Chapter 7: A scam and another phone call

Detective Welker waited patiently as he held the receiver by his left ear. It was his good ear, not the one whose hearing has been impaired as a result of a close-call during his military service in Operation Iraqi Freedom seven years back.

His waiting didn't last long, as the party on the other end of the line promptly answered.

"Hey man." Sergeant Hughes replied. "What's up?"

"Is Sergeant Paxton still in the squad room?" Welker asked.

There was a brief pause, and Welker assumed that his old partner was looking around the squad room, and then Hughes replied, "Yes she is. Why?"

"Repeat after me, in an excited voice." Welker quickly said. "'You did? Way to go, Ronnie! Who's the victim?'"

"You really did?" Hughes asked excitedly. "That's awesome, Ronnie! What's his name?"

"Good." Welker nodded. "Now that you're listening carefully, man, ask me how did a ten-year old kid came all the way here from Houston?"

"You're kidding me, Ronnie." Hughes said. "I mean, how the h*ll could a ten-year old kid came all the way here from freakin' Houston?"

"Perfect." Welker said. "Now hang up. If Paxton asks, tell her that we've identified the victim through dental records. He was a ten-year old runaway last seen in Houston way back in 1981, his parents are now on their way to Coolsville and the chief will be having a press conference on the update this afternoon, during his briefing at Coolsville Central."

"Alright, man." Hughes nodded. "Good luck."

He then hung up the telephone, and then Welker looked up, seeing his partner Detective Steven standing on the other side of his desk.

Steven had obviously heard the last bit of his conversation with Hughes, and his eyebrows were arched.

"Don't worry about that, Gary." Welker quickly said. "That was all bogus. I was setting up the leak that set us up last night. And that reporter Howe, too."

"The leak." Steven said. "Who was it?"

"An IA guy named Paxton, I think." Welker replied.

Steven simply sat down on his chair and then nodded thoughtfully.

"In the meantime, we do have a possible ID of the victim." Welker said. "His name was Barry Bradshaw, who lived in the neighbourhood when he disappeared in 1989."

"Three years before Carter moved into the neighbourhood." Steven said. "That's definitely not going to work, as I've checked the property records and found that he wasn't in the neighbourhood until 1992, like he told us last night."

"We're definitely spinning our wheels there investigating Carter, Gary." Welker said. "I can feel it. He's not our man."

"Tell that to Faux Noise." Steven said. "Oh wait, you can't. They're run by stubborn elephants who makes noise and causes nothing but trouble."

It was then that Welker's phone rang, and the senior detective picked it up.

"She just left the squad room, Ronnie." Hughes said as soon as Welker answered.

"You told her everything, huh?" Welker asked.

"Yes, I did." Hughes nodded. "I gave her what you've told me and she kept askin' me questions as if I was in an interrogation, that dirtbag."

"Well, if we're lucky, the 'update' you gave her should be on the noon edition of Fox Noise." Welker said. "I'm gonna check it out."

"Sure thing, man." Hughes replied. "Take care and be careful."

"I sure will." Welker nodded before hanging up.

He then turned to his partner and added, "By the way, we've got Chief Rogers' task force in the interview room over there investigating last nights events. That includes the media leak."

"Sheez." Steven said. "Should you tell the task force what Nathaniel told you earlier?"

"Right now, I'd rather hold off until we get a better lay of the land." Welker said. "Because I wanna be very sure about the leak, if you know what I mean."

"Ronnie, this is Chief Rogers we're talking about here." Steven says. "He's one of the cleanest brass members over at Central, and you're suggesting we withhold information from his task force?"

"I am aware of that, but you do know that if we recklessly provide him information, it may end up backfiring on us if that information turned out to be false." Welker said. "I just wanna be sure. Last thing we need is to end up giving Deputy Chief Rogers more trouble than he needs to handle, especially with s**t hitting the fan last night."

"Right then." Steven nodded thoughtfully.

"Anyways, let's check in on the Needle." Welker suggested.

Steven nodded as he and Welker got up from their seats and made their way to the lieutenant's office, where Lieutenant Deedle was seated at her desk going through some reports.

The lieutenant looked up as Welker knocked on the door, and she paused as she put down her reading glasses.

"Mind if we turn on the television and check out the Fox Noise noon report, Lieutenant?" Welker asked as he and Steven made their way into Deedle's office, nodding at the flat screen television set in Deedle's office as he spoke.

"Be my guest." Deedle nodded. "I'm sure Captain Spears and Deputy Chief Rogers are also watching the news as we speak."

Welker nodded as he grabbed the remote and turned on the television, and first thing he did was tuning in to Fox News.

At the moment, the news was reporting on a major pileup on U.S. Route 27 in the southern outskirts of Coolsville.

U.S. Route 27 currently serves as a major link between Cincinnati and Coolsville with the portion between the two major Ohio cities being a six-lane divided highway designed up to Interstate Highway design standards, and as such it is one of the busiest highways in the state.

