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Chicago, Illinois
Dad smelled the marijuana before he could even open the apartment door. The odor only intensified as he made his way through the apartment to his son’s room.
Sound asleep—in a marijuana induced coma, actually, his son lay with food crumbs on his chin. Dad leaned in for a better look as his son burped. A beer burp. It was then he noticed the chip bags on the floor. Six of them in various states of open and their contents consumed. A six pack of beer, only one missing, in the small refrigerator that was his Christmas gift to his son.
Dad pulled a chair up to the bed. He opened the window to let in the cold Chicago winter air. He could wait.
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Todd Adams’ last assignment for the kid was straightforward. Purchase four identical burners at four different stores around the city. He gave the kid four large pre-addressed, padded mailers, one for each phone. The phones were to be mailed from four different post offices.
He gave the kid $500 in fifty worn $10 bills. The kid could keep whatever remained after the phones were purchased and mailed. Quickly the kid did the math and realized this was his biggest score yet.
Adams promised him another $100 when the kid returned with the telephone SIM registration cards showing the telephone number for each of the phones.
It took the kid the better part of the day to complete this task. He didn’t want to disappoint Dr. Adams. So he rode public transportation to the far four corners of the city—into neighborhoods he’d never been—to purchase and mail each of the phones. Some of the places he visited were downright scary. Good to live with his Dad where they did.
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The cold air spilling over the window sill cleared the bedroom of the stench. It wasn’t long before it woke the boy as well. The game was over.
Dad was impressed by how quickly the boy gave up the true story. On some level, the kid had to have known what he was being asked to do was probably not good. If the kid had any doubts, Dad helped him see the light.
The kid gave his Dad the four SIM card receipts. He, in turn, paid a visit to the Chicago PD Chief of Detectives who lived in the building.
After the visit, the cop picked one of the SIM card receipts at random and called the telephone number. No one answered. He made a note to try the other numbers at his office the next day.
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Las Vegas, Nevada
The meeting at the UNLV President’s Office was attended by University Legal Counsel and the Senior Vice President for Student Affairs.
The VP began, “For the first time in the history of that fraternity, each of its members was in class or the library.”
“So no one was hurt in the blast?” the President asked.
“Well, there were injuries to folks in the vicinity. Flying glass and debris from the explosion. Everyone injured was treated at the scene and released by the responding EMTs.”
Turning to the Legal Counsel, “What’s our legal exposure on this?”
Counsel looked at his note pad. “None thus far, although that may change as the investigation proceeds.”
“Explain.”
“The explosion, whatever its source, took place in the basement, below grade, within steel reinforced concrete walls. The force, with nowhere else to go, was directed skyward destroying the structural integrity of the building. All of the floors above the basement collapsed inward and down into the basement. Everything in the house at the time of the explosion was destroyed. Furniture, appliances, clothing, personal effects—you name it. Gone.”
“So, why is Homeland Security and the FBI involved?”
“They’re keeping this very quiet, but they tell me the rubble in the basement is emitting a low level radiological profile. That’s why they erected the steel fencing with draped tarpaulins and the place is under guard. And, they notified the Governor.”
“Yes, that’s how I found out.”
“Why you’re back from travel early?”
“Yes, precisely. Counsel, I want you to interview each of those kids. Find out what was in that basement.”
“The FBI has already taken the lead on the investigation. They have two of their agents posing as members of my Student Affairs staff. The interviews begin tomorrow morning.”
“This is how the Feds want this handled?” asked the President.
“In case he hasn’t told you yet, so does the Governor.”
“Nothing good will come of this. Mark my words.”
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The Las Vegas print media and TV news outlets covered the suspected gas explosion on the UNLV campus. It was difficult to believe there were no fatalities as is often the case with natural gas explosions. This wasn’t the first such event in the Las Vegas Valley. The story didn’t survive the first news cycle.
It is Las Vegas after all.