John Depp Special Agent. Book I: Deadly Pride

Chapter 10: Unfinished Business

Upon getting home, John played in the garden with Duke for a while. He waited for Morgan to return home. When Morgan came home, John gave him the three autopsy reports to look at and give his expert opinion.Morgan went inside to brew some tea, and he and John sat in the garden. Morgan started reading the files. "If you don't mind I will take a look first then tell you my opinion. I brought some sheets of paper in case we need to write something down."John agreed and let Morgan examine the file and photographs without distracting him.Finally, Morgan sighed and rubbed his temples, "These reports are incomplete or incorrect..."John's phone ringing interrupted Morgan from telling more. John answered, "OK, I will let you in soon." He looked at Morgan, "Can you hold that thought? I will let Alec in." John stood up from the table and went to the gate.The three men sat down in the garden. Morgan spread the files on the table. John picked some sheets of paper and a pen to take notes. Morgan asked Alec, "Do you know why I am so fond of John?" Alec shook his head, "Because he doesn't ask for a brief of my report, he pays attention to all I have to say, no matter how long he stays in the autopsy room. He respects what I do. Other agents want the short answer, this is why he closes all his cases. He pays attention to every detail."Then Morgan proceeded to give his opinion on the three autopsies. "It would be great if we could get the files from the Metro Police, they normally have a preliminary exam and photos taken by the coroner who works the scene before taking the body to the autopsy room. The photos don't match the reports."John and Alec looked puzzled. "Have you taken a look at these John?" Morgan asked and John shook his head, "Well, let's see if you learned anything from me after all the time you spent in my lab. Take a look!"John saw the pictures and the reports, "The three victims were murdered and beheaded the same ways but there's no mention of that in the reports. They treated the three cases as if they were not connected. They deliberately omitted the fact that the three women were raped, I will get the negatives to print the missing photos, but from the ones I saw it was obvious by the marks on their inner thighs skin, these women were raped. The lack of any lab tests surprises me. I will call the Chief of Metro Police and ask if they kept any files on these cases I hope they took samples and preserved them. We don't have samples for DNA from a rape kit, nobody collected samples from under the women's nails. There is no mention of struggling despite their hands showing defensive marks. What else can you tell us?"Alec was surprised by John's attention to detail and knowledge. Morgan smiled, "Pretty good, John. I agree. There are no blood tests to look for drugs or alcohol. They didn't take their fingerprints or DNA samples. It's as if they knew who they were or were not interested in finding out. And most importantly, nobody signed the autopsy reports. By looking at the handwriting I can tell it was the same person. But there's no name or signature."Alec furrowed his eyebrows and asked to see the reports, "We need to know who was on duty on the days of the autopsies, or check the autopsy room log to see if there is something there. We need to know who performed these autopsies!"Morgan asked, "What if the one who performed the autopsies is not the doctor who ran the coroner's office, or the one who was on duty those days?"Alec shook his head, "That is impossible! And if that was the case there should be something on the log. Why would the Director authorize something like this? I was the Assistant Deputy Director by then, they needed to let me know if something like this happened. And why isn't there any signature or note saying who performed the autopsies? Dr. Freeman, you worked in the lab back then. Have you heard about these cases?"Morgan thought for a while then shook his head, No, I haven't. I always read the log to know what happened when I was not on duty. I can't recall these cases. Beheadings are rare. I should remember."John said, "This whole case is ridiculous. They took the case from Metro Police even before there was a second case, when they had two more cases they didn't treat them as one case with three victims. The Metro Police Chief wants to talk to me alone off the record. Someone influential is behind this. It took a lot of effort to bury these cases."They all remained in silence for a while. Alec asked, "What do we do now?"John responded, "We need access to some records. I need to know everyone who was in the building at the time the autopsies were performed. If I am right some of those people must be dead. People who do this kind of cover-up for a big shot guarantee their work. These big shots are afraid of being betrayed or blackmailed later on. They don't like loose ends. I don't think the one who performed the autopsies would be registered if he wasn't the coroner on duty. And Morgan doesn't recall these victims being registered in the autopsy log. This means they were omitted. I will talk to the Metro Police and meet the person he says knows about this case."John asked if anyone wanted a beer, Morgan turned him down but Alec accepted. He went to get two beers. When he returned, he asked Alec, "Since your eyes are in the Oval Office, you must keep a record of everything you do and everyone you meet just in case someone tries to get you involved in any scandal. Am I right?"Alec nodded, "My father is a Congressman, they keep this kind of record, and so does the President. He advised me to do the same just in case. Why do you ask? Do you think someone is targeting me?"John shook his head, "No, I don't think there is a target. This was done to protect someone. Check where you were and what you were doing from the day the women went missing to the day of the autopsies. As