Eventually, the news cast moved on to the "Coolsville Dog Bone Case" and Heather Jasper Howe came into view, seated at a desk in the Fox News newsroom.

"There has been a major development in the Coolsville Dog Bone Case, where Fox News has learned that the bones found in Watson's Canyon has been identified as those of a ten-year old runaway from Houston." Howe reported.

Welker first looked at Steven, then at Deedle, who clearly had her mouth wide open in shock. He quickly motioned her to wait a moment.

"The parents of the boy, who reported him missing almost thirty years ago, are on a flight to Coolsville, en route to meet with police." Howe continued. "The remains were identified through dental records, and later this afternoon, the chief of police is expected to discuss the investigation in his pre-scheduled press conference, where he will also identify the victim. As reported on Fox News last night, police are focused on-"

At that moment, Welker quickly turned off the television and Deedle turned to him and Steven.

"Ronnie, Gary, what the h*ll is going on?" She asked.

"That was all bogus." Welker replied. "I was smoking out the leak."

"Who?" Deedle asked.

"A guy from IA named Jamie Paxton." Welker said.

He then proceeded to tell them what Hughes had told him and then outline the scam he had just pulled.

"Internal Affairs." Deedle remarked after the explanations. "Can't say I'm surprised, especially with all of those going-ons between Deputy Chief Rogers and Deputy Chief Gosnell."

She was referring to the intra-departmental skirmish between Deputy Chief Sam Rogers, Director of the Detective Bureau, and Deputy Chief Rupert Gosnell, Director of Internal Affairs, a skirmish that has been ongoing since Rogers' transfer back from New York a decade ago as a lieutenant.

It's been well-known in the department that Deputy Chief Rogers doesn't see eye-to-eye with Gosnell and the two men has frequently clashed with each other.

"Indeed." Welker nodded. "Chief Rogers has a history of distrusting Internal Affairs, and with s**t about to hit the fan in the fallout over the Carter beating last night, I'm certain Internal Affairs will only be too happy to sabotage his task force's investigation into the event."

"Not to mention the fact that IA's involvement in your last case was the very reason Chief Rogers asked the DA's office to audit IA's activities in the first place, so there's no doubt they're smarting over your role in the situation and will only be happy to get you thrown under a bus." Deedle added. "Speaking of the task force, where are the task force investigators?"

"They're in one of the interview rooms at the back listening to a recording I had of me and Howe last night." Welker replied.

"A recording." Deedle repeated. "Why didn't you tell me about it last night, Ronnie?"

"I must've forgotten about it, especially with s**t hitting the fan last night." Welker said.

"All right. I suppose we'll have to see where this goes." Deedle nodded. "You think Nat is clean on this, Ronnie?"

"He is." Welker nodded. "He was pressured by Paxton to tell her more about me last night, on what I was doing at Central doing the computer search. Paxton certainly took him for granted and leaked the info to Faux Noise and tipped off our guys into beating the s**t out of Carter while trying to arrest him."

"If she really thinks she can get away with screwing with our case, Ronnie, then she's got another thing coming when thousands of angry protesters demand that those responsible for the beating be held accountable." Steven interjected.

"Indeed." Deedle nodded. "Though nevertheless, you two need to be very careful. Ronnie has already cost IA one of its finest members and no doubt Gosnell's Gestapo is still smarting over that and will be very happy to get even with you."

"Right." Welker and Steven both nodded before the former continued, "In the meantime, we've got a possible ID that is legit that we'll be running down today."

"What about Carter?" Deedle asked.

"We're gonna let that sit until if we determine if that's the kid." Steven replied. "If it is, then the timing is wrong. The kid disappeared in '89 and Carter didn't move into the neighbourhood until '92."

"Great." Deedle's face turned to stone. "In the meantime, his buried secret has been taken onto television and has also lead to his getting the s**t beaten out of him by four of our guys, which got caught on tape and has led us to this."

"Tell Paxton about it." Welker nodded.


"Are you telling us that this is a police van?" Fred asked the woman after moments of silence. "If so, then how is it that it ended up at the car rental in the airport?"

"It was part of a plan." The woman replied. "These people have kidnapped me from my home and they must've ditched this van in the car rental to ditch suspicion while another group moved in to 'rent' this van and then carry out the job of silencing me."

"But how is it that we end up renting this van?" Daphne asked.

"Say, you guys remembered that the guy at the car rental told us that the computer network was down earlier, right?" Velma offered. "That computer network being down must've resulted in a technical glitch that mistakenly listed this van as not being allocated to another renter who has pre-booked for the van."

"That could be the case." The woman nodded.

"There's one thing I don't understand, though. How is it that you ended up in this van?" Shaggy asked. "Like, and to be more exact, why did the police kidnap you, Miss...?"

"Harewood." The woman introduced herself. "Meghan Harewood. I've got a cousin who's with the Coolsville police, and to answer your answer, young man, it's because I know too much about their involvement in criminal rackets. In fact, I am due to testify in a federal grand jury here in Gotham and got evidence that, if brought to light, will bring down two top law enforcement officers in both Gotham City and Coolsville."

