Sherry was a virgin until Jake deflowered her... but she was not as sweet and demure as she pretended to be. She was a tease, and she liked to use weak men to her advantage."

I continued: "Sherry Kim was using Danny against Ron, used Jake against Danny, and so on. So Ron had some hatreds building up, though misdirected. I'm not sure who first came up with the plan, but one thing was clear... some of those kids at Point Hollow were part of a plan to torment Danny Cantrell. They did so at the camp, then he left to walk home, and the others got hold of him."

"So, son," my mother said, "why was Danny's cellphone found at the Point Hollow site? Would he not have taken it with him?"

"He may have forgotten it in his haste to get out of there." I said. "Or he took it, and Ron Estes planted it back in the tent. And that brings up something else I observed at the scene. Sherry had rejected Danny, so why would she share a tent with him? Answer... she didn't. There had to be another tent. And that is what I think Estes carried Danny's body in when he took it back to Campus."

"Another thing that held us back," I said, "was that neither Ron Estes nor Ben Ellman had DNA on record. Ron is young, and had never been in trouble with the law, so that's not too hard to understand. Ben Ellman, on the other hand, had to work to avoid having his DNA on record somewhere. And that led me to new discoveries with him."

"Speaking of that, who were the friends of Ben Ellman?" asked Theo Washington. I looked over at Jack Muscone, who nodded that I could continue.

"He's part of a white supremacy group, and so were they." I said. "That was his real reason for going to Tennessee. A couple of his friends from that group came up this way to visit, probably to create some mischief somewhere..."

"Ohhhhhhhh," said Teresa, "the gunrunning."

"Somebody promote this woman to Vice Lieutenant!" I exclaimed with a grin. Everyone laughed, then I said "Yes, that might have been some of it, though I don't know and have no established links. Anyway, I think we'll leave that in the FBI's hands. As it is, this whole case has jurisdictional issues that will keep the Courts busy for a while."

"Okay, what about Sharples?" asked FBI Special Agent Martin Nash. There was a loud acclaim followed by clapping and cheering. I could not help but smile widely.

"There are two important points here, ladies and gentlemen." I said. "First, even if the FBI and I had some 'philosophical differences' in these cases, I never felt like I was being betrayed. But the people that Sharples was running around with, and placed his trust in... would not and did not hesitate to betray him with a ferocity that makes Brutus and Iscariot look like angels in comparison. I trust good people like you all, and our FBI friends here. Sharples trusted people who sliced him to ribbons with knives in the back."