A Bust In The Seams

Early in the morning......Detectives Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace, my wife

Tyriq Pile, her partner

and her other partner...

 James "Jimmy" Barlow... are on the rooftop of the apartment complex where the 12 bodies  were found dead....

We knew they had been poisoned slowly by a Cyanide tinted gas that had flowed through the central air system in their apartment..

They were using a schematic design of the building and looking at the air conditioning system...

"The tank was inserted right here..., see the cut in the line..And whoever improvised this, tried to patch it back up...see the tape right there?" said Carlotta..

"I'm calling the CSI team in.....Maybe we can get some prints..." said Tyriq, who picked up some cigarette butts and put them in a plastic bag...

"Whoever was up here shouldn't have been smoking....This whole roof could have went up.."he said.

"Jimmy, any news on the B-Mechanic yet?" asked Carlotta..

"His name is Henry Holcolmb...He turned in his letter of resignation, two days ago..."said Jimmy...

"Sirena and Hop went by his apartment yesterday...He had already moved out of there....They called in a CSI team to get fingerprints and DNA from the Apartment...

Duke ran a check of his credit cards and Financials... We know he bought a train ticket to North Jersey....He made some credit card purchases in Patterson ,New Jersey..."said Jimmy...

And speaking of Sirena and Hop...

 "Hey Guys look what we found" said Sirena

"I found this air tank.....

It was in a dumpster behind the building....The Trash people didn't collect it...Hopefully the CSI team can pull some DNA, Fingerprints,other than mine and Sirena's off of it..."said Hop.

"That may be the best pull of the day.."said Tyriq..

"I'm calling Boss Lady.."said Carlotta..




II-

Sissy and Hazel and the CSI team arrived at the same time...

"Heyy guys, what have you got?" asked Sissy...

"Well this schematic design of the building shows us exactly how the air tank was filtered into their unit.."said Jimmy..

"And this tape is evidence this line was cut and whoever did this tried to retape it and cover it up."said Carlotta..

"I'll have my guys dust for prints.."said Hazel....

"But my wife and Hop have found the best find of the day...That Air tank.." said Tyriq..

pointing at it..

"We think the cyanide was delivered in this.."said Sirena...

"They put this in a dumpster about three blocks away....The Trash people didn't take it...They left it there...I'm certain this delivered the lethal gas.."said Hop..

"I'll call in a truck to load this up and take it to the lab."said Hazel...

"Chica...Duke and your husband

 got a lead on the former B-Mechanic...Harry Holcolmb....They're on their way to North Jersey as I speak..." said Sissy..

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, I didn't get a chance to kiss him goodbye.."said Carlotta...

III-

Duke and I left for Patterson, New Jersey early in the morning...

"Been a long time since I was on a road trip Keith.."said Duke..

"I know...You, Rico and Carlotta used to go on quite a few of them."I said..

We drove over to the Chief of Detectives office ...

"I'm Keith Wallace, Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia....I have a warrant for a Henry Holcolmb... He's a Philadelphia resident and a person of interest in 12 unsolved murders....He recently quit his job and has taken up residence here in town.."I said..

"Oh My God.!"said the Chief of Detectives....

"This is Detective Edwin Baylor...We are here to pick him up..."I said..

"Okay....I'll give you a few guys..." he said..

"Thanks Chief."said Duke...

We went to the house Henry was renting....He had been there for two days..He wasn't home..

"He got a few credit card charges from this bar..Let's check there.."said Duke...

I walked into the bar first....

I looked at the photo I had of him....It didn't take too long to recognize him.....Sitting in the bar alone, drinking a beer...

 Duke and the members of the fugitive recovery unit

entered from both sides...Guns drawn....

Henry got down on both knees and put his arms behind his head...He was shaking like a leaf and sweating...

"Okay...Okay...You guys got me...but I swear,I didn't do it...I didn't do it..." he said..

"You didn't do what Henry?" I said..

"I didn't kill those people...I swear it wasn't me.." he said..

"You got a lot of money in your account suddenly and then you quit your job."said Duke..

"Look it was a guy..a guy...He paid me...I showed him where the Air conditioner unit was, how to single out a unit...He supplied that tank, He told me to leave town, immediately...I did like I was told..Look I had to do it..I had to...He would have killed me.."said Harry...

"Don't say any more Henry...We are taking you back to Philly.."said Duke..

