“How was your trip?” Carol asked and looked up from her desk.
“Busy, but fruitful.” Maureen went into her office, dropped her bags, and started unpacking her laptop.
“Carol, do you have this morning’s paper?!”
“Sure do. It’s on your desk!”
Maureen had been in Atlanta for the past two days meeting with local agents and Atlanta PD’s Major Fraud Unit. Last night, she caught part of a story on the late news about an attack on a business owner in Goslyn and a car chase. It made her think about calling Olivia. She could’ve just called her aunt and uncle to see if they knew anything. But she really wanted to talk to the detective again. Besides, she did have some information from her Atlanta trip that she wanted to share.
She turned the pages of the paper, looking for anything about the attack or chase but found only a three-sentence summary in the metro section.
She logged into her laptop and pulled up her e-mails. A reminder was the first thing to pop up. Return Gloria’s call re: weekend at Auntie’s. Her inbox had plenty of new e-mails but nothing urgent.
She pulled up her notes from her Atlanta trip, did some editing, and printed them out.
“Carol, I need the hardcopy of the Lewis file, please!”
“Coming right up!” Carol came in and placed the file on Maureen’s desk. “Don’t forget to check your voice messages before your meeting at ten,” she said on her way back to her desk.
Maureen briefly checked the websites of the local news channels--still not much on the Goslyn incident. She put her notes in the file and called her voicemail. The first half dozen messages were from her supervisor who had a bad case of insomnia and was infamous for leaving late night messages regarding upcoming projects.
Then she heard, Hello, Special Agent Jeffries. This is Detective Winston. I thought I would catch you working late this evening. Just wanted to share some info. Give me a call when you get a chance. Then she heard, Press seven to erase this call. Press eight to return. Press nine to save. She pressed nine and debated whether to return the call before or after her meeting. It was only eight thirty, and she could use the time to respond to some of the e-mails. Instead, she decided to go over her Atlanta notes again.
Atlanta PD had recently formed a task force to surveil several small gangs that were flashing wads of cash and driving high-end cars. The police suspected the gangs had carved out a larger part of the local drug market. But the amount of cash some of the members were rumored to have didn’t match up with the amount of drugs currently being sold on the streets. The police thought the gangs had to have another stream of income.
The task force set up checkpoints throughout the city in gang neighborhoods and in gang-neutral territory. The plan was to check for valid licenses and registrations. The police would also use the stops to check for any outstanding warrants.
The first five stops hit jackpot. The police netted three members with expired licenses and two with parole violations. On an initial search through glove boxes and trunks, the police found handwritten lists of names, social security numbers and dates of birth.
Maureen and an agent from her Atlanta team sat in on the interrogations but gained little intel as each member pleaded the Fifth. Maureen and the Fraud Unit then spent hours combing through every piece of paper found in the suspects’ vehicles. They found several tattered notebooks filled with identity information and eventually matched some names and social security numbers to taxpayers who had used Bertrand Lewis’ tax services back in Goslyn.
On a pat-down search of a member, an arresting officer also found a list of abbreviations or codes. ‘Clvrmn’ and ‘WRon95’ obviously meant something. Each was written at the top of a long list of dates and dollar amounts ranging from one hundred to five hundred dollars. The question now was who was supplying the gangs with the taxpayers’ personal data.
The Atlanta team would continue working with the local police, and the checkpoints would stay in place. Maureen would return to Richmond and run through her findings with her IT department.
Notes updated and e-mails answered, Maureen still had plenty of time before her conference call. “Why are you afraid to call her?” she said aloud.
“Afraid to call who?” Carol asked as she walked in with a cup of tea and a raisin bagel.
Maureen was startled and pretended to organize papers on her desk. “Just thinking out loud. Is that for me?”
“You know Friday means free breakfast around here.” Carol handed her the treats and turned to leave. She lingered in the doorway for a few seconds and gave a curious look.
Maureen purposely ignored her and stirred her tea.
“It’s after nine. I think she’s in.”
“Who’s in?”
“Please, woman!” Carol said as she walked back to her desk. “I’ll block some time on your schedule right after the meeting,” she said over her shoulder, “but it’s up to you to use it, Special Agent Jeffries!”
Maureen thought, I’ve been working with that woman way too long.
***
The meeting dragged on, and Maureen struggled to stay focus. Her supervisor didn’t help by yawning every five minutes.
Maureen briefed everyone on her Atlanta trip and passed information on to IT. While listening to updates on other cases, her mind wandered, and she missed what her supervisor was saying about the assault and car chase in Gosyln.
“Maureen, you’ve been working with Goslyn PD. Have you heard anything?”
Maureen was caught off guard but recovered quickly. “No, but I have a call with them after the meeting. I’ll let you know.” I guess I will be calling Olivia this morning.
