Evan sat down for breakfast with his wife, unusual for a work day but then he really didn’t have any commitments until his patient meeting at ten o’clock. He didn’t even consider picking up the newspaper with Betty sitting across the table. This was quality time and he was afraid she didn’t get enough of that.
“I’m going to call Dana this morning about little Bradley’s birthday party. I wish we could be there,” Betty said.
“That’s coming up, isn’t it?” Evan said. “What day of the week are they going to hold the party?”
“It’s a Saturday afternoon, I believe.”
“We could hop the commuter flight Saturday morning. Phoenix is only an hour away and we could spend the night, come back on Sunday.”
“Could we? I know Bradley would be thrilled to see his Om-pa again,” Betty said.
Evan smiled at the childish name. Bradley was turning five…shouldn’t he be past that stage by now? “Yes, we’ll do that. Now what are we going to give him?”
“Oh my, I haven’t even thought of a present.”
“I’ll leave that up to you, dear. I think we’re going to have a quiet month in the clinic,” Evan said. “It might be good to get away, even for just a day or two.”
“You go ahead and read the paper,” Betty said. “I’m going to call Dana right now.”
Evan picked up the paper as Betty left the room. There was hardly any news worth mentioning. More nonsense in Congress and at the White House. He shouldn’t even bother with the paper anymore, it was all yesterday’s news. With that in mind he picked up the remote for the small television in the corner of the kitchen and turned it on.
There was a special report running on KUSA out of Denver and Evan’s eyes zeroed in on the image of Sheriff Barnes.
“…and he’ll be taken to the Criminal Justice lockup in Lakewood this morning. The State Police are releasing little information at this point but promise to tell us more at a news conference this afternoon. Until then all we’ve seen is the image of a local county Sheriff in handcuffs. More as we have it…this is Connie Danby, KUSA News 9, here in…”
Evan turned off the television. By God, they did it! He knew that Bill and Ed were going to gather information on Barnes yesterday, but this. It had all happened so fast, and he was sure he didn’t know the half of it. He hoped Bill would call him soon.
Tim would not be told anything, and the boys didn’t have access to news programs in the dorm. He got up from the table and rinsed out his breakfast dishes, placing them in the dishwasher. Bill had better call. He couldn’t wait for the details. Evan walked out into the hallway, kissed his wife who was still on the phone and took the stairs two at a time as he headed for his shower. The week had just become more exciting.
Eli Parker had to think about his past association with the Witherspoon case. He was aware that Bill had uncovered this mess with Barnes and so far the media was blissfully unaware of that relationship. Had they ever talked about anything that might prejudice a decision from the bench regarding the boy?
With Barnes’ arrest Malcolm Wilson would not be allowed to handle the Witherspoon case. Barnes sure had a lot of relatives and unfortunately Malcolm was one of them, distant but still in the family tree. Eli had just heard about the court lineup for the rest of the summer and Judge Wilson had been assigned Witherspoon, but not anymore.
Could he in good conscience take the case and be neutral in his judgment? Having Bill as a friend wasn’t the issue. Lawyers weren’t on trial, they just represented the defendant. No, the entire focus of their recent conversations had been about Barnes.
They did talk about the penalty phase of a trial for the boy, but that was allowed. Bill would have to do all his wrangling with the DA over the charges long before this got to court. But like any judge who sat on the bench Eli’s hands would be tied if a jury came back with a felony murder charge.
He agreed with Bill, life without parole was just too harsh a penalty for juveniles. But most of the judges he knew felt the same way. What was the point of having a judge if he was not allowed to use his discretion? If he wasn’t looking forward to another twenty years on the bench Eli might consider screwing up the trial just so it would go to appeals.
Okay, he would inform his clerk that he was taking the case. Too bad that Barnes would be tried up in Denver because a lot of his fellow county judges would love to see Barnes roast in hell. The DA was going to have a coronary when all the facts on Barnes came out. Maybe he should take Dan to lunch before shit hit the proverbial fan.
Bill was aware that the county was in an uproar long before he drove into town. The news people on the radio had gotten the word that Barnes was involved in drugs so someone on the inside was running their mouth. It was probably Travis. Didn’t he tell Ed his sister worked with a radio station?