"You can't lock me up...If they find out I'm in custody ,they'll kill me..You gotta put me someplace safe..."he said..

''Don't worry Henry... We will..Let's go." I said.

IV-

Back at headquarters....

Sissy addressed her detectives...

"Good Job today guys..." she said..

"It would be nice if we crack this thing....Imagine how pissed Lt. Tragg would be...

He  is laughing like he doesn't think we'll crack it."said Carlotta..

"After the job I did on him at COMSTAT yesterday, he'll blow a gasket."laughed Sissy.

"I just got off the phone with Duke...He and Keith picked up Henry Holcolmb in North Jersey, and they're on their way back with him now." said Tyriq..

"Good ,we are just that close to cracking this."said Jimmy...

"When they get back....Take him to the Air Force Base in Dover for safe keeping...I don't feel he's safe in County Lock up or even Federal Prison here.."said Sharon..

"Something on your mind Sharon?" asked Sirena..

"I'm not sure...I'm just playing a hunch that this thing could run deeper than we even suspect..."said Sharon..

"We are keeping his capture out of the news."said Sissy..

"Wowwwww"said Hop.."This is real Cloak and dagger stuff.."he said.

Angie walked in just then with Hazel...

"Hi Guys..."she said..She had one of the Laptops..

"I was over at the Cyber Unit....They did a Forensic Autopsy on the Laptops...All of them were wiped clean except one...Obviously, our killer was rushing and his or her carelessness paid off...We've got payments, bank account numbers that match the ones we already had and e-mails...We trace these emails and we get closer to the boss."said Angie..

"FANTASTIC!"said Sissy..

"You guys are good!"said Sharon..

"You guys were right about that air tank...

It tested positive for Cyanide gas....and the prints and DNA are a match for a man named Caleb Gunstein...He's a mercenary.....Interpol has him on a terrorist watch list....Somebody really reached out for him....He's your killer."said Hazel...

"Nice...We may crack this thing yet.."said Sissy...

"Get him, but tell Keith not to make the Warrant public....I think I know who the leak might be.."said Sharon...

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

And at a Bar in the Little Norway section of Philadelphia..

Department of Justice Integrity Unit Agent Carla Brunson took a seat next to a bald headed man with sunglasses on...

"You got problems.." she said softly...

"Oh yeah? What kind of problems?" asked the bald headed man...

"My guy in the Newark FBI office told me that the Philly coppers picked up Henry Holcolmb in North Jersey..."she said..

''What?? They're really good..He can give them a name, but not mine...." said the man...He munched on some peanuts and sipped his beer..."I'll have to have him taken care of.." he mused..

"His name is not on any warrant....He's not in city jail or county jail or even any federal facility...I don't know where they've got him..."said Carla..

"Well find out!!! Impress upon him that he should keep his mouth shut, if he values his uh  continued good health."said the man...

"Look, I'm all over the Feds, but these CID guys are different, they're good....Did your guy erase the hard drives on those laptops?" she asked..

"Everyone of them and he disposed of the tank...They got nothin...Just 12 dead bodies and a dead end...That's all...If they did they'd indict....They couldn't even indict Henry...I'm just surprised they found him...Maybe I should have taken care of him too..."said the man..

"I've given you information....I never planned to be mixed up in murder...12 murders...We are talkin about my career here, my life!!!"said Carla..

"If your daddy wasn't such a degenerate gambler...You wouldn't be in this situation....He's into me for close to one million....I own him and I own you!!!...Don't forget that! Now find out where Henry is...You find out and you let me know.." said the man...

"I HATE YOU!"snapped Carla..

"Relax.....At least I'm not askin to get in your panties...I could you know..."laughed the bald headed man in the sunglasses..

 She left the bar... She hated herself and she hated him....but if she didn't give him information...He'd kill her father...And if it ever got out that she was trading information to a gangster...Her career, Her career that she worked so hard to cultivate would be done...She was trapped in the middle and both sides were closing in on her!  She wished she could go to someone for help.

"Relax.....At least I'm not askin to get in your panties...I could you know..."he had snorted..

She'd never stoop that low...She thought...but she'd already stooped low enough,hadn't she?

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

Carlotta and I stood outside of the headquarters

It was a warm night...

"Nice night huh?" I said..

"It is..." she said..

"I thought about you all day.." I said to her..

"I thought about you too papi.."she said and smiled as I held her in my arms..

We kissed passionately.....

under a nice summer moon..

(TO BE CONTINUED)