Chapter 2 - Aftermath

Postcards

Chapter 2 - Aftermath

Wednesday, October 29

10 a.m.

“No, sir! I can assure you he wasn’t one of ours. Last time anyone at the Bureau came here was to drop her off three years ago. Who came here and got her?” Agent Gillham declared before folding his arms in frustration.

“Another FED. He showed me his badge and I assumed he was one of yours, considering I wasn’t told shit about it.” Chief Williams shook his head. “Typical of you DC boys. Only squeal at the last minute to save your own ass.”

“An imposter agent?” Gillham asked Chief Williams.

“No, it was Bigfoot. He spoke perfect English too! Of course, it was a poser. Good job figuring that out,” Chief Williams said.

“It wasn’t our responsibility to look after her while she was in your care here at your department. We chose her assignment here for a reason,” Gillham asserted. “But we’ve been burned before by local cops, so I’m not surprised.”

“Enlighten me as to what that reason was Agent Gillham?” Chief Williams demanded.

Gillham sighed and ignored the Chief’s request. “Did she say anything to you before she left?”

“I asked her why she had to leave all of the sudden. Only thing she told me was she was afraid the press would give her true identity away with all the Bingo Killer case headlines. She had a valid, convincing point, in my opinion.”

“That bullshit case that should have been solved in three days tops.”

“We have a triple-murder investigation going on here. Three victims. Similar to the zodiac, with ciphers and bingo card bullshit,” Chief stated.

“And you believed her without getting confirmation from anyone at the Bureau? Just willy-nilly believed her?”

“Yeah, what else was I supposed to do? I didn’t hear anything to the contrary. No letter, email, fax, phone call, flight pigeon, sky writing nor the Pony Express.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t follow up with us. There’s a shitstorm a brewin’ now,” Agent Gillham declared. “And Bloomfield is where it’s heading.”

“Well grab your umbrella, it’s about to get windy. Come with me, Agent Gillham!” They walked out of the Chief’s office and stopped in front of the conference room. “So, she’s gone, gone? Are you sure she’s not on vacation or took the day off?” Gillham asked.

“Take a look around Agent, does this place look clean to you? Look at the floors. Trash cans. The bathrooms. I’d say she hasn’t been here in a week,” the chief said.

“Looks like a few months. It’s not our fault you didn’t hire another janitor. Not that hard, Chief!” Gillham grabbed his phone and dialed the FBI headquarters in DC. “Shit’s about to hit the fan at 90 miles per hour. And you don’t have a janitor to clean it up.” Gillham looked at the Chief in frustration. “Hey boss, this is Gillham down in Bloomfield. You’re not going to believe this but someone beat us here. Our subject was already gone when I arrived ten minutes ago. She left with an imposter agent last week. The Chief said Riddle didn’t want her identity to be exposed from all the press surrounding some murder case they’re working on.”

Chief Williams calmly stood on the right side of Agent Gillham in the hallway.

“Okay, I’ll tell him. I’ll call back when I know more,” Agent Gillham said.

Agent Gillham handed Chief a piece of paper with Betsy’s address on it. “Chief, I want you to send two of your officers to her apartment and secure it. Nothing else! Don’t go inside. We get the first crack at the evidence. But more than likely, we can share evidence and you guys can charge her with whatever crimes she committed. We just want her back in Federal custody.”

“I doubt you’ll find anything, but I’ll send over two of my officers to her place,” Chief Williams said. He texted Sgt. Whine to send Officers Sloan and Pickens over to Betsy Riddles’ former residence, with instructions to notify him immediately if anything changes. Chief Williams knew he had to form a plan to get Riddle back before the FBI apprehended her. The road to redemption wouldn’t be easy and sacrifices had to be made.

“At least a dozen FBI agents are on their way here now from DC. They’ll be here within a few hours,” Gillham said, shaking his head. “Like I said, shit’s about to hit the fan, Chief.”

The look on the Chief’s face went from angry to somber in two seconds flat. “Great! That’s just what the fuck we need. More suits in here, stepping on everyone’s toes.”

“Hate to break it to you, Chief, but this is now a federal manhunt now. I need to see the janitor’s closet immediately,” Gillham requested.

Chief Williams gave Gillham an angry look. “This way, Agent Gillham!” The Chief led Gillham to the closet and told him to wait.

“Yeap! Not going anywhere,” Gillham said.

****

Chief Williams stomped his feet down the two steps leading into the pit and over to the desks of his detectives.

“What’s going on, Chief?” I asked, looking up from my paperwork.

Kate turned away from her screen and faced the Chief.

Standing in front of his detectives’ desks, Chief looked down and sighed. “Listen you two, in all my years on the force, I’ve never had a bad day like the one I’m having right now.”

“Why? What’s going on, Chief?” I asked.

Kate stared intently at the Chief for answers.