you said, your father is an important Congressman they couldn't afford you becoming a loose end. Maybe I am wrong, but we won't know that until we know if the agents present are still alive and if you were sent somewhere far from the office. If it is a conspiracy, Agent Walken is in. He worked the three cases, he would be dead if he wasn't part of the cover-up."Alec looked at John, "It was a smart move to tell the agents to go back to data entry to protect them. If this is what you think it is they could be in danger. How do you plan to see if the agents are dead or alive without people knowing?"John chuckled, "Newspapers obituaries."Alec said, "Newspapers from 2007 up to today? Some agents after retiring might have gone back to their states."John chuckled, "If you want to get rid of loose ends in order not to be blackmailed you get rid of these liabilities as soon as possible. They must have died within three years after the last case."Alec questioned John's theory, "But if the murderer kept killing, they would still need a cover-up team."John smiled, "Not necessarily. They could have got a clean-up team to dispose of the bodies more efficiently, or maybe the man protecting the murderer got much at stake and had him killed."Morgan stepped in, "John, have you seen the similarities the victims had? They all look alike. Maybe they beheaded them because they looked like someone else."John looked at the photos of the victims, "You're right. Maybe we should run them through facial recognition to see if we can find the original person who triggers this killing frenzy in our murderer."Alec mentioned, "But that will set some alarms."John thought awhile and then stated, "I will ask the Rangers to run the photos."Alec asked, "What if the original one is not in the system?"John looked at Alec, "I think the original is a famous woman or the wife of someone important. The Rangers will try to match the photos with celebrities, politicians, businesswomen, and wives of important people. If they took the head off, they must resemble someone we could easily identify.""But it was useless. I mean, the three victims were identified anyway." Alec said."Not really. The relatives identified them by what they were wearing. There are no DNA tests to verify their identities. At least not in these files."Morgan pointed out, "Still the three pictures of missing people looked alike. That can't be a coincidence."John nodded. Morgan excused himself, "I guess you have things to talk about. Will you join me for dinner? You will have time to talk about whatever you need to deal with while I cook?"John and Alec accepted Morgan's invitation. Morgan went into the house, while John and Alec remained in the garden. John looked at Alec, "OK, what has Willialm got me involved in?" When Alec was about to talk, John's phone rang, he looked at the caller's ID and put his finger on his lip for Alec to remain silent. John put the call on speaker, "What do you want Amy?"Alec looked surprised.Amy scolded John, "Is that the way you talk to your wife, John?""Look Amy I am not in the mood. You are my soon-to-be ex-wife. Be quick I don't want to waste my time."Amy tried to sound preoccupied, "John you moved and didn't give me your new address. What if I need to talk to you?"John pinched the bridge of his nose, "I forgot you always think about you and only you. Let me explain this to you. We don't have anything to talk about, you don't need my address. We are finished. Is it clear? Now if there isn't any other thing I will hang up."Amy sounded anxious, "Please don't! I need your help. William is always in a bad mood. Can you please reconsider your demands?"John looked at Alec and then answered Amy's question, "No, I cannot..."Amy interrupted, "Why did you cancel the house and car insurance policies, John? Also my life insurance policy? And you changed the beneficiary of yours?""Amy, I don't live in that house or use that car anymore, why should I cover the insurance? Why do you want to be my beneficiary, do you want me dead?""You're always thinking the worst of me! Well then. Why did you cancel my credit cards and close our joint account? Where is my share of that money?""Oh Lord give me patience! That account was only under my name, your credit card was an extension of my card. You're no longer my problem. Ask William to give you his credit card. Goodbye, Amy. I will block your number so you cannot call me again. I do not care about your or William's mood. Bye." He ended the call and blocked Amy's number.John turned to Alec, "OK, let's talk. You said your brother got me an involuntary accessory to a felony, am I right?"Alec said apologetically, "On behalf of my father and myself, I want to apologize. I feel so embarrassed. I don't know where to begin," he sighed in frustration, "I took my father to visit William, we told Amy we were there to surprise him, she led us to the living room and my father gave her a bottle of wine and hinted her we were staying for dinner. I left a present box on the coffee table, we told her we wanted them to open it together. We told her to call William and tell him she wanted him to go as soon as possible so they could have a nice dinner together. Upon offering us something to drink she went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. I got up and opened the safe with the code you gave me. To say we were shocked when we saw the amount of money we found there is an understatement. Immediately we knew that to think that money was clean could only be wishful thinking."Alec breathed heavily, "In the present box, I brought a gym bag. I put the money there. I had to use the box too."John listened to Alec in silence, Duke ran around the table. Jonn told him to be quiet. Duke came closer and Alec asked if he could pat him. John nodded. Alec patted the Duke, "Good boy! I saw your photo on the President's desk!" Duke loved being pampered. Then he laid down at John's feet.Alec continued