The press conference up in Denver was at two o’clock and Bill wasn’t sure exactly what information the police were going to release. There was a lot to uncover up at that trailer, and if they started digging…who knows? Bill had to smile as he wondered who would take over as sheriff until the next election. Wasn’t the DA supposed to be involved in that decision?
Bill pulled in behind the office and was relieved that there were no media people hanging around. Good, they didn’t know about his involvement. But just as he was about to go in the building a sheriff’s patrol car pulled up on the street and Travis was behind the wheel.
The deputy looked up and down the street and Bill understood, the man was nervous about being seen here.
“Come inside, Travis…let’s take our business off the street,” Bill said.
They climbed the steps to the apartment and Travis sat down in the kitchen.
“Man, you weren’t kidding around…Barnes is history.”
“Come on, you knew he was up to something,” Bill said. “I admire your loyalty to a point, but I hope your department gets past all this.”
“The guys are in shock, that’s for sure. Me not so much. The State Police have taken over our office, searching through everything.”
“You had to expect that would happen,” Bill said. “Oh My God, they’ll search his house too.”
“Yup, you can count on that,” Travis said.
“Thanks for the reminder, I need to make a call,” Bill said.
He reached in his wallet and pulled out Matt’s card.
“Hello, Bill…I wondered when I’d hear from you,” Matt said.
“Sergeant Connors, one of Barnes’ deputies told me your guys are going to search the Sheriff’s home…do you know when?”
“He’s there now I take it,” Matt said.
“You got that right.”
“Well T-Bone will probably get over there this afternoon,” Matt said. “What’s up?”
“T-Bone?”
“Lieutenant Thomas Bonetta, a first class detective.”
“Barnes must have a stash or some kind of safe. The deputy says he always has a lot of cash and we know where it came from. But I’m looking for a small.25 caliber pistol which he may have hidden.”
“From the boy’s crime scene, you mentioned that. You think Barnes held onto it?”
“He may have drugs as well, Oxycontin in a baggie. Tim mentioned that and it’s in my notes. If Stan’s fingerprints are on the bag it would certainly help my case.”
“I’m still in Front River and about to go up and see Ed in the hospital. Needless to say we have a few more questions,” Matt said.
“No doubt. How do I touch base with this T-Bone character?”
“I’ll give you his number. Just remember, so far I’ve kept your name out of all this. I can’t hide Ed’s part, but there has been no need to mention you. T-Bone is a thorough detective so he’ll put your name in his report. Is that all right with you?”
“If we find the baggie and the pistol I’ll take out an ad in the newspaper,” Bill said.
Matt laughed. “Okay. Here ya go. 770-555-5151, that’s his cell number. Mention my name and he’ll talk to you. Hey, next time I’m headed down your way I’ll call and we can go have a beer.”
“I owe you a steak dinner at least,” Bill said.
“Now you’re talking. Give my regards to your secret deputy. Bye.”
“Sergeant Connors says hello,” Bill said after he hung up.
“He doesn’t know who I am, does he?” Travis asked.
“No, I’m sure you don’t want that getting around. I don’t know what is going to happen to your department after all this, but at some point I’m going to tell someone what a fine job you did. I guess now you better take charge of all your buddies, there is still a county to patrol.”
“I got that covered…at least for the week,” Travis said. “I imagine someone is going to come in and take over, I can’t do this alone.”
“You’re the ranking deputy? How is that possible?” Bill asked.
“We only have nine men and Barnes never allowed anyone except me to have any stripes, all the orders came from him. It didn’t matter much until now…but you don’t need to listen to me bitch, you have things to do.”
Travis got up and hefted his gun belt. “This sure is a major mess, but forgive me…I’m smiling.”
They shook hands and the deputy left. Bill looked at the number Matt had given him. T-Bone? I wonder what he’s like. Bill dialed the phone and soon had his answer.
“Lieutenant Bonetta.”
“Lieutenant, this is Bill Metzger. Sergeant Matt Connors gave me your number and said you were executing the warrant to search the Barnes house.”
“That’s right,” Bonetta said. “And how do you fit into all this.”
“I’m the lawyer for Timothy Witherspoon and from what I know from various sources it was Barnes who tampered with the crime scene in my case.”
Bonetta sighed. “What a piece of work that former sheriff is…or was. What would you have me do to help with your case?”