“Ahh, shit,” Chief said with a defeated sigh. “Come with me, now! Better if I show you. By the way, the shit has hit the fan, Sam.”

I looked at Kate and tensed my face up.

“Ooohhh shit!” Kate whispered softly.

Our chairs slid away from our desks at the same time as Kate and I both followed the Chief back to the janitor’s closet. I saw what looked like an FBI Agent standing in front of the closet.

“Who’s this?” Kate asked.

“Agent Gillham, let me introduce you to Detectives Sam Riley and Kate Barker. They’ve been working on the Bingo Killer Case. Maybe they can be of some assistance this morning?”

“Yes, they can,” Gillham said, looking at the inside of the closet.

“Care to look at us and tell us how?” Kate asked.

Gillham glanced back at Kate.

“What’s going on—Is this about Betsy Riddle?” I asked.

“Yes. Detective Riley, if you would, please do a thorough search of the entire closet here. Look for any papers or anything important that might tell us where the hell she is,” Gillham ordered.

“I don’t take orders from outsiders,” I spouted back. I spoke without thinking as I absolutely would follow such orders through the chain of command. The Chief wouldn’t allow for such disobedience anyway, although the Chief had a big grin on his face.

“You do now, Detective Riley. Now, if you will, we don’t have all day. The cavalry is on its way and I’m securing the OK Corral.”

I looked at the Chief with a frustrated look.

“Go ahead, Sam. It’s okay!”

I pulled the cleaning cart out of the closet so I could step inside the closet. “I doubt there’s anything in here.” I searched the small, three-drawer file cabinet first on the left side of the six by ten feet closet. The top shelf had crumpled up copies of the ciphers from my trash can. HOLY SHIT!! What are these doing here? I found a huge pile of maybe sixty or seventy sugar packets in a Ziploc bag in the middle drawer. This whole goddamn time. Betsy Riddle? She’s the Bingo Killer? No, she can’t be. “Hey Kate?” I tilted my head for her to step inside the closet. “Look at this.”

“What ’cha got?” She stepped inside and bent down, blocking the outside view.

I pointed to an empty drawer as I put the bag into my pants pocket.

“That’s not much evidence,” Kate said, winking at me.

God, I’m glad she’s my partner, I said to myself.

Kate retreated back outside the closet.

I stood up before I turned around to face the chief. I looked at Kate and shrugged my shoulders as I walked out. Hey Kate, stay calm and don’t freak out but I think Betsy might be the Bingo Killer. Don’t say anything just yet until we talk to the Chief and get more concrete evidence. We can’t let these guys take credit for our case. We have to find Betsy Riddle ourselves. I didn’t know if Kate heard what I said to her with our mind-dive.

She just stood there watching me like nothing happened.

Guess not! Thanks, partner. One thing I learned about my new gift was I didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on whether or not I got something right or wrong. I had to move on and improvise and go with the moment, however it turned out. Which was just as complicated as getting things wrong. I’m cursed all around. The rest of the closet had various cleaning supplies. I glanced over the cleaning cart but saw nothing noteworthy. I handed the papers to the Chief, but Agent Gillham reached for them instead.

I gave Agent Gillham a go-to-hell look. “Something you need, Agent?” I moved my hand away from Gillham and moved closer to Chief Williams.

Kate peaked inside the closet.

Chief Williams intervened between Gillham and I.

“IF YOU DON’T MIND, Detective Riley, I’ll take that. This is a federal investigation now. Thank you!” Gillham said, grabbing the papers from my hand.

I stared at him like he had lost his damn mind. My contempt for this asshole grew by leaps and bounds just then. “Well excuse the fuck out of me. Who gave you that authority, Agent Gillford?”

“Agent Gillham. My name is Gillham. This badge gives me that authority.”

“That’s what I said, Gillmam. But my badge is prettier.”

“You know what Detective Ri–,” Gillham said angrily.

“What Mr. Gillhop?” I retorted, stepping closer to him.

Gillham lost his temper and got too close to my face. “Agent Gilham. G-I-L-L-H-A-M,” he spelled out.

“Step back, Agent Gillhat! I’m not the one you want to fuck with right now,” I said sparingly. I tapped into his mind and decided to call it a draw. I saw one of his memories—and let’s just say, it turns out our asses were not the ones in the hot seat, like he said we were. I stepped back, laughing at him.

“Okay you two, enough with the ego bullshit. Stand down, Sam.
He’s not worth it.” Chief gawked at Agent Gillham. “You know better. Show some restraint, will you? We need to work together to find Betsy Riddle.”

Kate grabbed my left shoulder and led me a few feet away to calm down. “It’s over now. You’re okay, Sam.”

“Fuck that guy and fuck his jurisdiction!”

“Focus on our case, Sam.” Kate quipped and looked at me with seriousness in her eyes.

I shook my head in agreement. “Yeah! It’s our case to solve.” I didn’t want to give the FBI any information that allowed them to catch Betsy first, especially after the showdown a few seconds before. More importantly, I wanted the credit for finding and catching Betsy. This was my first case, and I guess I did have a hard time letting go.

