The Murdered Football Player Ch. 06

The Case of the Murdered Football Player, Ch. 06
by The WifeWatchman
The order of my stories to read is:
Todd only she could assure that only Jefferson Jackson got the second drug. But unless we can show she also spiked the punch with the first drug, what has she really done? A good defense lawyer will shred the hell out of all of this. Our only chance is for someone to confess to something."
"And that is what the SBI absolutely does not want." said Deputy Director Conlan. "They're going to come out with a natural causes verdict and try to bury this thing. They've already been humiliated enough, and no matter what Lewis says, he's been hurt politically by all of this in a very big way. You saw how upset he just got. I suspect that it's just as much that you, Lieutenant, know so much as it is about protecting his dirty agents. And by the way, I for one am glad you dressed him down like you did. I love the SBI, and if we're to have any hope of cleaning this shit up, we're going to need more of that. A lot more."
"Lieutenant, do you think your nephew Ned was involved in the murder?" Martin Nash asked.
"Not really, but I have to say this." I said, "There is an organization behind the people that I suspect committed the crime. This organization has possibly worked with Ned before, and obtained some of Ned's drug recipes. It possibly could be that Ned synthesized that booster that was given to Jackson in exchange for Jackson being killed so that Ned could blackmail Coach Harlan. However, I have absolutely no proof."
"Why Jefferson Jackson?" Cindy Ross asked. "Why was he specifically targeted?"
"What a great question." I said. "We have means, we have opportunity. But motive? For all of this? That's a lot harder. I can say this much... Jackson's medical condition and the medications he was taking made him ideal for the method of killing him."
"Beyond that..." I continued, shrugging my shoulders and hands, "...we have Ned's blackmail motive, but this was one big operation just to get canlı bahis şirketaleri some money off a football coach, and to be honest, it's a lot more than Ned working alone. If anyone has an idea, I'll hear it gladly."
"How about this?" said Martin Nash. "Someone wants to hurt the football program, maybe expose the PEDs, maybe someone has a grudge against a coach, and of course there are people who simply hate the athletic programs and the money they generate. So they kill one of the team's best players in a way that might expose the PED use."
"And moving the body?" Theo Washington asked. "How does that fit in?"
"That's a point." Martin said.
"Actually," I said, "it fits in pretty well, and that's a good idea you have there, Martin. Whoever moved the body did so because they wanted it to be in our jurisdiction. The panicking alumni were told to leave it in Coltrane County because the Law Enforcement there is under-equipped to handle that case, and it would quickly go to the SBI... where Mr. Cleanup wanted it to be. But someone, and perhaps it was the original killers, didn't want that to happen. So they play along, and then come back and move the body later."
"Wow." said the Chief. "This leaves about 20 alumni, 13 players and six or so wives that we're going to have to identify and then determine who was doing what."
"Chief, I think we can narrow it down." I said. "I don't think any of the alumni moved the body, and the players had been sent home in one group on the bus."
"Why do you say that?" asked Molly Evans.
"Because, as Tanya will tell you, it took about six of us to get that heavy body out of that culvert last Saturday morning, and some of us were fairly strong men." I replied. "Whoever came to get that body and moved it were by definition strong men, at least two and maybe three in number. Most of the alumni are fairly elderly, and I'm not trying to be sexist when I say that the only women that would be moving that body would be Cindy and some of her competition canlı kaçak iddaa friends... in their peak of condition."
"So," I continued, "hurting the football program is a motive, blackmail is a motive. Any other ideas?"
"How about embarrassing the SBI?" Ted Crenshaw said. "If so, it certainly has worked. We are completely torn apart as an organization."
"Could be." Martin Nash said. "I'm hearing that the FBI might move in and investigate the SBI top-to-bottom. That will be one ugly mess."
"It certainly passes muster as an idea." I said. "I'll add it to the list. And I'll add this to the list, as well: Jackson was specifically chosen because of his parents being associated with a race-hatred group. Somebody might have wanted that exposed, or wanted revenge, who knows?"
"Okay guys, let's introduce our SBI Reserve friends to the Cop Bar." said the Chief. "It's suppertime, and no more about this case until we get back here, be it later tonight or in the morning."
Part 29 - Sisters
The Irish Pub, a.k.a. the Cop Bar, was packed. The Chief and DD Conlan stayed inside and talked at a table with the Fire Chief, while most of us Detectives went outside and commandeered all of the patio deck seating. I was at my usual seat at the back table on the patio, with Tanya, Paulina Patterson, Theo Washington, and his brother Franklin. Hugh Hewitt and Angela Harlan were at the next table with Molly and Teresa. Cindy Ross was choosing not to sit anywhere around Molly, and she was with Ted Crenshaw, Martin Nash, and Diana Torres.
"We've brought Tommy and Candy in, under a material witness and protective custody warrant." Paulina said. Those were the two names on the list I'd given Teresa, knowing that we had to get to them before the SBI did. "They're at the station, and no one will get past Morton and Rudistan, who are looking after them."
"Excellent." I said. "Tommy may have been the one who put the medication in the punch. If someone asked him to do it, I want to know who."
"It's been canlı kaçak bahis a crazy day over at the Courthouse." Paulina said. "Franklin, you never had any idea it'd be like this, did you?"
"I'm wondering what I walked into." Franklin said. He looked a lot like his brother, almost as if they were twins. Only when sitting together like they were now could one tell any difference between them.
"Me too, bro." Theo said. "I'd heard about the Iron Crowbar down in Southport, but actually watching you work? That was a thing of beauty you did to Lewis, man."
"Yeah, I'm making friends and influencing people again, eh Tanya?" I said with a grin.
"I think Cindy wants to to kill you, because she thinks someone else is going to do it and she wants to make it less painful for you." Tanya replied.
"Speaking of Cindy," I said, "I'd love to find a way to get her and her sister to reconcile. My conversation with Molly did not work, at least not to this point."
"Yeah, that's going to be a tough one." Tanya said.
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"Hi Cindy." I said, pulling up to her table as Crenshaw and Tanya moved inside to the bar. Martin and Diana had been called back to Headquarters. "Talked to Molly much today?"
"Nope." Cindy said. "You've been keeping her busy."
"Well, she's not that busy now." I said. "Why don't you buy her a beer and y'all have a chat?"
"I... I wouldn't know what to say." Cindy said.
"Well, you know my problems with my sister, and they are far worse than yours." I said. "I suspect you and Molly were good friends growing up, and you can be again. Just go talk about it."
"I know you're right." Cindy said. "But until she can accept me for what I am, there's not a lot to discuss."
"I think she does accept you for what you are, Cindy." I said, "And what she wants to accept you for is her sister, regardless of who you're sleeping with."
"I don't think so." Cindy said.
"Well," I said, keeping my voice low enough to only be heard by her, "I'm going to be completely out of line with you again, because your my friend and partner. What I think you really want from her isn't acceptance of you as a lesbian, but acceptance of homosexuality in general. And that's asking more than you should at this point."