"On what charges?" Daphne asked as they all arched their eyebrows.

"Human trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder." Harewood replied. "Commissioner Peter Pauling is involved in the racket alright, and he's got help from Mason, who was involved in the racket during his time as a deputy commissioner of the Gotham City police prior to his transfer to Coolsville."

The gang all shared a look with each other.

"I certainly don't like the sound of this." Daphne remarked.

"Me neither." Shaggy agreed.

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg." Harewood continued. "My contacts in other parts of the country have reported that this human trafficking ring also involves officials in neighbouring Metropolis, Coast City over in California, Keystone City in Kansas, Central City in Missouri, New Orleans, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Houston, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Detroit."

"And the centre of this racket is right here in Gotham, eh?" Fred folded his arms.

"Exactly." Harewood nodded. "And as you kids know, there are many in the police department who are only too happy to stop my attempts to whistleblow the involvement of police in the human trafficking ring."

There was some more silence as the group digested the latest information.

"I really, really do not like the sound of all of this." Daphne shook her head.

"Yeah." Shaggy and Scooby both nodded. However, before the former could continue, the cell phone that was left in the dashboard of the van rang.

"That cell phone was left in the dashboard when we picked it up yesterday, Ms. Harewood." Daphne said.

"It was left behind by the bastards that did this to me." Harewood said. "It was a way for them to communicate with their confederates picking up the van and finishing me off."

"Well, we're about to find out what the caller is asking for." Fred said as Daphne answered the telephone, putting it on speaker as she did so.

"Hello?" Daphne asked.

"Ah, I was hoping that you'd answer." The party on the other end replied. "I wanted...to apologize for my behaviour earlier. You see, there seems to be a mix-up at the car rental where my group have left our van at."

"How did you know about the mix-up at the car rental?" Daphne asked.

"Well, I was speaking to the other group earlier." The man replied. "They told me that they couldn't find the van that they were supposed to pick up at the car rental, and upon inquiring the staff at the car rental, they were informed of the mix-up, in which the van was rented to a George Blake."

"That's my father." Daphne said. "He's here in Gotham for a business conference and when we arrived from Coolsville yesterday afternoon, we were told by the clerk of the computer network problems and then they gave my father the van afterwards."

"Ah, that clear things up, Miss Blake." The man nodded on the other end, even though Daphne couldn't see him.

"And who am I speaking to?" Daphne asked.

"Detective Donald Ford of the Major Crimes Unit of the Gotham City Police Department." Detective Ford replied. "Anyways, I was hoping that you'll meet with me later today, as the van has a cargo that my group and I must have."

Daphne looked up towards the gang and Ms. Harewood, her hand covering the mouthpiece as she did so.

Ms. Harewood turned to Fred and whispered something, then Fred walked to Daphne and said, "Just go along with it for now so we can buy Ms. Harewood some time, besides there's no point letting that detective know that we know what they've done to Ms. Harewood."

Daphne nodded before placing the cell phone by her ear and said, "Oh, I believe that your other group is expecting to pick up the handgun you've left on the van, are they, Detective Ford?"

"Why...er...yes." Ford nodded on the other end of the phone. "You see, er, Miss Blake, we're taking part in an undercover operation at the airport...in conjunction with the Gotham Airport Authority to put a stop to an international smuggling ring, and me leaving the gun in the glove compartment of the unmarked undercover van was part of our undercover operation at the airport."

Daphne, covering the mouthpiece, shared a look with the others as Ford spoke, and Ms. Harewood simply shook her head.

Daphne nodded as Ford continued, "We didn't expect the computer network at the car rental to go down and thus resulting in the mix-up."

"Not to worry, Detective Ford." Daphne said. "We'll hand your gun back to you and you can carry on with your undercover operation with your team."

"Oh yes, don't worry about the van." Ford said. "We've gotten another van from the department, so no need to worry about that."

"Right then." Daphne said. "So where are we to meet?"

"Over at the Docklands at Miller Harbor." Ford replied. "Warehouse 39."

"Alright, we're on our way." Daphne nodded before hanging up.

As Daphne hung up, the group gathered closely together.

"So what's next?" Fred asked Ms. Harewood as they gathered closely together.

"I know someone who has helped me in my work." Ms. Harewood said. "I just hope he hasn't chickened out on being part of the whistleblowing."

"Is it because someone has been threatening him?" Velma asked.

"He never let those threats get in his work, though he has a young daughter and so he's more worried about any possible repercussions from his helping me in my whistleblowing." Ms. Harewood said.

"Well, if that's who you'll be meeting with, Ms. Harewood, then let's go." Fred said. "Before Detective Ford, if he's really involved in what you're trying to uncover, knows that we've freed you and sends officers to track us down."

"Right, then." Ms. Harewood nodded.

With that, the group boarded the van with Fred and the girls seated at the front while Shaggy, Scooby and Ms. Harewood sat at the back.


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