The meeting ended an hour later, and she went back to her office and stared at her laptop. She fiddled around on a few websites and tried to work up the nerve to make the call. “I feel like the school nerd asking the head cheerleader out.”
When she had mustered up the courage to call, her direct line rang.
“Good morning, Special Agent Jeffries,” Detective Winston said.
“Detective!” Maureen couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice when she answered.
“Yes, Ms. Taylor said you were returning my call.”
“She did?” Maureen saw Carol peek into her office and give a thumbs-up. Maureen balled up a Post-it and threw it at her. “Uh…yes, I wanted to fill you in on my trip to Atlanta. But I heard you had some excitement yesterday.”
“We did. Bertrand Lewis is in the hospital after an attack by a burglary suspect. He’s in ICU suffering from a heart attack and a concussion.”
“How’s he doing? Have you been able to talk to him?”
“He’s expected to pull through, but he’s in no condition to talk yet. We have the suspect in custody, and he’s in the hospital too--meth withdrawal. We plan to question him later today.”
“And the car chase? Was that the suspect?”
“Yeah. The idiot could’ve killed somebody. I spent most of the evening filling out report forms and talking to my lieutenant and the media rep.”
“You were in the chase?!” Maureen again couldn’t hide the emotion in her voice.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it--just some scratches and dents in my truck. We think the suspect is a Calvin Henry who goes by the nickname ‘CJ.’ We matched his prints to some found at the three offices. I’m surprised this guy wasn’t already in the system, given his drug habit.”
Maureen could hear Olivia take a breath after she finished. She just held the receiver as if she was mesmerized by the sound on the other end.
“Hello? You still there?” Olivia asked.
“Yeah. Just taking notes,” Maureen fibbed. “Anything else?” She could hear Olivia turning pages and clicking her mouse.
“We think CJ had some help with the burglaries. We may be able to confirm that soon.
We also may have a good Internet lead that could help your guys. There was some noise in a hacker chat room about Goslyn and identity info. I can fax a copy of the printout to you.”
“I should buy you lunch for doing all the heavy lifting here, Detective,” Maureen said.
The phone got quiet.
“Detective?”
“I love Chinese,” Olivia blurted out. “I’ll eat while you tell me about your trip to Atlanta.”
I walked right in to that one. Maureen was trying to think fast. Her schedule was full through lunch that day, and she really wanted to see Olivia in a more relaxed, less formal setting. The weekend.
“How about lunch tomorrow, Saturday, if that’s okay? I have some relatives in Goslyn I’ll be visiting.” Maureen held her breath.
“You have relatives in Goslyn?” Olivia asked with a childlike interest.
“I do. I can tell you all about them at lunch.” Maureen was feeling confident.
“Okay. How about Chinese at the mall on Bailwick at one o’clock?”
“I know where it is, and I’ll see you tomorrow, Detective.”
“Whew!” Maureen, feeling exhausted and relieved at the same time, worried that she sounded desperate. “You’re a grown woman,” she chided herself. “Act like one.”
She got up and headed for a tea refill. But Carol was standing in the doorway, grinning.
“You obviously don’t have enough work to do,” Maureen said.
“I have plenty to do. I just know how to multitask.”
“Yeah, yeah. Back to work, slacker.”
***
Olivia couldn’t believe how nervous she felt. She was sweating. She looked across her desk at her partner and said, “Not one word from you.”
But Marcus couldn’t help himself. “Lunch at the mall, Ms. Winston? My, my, whatever will you wear?”
That made Olivia laugh. “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with discussing a case over a friendly lunch. Can we get back to work?”
“Sure, Miss Winston, just a friendly lunch,” Marcus teased. He opened the Lewis file and ran down the latest details.
“Bertrand Lewis was assaulted yesterday evening at one of his three tax offices. Based on fingerprints found at the crime scene, we think the assault was committed by a Calvin ‘CJ’ Henry who’s currently three floors below Mr. Lewis at VCU Medical Center.” Marcus adjusted his glasses and continued, “We also think Mr. Henry was involved in all three burglaries based on matching prints. No criminal history pops up on him, and no driver’s license. And the crime scene unit is still trying to come up with a license or registration number for the suspect’s van--or what’s left of it from the fire.”
“Okay, now for the unanswered stuff,” Olivia said. “Why did Calvin Henry attack Bertrand Lewis? Who is Malley? Was he involved in the burglaries and or attack? And where can we find him?” Olivia ran a quick check in the system on CJ’s surname--Henry--for relatives and associates and found nothing close to Malley’s name. She picked up her mug and headed for the break room. “I need more tea,” she said.
Marcus’ cell phone beeped seconds later. “Detective Rowland speaking…Yeah, we’ll be there in half an hour.” Marcus put on his leather blazer and quick-stepped to the break room.
“Hey, partner, our guy is awake.”
“It’s about time. Let’s go.”