“The private investigator I hired is the one who discovered the meth lab yesterday and got shot for his troubles.”
“Ed Avery was working for you?”
“He was…is working for me.”
“Ought to pin a medal on that man,” Bonetta said. “I’m due at the Barnes house around two with a whole crew to search the place. You’re probably not supposed to be there, but I understand your need. Meet me there and we’ll talk, maybe I can make some accommodation if you have further evidence to offer.”
“I do, and thank you, Lieutenant.”
“Don’t thank me yet. This mess is so political I’m not sure I want to walk into that house, but it goes with the job. See you at two, Mr. Metzger.” And Bonetta hung up.
He sounded big and gruff, Bill thought. Maybe he got the T-Bone nickname because he ate raw meat. Bill looked at his suit and decided the wrinkles would not do, so he went to take a shower and change. Then he went downstairs and stepped into the office.
Candice handed him a stack of messages and he didn’t even get a chance to glance at them before Sonny pounced.
“Damn, Bill…the county is in an uproar.”
“So how’s your mom?” Bill asked.
“Fine, they did some tests and she has poor circulation which made her dizzy. Thanks for asking. And how is poor Ed?”
“Recovering, he’s about to become a state legend.”
“I would think…so what’s on the table?” Sonny asked.
Bill shuffled through the messages and smiled. Two from Barbara Lowe and one from Evan, he would have to call them both back. He stepped in behind his desk and dropped his briefcase on the floor. Sonny took a seat and stared at him.
“I’m going to meet the State Police detective at two o’clock when he serves the search warrant on the Barnes residence. I’m looking for drugs and that pistol so I can tie Stan into Barnes and prove the cover up of evidence. Any idea what the ADA wants?”
“A merciful end to this whole business?” Sonny said. “No, I have no idea.”
“Maybe I can settle it with a phone call. It’s one o’clock, I better do that now and head out to meet that detective.”
“Can I tag along?” Sonny asked.
“Sure, but we both might have to sit in the car. I gather we’re not supposed to be there while they search the place.”
“That’s true, but you may be a material witness and offer evidence on what they find.”
Bill nodded and picked up his phone.
“Assistant District Attorney’s office, Nancy speaking.”
“Hello, Nancy. This is Bill Metzger returning Barbara’s call.”
“Oh yes, she’s here…I’ll put you through.”
Fifteen seconds later. “Bill, where the hell have you been?”
“Coddling my private investigator, the man who was shot up at Barnes’ meth lab.”
Bill smiled because Barbara was speechless.
“The shooting victim was working for you?”
“Yes, not on Barnes but on the Witherspoon case,” Bill said. “You know this is all very complicated and we really ought to sit down and talk our way through it.”
“That’s what Dan suggested. Can we set it up for tomorrow?” Barbara asked.
“Why the rush…well, okay. But my PI won’t be available for at least a week or so. I can summarize what he discovered but the documentation will have to wait until he gets released.”
“That works for us…say one o’clock?”
“Fine, I can do that,” Bill said.
“Barnes really was the joker in our deck but now he’s the ace in your hand.”
“I have a lot of things to tell you, Barbara. This is far worse than you can imagine so I guess it will be better if we meet tomorrow before the whole Barnes experience blows up in the media.”
“Dan is already on his second bottle of antacid tablets. I think we need to come to some agreement before his insides turn to chalk.”
“Tomorrow…one o’clock,” Bill said.
“Good bye, Counselor.”
Bill sat there with a silly grin on his face. “What?” Sonny asked.
“She called me counselor…they’re going to deal.”
“Oh I almost forgot to tell you,” Sonny said. “Eli Parker has the Witherspoon case.”
“What happened to Malcolm Wilson?”
“In the Barnes family tree it seems, disqualified.”
“I’m not going to hold my breath but this gets better every day. Shall we do lunch?”
Sonny looked at her watch. “We have to be at the Barnes house in forty-five minutes, no time.”
“It figures, so then let’s go,” Bill said.
Detective Lieutenant Bonetta wasn’t a big man. He was of average height and weight which belied that deep gruff voice Bill had heard on the phone. The State Police really knew how to attract the right kind of cop…that was Sonny’s educated assessment as they pulled up in front of the house.