Chief told Gillham to go sit in his office until he returned to fetch him.

“Here, take your damn evidence with you,” I demanded, as I held up my hand. I dropped the papers on the floor before Gillham could grab them. “Oops!” I said as I looked at Gillham seriously. “Clumsy me!”

Gillham looked at me like he was ready to go a few rounds. He sighed furiously, bent down and picked up the papers before walking back to the Chief’s office.

“That wasn’t necessary, Sam,” the chief growled.

I glared at the Chief. “Fuck him!” I regained my focus on the closet and rummaged for clues. I grabbed my phone and texted Kara Carlson to come over to the pit.

“Did you find anything, Sam?” Kate asked.

“Yeah, I found some wrinkled up copies of ciphers in the top drawer. She saved them from our trash cans. We threw enough away to start a fire,” I said. I paused for a moment to see if I could see anything from inside the closet. Now is a good time for one of my visions but no such luck. C’mon! Do it! Take me to the show! I managed to get a quick flash of Betsy bent down on the floor in front of a filing cabinet. This is good. Finally, I’m getting something. I tilted the small cabinet back to a 45-degree angle and noticed ten small sugar packets with a different font written on the front. BINGO! Found, our killers’ killer. These are hidden here for a reason. The packets were laid face up, side by side to fit perfectly under the file cabinet. I quickly switched out some of the sugar packets in the bag with the hidden ones under the cabinet. I checked the pockets of the two small jackets hanging on the wall but found nothing important. A few gum and candy wrappers. I quickly put the old packets in the bag, on the filing cabinet, in the pockets of one of the jackets for Gillham’s people to find. I stuffed the hidden packets in my pocket for Kara Carlson. In the meantime, Kate was about to see my true ability up close and personal.

She asked the chief what was going on with Riddle.

“Well, last week, Betsy Riddle just up and vanished with a fake FBI Agent, Al Dockson, who came here to take her to St. Louis.”

Gillham came back to find us after he had calmed down. “I apologize

Detective Riley. I lost my cool when I shouldn’t have.”

“It’s fine, Agent Gillham,” I said, dismissively as I pointed at the closet.“ I didn’t find anything else in there, so your people can have at it.”

“They will.” Gillham looked at Kate. “To answer your question Detective Barker, Chief here let her go without verifying anything with the Bureau. Only excuse she gave was that she was afraid of her identity being compromised by all the press and TV cameras. Apparently, it worked even though it was total bullshit.”

I peered over at Chief Williams. “Is that true, Chief?”

The chief reluctantly nodded. “I didn’t know otherwise. Hell, the FBI didn’t give me heads up or a phone call. This poser just showed up, told me he was an FBI Agent. He flashed a badge and played the part. I went to get her, she put her cleaning cart up, gave me her keys, we said goodbye and then they left.”

I looked at Kate. I wasn’t about to question or judge my boss. I was way more focused on finding Betsy Riddle and the poser who stole her from us.

“Well, what’s done is done. We just have to focus on finding her,” Kate said.

“Let’s go to the conference room. Hell, standing around in the middle of a janitor’s closet won’t help us one damn bit. Follow me everybody,” the chief insisted.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” I said. “Kate, hang back a minute.”

Kate walked back over to me and smiled. “Well?”

I looked my partner in the eye and spoke softly but with a serious tone. “This is our case, and we are going to find Betsy Riddle. I found ten sugar packets with a similar font under the cabinet. She was hiding them. Probably the same ones at Tidwell’s house?”

“Good find, Sam. Let’s get them to Carlson so she can do her work.”

“She’s on her way to the pit.” I tapped my right temple. “I had help but we need to talk to the Chief alone.”

Kate nodded. “If he’ll see us. Things are about to get chaotic around here.”

I told Kate not to worry. “Chief will make time for us with what we have to tell him.”

“Guess it’s time for me to be a spy while you work your magic.” Kate said and took off to the conference room to join Chief Williams and Agent Gillham.

“Your best work, Kate.”

She turned around and flashed me with a devilish smile that brought me comfort.

I waited in the pit until Carlson arrived. “There you are, Carlson.”

“Sorry! Got hung up with forensic stuff.”

I informed her of what had transpired that morning. I secretly handed her the ten sugar packets and told her to hide them in her pocket. I told her where to look for the other packets in the closet and those were real sugar. Not the fake, disguised ones that killed Sanders and Tidwell.

“Keep this in-house. Don’t tell the FBI a damn thing. Hide it well,” I said. “This is our case, Kara. I’ll have something for you later on. Something big!”

“Absolutely.” Carlson nodded. “Not a problem!” She put the packets in her pocket.

“I owe you a big favor, Kara!” I said before joining my colleagues.

“I’ll let you know.” She returned to her lab and began her tests.