telling the events that occurred during his visit to William. "When William came home and saw the safe opened, he went crazy. Amy told us dinner was ready and joined us. She came to the living room and saw all of us there. My father asked her to take a sit. We asked him to tell us how he got that amount of money. He refused to talk, he told me you influenced me. I coerced him to speak and told him I knew he had never taken part in any undercover op and wanted to know where he hid during the ops."John was curious, "Where did he stay, what did he do?"Alec scratched his head, "You won't believe this. Once he realized you didn't use the money for the op, except for the money you got at the beginning of it, he started cashing it himself and made a fake list of expenditures that he added to the report. Then he saw you got a letter of commendation after the first ops that went into your file and he got jealous and greedy. During the following operation, he said that as your nexus to the Bureau, he needed to go and stay close to you. Of course, he had expenditures of his own. Since you never read the reports he became more daring. During the fourth operation, he said you partnered together. He stayed at his girlfriend's and told her he was on vacation. Then he started a relationship with your wife and stayed with her. He also included himself in the reports as the agent in charge. He stashed all the money from his alleged expenditures along with yours. That's where the money came from. From the FBI."John was lost for words. Alec and John looked at each other for a while. Finally, John exclaimed, "What a son of a bitch! Now I understand why nobody wanted to work with him. Not only he stole from the Bureau, but he also made himself look better than me because, after my fourth undercover op, I stopped receiving commendation letters. What can we do now? We cannot give the money back and we cannot keep it. But at the same time if there is an audit we need to justify that money somehow."Alec asked seriously, "What do you want to do with the money, John?"John declared solemnly, "As I told you before, I just want what is mine; nothing more, nothing less. That money is dirty! I don't want to have anything to do with it.""I agree with you. But I cannot keep it either, nor will I let William have it." Alec said. "We cannot give it back. If we do, there will be an internal investigation on William and you. Think about it and let me know if you come up with a solution."Morgan interrupted, "Dinner is ready, sorry I eavesdropped on what you said just now. The best way of getting rid of that problem is to go to churches and leave some money in the alms box at the entrance of each church. There are no cameras there but check before you get out of the car. Buy envelopes, get disposable gloves, and put money in each envelope. Then go do some sightseeing around town or nearby towns."Alec looked at John, "That's a good idea. We cannot have that with us. The sooner we get rid of it the better!"John disagreed. "It is too much money. We cannot drive around town with all that money. What if we have a car accident and the police find that money with us?""You're right. I know how to get rid of the money and at the same time, find a way out for William from the FBI."John was intrigued, "How?""Easy. The director of the FBI is my former partner and a great friend of mine. He knows the director of the CIA. He can give them the money. They have an unlimited budget and they do not account for that money. So nobody will notice a few extra million there. Besides, it is taxpayers' money used by the government. We cannot decide what to do with this money. At the same time, we need someone who can avoid your undercover ops being audited.""Are you sure we can trust him? Our careers are on the line.""Don't worry. He never liked my brother. He is a righteous man. He won't be interested in making the FBI look bad. This happened under his nose. He will be covering himself, too.""Ok. Let's eat!" John said then he thought for a moment. "Wait a minute. How come he got promoted when we were supposed to be working undercover? And what about the report of the last case? I haven't signed that report."Alec said, "He told me the case was over. The arrests would take place later that week. He told me you needed some time because was difficult. He must have turned in the report only with his signature.""Let me think about this, John. Maybe we can use this against him. Let me talk to the Director."The three men went into the house to have dinner followed by Duke. During dinner, they went on talking about the head case. The conversation was pleasant. Alec thanked Morgan for the invite. John and Alec said goodbye and left the house followed by Duke. John invited Alec to his place for a beer. They coordinated how they would handle the money issue, then Alec asked John about the other case John was working on along with the Texas Rangers. They talked for a while before Alec left.John rolled one cigarette and smoked for a while. He reviewed the files from Texas. Something was bothering him. He got his notepad and started to make some notes. He leaned back on the couch and smoked. Duke got on the couch and laid his head on John's lap. John caressed his fur. He finished his cigarette. Something about the case wasn't right. He got up, picked up his Gibson Les Paul guitar, went back to the couch, and started playing "Tennesse Whiskey". Playing the guitar and singing helped him focus. He suddenly stopped playing and picked up the notepad and wrote something, then he smiled with satisfaction. He cracked the case. Then he played "My Home is in the Delta". Duke howled the choruses. The music woke Morgan up who went to John's place. John apologized but Morgan told him to go on playing. To John's surprise, Morgan took a harmonica from his pocket and started playing along. They had a great time. By midnight they said goodbye and they went to sleep.