“Good afternoon…you must be Bill Metzger, and you are?” Bonetta asked, giving Sonny the once over. She was used to having men assess her figure, but it would take more than a cop to intimidate her.
“Sonny Lewis, I’m Bill’s para-legal.”
“Fine. Well we’re going to serve the warrant and begin our search. If there is anything here you think relates to your case then please tell me now.”
“I know you’ll find a large amount of cash,” Bill said. “I imagine you might find some drug residue on it since that’s where it came from. But specifically I’m looking for a baggie containing Oxycontin which was allegedly removed from the crime scene. It will likely have one of the victim’s fingerprints on it, and probably my client’s as well.
“But of more importance would be a small caliber handgun, a .25, might be an automatic. It belonged to one of the victims and we found bullet holes but the slugs are still in the wall at the crime scene.”
“Still in the wall?”
“Yeah, the county forensics people missed that one,” Bill said. “I believe Barnes removed the pistol from the crime scene and never reported it.”
“Whatever for?” Bonetta asked.
“It makes the scene fit with his view that my client killed both victims. He doctored the whole crime scene.”
Bonetta rolled his eyes. “Okay, we already knew he was crooked. Now I will enjoy searching the house.”
“I’m sure his wife doesn’t know anything about this,” Sonny said. “Be nice to her.”
Bonetta gave her a shocked look, or was it hurt? “I am kindness itself when it comes to dealing with spouses. I don’t know the particulars about their marriage but I already envision her as another one of her husband’s victims. We’ll be polite, thank you for the reminder.”
Bonetta waved to his men and two of them accompanied him to the front door while two others circled around the sides of the house towards the back. The Lieutenant rang the doorbell and waited. Two minutes later a tall black woman opened the door a crack. Bonetta held up his badge for her to see.
“State Police, Ma’am. We have a search warrant for the premises.”
“Mrs. Barnes is in bed, she doesn’t feel well.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but we have a warrant signed by a Superior Court judge to search the house and nothing can stop that. Please open the door and step aside.” She did just that.
They didn’t expect resistance and so one of the detectives walked straight through the house and let the others in at the back door, then they got down to business. Bill and Sonny stood in the front yard for a while and then walked back down to lean on the hood of Bill’s car.
“You think they’ll find anything?” Sonny asked.
“I’ve thought about that, but Ed seems to think they will. Barnes would keep the drugs because they’re worth money and he’s all about greed. That’s what got him into this mess in the first place…not that he resisted the lure of easy money too hard. Ed said he would keep the pistol because it might come in handy someday as a throw down piece.”
Sonny shook her head. “I knew cops who carried things like that to frame a perp.”
“Perp…you still got that cop lingo in your vocabulary.”
“Can’t help it. I feel sorry for Mrs. Barnes, her life is upside down,” Sonny said.
“Yes it is, and we both know it’s about to get worse as things progress. You liked being a cop, didn’t you?”
“A city cop is a lot different than a sheriff who gets elected. That makes them a politician first and a policeman second. Hard to enforce the law when you have to weigh each decision in terms of elections.”
“I wonder what they’re doing in there?” Bill asked.
“Searching drawers and closets, and here comes the take away squad,” Sonny said, nodding her head towards a van that drove into the driveway. Two men got out and carried some folded cartons up the slope and in through the front door.
“Perhaps they found something already,” Sonny said, and then Bonetta came to the door and motioned for them to approach.
“We found a safe in the basement, but that will take a while to crack open. I was wondering if Sonny might be willing to go upstairs and talk to Mrs. Barnes. She might know the combination and that would save us a whole lot of trouble.”
Sonny smiled. “You mean a woman to woman chat?”
Bonetta nodded. “She’s pretty upset, but she won’t get out of bed.”
“I’d be depressed, too, if my husband was arrested for manufacturing drugs.”
“Just give it a try before we have to bring in the cutting torch,” Bonetta asked.
“Will do,” Sonny said, and then walked through the door.
Bonetta looked at Bill and sighed. “Come on, just don’t touch anything.”
The basement stairs were off the kitchen, and a walk down the hallway gave Bill a chance to assess the house. Barnes had spent some money in here, that’s for sure. The living room was tastefully decorated and the fireplace was huge. The kitchen was outfitted with all the latest appliances, and the black woman was sitting at the kitchen table trying to stay out of the way.
Bill followed Bonetta down the stairs and past the laundry room to a large open recreation area. Big screen television, bar along one wall, and…one of the detectives had pulled back a section of wall.
“Fake brick covering for the safe,” Bonetta said. “It’s built right into the concrete foundations of the fireplace upstairs.”
“You found that pretty fast,” Bill said.
“All in knowing where to look.”
The safe was about three feet square, a huge vault for a home safe, with a combination dial off center on the door and a handle to turn. The hinges looked heavy duty and Bill knew that just torching them would not solve the problem. There had to be internal locking bars which would hold the door closed even if the hinges were cut off. Nothing but trouble.
Bill was studying the rest of the room when Sonny appeared.
“Ready for the numbers?” She asked.
“That was quick,” Bonetta said and his assistant held up a notebook and pen.
“She doesn’t want the house trashed and when I explained about having to remove the safe with sledgehammers and all that concrete dust…well you get the picture. Eleven, twenty-three, sixty-nine.
“That’s her birthday by the way. It seems Barnes used it as a password on his computer and even their ATM account. She says he had such a bad memory for numbers. She made him memorize it because he kept forgetting her birthday.”
Bonetta smiled. “That’s good to know since we will be looking at all his records.” He nodded to his assistant and the man worked the dial on the safe. A turn of the handle and the door swung open.
“Good Lord,” Sonny said as the interior came into view.
The safe was filled with cash, dozens of stacks comprised of twenty and hundred dollar bills. But sitting in front of all that cash were things Bill was hoping to see. Bonetta was wearing latex gloves and he pulled over a small cardboard file box.
“Note,” Bonetta said to his assistant. “Safe contains a large amount of cash but in front of that is a baggie containing pills, now labeled exhibit fourteen. Beside that is a vial containing crystalized material in powder form and two short soda straws, exhibit fifteen.”
Then he looked up at Bill and smiled. “Exhibit sixteen is a small caliber automatic pistol. Make is Beretta, model is the Bobcat 21.” He thumbed the release and the magazine slid out into his hand. “Magazine holds eight bullets and now contains five rounds.”
“Is that what you wanted to see?” Bonetta asked.
“Right on target,” Bill said. “What’s the book?”
Bonetta reached back in the safe and removed a small ledger book bound in black leather. It looked like something an accountant might keep. He opened the book and thumbed through the pages.
“Aw crap, this guy is a bigger idiot than I thought. This is a list of payoffs,” Bonetta said.
He held the book up so Bill and Sonny could see it, and flipped through the pages. Each page held a name, dates, a location and the amount of funds involved. Barnes had even written a short synopsis of the transaction. Who, what, when, where and why of the bribes he’d disbursed.
Bill grinned and then laughed. “Lieutenant, I believe you’re looking at Captain’s bars in the near future.”
Bonetta groaned. “Don’t wish that on me. I don’t want to be a paper pusher for the rest of my career. Although…the wife might like the pay raise. Okay, all of this is sealed information, neither of you can talk about. No, that’s not fair. Use what you need for your case, counselor. I’ll depend upon your discretion.
“It will all be in the hands of the Criminal Division by this evening anyway. I guess I shouldn’t be shocked by this idiot’s activities, but he’ll be a convict in short order.”
“If they don’t give him the death penalty,” Bill said. “Did Matt tell you about the bodies?”
“I heard something because we have a crew out there digging. Whatever they do to Barnes is not my issue. This is just going to be a black eye for the county law enforcement and that’s a shame. So have we concluded our business?”
“Yes,” Bill said. “You’ve been very gracious. Thank you.”
“I do not like criminals who destroy the public faith in law enforcement. This was just my way of showing you that. I’ll see you out,” Bonetta said.
They all shook hands on the doorstep and Bonetta smiled as he handed over his business card to them both.
“Always glad to help, call me if you have any questions.”
“I will,” Bill said and he led Sonny back down to his car.
There was a television truck up the street but a State patrol car had stopped them a good distance away.
“Let’s get out of here before they see us,” Sonny said.
“Okay, now I’m starved, we missed lunch,” Bill said. “How’s about dinner to celebrate?”
“Works for me,” Sonny said.
“I know just the place,” Bill said, but Sonny didn’t like the smile on his face.